About Us

Mission Statement

NYS Water Resources Institute at Cornell University

The Mission of the New York State Water Resources Institute (WRI) is to improve the management of water resources in New York State and the nation. As a federally and state mandated institution located at Cornell University, we are uniquely situated to access scientific and technical resources that are relevant to New York State's and the nation's water management needs. We collaborate with regional, state, and national partners to increase awareness of emerging water resources issues and to develop and assess new water management technologies and policies. WRI connects the water research and water management communities.

Goals

In collaboration with partners:

• Build and maintain a broad, active network of water resources researchers and managers.

• Bring together water researchers and water resources managers to address critical water resource problems.

• Identify, adopt, develop and make available resources to improve information transfer on water resources management and technologies to educators, managers, and policy makers.

Mandates

Federal

At the federal level the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (PDF), as amended, authorizes a water resources research institute in each state and territory to:

• "plan, conduct, or otherwise arrange for competent research that fosters (A) the entry of new research scientists into the water resources fields, (B) the training and education of future water scientists, engineers, and technicians, (C) the preliminary exploration of new ideas that address water problems or expand understanding of water and water related phenomena, and (D) the dissemination of research results to water managers and the public"

• "cooperate closely with other colleges and universities in the State that have demonstrated capabilities for research, information dissemination, and graduate training in order to develop a statewide program designed to resolve State and regional water and related land problems."

State

The New York State legislature established WRI (PDF) under state law as the New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell University in 1987 with the purpose of addressing critical problems of water resource quality and management.

The legislation directs WRI to:

• "pursue and sponsor, both at Cornell and elsewhere, investigations and experiments of either a practical or basic nature, the education and training of scientists and specialists, and outreach activities for the dissemination of information and the provision of technical assistance relating to the state's water resources."

• "undertake specific projects in support of state agencies, particularly in the development of assessment methodologies and criteria for guidance or standards for use in management and regulatory programs."

• "provide for information dissemination, including technical and scientific consultation with and briefings for state agencies concerned with water resources management and regulatory affairs."

National Institute for Water Resources (NIWR)

Under federal legislation, each state's water resources institute is also directed to "cooperate closely with other institutes and other organizations in the region to increase the effectiveness of the institutes and for the purpose of promoting regional coordination." The New York State Water Resources Institute is a member of the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) (http://niwr.montana.edu/about/default.htm). The purpose of NIWR is to cooperate with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) (http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/ ) to:

• establish total programmatic direction

• report on the activities of the state Water Institutes

• coordinate and facilitate regional water research and information and technology transfer, and

• operate the NIWR-USGS Student Internship Program to help train future water scientists.

2007-2010 WRI Faculty Steering Committee Members

Name	Email	Phone	Department	Address	Start	Term Ending	Remarks	Web Page
Bain, Mark	mbb1@cornell.edu	254-4750	DNR	200 Rice Hall	2003 Nov	2009 Nov		Link
DeGaetano, Art	atd2@cornell.edu	255-0385	EAS	1119 Bradfield Hall			Ex-Officio	Link
Geisler, Chuck	ccg2@cornell.edu	255-1691	Dev. Soc	237 Warren Hall	2006 Apr	2009 Apr		Link
Grantham, Deborah	dgg3@cornell.edu	255-8229	CCE	381 Roberts	2007 Nov	2010 Nov		Link
Hay, Anthony	agh5@cornell.edu	255-8471	MICRO/CfE	B53A Wing Hall	2007 Nov	2010 Nov		Link
Howarth, Bob	rwh2@cornell.edu	255-6175	EEB	E311 Corson Hall	2005 Jan	2008 Jan		Link
Mohammed, Hussni	hom1@cornell.edu	253-3566	Vet School	S1 070 Schurman Hall	2003 Mar	2009 Mar		Link
Richmond, Mike	mer6@cornell.edu	255-2151	DNR	206E Fernow Hall	2003 Mar	2009 Mar		Link
Riha, Susan	sjr4@cornell.edu	255-1729	EAS	1110 Bradfield Hall			Ex-Officio	Link
Scherer, Cliff	cws4@cornell.edu	255-7498	COMM	307 Kennedy Hall	2003 Nov	2006 Nov
Schneider, Rebecca	rls11@cornell.edu	255-2110	DNR	112 Fernow Hall	2007 Apr	2010 Apr		Link
Stedinger, Jery	jrs5@cornell.edu	255-9004	CEE	213 Hollister Hall	2003 Mar	2009 Mar	Chair	Link
Walter, Todd	mtw5@cornell.edu	255-2488	BEE	222 Riley-Robb Hall	2007 Nov	2010 Nov		Link
Wolfe, David	dww5@cornell.edu	255-7888	HORT	168 Plant Science	2003 Nov	2009 Nov		Link

New York State Water Resources Institute
1023 Bradfield Hall
Cornell University,
Ithaca, NY 14853-1901

e-mail: nyswri@cornell.edu
phone: 607-255-3034
fax: 607-255-2106