Student Paper Competition - ASFPM Foundation

Student Paper Competition Details

ASFPM conducts an annual national conference that attracts more than 1,200 floodplain management professionals from federal, state and local government entities as well as the private sector for a week-long event that showcases state-of-the-art techniques, programs, practices, resources, materials, equipment, accessories and services to accomplish flood mitigation, flood risk reduction and other community goals. In 2011, the ASFPM Foundation sponsored the first Student Paper Competition at the ASFPM conference as another way to engage the next generation in the important conversations pertaining to our profession. The 16th Annual Collegiate Student Paper Competition will be held between June 24-26 in Milwaukee, Wi at the 2026 ASFPM National Conference.

After a review of submitted abstracts, the ASFPM Foundation invites three student finalists to present their papers at the 2026 Conference and participate in conference events. Teams consisting of one or more students are encouraged to submit abstracts on subjects relating to floodplain or stormwater management. Up to $1,500 is provided for the cost for one presenter from each team to travel to the Conference, and monetary prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will be awarded. While the value of each prize varies from year to year, they are expected to range between $500 and $1,500. Students must meet eligibility requirements, and abstract and paper submission criteria. The goals of the Foundation’s Student Paper Competition are to encourage student engagement in floodplain management topics and to identify talented individuals with the potential to make lasting contributions to the floodplain management body of knowledge.

Eligibility

Any graduate or undergraduate student currently enrolled at any college or university in a field related to floodplain management is eligible to submit an abstract. The related fields include, but are not limited to, engineering, geology, geography, planning and public administration (see below for list of suggested topics). Papers may be written by a team of students, but only one scholarship will be awarded to each of the top three teams, and only one person will be invited to attend the conference as our guest to present the paper. The intent of this scholarship is to assist current students and as such we require they be enrolled during the critical dates of this competition (i.e. abstract submission deadline and full paper submission deadline). Author/student may only submit one abstract.

Submission Process And Timeline

Abstracts must be submitted by March 2, 2026. Students must also submit an enrollment certificate or unofficial transcript which most universities provide free of charge to demonstrate active student status.

Abstracts will be reviewed by an ASFPM Foundation panel and three finalists will be invited to submit a full paper. Finalists' full papers along with an updated unofficial transcript or certificate of enrollment will be due by May 11, 2026.

The three finalists will receive registration at the ASFPM national conference, domestic travel, lodging, meals and other travel expenses up to $1,500 to make their presentations during the conference on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Papers and student presentations will be judged by a panel of floodplain managers. Winners will be announced at the ASFPM National Awards Luncheon on Thursday, June 4, 2026.

Prizes

While the value of each prize varies from year to year, they are expected to range between $500 and $1,500.
All prizes also include a complimentary one-year student membership in ASFPM.

Topic Areas Of Consideration

Students are encouraged to submit abstracts on studies related to one or more of the following topics:

Coastal flooding, planning and sustainability
Inland lake flooding issues
Riverine flooding, planning and sustainability
Urban flooding, planning and sustainability
Alluvial fan flooding, prediction and unique hazard considerations
Estuaries
Floodplain management and stormwater control standards
Regulatory compliance with floodplain regulations
Local/state mapping programs (including higher standards)
Community Rating System
Flood warning
Post-flood response
Letters of Map Change (LOMCs)
National Flood Insurance Program reform
Flood mitigation planning
Noteworthy flood mitigation project successes
GIS applications for flood risk assessment
Levee inventories, recertification of levees and non-levee embankments
Impacts of decertification of levees
Dam safety and dam failure
Natural and beneficial floodplain functions
Environmentally friendly flood mitigation
Flood warning, mitigation and risk outreach/education programs
Stormwater and watershed modeling advancements and research needs
Hydrology and hydraulics advancements and research needs
Climate variability and extreme precipitation research
Flood hazard data management tools
LiDAR tools, industry advancements and data needs for floodplain management and modeling needs
Floodway standards
Geomorphology of floodplains and resultant implications on the built environment
Human impacts on floodplains including water quality and ecological factors
Endangered Species Act (ESA) present and anticipated impacts on floodplain management and Risk MAP

Faculty Advisors

Each student is allowed a faculty advisor or advisors. The advisors may provide advice and resources, and may review the papers and presentations prior to their submittal. The advisors may be recognized as a junior author on papers, however the papers should principally be the work of student teams. Faculty advisors for participating teams may not serve on any of the selection or judging panels.

Abstract Criteria

Abstracts must be submitted by March 2, 2026.
Submit the abstract as a PDF document. Author/student may only submit one abstract.
The body of the abstract must be 500 words or less, double-spaced, and should concisely describe the research and expected results from the study.
The font must be 11-point font.
Abstracts will be evaluated on significance and applicability to floodplain management, originality, and clarity of research goals.
Students who have competed as semifinalists in the past are ineligible to submit again.
Students who previously submitted an abstract that was not selected may compete again.

Paper Criteria

If selected as a finalist, deadline for submission of the paper is May 11, 2026.
Length of paper is six to eight pages, including figures, tables, and references.
The font must be 11-point for all parts of the paper; do not change typeface within the paper.
The line spacing must be double-spaced.
Page margins must be one inch on all sides.
Titles, authors, and affiliation should be centered, single-spaced at the top of the first page.

Scoring