SAN MARCOS — Palomar College Water Technology Professor Jacob Shiba was awarded $500,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to prepare students for careers in the water industry.
At colleges such as Palomar, the grant helps fund research opportunities, increases diversity and inclusion, and prepares students for workforce needs. The NSF, an independent U.S. agency established in the 1950s, supports fundamental education and research in non-medical fields of engineering and sciences. Its core mission is to advance national health, welfare, prosperity, and security by promoting scientific advancement.
“What this grant does is it provides a funding stream that I kind of think of as in two buckets,” Shiba said. “The first is that it actually helps give me time to administer this grant and to improve the program by buying out my time from the college so I could teach less and I have more time to do other things for the program. The other bucket is providing funding to be able to create new outreach materials, to hire someone to do more outreach for us, to pay our own faculty.”
The water technology program offers students an Associate in Science (AS) degree and certificates of achievement specifically designed for the water industry. It provides pre-employment training through specialized coursework.
Palomar College has a partnership with Vallecitos Water District, which offers pathways to employment and hands-on experiences for Palomar students majoring in water technology.
“We set out with three main goals or objectives for this grant. The first one’s really about innovating curriculum. The second one is really increasing the workforce pipeline. The third one though, is really improving that career readiness,” Shiba said.
The water industry is vital to California, where parts of the state continue to face drought. As of April 10, 2025 there hasn’t been big improvement in the intense areas in California and Nevada, according to Drought.gov. With water demand rising under climate change, the industry is one of the most critical fields in Southern California.
Students in the program can expect the grant to expand career preparation, create more internship opportunities, and reinforce Palomar’s role in workforce development.
“If I had to sum it up, the goal here is really to better prepare students to enter the water industry and for those that are already in the industry to better help them rise up through the ranks,” said Shiba.