Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center staff and student water fellows attended the annual Water Fellowship Convening in Denver
Student water fellows Briana Galland, Bryce Toppin and Ian Anderson attended the annual Water Fellowship Convening on Feb. 13 and 14 with Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center Executive Director Shannon Wadas and Associate Professor Freddy Witarsa. All three students are members of the 2025-2026 cohort for the Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center at CMU’s Water Fellows Program.
The statewide program supports the next generation of water leaders in Colorado by giving them the necessary tools to build their networks within the field. Cohort members attend monthly meetings with presentations from a variety of water professionals to further their understanding of water issues, participate in water conferences and field trips, and connect with future internship and employment opportunities.
This is the second year of the program at CMU. Each year, there are at least five different students in the cohort, and students from all major programs are welcome to apply. This year’s cohort includes students from a variety of majors, including environmental science, engineering, and viticulture & enology. Students receive a $1,000 stipend for their participation in the program.
“As a student who is unsure of where I want my degree to take me, I found a great deal of value in directly engaging with career professionals. After participating in the Water Fellows Program, I have a more well-rounded understanding of the logistics and challenges of managing natural resources, which has directly influenced my career goals and aspirations,” said Anderson.
Colorado State University originally started the Water Fellowship Sustainability Program in 2017 and has since grown the program to include other universities: the Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center at CMU, the Four Corners Water Center at Fort Lewis College, the One World One Water Center at Metro State University, the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
“I’m grateful to the team at the Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center who empower Water Fellows to engage with professionals, attend seminars, and critically engage in natural resource issues. I encourage anyone passionate about water, natural resources, and driving meaningful change to apply,” said Anderson.
The program’s annual Water Fellows Convening provided an opportunity for water fellows to expand and refine their networking skills with support from the program’s statewide cohort. The convening is the only time all the partner universities get together.
“Being able to participate in so many conferences, creating so many connections with water industry professionals, and meeting other students from across the state was such an amazing experience. It was very interesting to tour Denver Water and learn about new technologies and ideas being used to help conserve and reuse water,” said Toppin.
There were various panel discussions during the convening including “Negotiating the Future of the Colorado River,” “AI and Impacts to the Water Workforce,” and “Shared Waters, Shared Voices: Effective Stakeholder Engagement.” In addition, several breakout sessions covered personal branding, graduate school, scholarship applications, mentor mapping, law school and study abroad programs.
Attendees also screened new video projects during the evening from Fort Lewis College’s Tribal Water Media Showcase, a program focused on bringing tribal water experiences and student artists together.
“What an amazing weekend spent learning and sharing a passion for water with peers from across the state. I’ve seldom been more inspired or hopeful for the future of our most precious resource. Thank you to everyone who made this convening possible,” said Galland.
The Water Fellows Program will be offered again in 2026, 2027 and 2028 thanks to funding from the Colorado Water Conservation Board and CSU’s leadership and collaboration in pursuing joint funding for an expanded program which will include 11 different universities across Colorado.
“I am very excited to be able to offer the Water Fellows Program to interested students for the next three years and for the Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center to be a partner and collaborator in this amazing, statewide program”, said Wadas. “Thanks to the efforts of CMU/CU Boulder Civil Engineering Instructor Joel Sholtes, who helped start the program at CMU and to Witarsa who then provided critical program coordination, we have had two very successful cohorts, and we are set up to continue to grow and strengthen the program into the future.”
Applications for the 2026-2027 cohort will open at the start of the fall 2026 semester. Please reach out to Shannon Wadas with any questions at [email protected].