W&L Students Win Second Place in Undergraduate Geoscience Poster Competition The group presented their research at the 2025 GSA Connects Annual Meeting.

By Lily Caldwell
December 5, 2025

Washington and Lee University students Toni-Marie Alibah ’27, Vi Cao ’28 and Daniel De La Rosa ’29 were recently awarded second place in the undergraduate research in hydrogeology poster competition at the 2025 GSA Connects Annual Meeting on Oct. 20, in San Antonio.

The group’s poster, titled “Assessing Groundwater Chemistry and Quality in Private Wells and Springs in Rockbridge County, Virginia,” investigates the quality and composition of private wells and springs in Rockbridge County. About 70% of the local population relies on private wells and springs for their primary water supply, so ensuring groundwater quality is critical for protecting public health. Their research aims to understand the suitability of these groundwater systems as a drinking water source and to fuel data-driven decision-making in the public health sector.

“We will be returning all of these results to the property owners to raise awareness about the quality of their groundwater,” said Alibah, an accounting and Spanish double major from Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The three students conducted their research this past summer with Madhumita Chakraborty, assistant professor of earth and environmental geoscience at W&L. Their work consisted of field research collecting water samples, analyzing contamination patterns and applying GIS-based spatial data analysis.

“We are so proud of Toni-Marie, Vi and Daniel’s achievement,” said Chakraborty.  “They earned second place in the undergraduate poster competition, which is an incredible milestone. The project was a wonderful team effort, and they spent the summer together working directly with 45 households across Rockbridge County to test water quality from private wells and springs. Their work not only builds a strong baseline dataset for groundwater quality in our area but also gives local residents meaningful information about their water quality to help guide their decisions.”

“We presented our poster for an extra hour because so many people came up,” said De La Rosa, an intended earth and environmental geoscience and politics double major from Henrico, Virginia, who got involved with the research through the W&L AIM Program. “I didn’t really think about it after the presentation, so finding out we got second place was a big surprise.”

The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a global scientific society that aims to enhance the professional growth of geoscientists at all career levels, encouraging cooperative research among earth, life, planetary and social scientists. The GSA Connects Annual Meeting brings together geoscientists from around the world to discover groundbreaking research, connect with experts and shape future geoscientists. Programming includes technical and poster sessions, field trips and lectures.

“My experience at the conference was beyond amazing,” said Cao, an intended earth and environmental geoscience and economics double major from Vietnam. “I had a chance to talk to a lot of people, attending lots of talks and listening to a variety of interesting research. The conference helped assure me that I have chosen the right major and am on the right track.”

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