Sean Salazar, a civil engineering doctoral student, was the grand finalist of the 2017 United States Society on Dams (USSD) Scholarship Program. Salazar was selected as one of four finalists to present his research proposal to members of the USSD Board of Directors at the annual conference in Anaheim, California, in April. The award presented to Salazar totaled $10,000.

"The USSD is a great organization that is focused on promoting public awareness about dams within the United States. This scholarship program provides graduate students with an opportunity to write a proposal and be evaluated on the way in which they present the proposal. In addition to the $10,000 that Sean received as the grand finalist, Sean also received proposal writing experience that will serve him well in the future." Said Rick Coffman, Salazar's faculty adviser, who also received the top scholarship prize from USSD as a doctoral student at the University of Missouri in 2007, and who encouraged Salazar to apply to this year's program.

Salazar's proposed research focused on remote sensing techniques for monitoring of dams. The techniques that Salazar presented offer innovative and cost-effective solutions for performing routine safety inspections for dams and levees, as well as early detection or forensic investigation of dam failures.

Salazar's research area is remote sensing for geotechnical engineering applications, which include natural hazards, such as post-wildfire debris flows and landslides. Salazar is a Fellow of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP) and of the 2017-2018 NSF-GROW Norway Program. He is expected to graduate in May of 2019.