Hanna Bates joined the Iowa Water Center at the end of August as the Program Assistant. In this position, she will administer our grants program, assist in planning our education and outreach events, and assist in facilitating the relationship between water-related researchers and the public.
Hanna grew up on a diversified family farm operation in Harlan, Iowa. Growing up on a farm cultivated her passion to help keep Midwestern agriculture and the environment resilient for the future. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa and completed her Masters of Science degree at Iowa State University in Spring 2015. While at Iowa State University, she studied Sustainable Agriculture and Sociology with a research focus on the adoption and diffusion of conservation practices among Iowa farmers.
Hanna has spent the prior year working at Prairie Rivers of Iowa managing an Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Water Quality Initiative Grant for the Squaw Creek Watershed located in central Iowa. In this position, she worked with public-private partners in agriculture, local farmers and landowners to use new conservation practices, and coordinated education and outreach efforts to local community members.
In this position at the Iowa Water Center, Hanna is looking forward to working with the experts in soil health and water quality and to help support their research goals. She is excited to be a part the mission of the Water Center, which is to promote water-related research, provide educational opportunities, and to create tools that the public can use to shape better policy and everyday practices that improve our natural resources.