Stanley Shumaker, a retired civil engineer and an amateur archaeologist, initiated the Geoarchaeology Lab Fund with a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) at the end of 2024. The fund will support Dr. Teresa Wriston’s Geoarchaeology Lab, and her research centering on how past cultures coped or adapted to changing environmental conditions.
Guo Yu, assistant research professor of hydrometeorology, along with collaborator Luke McGuire from the University of Arizona, received a three-year grant from the USGS Water Resources Research Act Program. The funding will be used to expand his work examining how repeated wildfires impact flooding risk in communities.
The Lafrances two-year gift will ensure to safe water in healthcare facilities and surrounding communities with additional new wells.