Author: Heidi Jeter

When it comes to learning about water and its impacts, what better to study than the Mississippi River? Its massive watershed spans nearly a third of the continental United States.  

As one of our nation’s key transportation routes, the Mighty Mississippi significantly impacts the economy, transportation and recreation. Understanding how humans use the Mississippi River and how those actions impact natural ecosystems and human populations living along its banks is important to the health of the entire region.  

To help prepare future water professionals, faculty from UW-La Crosse and UW-Platteville created a one-of-a-kind course: The Mississippi River: Mighty and Managed. Development of the course and its first offering were funded by the Freshwater Collaborative.  

Alysa Remsburg, teaching professor in the Sustainability and Environmental Studies Program at UW- La Crosse, says the goal was to create a multidisciplinary course to help students understand the complex social-economic-ecological dynamics of managing the Mississippi River watershed. They wanted students to see how activities in one part of the hydrologic system affect areas upstream and downstream. For example, how does agricultural runoff in the upper Midwest affect people living along the Gulf of Mexico? 

“This course examines how land and river management have resulted in the infrastructure we depend on and also significant environmental damage,” she says. 

Students study past and present Mississippi River management, how decisions affect underserved communities along the river, and controversies with river transportation, flooding, recreation, pollution, and invasive species.  

Remsburg and her co-creators wanted to provide an experience that was hands-on and offered diverse perspectives. For example, Remsburg focused on content around environmental sustainability. Austin Polebitski, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at UW-Platteville, create lessons around flood modeling. Rebecca Doyle-Morin, professor of biology at UW-Platteville, discussed mussel research and invasive species. 

Guest speakers and field trips provide additional insight. The collaborative course offering in spring 2023 featured professionals who shared firsthand knowledge about floodplain insurance, village resilience, river recreation, lock and dam operation, barge navigation, water quality monitoring, stormwater runoff, invasive species management, and archaeology. 

The second offering will be in spring 2025 at UW-La Crosse. Remsburg will include materials developed by her co-instructors at UW-Platteville.  

By learning how river management impacts different stakeholders, students gain insight into the tradeoffs among different economic sectors, cultural values, and natural systems. Thus, students who wish to enter careers in natural resource management will be more informed decision makers.  

The beauty of the course is that it attracts students from many majors, not those focused solely on water and the environment. 

“We go in-depth about river issues, but the course doesn’t require a science background,” Remsburg says. “It’s good for anyone living near water and who will experience increased storm events, which is really all of us.”  

See Course Offerings. 

Wisconsinite knows that Door County and northern Wisconsin are recreational wonderlands in the summertime. These areas of the state also offer a wealth of options for learning about freshwater science.  

UW Oshkosh’s Field Sampling and Analysis course, which is supported by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, provides university students at any level with the opportunity to learn in some of the state’s most beautiful places: the Lowenwood campus in Land O’ Lakes and Crossroads at Big Creek in Door County.  

“This class is open to students from all campuses,” says Greg Kleinheinz, chair of the UW Oshkosh Department of Engineering and Engineering Technology. “It explores areas of the state that are not well represented by a UW campus.”   

Students Gain Applicable Skills

The three-credit course is designed for undergraduates with no prior field work or lab experience. It couples short lectures with experiential learning that prepares students for the workforce or graduate study. 

Nearly 40 students have taken the course during the past three summers, including one from Cardinal Stritch in Milwaukee, one from UW-Madison and another from Michigan Technological University. The faculty hope to increase the number of non-UW Oshkosh students in the future. 

Though only two weeks long, the course packs in learning. Students participate in several hands-on labs to familiarize them with freshwater-related topics. They then split into groups and use industry grade sampling equipment to sample local lakes and streams. The collected data is aggregated to an overall dataset, which students use to analyze the water quality of the system of study. Additional activities focus on sediment monitoring, chlorophyll and nutrients, macroinvertebrates, and pollutants in groundwater that can contaminate wells. 

“This is a very active class and teaches many practical skills,” says Marcel Dijkstra, who co-teaches the course. 

Networking Opportunities Add to Course’s Popularity

The collected data is shared with the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance (FWWA), a local nonprofit working to improve water quality. Dijkstra notes that several students have become members of the FWWA and volunteer for clean-up events and other field work. 

He adds that several students have used the class as a launching point for graduate school or careers in water-related sectors, including with U.S. Venture and the Fond du Lac Health Department. 

Students also connect with professionals working for other UW Oshkosh partners to provide a comprehensive experience. This includes Crossroads at Big Creek, Baileys Harbor Wastewater Treatment Facility, Door County Brewing, and Northern Adventures. 

“Students use the local landscapes to explore concepts and hands-on teaching. This includes learning from those in the area about the challenges and then working on solutions for these problems,” Kleinheinz says. “The lab and field skills are practical to a number of industries, including water and wastewater, soil and water conservation, and storm water treatment.”   

Student demand for this class has been increasing as word spreads. Several students who have taken the class have asked UW Oshkosh to develop a follow-up course as they enjoyed the hands-on practical approach. 

See Freshwater Collaborative Course Listing for details.