| Faculty Advisor |
Arindam Malakar
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|---|---|
| Contact Email | amalakar2@unl.edu |
| Website | |
| Advisor College: |
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
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| Potential Student Tasks |
Working side-by-side with graduate students, a research technician, and Dr. Malakar, the FYRE student will be trained to:
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| Student Qualifications |
No prior research experience is required. We start from the basics and teach you everything. We're looking for first-year students who are curious about water, soil, agriculture, or the environment, and who care about protecting Nebraska communities. The strengths that matter most are being detail-oriented, dependable, organized, comfortable with hands-on lab work, and willing to ask questions and learn new skills. Careful record-keeping and basic comfort with numbers are a plus. Students from any major are welcome to apply; this opportunity may be of special interest to those exploring Environmental Science/Studies, Natural Resources, Agronomy & Horticulture, Chemistry, Geology/Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Biological Sciences, or Engineering. |
| Training, Mentoring, and Workplace Community |
Our group is committed to helping new students learn, belong, and grow. You'll receive full, patient training in lab safety, core processing, and soil/water analysis. No experience needed- because we teach from the ground up. You'll work closely with a supportive team of graduate students and a research technician who were beginners themselves not long ago, and Dr. Malakar keeps an open door for questions big and small. We understand that your classes come first, so we're flexible around course schedules and exams (FYRE students typically work 5–10 hours per week). You'll see exactly how your work fits into a bigger mission of protecting the drinking water of Nebraska families, which makes the day-to-day tasks meaningful. Many first-year researchers grow into larger roles over time, and this experience is excellent preparation for applying to UCARE in your sophomore year and for future careers (or graduate and professional school) in environmental science, water resources, and agriculture. Our alums have gone on to graduate programs and to industry research positions. |
| Available Positions |
1
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Every time you drink a glass of water in Nebraska, there's a good chance it came from underground. Roughly 85% of Nebraskans rely on groundwater for their drinking water, and our farms depend on the High Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer. This groundwater system spans eight states and underlies about two-thirds of Nebraska. But that water is under threat from an invisible, odorless, tasteless pollutant: nitrate, which mostly comes from nitrogen fertilizer. Groundwater nitrate in central and eastern Nebraska now exceeds the federal safe drinking water limit (10 mg/L as nitrogen) beneath roughly 1.3 million hectares of land, an area that has nearly doubled each decade. This is a real, urgent challenge for families across our state.
Our lab studies the hidden layer of soil and rock between the land surface and the water table, called the vadose zone; the place where the story of groundwater pollution is written before it ever reaches a well. Globally, the vadose zone is estimated to store 605–1,814 million tons of nitrogen as nitrate, much of it from past fertilizer use, and that legacy nitrate will keep slowly leaching downward toward the aquifer for years to come. By the time contaminants are detected in groundwater, the water may be above the safe limit. If we can understand, and one day intervene in the vadose zone, we can protect the Ogallala aquifer before it's too late. As a FYRE student, you'll join a friendly, hands-on team that lives by the motto ""Putting Science to Work to Solve Contemporary Environmental Challenges,"" and you do not need any prior research experience to start.