Student Paper Competition

ASFPM Foundation's 11th Annual Collegiate Student Paper Competition


Please join us at this year's competition which is part of the ASFPM Virtual Conference, Session B6 on Tuesday, May 11 from  1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Central Time

Every spring the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) conducts an annual national conference that attracts more than 1,200 floodplain management professionals from federal, state and local government, 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, risk reduction and other community goals. Since 2011, ASFPM Foundation has sponsored a student paper competition as a way to engage the next generation in the important conversations pertaining to our profession. Three finalists are invited to present their papers at the conference where they will also have the opportunity to learn about a wide range of topics that will be relevant to their future career. This year's competition will be a part of the program at the 2021 ASFPM Virtual Conference on May 10-14, 2021.

Teams consisting of one or more students currently enrolled in a college or university are encouraged to submit abstracts on subjects relating to floodplain or stormwater management by February 12, 2021. The abstracts will be judged by a panel of floodplain management professionals and three finalists will be invited to submit their papers in April and then present their papers at the 2021 ASFPM annual national conference on May 11, 2021 in a virtual session.

A panel of floodplain management professionals will judge the papers and presentations. Winners will be announced a virtual booth event on May 12. First Place: $1,000 scholarship; Second Place: $500 scholarship; Third Place: $250 scholarship.

Jasmine Thomas	2019 Student Paper Competition Question & Answers	Nora Schwaller

2021 Collegiate Student Paper Competition Finalists:

Detecting Coherent Floods in the Northeast United States for Flood Risk Management, co-authored by Equisha Glenn and Naresh Devineni, The City College of New York. Equisha Glenn, presenting.

Using Historical Information to Inform Planning for Floods after Fires, co-authored by Ying Chik (Vanessa) Lee, Alev Bilginsoy, Yiwen Chen, Dana Clark, Adam Dickenson, Kendal Harris, Xiaoyue Wang, and Shauna Wright , University of California - Berkeley. Vanessa Lee, presenting.

Past Student Papers

2020 Collegiate Student Paper Competition at ASFPM Virtual Conference

First Prize Winner:  Modeling the Downstream Consequences of the 1976 Teton Dam Failure and Resulting Flood by Validating the GeoClaw Software with Historical Data, by Hannah Spero and Dr. Donna Calhoun at Boise State University.

Second Prize Winner: Dealing with the Deluge of Waste: Flood Waste Management in a Two-Tier City of India, by Mahasweta Chakraborty, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India.

Third Prize Winner: Does Predator Presence Affect Stream Hydrology via Trophic Cascades?, by Meg Zuercher, St. Louis University.

Winners of ASFPM Foundation's 2020 Student Paper Competition. 
L-R: Hannah Spero, Mahasweta Chakraborty and Meg Zuercher.

     Watch the video of the  2020 Student Paper Competition.

 2019 Collegiate Student Paper Competition in Cleveland, Ohio

2018 Collegiate Student Paper Competition in Phoenix, Arizona

The Case for a Floodplain Enhancement Rating System: Has the time come for an ASFPM accreditation program?, by John MacDougall, Pamela Reber, Evan Stewart and Paul St. Louis from University of Washington-Seattle 

Who Knows What Comes Tomorrow: A Case Study of Resilience in Boulder County, Colorado, by Simone Domingue, a PhD student in the Department of Sociology from University of Colorado-Boulder

Winners of ASFPM Foundation's Student Paper Competition.
L-R: ASFPM Foundation President Doug Plasencia, Pamela Reber and Simone Domingue.
Photo by John Hays.

2017 Collegiate Student Paper Competition in Kansas City, Missouri

Exploring the Concept of Cumulative, Probabilistic Flood Hazard Maps, by Maryellen Hearn from Technical University of Dresden, Erasmus Mundus Flood Risk Management Master

After the Flood: Exercising Best Practices in Property Acquisition Programs and Open Space Projects, by Ashton Rohmer from the Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina � Chapel Hill

Quantifying the Future Flood Impact and Damages in the Chesapeake Bay Regions Due to Storm Surge, Sea Level Rise and Marsh Migration, by Ali Mohammad Rezaie from Civil Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason University

2017 competitors L-R: Ashton Rohmer (2nd place), Ali Mohammad Rezaie (3rd place), Maryellen Hearn (1st place) and ASFPM Foundation President Doug Plasencia.

2016 Collegiate Student Paper Competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Large Scale High Resolution Flood Inundation Mapping in Real Time, by Adnan Rajib from the Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University

Evaluating Risks of Dam-Reservoir Systems Based on Rare Event Simulation, by Qianli Deng, a student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland-College Park

Assessing Sediment Accumulation in Reservoirs Behind Dams in the Lake Erie Watershed from Past to Present, by Fatemeh Alighalenbabakhani, a Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Wayne State University-Detroit

2016 competitors L-R: ASFPM Foundation President Doug Plasencia, 2nd place winner Qianli Deng, 1st place winner Adnan Rajib, and 3rd place winner Fatemeh Alighalenbabakhani. Photo by Michele Mihalovich.

2015 Collegiate Student Paper Competition in Atlanta, Georgia

Developing Flood Loss Curve for City of Sacramento, Md Nowfel Mahmud Bhuyian 

Salmon Refuge: The Endangered Species Act and FEMA's NFIP, Patrick Johnson

Mitigating Calgary, Alberta's Vulnerability to Flooding, Adnya Sarasmita

2015 Competitors, Pictured L-R:
Adnya Sarasmita, University of Washington, 2nd place; Patrick Johnson, University of Idaho, 1st place; Md Nowfel Mahmud Bhuyian (Tanvir), University of Tennessee Technological University, 3rd place.

2014 Collegiate Student Paper Competition in Seattle, Washington

Bioretention Research and Demonstration Project, Grant Livingston

Preventing Flood Damage to Businesses in Historic Downtown Snoqualmie, WA, Kristen Vitro

Mitigating Total Flood Impacts through Intentional Flooding in Agricultural Land along the Lower Nooksack River, Francesca White

2014 Competitors, Pictured L-R:
Grant Livingston, Oregon State University, 1st place
Kristin Vitro, University of Washington, 2nd place
Francesca White, University of Washington, 3rd place
Doug Plasencia, ASFPM Foundation President

2013 Collegiate Student Paper Competition in Hartford, Connecticut

Flood Resistance to Flood Resilience: Mapping our Water Systems Below to Understand how to Shape Our Land Above, Kendra FitzRandolph

Fish and Floods: Implementation of the 2008 Biological Opinion on the National Flood Insurance Program in Washington State, Meg Olson

2012 Collegiate Student Paper Competition in San Antonio, Texas

Risk Analysis and Damage Assessment for Flood Prone Areas in Washington DC, Arian Lessani

Historic Levees and Cultural Resource Management in South Jersey, Jesse Lattig and Marshall Tidwell

2011 Collegiate Student Paper Competition in Louisville, Kentucky

Uncertainty Analysis in Flood Inundation Mapping, Younghun Jung

The Effect of Land-cover Changes on Lag Time in the Banklick Creek Watershed, KY, Katelyn Toebbe

Project Safe Haven: Vertical Evacuation Opportunities on the Washington Coast, Jeana C. Wiser