This year, students interested in careers centered around water in the West were presented with an exciting opportunity. Four undergraduate students from a range of disciplines were selected as inaugural CU Boulder Water Fellows, a Western Water Assessment program that prepares the next generation of water leaders through training, networking, and mentorship from professionals across Colorado.  

“We were very excited to host a water careers program at Western Water Assessment and CIRES for CU Boulder students who are passionate about water since there wasn’t anything like this before at CU,” said Water Fellows Program coordinator Ethan Knight. “I’m happy that there is now and for future students interested in the water field.”

The program began in 2017 through the Colorado Water Center at Colorado State University. Since then, over 60 students have participated in the yearlong fellowship. In 2024, the program expanded across the state to include six colleges and universities. Fellows attend monthly meetings with guest speakers and travel to water-focused conferences like the Colorado Water Congress, Colorado 9 Basin (C9 Summit), and the Colorado Water Fellows Convening meeting — a gathering of all 45 fellows in Denver. 

CU Boulder fellows’ areas of study range from environmental engineering, sociology & environmental studies, atmospheric sciences, and geology. 

Evelyn Hoffman is a senior majoring in environmental engineering who studies hydrology and fluid mechanics. Their interest in working in public service inspired them to apply for the fellowship. As an intern with the EPA, Hoffman has led drinking water treatment inspections in Wyoming, but they are more interested in hydrology and water resources, specifically ecologically conscious structures and dams. 

Hoffman attended the Colorado Water Congress, where they learned about the complex web of water rights in the Western U.S. The conference also provided the opportunity to meet with others working in public sector water jobs and helped them understand what direction they want to take after graduation this spring. 

“I was able to meet a lot of people doing this work on the state level, which was really interesting, because I did not have a good grasp of what people at the Colorado Department of Natural Resources did in their day to day work” Hoffman said. 

Ethan Durham is a senior studying atmospheric sciences. Specifically, he studies clouds and Arctic sea ice using radiative transfer and remote sensing. At first glance, he didn’t see how his research directly overlapped with water issues in Colorado. But after attending conferences and learning about how water managers use the whole picture to plan for the future, Durham now sees Colorado water issues through the lens of his work. 

“As a person who works on the climatological aspects of water, it’s interesting to look at the hydrological impacts of water and what it looks like from an agricultural standpoint,” Durham said. 

The inaugural cohort will complete the fellowship this spring. The program will soon recruit new fellows for the 2025-2026 academic year. After a successful year, Ethan Knight is excited to see a new group of students find their path as water professionals. 

“I think this was a great first year of the program,” Knight said. “We are excited for the next cohort of fellows and hope to continue creating opportunities for these future water professionals.”

Learn more about Western Water Assessment’s Water Fellows program on their website.