On March 27, third-year University of Iowa student Nina Osborne was working at the UI Admission Visitors Center when she checked her email. In her inbox, she read that she had been awarded a 2026 Goldwater Scholarship, the country’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarship for students pursuing research careers in mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering.

On Saturday, March 28, A H M Mainul Islam presented his bur oak blight research at the 2026 Annual James F. Jakobsen Research Showcase in the Iowa Memorial Union. The Jakobsen Conference is an annual local conference to promote graduate research and interdepartmental communication at the University of Iowa.

The Office of Undergraduate Research and the Office of the Vice President for Research recognize outstanding accomplishments in scholarly investigation, artistic creation, or performance by an undergraduate student. Nina has been awarded the EURA for her research in the LOQATE lab. Her work uses hyperspectral imaging to monitor landscape-level patterns of tree health. She currently examines Bur oak spectral responses to heat and high CO₂ to detect stress before it becomes visible.

Through this fellowship, Sam will develop a digital storytelling framework using an ArcGIS Story Map to communicate complex satellite remote sensing and machine learning methodologies and their outputs to stakeholders (e.g., water quality managers, local water boards). Sam hopes that through deliberate, practical translation of complex material, we can improve understanding of current technologies, enabling faster decision-making to protect Iowans.

Beverly will continue the work she started in the spring during the group collaborative fellowship, focusing on the water quality of the Okobojis. We are excited to keep her on and dig more into this research!

Lillie and Beverly will be working in the LOQATE Lab on an Office of Undergraduate Research GCRU Fellowship titled, "Exploring 25 years of water quality in the Iowa Great Lakes using data from the volunteer-led Cooperative Lakes Area Monitoring Project (CLAMP)"