Environmental Science Day Inspires Next Generation of Freshwater Scientists

UW-Eau Claire’s Environmental Science Day brings together high school students, teachers, and university faculty and students for a day of freshwater exploration and discovery.

“Our first Environmental Science Day [in May 2024] was a huge success,” says Sarah Vitale, an associate professor who organized the event. “One of our goals was to have broad representation in environmental and water science so the students could envision a variety of pathways, including STEM fields, humanities, and social sciences.”

The second annual event will take place May 2. Vitale plans to build upon last year’s success. The inaugural event drew 40 high school students and four teachers from Elk Mound and Memorial High Schools.

Students saw the university’s lab, classroom, and field facilities and interacted with UW-Eau Claire faculty, staff and undergraduate students. Alaina Steinmetz, who graduated from UW-Eau Claire in May 2024, was an integral part of planning the event. She helped lead a team of undergraduates who determined how to create a positive flow of fun activities while also teaching attendees important skills.

“Showing the attendees how the environment and science is a broad world that has a variety of paths was the main goal we all strived to achieve,” Steinmetz says.

A program fair featured information from multiple departments to demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of environmental work. Eight undergraduate students showcased their research posters, providing a glimpse into undergraduate research opportunities.

Participants attended classes in oceanography, radiation pollution and health, and environmental conservation, giving them insight into what university-level coursework entails. Interactive experiences brought scientific concepts to life. They included a liquid nitrogen demonstration, a greenhouse tour, a drone demonstration, a radiation Geiger counter activity, and a planetarium show.

High school students also learned about freshwater summer program options, including the Freshwater Science Summer Field Experience for high school juniors. They received information about the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, which provides funding for the summer field experience and the Environmental Science Day.

Alaina Steinmetz, who graduated in May, gained valuable job skills while helping to organize the Environmental Science Day.

For Steinmetz, helping to organize the science fair provided an opportunity to work with a variety of clubs and students. She gained skills she now uses as an environmental scientist with the consulting firm Foth.

“I work across various business units and markets for my company. Being able to collaborate and make sure we are all on the same page makes the work flow much easier,” she says. “Communication and collaboration are a huge part of the workforce, and working events helped prepare me for a variety of real-life situations.”

Beyond benefiting students, the Environmental Science Day strengthened connections among high school teachers and UW-Eau Claire faculty. The participating teachers gained new ideas for implementing environmental science activities in their classrooms. And the connections laid the groundwork for future collaborations and potential curriculum development.

“The students loved being on campus and learning about environmental science programs,” Vitale says. “We hope these experiences will encourage the participating students to consider going into the freshwater/environmental science workforce.”

If you are an educator interested in participating in the 2025 Environmental Science Day, contact Sarah Vitale at VITALESA@uwec.edu.

UW-Green Bay Internship Helps Undergrad Choose a Career Path

Gaining hands-on experiences helped Sam, a biology major at UW-Green Bay, determine her career path. During her freshwater science internship with the Stream Team, Sam participated in water monitoring and lab analysis, and learned how she could play a role in improving the environment.

Another one of Sam’s hands-on experiences at UW-Green Bay involved serving as the coordinator for the High School Freshwater Summer Scholars Program, which gave her a leadership role working with high school students. The program is one of the K-12 outreach efforts supported by Educators and Students Rise to Freshwater Challenges, which UW-Green Bay developed with funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin.

Course Introduces Hundreds to Importance of Studying Water

“Why is water so important?”

To help more undergraduates answer that question, faculty from five of the Universities of Wisconsin co-created a new course in the summer of 2021.

This introductory freshwater course was the first whose development was funded by the Freshwater Collaborative. Faculty from UW-La Crosse, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW Oshkosh and UW-Parkside collaborated to develop each aspect — and to ensure that delivery of the content would work on every campus involved.

They built a series of curated case studies that teach students about the complex interactions among the ecological, societal, economic, and physical aspects of water. The course includes readings, lectures, active learning exercises, and most importantly, field trips and other hands-on learning experiences.

“We wanted to create a course that would give students across the state a deep appreciation of the importance of freshwater, and that would also fuel a thirst for more knowledge in this area,” says Marissa Jablonski, executive director of the Freshwater Collaborative. “Our hope was that more students would become interested in water-related degrees and careers.”

The course rolled out at UW-Madison in fall 2021; at UW-La Crosse, UW Oshkosh and UW-Milwaukee in 2022; and at UW-Parkside in 2023. Since the first offering, the course has been offered 15 times, and 450 students have taken it.

Fundamentals of Freshwater, as it’s known at UW-Parkside, is offered as a general education course. It is also part of the freshwater resources minor or certificate within the environmental studies program.

“The collaborative materials were invaluable to the creation of this course,” says Jessica Orlofske, associate professor at UW-Parkside. “To appeal to all students, we also incorporated high impact activities and emphasized human connections with water throughout the course.”

Both UW-Madison and UW-La Crosse offer the course specifically to first-year students.

“A big benefit is we are reaching students who would otherwise not have taken a freshwater course,” says Eric Strauss, professor at UW-La Crosse. “Students leave the course with a strong appreciation for this valuable resource and how, regardless of their career path, freshwater is important to them.”

The course has proved particularly popular at UW-Milwaukee and UW Oshkosh. Both universities offer it as a general education option.

“This course has been very successful and has achieved maximum enrollment each time it was offered,” says Greg Kleinheinz, professor in the Department of Engineering Technology at UW Oshkosh, where 150 students have taken the course. Kleinheinz says several undecided students have declared water-related majors after taking the course.

Known as Elements of Freshwater at UW-Milwaukee, the course is required for the bachelor of freshwater sciences degree, which launched in 2021. In spring 2024, it was approved as a general education credit. This designation allows students from any major at UW-Milwaukee to enroll.

The course is also offered through the Early College Credit Program, which allows high school students to earn college credits. To accommodate high school schedules, it is offered each semester and in the summer.

To expand upon the course’s popularity — 170 students have taken the course at UW-Milwaukee — faculty are in the process of developing a one-credit lab course that, when paired with the introductory course, will fulfill the natural science w/ lab general education requirement for non-science students.

“It’s really fantastic to see how this cross-campus collaboration has led to hundreds of students learning about freshwater,” Jablonski says. “It really helps students realize the many career paths they could take if they study freshwater science.”

See course information.

Course Goes Deep into the Mississippi River and Its Impact 

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. 

Recreational Wonderlands Make for Hands-on Freshwater ‘Classrooms’ 

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. 

Group photo of faculty and students
Students from across the state learn while experiencing the beauty of Door County and Land O’Lakes.

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.

Aquaculture Experiences for Students Address Workforce Challenges

Wisconsin’s aquaculture industry needs help — literally.

The aquaculture industry is facing a major staffing shortage. Researchers from UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Stevens Point are tackling this challenge from all angles. With support from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, they are partnering with commercial fish farms, K-12 schools and universities statewide to create aquaculture experiences for high school and undergraduate students.

“This project was born out of a needs assessment Wisconsin Sea Grant conducted,” says Sharon Moen, the food-fish outreach coordinator at Wisconsin Sea Grant and principal investigator on the project. “One of the main challenges fish farmers reported was a sparce to non-existent workforce.”

Lack of Staff Challenges

The largest fish farms in Wisconsin face difficulty hiring and keeping qualified staff in rural areas. In addition, more dairy farms are repurposing barns and silos into aquaculture and aquaponic systems to supplement their incomes.

“The dairy industry has collapsed in such a big way that dairy farmers are trying to save their farms by raising different types of high-value fish,” Moen says.

A factor in attracting staff may be misconceptions. Fish farming, as it’s sometimes called, has gotten a bad rap due to harmful practices of fish farms in oceans that use net pens and pollute the waters with waste.

Wisconsin, however, is highly regulated regarding water usage and effluent, says Emma Hauser, aquaculture outreach specialist for the UW-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility. Fish farming in Wisconsin is also highly diverse, from ponds to flow-through systems to recirculating systems. Some producers are also utilizing aquaponics, a water reuse process through which the fish waste naturally fertilizes the plants. The plants then purify the water for the fish. Extra waste is put onto fields as part of regenerative farming practices.

“In the United States, aquaculture is the most highly regulated form of protein you can get, but there’s a slew of misconceptions,” Hauser says. “I think that contributes to the workforce development challenges.”

Pathways to Jobs

The collaborative team wants to combat misperceptions and create job pathways for young people. Much of this is being done through K-12 outreach and working directly with teachers across the state. The emphasis is on ensuring students are trained properly in caring for fish.

“Part of my job supports aquaculture in the classroom, helping schools set up their systems and teaching them how to maintain them,” Hauser says. “We also donate fish and provide technical assistance when the students run into problems.”

The team also hopes to increase the number of Wisconsin students who compete in the Aquaculture Challenge, an annual competition held by Lake Superior State University and Michigan Sea Grant. Teams of high school students create their own small scale aquaponics system. Registration runs Oct. 31-Jan. 10.

The grant also offers high school and undergraduate students valuable hands-on research experience in Dong Fang Deng’s fish labs at the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences. Under Deng’s mentorship, students learn essential fish culture techniques, including feed preparation, fish feeding, water quality monitoring, and sample collection to address specific project questions. They collaborate with graduate students to conduct research on various fish species, such as yellow perch, lake sturgeon, and walleye, and explore how changes in nutrition and water quality impact fish performance.

“The goal is for students to acquire basic skills and understand the challenges of aquaculture,” Deng says. “I hope these internships inspire them and offer a glimpse into lab work and research, highlighting how we can support the industry. To achieve sustainability, the aquaculture sector needs skilled workforce and innovative technologies.”

Benefits to Students

Pranil Panda, a graduate of New Berlin Eisenhower High School, spent two summers working in Deng’s lab. In 2023, he presented his research on optimal feed rates for walleye fingerlings at the 2024 Wisconsin and Minnesota Aquaculture Conference in Red Cliff, Wisc. This was his first conference, and he won an award for Best Oral Presentation. Currently, he is a freshman at UW-Madison, where he plans to declare a double major in biology and zoology.

“Getting to present my research at a major conference was an amazing experience. I learned a lot about the current state of aquaculture, improved my public speaking skills, and got to see the collaborative work between farmers, scientists, and government employees,” Panda says. “Doing all this has really inspired me to pursue a career in science.”

Charlotte Davis, a current senior at New Berlin Eisenhower High School, says shadowing undergraduates was a unique learning experience that allowed her to explore her interest in aquaculture.

“I was super happy with the amount that I was included in the lab. I was given room to grow and learn,” she says. “I loved that I was able to help collaborate with the undergraduates to do tasks that I have never done before!”

As part of the grant, students visit fish farms and hatcheries. These trips have included visits to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Wild Rose Hatchery, Rushing Waters Fisheries, and PortFish, a nonprofit aquaponics facility.

Next year, the team plans to work with farmers and business to offer 10-week hands-on experiences to undergraduates. Participants would get real-world career training and mentorship. They are also working to increase collaborations with other universities, including Alverno College and Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University, to provide cross-training opportunities.

Inspiring young people to consider careers in aquaculture is part of a broader movement toward developing more sustainable food sources.

“This isn’t just talked about in Wisconsin,” Hauser says, “There are also national efforts to incorporate aquaculture into the classroom and curriculum, connecting with students at an earlier age.”

Read more about the students’ experiences.

Student Profile: Aquaculture Research Experiences

Through the Partnering to Boost Aquaculture Workforce Development in Wisconsin grant from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, faculty and staff from UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Stevens Point are partnering with commercial fish farms, K-12 schools and universities statewide to create training opportunities for high school and undergraduate students. Read more about the project. 

Here’s what students say about their experience.

  • Teo Buisson, undergraduate senior at University of California, San Diego
  • Charlotte Davis, senior at New Berlin Eisenhower High School
  • Adelaide Kemp, undergraduate senior at Willamette University
  • Pranil Panda, freshman at UW-Madison, graduate of New Berlin Eisenhower High School

What did you learn?

Davis: I learned many different things about tank maintenance, cleaning, animal feeding, and creation of new diet/ vitamin supplements. I learned the importance of precision and data keeping, and how to work effectively and efficiently with my peers. Most importantly, I learned about carrying out long-term and short-term studies on animals. This lab provided me with crucial insight into the field of biology, and how to create and carry out experiments that can collect important data for future research.

Kemp: I learned critical lab skills, including recording and keeping records of data collection, daily observations, animal care, experimental design and execution, dissections, fish physiology, statistical analysis, and scientific writing.

Buisson: Dr. Deng’s lab was my first experience with aquaculture research. I learned a lot about the commercial aquaculture industry, and understanding why our nutritional experiments are impactful to the efficiency of this industry. Beyond lab experience, this summer lab internship gave me the opportunity to lead a study, which taught me valuable knowledge on the scientific structure of research studies, data analysis and academic writing.

Panda: Working in Dr. Deng’s aquaculture labs taught me many things about the scientific process. I learned experimental design, lab procedures, animal handling skills, and how to use several scientific tools.

What was your favorite part about this experience?

Buisson: My favorite part of this experience has been feeding the tilapia every morning. They’re big fish, and their relentless splashing whenever I’d bring food woke me up better than coffee!

Davis: Shadowing the undergraduate students was such a unique experience. I was able to learn a magnitude of information from them that I would never have learned in a classroom or lecture setting. The hands-on learning was something that I will carry with me into my future university studies and career. I really enjoyed making connections with others and leaning on them when I needed help problem solving or working on a task. The sense of community and team unity in the lab was the main thing that kept me motivated.

Kemp: My favorite part of my summer experience was being in the Deng Lab community. Everyone was so supportive and willing to teach and to answer my questions. I am a better student and researcher because of my time there.

Panda: Getting to present the research I did at a major conference was an amazing experience. It was the first conference I have ever attended, and I learned a lot about the current state of aquaculture, improved a lot in my public speaking skills, and got to see the collaborative work between farmers, scientists, and government employees.

Anything else you want to add?

Davis: I was given room to grow and learn. I loved that I was able to help collaborate with the undergraduates to do tasks that I have never done before! I am so grateful to have this opportunity, and I had such a fun time participating.

Kemp: I hope to pursue Great Lakes ecology after graduation, but my time in Dr. Deng’s lab also broadened my interests to include fisheries science, fish biology, and the impact of climate change and contaminants in freshwater systems. I’m so grateful for my experience in Dr. Deng’s lab. It has provided me with skills and knowledge to pursue my goals more efficiently and prompted me to be more curious and engaged in freshwater and fishery research. 

Panda: Getting to work with Dr. Deng over two summers has been an invaluable experience for me. I am grateful to her and all those I met from it. Doing all this has really inspired me to pursue a career in science.

Buisson: After graduating from my undergraduate at UCSD, I’m hoping to continue my studies in graduate school, and to build a career in marine research and possibly teaching. This experience has set me up to attain my career goals. I’m so glad I was able to work with Dr. Deng and the members of her lab, who made working everyday much more enjoyable.  

UW-Stout Students Provide Research Innovation for Kidney Bean Farmers

How much water does it take to grow 100 pounds of kidney beans? Most people wouldn’t think to ask such as question. If you are a family business competing on a global scale, the answer matters.  

“This information will allow kidney bean growers in Wisconsin to better target their irrigation practices to reduce strain on the state’s freshwater resources as well as boost yields and prices for Wisconsin farmers,” says Charles Wachsmuth, vice president of Chippewa Valley Bean.

Wisconsin-based Chippewa Valley Bean is the largest processor and exporter of kidney beans in the world. The company prides itself on innovation, and it has created a unique partnership with faculty at UW-Stout to gain cutting-edge research and development.

“I recently went to global conference in Italy, and nobody is doing the research we are doing around crops and water and packaging sustainability,” Wachsmuth says.

That innovative research directly involves undergraduate students, thanks to funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin. Through the Crop Per Drop project, students trained by Professor Keith Wojciechowski, are developing and testing mathematical models to help kidney bean farmers use water more efficiently.

The project exemplifies how companies can partner with university faculty and students to create a win-win situation. Students get hands-on experience, and the company gets staffing resources and innovative research.

The first round of Freshwater Collaborative funding, in 2022, allowed Wojciechowski to hire three students to develop mathematical models that help farmers optimize water use for growing kidney beans. The models are similar to those developed for large-scale crops.

With the most recent round of funding, the collaborative team installed five weather stations in farm fields. The stations collected real-time data that measured sunlight, soil moisture, wind speed and direction, and rain gauge.

Wojciechowski says the project gives students majoring in computer science or applied math skills beyond using and developing software.

“There’s huge benefit to seeing how software you build will be used in the field,” he says. “They get to see all the ways the software needs to be stable and viable — and how software works differently in an office than in real time out in the field.”

Lindsey Redepenning, an applied math and computer science major at UW-Stout, helped install the weather stations last summer. This fall, she’s analyzing the data that was collected. The goal is to enhance the mathematical models to allow farmers to see how various scenarios will affect yield. This will help them adjust their agricultural practices in response to real situations.

Lindsey Redepenning assembles a weather station.

Redepenning says she gained a wide range of skills that will help her in her future career. One of the most important was learning how to communicate mathematical concepts to people without a math background. She also learned hands-on skills including how to rewire a circuit board, modify a weather station, restart a wi-fi hotspot and recharge batteries.

“Some days were spent out in a field setting up weather stations. Others were spent behind a computer screen writing code,” she says. “No two days were alike, and this kept the work interesting and exciting.”

The weather stations and models could be expanded in the future for use with other crops or to look at other factors that affect crops, such as disease and weeds.

The Crops Per Drop Project has also opened the door to other industry-academic partnerships. Chippewa Valley Bean has connected Wojciechowski to other companies who may have similar R&D needs. When Chippewa Valley Bean wanted to use more sustainable bags to hold its beans, Wojciechowski introduced them to UW-Stout faculty who could work on packaging ideas.

“We are greatly appreciative of the strong university system in Wisconsin and the access it gives us to new and cutting-edge research that we wouldn’t be able to self-fund,” Wachsmuth says. “If we want to keep agribusiness in Wisconsin strong, we must show continued support for our specialty crop growers and processors.”

High School Summer Internships Give Students Freshwater Experience Before College

It’s not often that high school students have the opportunity for paid internships that provide them hands-on career experience before heading to college.

The High School Freshwater Summer Scholars Program at UW-Green Bay does exactly that. What began as a pilot program with one intern in 2022 grew to 10 interns in summer 2024. The program is one of the K-12 outreach efforts supported by Educators and Students Rise to Freshwater Challenges, which UW-Green Bay developed with funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin.

“The scholars program provides students with opportunities to explore water science by participating in UW-Green Bay research projects,” say Emily Tyner, director of freshwater strategy at UW-Green Bay. “We had 24 applicants for 10 spots this year. It was our most competitive application pool yet.”

This year’s students came from Green Bay, Oshkosh, Milwaukee and Manitowoc.

High school students must apply and go through an interview process. Accepted students are then matched with a UW-Green Bay mentor who is engaged in freshwater-centered research. Mentors may be faculty/staff, graduate students, or a qualified undergraduate who is supervised by a faculty/staff member. This year, two students were also placed at Atlas Science Center in Appleton. Students commit to working 120 hours over the summer and receive a $1,500 stipend.

In addition to conducting research, interns participate in group field trips and other opportunities to explore water science careers and research. For example, they toured NEW Water’s wastewater treatment facilities where they learned about wastewater treatment, internships and jobs.

Sam Frauenfeld, a UW-Green Bay biology major with an emphasis in ecology and conservation, had a unique role in the program. She took on a brand-new position as the high school scholar program coordinator.

Thanks in part to her role in this project, Frauenfeld has been hired by Lakeshore Natural Resource Partners to help manage conservation activities. She’ll work part-time during the school year and go full-time after graduation. 

As the high school scholar program coordinator, Frauenfeld was part of the hiring process and interviewed potential interns. Throughout the summer, she served as the students’ primary point of contact, answering their questions and providing peer support.

Students conduct mussel research with the WDNR.

Frauenfeld says it can be intimidating for high school students to ask questions of university faculty and staff. Not only could she answer their questions, but she provided feedback to the UW-Green Bay team so they can improve the program.

“I was the students’ first point of contact for anything they needed,” she says. “It’s a whole new ballgame going from high school to college, so I helped bridge that gap.”

Another part of Frauenfeld’s role was to help organize the field trips. One unique experience included a visit to Oneida Reservation to see completed restoration work. Site leaders taught students how to identify plant and bug species. They also used E-bird and Merlin apps to monitor birds, and they engaged in water quality sampling.

On another field trip, high school scholars met with Jesse Weinzinger from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to conduct a mussel monitoring survey in a local stream in Mishicot. They donned waders and used bathyscopes to search the sediment floor of the streams. The experience was particularly exciting because the group found eight mussel species, two of which are rare.

Sam Frauenfeld collects lake sturgeon for conservation research.

Frauenfeld also works on lake sturgeon research in associate professor Patrick Forsyth’s lab. She helped mentor Tessa Losurdo, a high school summer scholar from Suring High School who was assigned to the project.

Under Frauenfeld’s mentorship, Losurdo learned to assess fish and macroinvertebrate populations in Dutchman and Ashwaubenon Creeks, and to collect and tag northern pike in Green Bay. They also collected lake sturgeon in the Menominee River as part of a large conservation project.

“Over the past summer I have had the chance to tour multiple different facilities and learn more about our water and ecosystems,” Losurdo stated in her poster presentation about her internship. “The Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin program grew my love for environmental science and conservation has grown, and I can’t wait for what the future holds.”

Losurdo wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the experience. The internship program received rave reviews from participants. A few comments from the anonymous end-of-summer survey include:

“This is a very unique experience that really can let people see into the life of a college student. I think this is a fantastic experience for people who have an interest in science and biology, and for people considering a career within these fields.”

“I would 100% recommend this experience to anyone. It was such a cool opportunity, and it was so nice being able to work with so many different people and do so many different things all in one summer.”

“I would absolutely recommend this experience to anyone who is interested in anything pertaining to the environment. It’s such a cool way to get out there and do actual research that contributes to something real.”

All participants created a video or poster about their research. They are invited to present their work at the annual Lakeshore Water Summit in Manitowoc on Oct. 9 and UW-Green Bay’s Spring Symposium in March 2025.

Learn more at www.uwgb.edu/freshwater-collaborative.

Hands-on Water Course Creates Safe Space for Learning

Nothing ruins water research like spending days collecting samples only to learn they were contaminated along the way. It’s the little mistakes that can invalidate scientific research.

Bahar Hassanpour, an assistant professor at UW-River Falls, wants to ensure that undergraduates have opportunities to learn proper lab and field techniques before they enter the workforce — where mistakes can be costly.

“I wish I had been trained on how to do field and lab work before I went to graduate school,” she says. “That kind of training prepares you for jobs working for industry, USGS, WDNR, and local governments.”

With funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, she and faculty and staff from UW-River Falls and UW-Madison created a two-week hands-on water course, titled “Special Topics in Freshwater Science Laboratory and Field Techniques.”

The goal of the course is to make learning — and making mistakes — fun.

Students from both universities have enrolled each of the two years the course has run. Any student from any university in Wisconsin, from freshman to graduate school levels, is eligible to apply for a spot in the course. Course fees and lodging are paid through a Freshwater Collaborative grant.

The course emphasizes overarching methodology to prepare students for the workforce.

Students learn the correct way to take water samples and the importance of precisely documenting clarity, temperature, and pH of the water in each area that samples are taken. Rather than learning how to use a specific piece of equipment, students are trained to develop step-by-step protocols to run any piece of equipment.

One of the highlights of this year’s course was a boat trip during which students took water samples from different locations along the St. Croix, Kinnickinnic and Mississippi Rivers. They then compared the results to learn how water quality varies depending on when and where the samples are taken.

“With these field experiences, the goal is to fill them with knowledge and give them time to practice,” says Heather Davis, a lab manager at UW-River Falls who co-teaches the course. “We reinforce that this is their safe space to learn. There are no ramifications that anything bad will happen. It helps them embrace the experience.”

For example, students experienced firsthand what happens when a filter tower is put together incorrectly or when the wrong label is put onto a sample or when samples are left in a hot car.

Heather Hatfull, a soil sciences major at UW-Falls, quickly learned the importance of planning, proper sample labeling, and taking extensive field notes.

“Everything was new! It was my first experience in a proper lab setting,” she says. “The course teaches you the importance of every step in the process, while giving you room to make mistakes and learn.”

The faculty and staff had enough grant funding left from developing and running the course to hire six students as summer interns. Those students are working on several projects at UW-River Falls. Research includes investigating how nitrogen and carbon leaches into soil, well water and lucimeter sampling, collecting greenhouse gas samples, and becoming more proficient at running the lab instruments. Students even built some of the research equipment themselves.

Their research should provide valuable insights into environmental risk assessment and management efforts and the interplay between soil and terrain, cropping systems, weather, and hydrological dynamics.

“It gives the students a really great opportunity to understand how to do this kind of research,” Davis says. “And it also gives farmers information about their wells and nitrate leaching and how cover crops impact that.”

Students will present their research at the annual Dairy Summit in November. The event will be hosted by the Dairy Innovation Hub in Madison and will give the students another valuable skill: explaining scientific data to other researchers and the public.

Catherine Roloff, a geology major at UW-River Falls, feels these hands-on experiences will get her one step closer to becoming an environmental geologist. She hopes to focus on sustainable natural resources management.

“This course, along with the additional internship position, has been helpful in developing the skills necessary to achieve my career goals,” she says. “The emphasis on data accuracy, proper sampling methods, and teamwork has helped me prepare for reality in environmental research.”