The California-Nevada Section of the American Water Works Association announced the recipients of its 2016-17 scholarship awards. Two $5,000 scholarships for graduate-level education, three $2,500 undergraduate scholarships and one $1,000 drinking water operator scholarship were awarded to students pursuing a drinking-water-related career.

Scott Evan Miller, a Ph.D. student in environmental engineering at UC Berkeley received the inaugural $5,000 Dr. Pankaj Parekh Memorial Scholarship. This honors the late Dr. Parekh, who was director of water quality at Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and a national leader in the professional drinking water community.

Carol Rose Taylor, a graduate student at University of Nevada, Reno, also received a $5,000 scholarship. She is also studying environmental engineering.

Three students received $2,500 scholarships for their undergraduate education. Kahui Lim is an undergraduate at UC Davis in the civil and environmental engineering program. Yesika Olano-Alonso is an undergraduate at University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the College of Engineering. Austin Simpson will be entering college this fall at University of Tampa.

The first recipient of the CA-NV AWWA's new, One AWWA Operator Scholarship, is Austin Lyford. He will receive $1,000 to continue his studies at Cuyamaca Community College. He is also currently the president of the student chapter there.

Scholarship winners receive complimentary student memberships in AWWA for the duration of their degree program. Recipients will be recognized at the CA-NV AWWA Annual Fall Conference in San Diego in late October.

The American Water Works Association is the professional organization for the drinking water industry. The California-Nevada Section, with 6,000 members, is the largest of the 44 AWWA Sections. Founded in 1920, it provides education, training and professional development to all sectors in drinking water.

Information on the scholarship program can be found on the CA-NV AWWA website. For more information, contact Sara Baxter at 909/291-2102 or visit ca-nv-awwa.org.

The California-Nevada Section of American Water Works Association is a nonprofit association whose mission is to support the drinking water professionals who provide safe and reliable water to millions of people throughout California and Nevada.