Spring Courses Explore the Connection Between Agriculture and Water in Wisconsin

Farming is a vital part of Wisconsin’s economy, and agricultural practices significantly impact the state’s water resources. The Ag-Water Nexus Seminar and Ag-Water Nexus Field Experience equip students with a broad, interdisciplinary education that integrates agricultural and environmental perspectives.

The courses rotate among four universities, allowing students to explore different agricultural areas in Wisconsin. The spring 2026 offering is based at UW-Platteville. The fall 2026 offering will be at UW-Green Bay.

These courses are funded by the Freshwater Collaborative and are offered by the Wisconsin Ag-Water Nexus, a collaboration of faculty from UW-Green Bay, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls and UW-Stevens Point. Students must be enrolled at one of the four universities.

Seminar: Highlights current research and applied projects addressing Wisconsin’s agricultural water issues. Students engage with leading faculty, graduate students, and professionals through guest lectures, discussions, and online reflections. This is an online synchronous/asynchronous one-credit course.

Field Experience: Immerses students in Wisconsin’s agricultural regions to examine the relationship between farming practices and water resource management. Over the course of a three-day field experience, students engage in site visits to local farms and agricultural cooperatives, hands-on labs, and conversations with researchers, conservationists, and producers. They build practical skills, foster professional connections, and gain deeper understanding of the real-world challenges and solutions at the agriculture–water interface. This is a one-credit in-person course held May 1-3, 2026.

To learn more and enroll in the course, students should contact their campus Ag-Water Nexus coordinator:

Enrollment capacity will be limited:

  • Up to five students each from the non-host campuses with all travel, lodging, and select meals covered.
  • Up to 15 students from the host campus, with travel and select meals covered.

Here’s what previous participants say about the courses:

“To summarize the Ag-Water field experience in a single phrase: collaboration at every level from the scientists in the lab to the farmers in the fields, to the educators who showed it to us all. At every stop, this trip confirmed how vast the systems are in the agroecological world. And then, given that this class was focused on water, further explanation was then given on how water was related to these systems.” — UW-Platteville student

“The wide variety of places we got the opportunity to visit on this field trip was amazing. Each stop differed from the rest and presented something new to expand upon and learn about. My favorite stop was the Blue River Stream Restoration Site and Big Spring. I have a restoration emphasis at UWRF so this was particularly interesting to me and pertained directly to my future career.” — UW-River Falls student

“Overall, I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in this field experience. I saw many things that were insightful about agricultural practices and how they are managed in a way to try and protect the environment as best as can be done in a financially feasible way.” — UW-Green Bay student