KINGSVILLE (Oct. 20, 2025) — Texas A&M University-Kingsville senior Political Science major and McNair Scholar Leeya Flores received the Student Rising Star – Higher Education Award by the Coastal Bend Bays Foundation during the 2025 Environmental Awards Banquet on Thursday, Oct. 16 at the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi.
Flores received the award for her research on water quality during her McNair research project and her current senior capstone Honors Independent Project entitled Analyzing the Impact of Climate Change on Coastal Waters Salinity and Fresh Water Access in the Coastal Bend Area Texas.
“I think it’s a really good sign when research and looking into things that you’re passionate about doesn’t go unnoticed,” Flores said. “Especially when it’s something you can make a big difference in. I can recall last summer presenting for the McNair Undergraduate Research Conference, I had so many people come up to me and express that they have never seen anything like this, or that they always think about water but not the quality of it.”
Flores’ initial project dove into South Texas residents’ perception of their water source’s safety, accessibility and trustworthiness, where she found a disconnect between technical water quality standards and the everyday lives of people who use aging infrastructure, face water boil notices or utilize well water as their source.
For her senior capstone, Flores looked at climate change on coastal water salinity and freshwater access in the Coastal Bend. She also studied how water availability is altered in vulnerable areas through drought, sea-level rise and industrial development.
“Receiving this award drives me to not give up,” Flores said. “I think a lot people feel like they’re not making a difference and that people aren’t looking at what they’re doing or don’t care about it. I don’t think that’s true — there are people who care about everything everywhere.”
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