More than 55 graduate and undergraduate students from all academic disciplines at the University of Nevada, Reno will present their research on local, regional, national and international water issues at the 11th annual Student World Water Forum.

The forum is hosted by the College of Agriculture Biotechnology and Natural Resources and is based on the international World Water Forum, which is held every three years in various locations around the world. The two-day forum will take place as part of International Education Week and will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 21, and 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22, in the Great Room on the fourth floor of the Joe Crowley Student Union.

"The students will speak about water issues that occur all around the world," Erik Cadaret, a graduate student studying hydrogeology, said. "We have students talking about water issues in the Middle East, South America, Africa, Greenland and many situations within the United States. Some students will talk about political and religious issues that affect water."

The amount of participants has increased this year due to the addition of the International Water Issues for Development class at the University. Students in this class spend the semester learning in depth about water issues by studying hydrology, environmental issues, water rights and more.

"This year, we have a wider range of students outside of hydrology students," Cadaret said. "We have environmental science, journalism, political science and a few students in the atmospheric sciences."

All participants will present to the public and local professionals from 15 different organizations such as the Desert Research Institute, Nevada Division of Water Resources and the Federal Water Master Office. These professionals will give the students feedback on their presentation skills, and provide students the opportunity to network.

"The forum simulates what a scientific conference would be like," Katherine Clancy, a graduate hydrology student, said. "For the undergraduates, it is the first time they may be presenting their work at a conference, and for the graduate students, the forum provides an opportunity to gain additional experience."

Cadaret and Clancey, along with four other graduate students, have taken the lead in organizing the conference and to spread word to the community under the guidance of Kate Berry, professor of geography, and Laurel Saito, director of the gradate program of hydrologic sciences. According to Cadaret, the Reno community has been supportive of the conference this year by donating raffle prizes for the event. The event is free and open to the public and the organizers look forward to many people from the community attending the conference.

The second day of the forum will end with a keynote address presented by John Shurts from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. He will give a talk titled "Rethinking the Columbia River Treaty: will we get the future right this time?" The presentation begins at 4 p.m., Friday, Nov. 21, in the Nell J. Redfield Auditorium, room 110 of the Davidson Math and Science Center.