Author: Heidi Jeter

Farron Bussian wasn’t sure what to expect when she applied for an internship with Jacobs Engineering in October 2023, but she was quickly integrated into a national team of water professionals.

“At the time, I wasn’t entirely sure what kind of careers were open to me, but I knew I wanted to be able to work outdoors to an extent,” says Bussian, who graduated from UW-Parkside with her master’s degree in biology in August 2025. “The internship at Jacobs was my first experience with drinking water systems.”

The internships came about through a collaboration with the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin and UW Oshkosh that enabled Jacobs to quickly hire students from 10 of the Universities of Wisconsin to work on Wisconsin’s Service Line Inventory Project. The Freshwater Collaborative hosted informational webinars for Jacobs to connect with students across the state, and UW Oshkosh managed the hiring and payroll processes.

The streamlined process allowed Jacobs to onboard students quickly and deliver service line material inventories to Wisconsin community water systems under tight federal deadlines. Students received training, mentoring, and hands-on experience in the water industry as part of Jacobs’ project team.

Bolstering Jacobs’ Workforce

Bussian was one of 30 students who worked with Jacobs employees to provide water systems with the technical assistance they needed to meet the goals of the federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions. 

At the peak of the internship project, which ran through June 2025, students were providing nearly half the weekly work hours to supplement the Jacobs’ team. This allowed the program to serve more water systems quickly and efficiently. The team helped about 320 small Wisconsin water systems comply with the federal requirements.

“This was huge for us, not only for the learning opportunity we could give to students but in terms of augmenting our staff,” says Natalie Lenz, a water resources engineer at Jacobs. “The students were contributing through hands-on technical tasks like reviewing data and record drawings, creating service line material inventories, working in our collaborative digital environment, and helping with site visits to visit different water systems.”

In addition, Lenz says, mentoring students provided opportunities for Jacobs’ staff interested in growing their leadership skills. “It was a really rewarding experience for the Jacobs team who trained and mentored students one-on-one and in small groups. We were so excited to hear from alumni who decided to pursue jobs in the water sector.”

A Path to Jobs

The real-world experiences helped many of the students land jobs.

Baylie Hansen graduated from UW-Whitewater in May 2024 and now works as a watershed conservation coordinator assistant for Waterways Association of Menominee and Shawano Counties. Her time with Jacobs reinforced the importance of attention to detail and effective client communication.

“In my current position, I feel a lot more confident in communicating with landowners and managing my time within my projects,” she says.

Before her internship, Skylar Johnston had a lot of field experience working in rivers. She was interested in learning about water safety in city settings. Through site visits on the Lead Service Line Inventory project, Johnston learned extensive GIS data entry skills, how to read construction drawings and the impacts of lead in drinking water. She also worked on another Freshwater Collaborative project: BenthicNet.

The practical skills paid off. She began work as a water services coordinator for the city of Racine a month before graduating from UW-Parkside with a master’s in biological sciences in May 2026.

“A component of my new job is working with the city of Racine on the lead inventory work!” she says.

Bussian’s experience went so well that she was hired as a full-time water resource scientist at Jacobs. In addition to providing technical support on the Service Line Inventory Project, Bussian interacts with clients and supports multiple teams at Jacobs. She is also working on environmental monitoring and remediation projects.

“I have a great balance of office work and field work,” she says. “I am excited to continue learning and hopefully to see the Service Line Inventory project through to the end!”

If you are a company interested in hiring university students to work on similar projects, we invite you to reach out to the Freshwater Collaborative to see how we might partner.

Written by Heidi Jeter, Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

UW-Stout leads three of the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin’s longest-running programs that train the next generation of water scientists: the Field Hydrology three-week advanced field course, the Red Cedar River Basin Internship Program, and the Water in Western Wisconsin: An Interdisciplinary Freshwater Field Camp for High School Students.

The programs involve multiple faculty and staff from UW-Stout, UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls, and UW-Oshkosh and are open to students across the state. Many of the undergraduate participants serve as mentors to the high school students.

Read about the programs and students involved in UW-Stout Polytechnic’s Red Cedar Basin Monitoring Group trains next generation of water scientists.

Dr. Sarah Vitale, associate professor of geology and environmental science at UW-Eau Claire, is helping Wisconsin educators teach their students about groundwater flow and its impact.

During a workshop on June 26, 2026, she guided K-12 educators through exercises and discussions. They learned how water moves from the earth’s surface into wells, aquifers, rivers and lakes, and how to measure water depth and determine its flow. They also toured the city of Eau Claire’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Each instructor received a free groundwater model for their classroom. Dana Lex, who has taught for 28 years at West De Pere High School, drove across the state to acquire a model.

A Freshwater Collaborative grant covers the workshop costs, including the groundwater models and meals and lodging for participants.

Read more about the workshop and hear from participants.

What’s it like to work as a marine tech? Four UW-Milwaukee students took a five-day crash course that taught them all about this career — and earned them a marine tech deck microcredential from the Marine Technology Society.

The 2026 Expedition to Great Lake Michigan course, funded by the Freshwater Collaborative, turns classroom learning into intensive practical skills practice aboard UW-Milwaukee’s Research Vessel Neeskay. The course is open to students from any university.

On day one, Neeskay Captain Max Morgan provided an overview of marine tech careers, terminology and vessel operations. The next day, students went through hands-on activities in the classroom followed by a day aboard the ship to get hands-on reinforcement of what they learned. Skills included knot tying, hydraulic winch operation and safety, scientific equipment deployment and pilothouse procedures.

“Students learned how to bridge the gap between vessel operations and science at sea,” Morgan said.

The second part of the week focused on freshwater research. Ben Peterson, assistant professor, introduced students to limnology, mercury cycling, and field sampling methods. Then they applied their knowledge aboard the Neeskay during a foggy, rainy expedition on Lake Michigan. 

“The day on the vessel mimicked a sampling day from my research, where we collected water, sediments, phytoplankton and mussels for a study on mercury cycling in the Great Lakes,” Peterson said. “The goal was to make it as real-life as possible, to give them a sense of what it’s like to be on a project on a research vessel.”

Ethan Lloyd, a conservation/environmental sciences major, described his life as “remarkably terrestrial.” He hadn’t spent much time on the water prior to this course and thought it could be an interesting addition to his summer. Not only was it a fun learning experience, but it opened his eyes to career possibilities.

Celia Vowels, on the other hand, is an international studies major who works as a deckhand on the Neeskay.

“I took this class to go deeper with my boat knowledge, learn about what it takes to be a marine technician, and gain some credentials,” she said. “This class confirmed that I want to get more involved with boats career-wise, and this was a cool way to explore another route to do that.”

By Heidi Jeter, Freshwater Collaborative