Sanjiv Kumar, a PhD Student working with Professor Venkatesh Merwade in the Hydraulics and Hydrology area of the School of Civil Engineering recently won the Outstanding Student Paper Award in the Hydrology Section at the 2008 fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held in San Francisco, CA. Sanjiv Kumar’s research paper “Hydro-climatological impact of century long drainage in Midwestern United States” presents a modeling  framework to investigate  the effect of artificial drainage on the climate and hydrology of the Midwest region. This study includes geospatial characterization of wetland drainage in the Midwest from 1860 to present, and climate modeling using Community Climate System Model. Sanjiv Kumar’s research is expected to shed light on the interaction between wetland drainage and the atmosphere, and how this interaction has affected the hydro-climatology of the Midwest. Dr. Dan Bain from University of Pittsburg is the third co-author on this paper.