Kowalski received a second place award out of the approximately 80 master of science and Ph.D. student presentations for his research proposal, "The Growth of Epiphytes and Seagrasses Under the Influence of Treated Wastewater Discharge." His proposal, submitted for the first Texas Academy of Science Competitive Graduate Student Research Grant award, received the only award presented, $500, with the stipulation that Kowalski present the results of the study at the 1999 meeting of the academy.
Kowalski is a graduate student under the direction of Drs. Terry C. Allison, Frank Judd and Robert Lonard of the UT Pan American Department of Biology faculty and Ken Dunton, a faculty member at the UT Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas.