Category: Research Profile

Ninth grader Ivy from Fountain City says participating in the My River Adventures summer camp at UW-La Crosse was one of the highlights of his entire summer.

“It was a really good balance of fun and learning. It was great to learn about the many careers in the field,” he says. “I also liked exposure to many different ways to get scholarships for college and to experience campus life at UWL!”

Ivy was one of 24 students from 18 high schools who participated in the weeklong camp. The camp is one of the university’s pre-college summer programs and is supported by the Freshwater Collaborative. It is open to incoming 9-12 grade students.

Campers visit rivers in the Driftless region for hands-on fieldwork and lab activities with UW-La Crosse faculty, local educators and community members. Camp organizers have collaborated with many external partners to develop the curriculum, including the Ho-Chunk Nation and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Many of the students saw the Mississippi River for the first time.

“The UWL MRA camp was such an enriching experience for my son. He loved the hands-on field trips with the faculty along the Mississippi River,” says Rebecca, Ivy’s mother. “We are grateful for this unique camp experience and the ways it has broadened his view of college and career opportunities!”

A Week of Hands-On Learning

A full day of hands-on activities at Camp Decorah, run by Scouting America, taught students about land stewardship, taking care of waterways, water management, and the importance of recreating safely. They also had fun practicing fire building and archery skills.

A day spent near campus included visiting Myrick Park to learn about local marsh species and how they connect with other species. A campus tour included a stop at the Office of Multicultural Student Services where students learned about the university’s student support services and the majors and minors that support freshwater initiatives. A riverboat cruise on the La Crosse Mississippi Queen taught them how tourism affects Wisconsin’s major waterways.

The highlight of the week was research vessel day. The group traveled on the new R/V Prairie Springs to Goose Island County Park (on the Mississippi River) for a full day of hands-on learning. The high school students and camp counselors — undergraduates majoring in psychology, education, math or business — learned how to use state-of-the-art equipment, worked with a stream table and analyzed water quality.

Throughout the week, students learned about the Grand Water Challenges, particularly contaminants such as PFAS and lead. Students learned how these contaminants affect water quality and food webs and actions they can take to minimize risks.

Increasing Career Awareness

Sadie Kuhl, assistant director of College Pathways and camp organizer, notes that the program may inspire students to incorporate more science into their high school curriculum. And it introduces them to careers in water that they may not have heard of.

Surveys taken on the first and last days of camp indicate students are significantly more interested in freshwater studies and careers at the end of camp. On the first day of the 2025 camp, none of the students indicated they would pursue a freshwater career. At the end of the week, more than 60 percent of participants said they might consider it. Seventy percent said camp participation increased their desire to attend college. More than 90 percent said the program was a good experience, and they would recommend it to a friend.

“The data indicate that students are learning and becoming more interested in freshwater as the week goes on,” Kuhl says. “Having a weeklong residential camp is an experience these kids will remember for the rest of their lives.”

Learn about more programs for high school students across the state.

Written by Heidi Jeter, Freshwater Collaborative of 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:

• UW-Platteville: Dr. Sanford (sanfordj@uwplatt.edu), course number AGRIC 3990
• UW-Green Bay: Dr. Gunn (gunnk@uwgb.edu), course numbers EnvSci 483-0001 (Field Experience) and EnvSci 483-0800 (Seminar)
• UW-Stevens Point: Dr. Masarik (kmasarik@uwsp.edu) or Dr. Michitsch (rmichits@uwsp.edu), course number WATR 350
• UW-River Falls: Dr. Coleman Wasik (jill.colemanwasik@uwrf.edu), course number ESM 389

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

Never fall in the water while wearing waders! That’s one of the many lessons Abby Panier, a UW-Whitewater undergraduate student, learned last summer.

Panier worked as a beach monitoring intern with UW Oshkosh, based in Manitowoc, Wisc. She collected daily water samples from 13 public beaches to evaluate recreational water safety. She tested the samples at the County Health Department. If levels of E. coli and other bacteria were too high, she put up advisories to close the beach for the day.

Her most memorable experience happened after a big storm.

“The shoreline was severely altered so it was almost unrecognizable,” she says. “I waded into Lake Michigan to take my samples, but misjudged where the drop-off was, and proceeded to fall flat on my face amid three-foot waves.”

Luckily, Panier’s survival instincts kicked in, and she made it back to shore — soaked but safe. It was a good lesson that things don’t always go as planned when working in the field.

Real-World Lessons

Some skills can only be learned outside the classroom. Funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, and others, allows UW Oshkosh to leverage its Environmental Research and Innovation Center (ERIC) to provide hands-on paid summer opportunities to undergraduates throughout the state.

Greg Kleinheinz, director of the ERIC and principal investigator on the Freshwater Collaborative grant, says students gain hands-on and applied skills related to water testing and analysis. The real-world internships teach students more than technical skills.

“Students gain critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they work through situations that don’t happen in a traditional classroom,” Kleinheinz says.

Case in point? Figuring out how to maneuver through three-foot waves on Lake Michigan while wearing waders.

Diverse Training Experiences

During the 2024-25 academic year, 52 undergraduate students from 11 of the Universities of Wisconsin participated in undergraduate research and internships through UW Oshkosh’s ERIC lab.

Interns participate in a wide range of water-related services. These include

• Operating a state-certified laboratory that is open to the public for well water testing.
• Conducting comprehensive water quality monitoring for more than 60 beaches to ensure recreational water safety
• Testing and evaluating agricultural water systems, treatment, and discharge to local waterways
• Testing for emerging contaminants such as microplastics in drinking and surface waters
• Testing public water systems and drinking water from private wells

In addition to monitoring beach conditions, Panier conducted annual beach surveys for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, analyzed drinking water samples from local businesses, and recorded algal blooms and collected weekly samples to test for toxic algae.

She also learned to use a “Bebot” (beach robot) and “Pixie Drone” (water robot). This was part of a collaboration with the Great Lakes Plastic Clean Up, which involved taking the robots to beaches to collect plastic and outreach events at Meijer grocery stores to educate the public about plastic pollution. 

Career Preparation

Alyssa Arch, an undergraduate at UW-Madison, participated in similar activities as one of five field research interns working in Door County. Her team collected daily samples from Door County beaches and analyzed the results at a UW Oshkosh lab in Sturgeon Bay. She oversaw quality control in the lab and led a data project designed to evaluate the historical rates of closures and advisories of the public beaches in Door County.

“My favorite experience was anytime we got to do stream water sampling with the Soil and Water Conservation Department because it gave me something new to learn,” she says. “It’s a field of water research I’m interested in, so it gave me insight as to what a future job may look like.”

In addition to technical skills, Arch says her internship enhanced her customer service skills. The lab is open to community members who bring in well water samples for testing. She learned a lot about effectively communicating with the public — a skill that will come in handy in her future career.

“I’d love to be doing some kind of freshwater research or monitoring while being able to incorporate citizen science or the community in some way,” Arch says. “This internship got me started. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for a job, but it became clear to me as the summer went on.”

Learn about summer water internships and research opportunities.

Oconomowoc native Sam Krueger says the term “research” can be intimidating. Participating in the Freshwater@UW Summer Research Opportunities program showed her research can be fun and accessible. It also took away the intimidation factor in applying to graduate school.

Krueger graduated from UW-Whitewater with a bachelor’s degree in geography with a minor in chemistry in 2024. She is now in her second year of graduate school at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.

“The Freshwater@UW program nudged me toward graduate school,” she says.

She adds that participating in undergraduate research gave her more confidence working in the lab. She became more comfortable asking questions of faculty and graduate students.

Gaining practical skills and confidence is an overarching goal of Freshwater@UW, which is funded by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Sea Grant, the UW Water Resources Institute and Water@UW-Madison. The program is currently accepting applications for the 2026 cohort.

Building a Research Foundation

Krueger participated in 2023 because she was interested in learning about hydrogeology. She was assigned to a project with Michael Cardiff, a professor at UW-Madison. She worked with Cardiff and his graduate students to create a geophysical field campaign to assess groundwater recharge rates in rural Wisconsin.

The summer project provided hands-on field experience — and solidified Krueger’s desire to work in water-related research.

“The Freshwater@UW program is a great chance for interested undergraduates to ‘get into the weeds’ of a water problem and try their hand at research,” Cardiff says. “It’s been great to see Sam’s excitement for water science continue as part of her graduate work at UW-Milwaukee.”

After catching the research bug, Krueger spent part of her senior year conducting research on the toxicity of neonicotinoids, insecticides widely used for crop protection. She worked with Elisabeth Harrahy, an associate professor at UW-Whitewater specializing in environmental toxicology and a member of the Freshwater Collaborative steering committee.

An Emerging Contaminants Researcher Emerges

Harrahy’s mentorship along with graduate school information provided during the Freshwater@UW program guided Krueger to graduate school at UW-Milwaukee. She now works in Laodong Guo’s biogeochemistry lab at the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences.

Guo says Krueger demonstrated a strong foundation in collaborative and interdisciplinary research from her Freshwater@UW experience and working as an undergraduate student technician. 

“She quickly learned skills to investigate the behavior of PFAS and other contaminants in aquatic ecosystems,” he says. “The program clearly helped her build confidence in her research abilities and develop comfort working through the scientific process, making her a valued member of the lab.”

As a graduate student, Krueger conducts a range of research investigating microplastics, PFAS and heavy metals in Milwaukee Harbor and Green Bay sediments. In the past year, she has presented her research at numerous conferences, including the Society for Freshwater Sciences annual meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico; the American Chemical Society Great Lakes regional meeting in Appleton, Wisc.; and the International Association for Great Lakes Research in Milwaukee.

“The program is amazing. The fields of study at the school are very diverse,” she says. “Because you are on the lake, you can see the immediate results of the research happening. You feel part of a big picture.”

Krueger has enjoyed studying emerging contaminants. She would like to work for a government agency, such as the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, when she graduates in May 2026. Her current research has also piqued her interest in drinking water treatment and wastewater monitoring.

Learn more about the Freshwater@UW Summer Research Opportunities Program. The deadline to apply is Feb. 15, 2026.

Written by Heidi Jeter, Freshwater Collaborative.

Krueger explains her research in the video below.

Andrew Malacara raves about “Bug Camp,” the informal name for training workshops that are part of a new project funded by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin.

Malacara is one of six students from UW-Parkside, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Madison who are participating in BenthicNet. The training program includes experts from the three universities as well as the Milwaukee Public Museum. They aim to expand access to collections of insects and other invertebrates that are used for biomonitoring.

Biomonitoring is the practice of analyzing changes in the numbers and types of benthic macroinvertebrates to assess water health/quality. Biomonitoring tools first developed in Wisconsin are now used globally.

Each of the institutions involved has a reference collection of benthic specimens gathered over decades. The collections hold a wealth of historical knowledge that most people, even researchers, aren’t aware exists.

Increasing Accessibility to Valuable Resources

Jessica Orlofske, an associate professor at UW-Parkside, envisioned BenthicNet to make the collections more accessible and to train students in collection and preservation techniques. Over the next year, students and faculty will create an online digital database that includes all the collections. The long-term goal is a resource that allows anyone in the state or the world to access the data. The database will be particularly useful for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and for community science participants.

“Regulatory agencies, such as the WDNR, can use the information to designate certain rivers for particular management practices and to prioritize their water quality sampling,” says Orlofske, who leads the project. “We are making the data they collect more informative and accessible, so they can answer questions about long-term trends.”

In addition to digitizing existing collections, students are learning how to collect and preserve new specimens. Throughout the academic year, students will participate in four hands-on weekend training workshops. The first took place at Treehaven, a public nonprofit field station operated by UW-Stevens Point. Additional workshops will take place on the UW-Madison and UW-Stevens Point campuses and at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

Finding Community One Bug at a Time

For Malacara, the experience thus far has been wildly fun and extremely beneficial to his career goals. He is majoring in applied mathematics and general biology and has a keen interest in entomology, the study of bugs.

His goal for the first workshop was to find a stonefly, an aquatic insect not well represented in the current specimen collections. He and Cole Kupsch, a UW-Madison student, found the first of many while surveying the Wisconsin River.

“We were a distance away from everyone, but I screamed at the top of my lungs, ‘We found a stonefly,’ unable to hold my excitement,” Malacara says. He adds that the best part of working with the other campuses has been finding people who share similar interests and passion.  

Skylar Johnston, a graduate student from UW-Parkside, agrees. She is interested in museum work and joined BenthicNet to expand her understanding of collecting, identifying and processing aquatic specimens. Connecting with others who share her enthusiasm has been a huge plus.

“I have loved watching everyone become thrilled when they find certain macroinvertebrates in their samples. It was doubly exciting for me to hear everyone else just as excited as I was to find someone new or big in their nets — and even better getting to see the bugs they found,” she says. “I learned so much in just one weekend!”

Training a New Generation

Seeing such enthusiasm about entomology brings Orlofske tremendous joy. She notes that although Wisconsin was once the leader in biomonitoring, many laboratory specialists are nearing retirement age. By training a new generation, Orlofske hopes to contribute to a resurgence of expertise in Wisconsin — and for experts in other parts of the country to once again see Wisconsin as a leader in this type of water quality research.  

“Bugs are a gateway to studying other aspects of freshwater. They can lead to jobs that little kids dream of doing, but students often don’t know these are real jobs,” she says. “This work expands their appreciation of careers that involve water or bugs.”

Read more about the students in Student Q&A: BenthicNet

Written by Heidi Jeter, Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

Students from UW-Parkside, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Madison are participating in BenthicNet. The training program includes experts from the three universities as well as the Milwaukee Public Museum. They aim to expand access to collections of insects and other invertebrates that are used for biomonitoring.

Read more about the project in BenthicNet: How an Aquatic Insect Project Is Revitalizing Biomonitoring in Wisconsin

Two of the interns shared their recent experience at the first training weekend at Treehaven in September 2025.

• Skylar Johnston, UW-Parkside, graduate student in studying Biology with a concentration in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
• Andrew Malacara, UW-Parkside, undergraduate student with double major in Applied Mathematics and General Biology

Why were you interested in joining this project?

Johnston: I am very interested in museum digitization/curation of specimens and how we can use them for research and outreach. I am also interested in aquatic macroinvertebrates and biomonitoring samples and how we can best use that data in our collections and research.

Malacara: I was interested in this project for a few reasons. Firstly, I had been working under Dr. O. (Jessica Orlofske) as an independent study student for three months and had a great time doing so, making it easy to say yes to a project she was leading. The project itself was a golden opportunity for me. I have an interest in entomology and was looking for any opportunity I could get to learn more about the subject. 

What skills have your gained or do you hope to gain?

Johnston: So far, I have expanded my understanding of where to find certain macroinvertebrates in water ecosystems. I would love to keep expanding that so that I am able to understand what macroinvertebrates I can expect to find in those ecosystems and what their presence/absence could tell us from a biomonitoring standpoint. I also want to be able to identify macroinvertebrates to a lower taxa level than I can right now. Being able to identify many of them to genus would be a (very ambitious) dream come true!!

Malacara: We’re still early in the project, but so far, I have worked with a multitude of surveying equipment across various aquatic habitats, learning hands on what works best for which environment. My understanding of the classification of aquatic insects and other aquatic invertebrates has steadily improved since the start of this project. As for things to come, we are having a workshop in Madison  where we will learn more about how best to preserve specimens along with proper museum curation.

    

What has been your favorite or most memorable experience so far?

Johnston: There isn’t one singular moment, but rather the repeated excitement from faculty and students bringing back their sampling gear and finding new or exciting macroinvertebrates. The water systems we sampled on this trip had different macroinvertebrates than the ones in the rivers I regularly sample, so seeing new taxa was so exciting. It was doubly exciting to hear everyone else just as excited as I was to find someone new or big in their nets too (and even better getting to see the bugs they found!).

Malacara: My favorite memory so far is from our first workshop in Treehaven. I had a goal of finding a stonefly, an aquatic insect that we didn’t have many of in our collection. While surveying the Wisconsin River, Cole, a Madison student, and I found one! We were a distance away from everyone, but I screamed at the top of my lungs, “WE FOUND A STONEFLY,” unable to hold my excitement. Little did I know they had already found a few stoneflies, and Coel and I did go on to find around 20 more, but the excitement of that first one will stick with me forever. 

What have you enjoyed about working with faculty and students from another university?

Johnston: Every person brings different passions and experiences to this project, and I also think it a project where people are growing new passions. I have loved watching everyone become thrilled when they find certain macroinvertebrates in their sample. I have enjoyed the faculty helping me expand my entomological and water ecosystem knowledge. I have loved being able to sit with faculty who are experts in this field and have the specimens in front of me in the river so they can point out adaptations the macroinvertebrates have to live in these areas and then how they go about identifying them in the lab. I feel like I learned SO MUCH in just one weekend!!!

Malacara: The best part of working with the other campuses is finding people who share an interest and a passion with you, learning more about their favorites, and gabbing about yours. It’s really just nice finding your people!

How do you think this experience help you attain your career goals?

Johnston: A career path I am very interested in is in museum work. I would love to expand my understanding of collecting, identifying, processing, and then connecting other researchers to museum material. This project feels very close to what I would love to see as a larger stronger network across Wisconsin. I would love to be able to use our collections for outreach, research, and display. Aquatic macroinvertebrates are my favorite and I want everyone to see how stunning they are!

Malacara: I think this will be great for my future career. The kind of work we are doing with this project is exactly what I want to be doing with my life. Beyond this, it looks good for a grad school application; the experience is just so much fun that it fuels me to do well in all my academics so I can one day lead projects like this with my own undergrads! 

Undergraduates from UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls and UW-Stout spent the summer collecting and analyzing data that will help show the impact of restoration efforts in the Red Cedar Basin.

They were interns for the Red Cedar Basin Monitoring Group, a long-term community-based project led by faculty members at UW-Stout and supported by a grant from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin. Read more about the project in Summer Interns Assess Red Cedar Basin Health; Gain Valuable Job Skills.

A few of the interns from this year’s crew shared their experiences.

• Grant Abelson, Environmental Science major, UW-River Falls
• Cayanna Erickson, Environmental Science major, UW-Stout
• Faith Fogarty, Environmental Geography major, UW-Eau Claire

How did you hear about the Red Cedar Basin Monitoring project and why did you choose to participate?

Abelson: I found out about the internship by asking my UW-River Falls advisor, who has many connections to the Freshwater Collaborative. I saw it as a good opportunity to grow my career and gain connections outside of my school. Additionally, the style of work looked fun, which gave me an extra push to apply. 

Erickson: I heard about the Red Cedar Basin Monitoring Project through my professors at UW-Stout. I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn even more from my professors as well as focus on the Western Wisconsin area, which is where I grew up.

Fogarty: I heard about this internship through an email that one of my UW-Eau Claire professors sent out. It sounded like a great field opportunity in the realm of water resources, which I am pursuing a certificate in. 

What was your role in the project?

Abelson: My role in the project was to do stream sampling, which includes collecting data that will assess the health of the Red Cedar Basin watershed. I also helped with an array of other projects, such as sampling Lake Menomin to assess harmful algal blooms and taking the diameter at breast height (DBH) measurements of trees to evaluate their health and determine how black ash is dying off. 

Erickson: My coworkers and I were tasked with routine monitoring of streams and lakes in the Menomonie area. This involved collecting data on the oxygen levels in water, pH and conductivity. We were also tasked with entering data from our sites and running experiments such as nutrient limitation on lake water samples to see whether the algae reacted more to nitrogen or phosphorus.

Fogarty: My role in this project was as one of six student interns. I collected various samples from streams to lakes to woodland areas looking at the various factors that impact water quality. 

What skills did you learn? 

Abelson: Skills I learned include taking a project from start to completion. Furthermore, I learned many sorts of identification skills (whether that be macroinvertebrate ID or plant ID). Lastly, I did learn basic lab skills, which I can use in my future career.

Fogarty: I learned many skills in this position, such as sampling procedures, lab procedures, as well as making cross university connections with other students and faculty. 

What did you enjoy most about working on this project?

Abelson: The part I enjoyed most about the project was being able to work many hours outdoors. The outdoors will always beat working in an office. Another part of the project I enjoyed was seeing an array of stream sites between urban, agricultural, restored, and unrestored streams. It was thought-provoking to see the difference in data across all these stream sites.

Erickson: What I enjoyed most about this project was getting hands-on experience in the field. I had previously changed my major, so I have not had many fieldwork experiences until this summer. The best way I learn is hands on and that is exactly what this experience was.

What was most challenging or surprising?

Abelson: The most challenging part of the project for me was one of the storm sampling days, where we went to the urban stream, Galloway Creek, to collect storm-related stream data. The very first time we did this, the rain was pouring down, and it was difficult to keep a positive attitude when it was cold. No matter how much gear we had, we were all a little wet. Although it was difficult, we persevered through the challenge and collected meaningful data!

Erickson: What I found most challenging was the different terrains that we had to work in. Never having had field experience before made it difficult to keep up at first. I was surprised by how quickly we as a team picked up the skills to finish our tasks efficiently.

Fogarty: The most challenging aspect of this project for me was stream sampling on hot days with poor air quality.

Did you find it valuable to work with students from another university?

Abelson: I found it valuable to work with other students, as it gave me a chance to gain more valuable connections and see the differences between schooling programs. Overall, it widened my perspective of how beneficial UW schools are.  

Erickson: I found it very valuable working with students from UW-Eau Claire and UW-River Falls. To work with individuals who share the same interests professionally was very beneficial for my career development.

Fogarty: I very much enjoyed working with students from UW-Stout and UW-River Falls. It was eye opening to see how the different universities teach as well as what areas they focus on. The summer freshwater course facilitated by Sarah Vitale was also a great way for us interns to get to know each other and get on the same page before starting our summer work.

What are your career goals and how will this experience help you attain them?

Abelson: One of my career goals is to progress my research and analysis skills. This internship allowed me to be the head of my own project and to explore my own interests more deeply. I had to come up with a project design, collect the data, and now I have been given the time to analyze the data. I will put it in poster format to be presented at Research in the Rotunda.

Erickson: My career goals involve water monitoring specifically in the Eau Claire area as that is where I am from originally. The skills that I learned this summer directly relate to what I want to do in the future. Having experience with monitoring will give me a step up when it comes to the job market after graduation.

This internship opened my eyes to what it means to be an environmental scientist as well as what I truly want to do with my future. I would recommend this internship to everyone interested in water.

Fogarty: I would like to attend graduate school in fall 2026 or begin an entry level environmental job focused on water quality. This internship will give me a leg up on other applicants because I have hands-on experience working independently and on a team to test the various factors that impact water quality.

Cayanna Erickson says interning with the 2025 Red Cedar Basin Monitoring Group will give her a step up when she enters the job market. The UW-Stout undergraduate recently declared an Environmental Science major, and the summer internship gave her experience with hands-on field work.

“My career goals involve water monitoring, specifically in the Eau Claire area as that is where I am from originally,” she says. “The skills that I learned this summer directly relate to what I want to do in the future.”

Hands-on Experience for Future Water Professionals

Erickson was one of six students from UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls and UW-Stout who spent the summer collecting and analyzing data that helps show the impact of restoration efforts in the Red Cedar Basin. This watershed includes Lakes Menomin and Tainter, which are listed as impaired by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Nutrient pollution causes frequent harmful algal blooms in these water bodies and others throughout Wisconsin.

Despite the multitude of problems facing the Red Cedar Basin, the lakes and rivers are heavily used for angling, recreation, and power generation. This has led to multiple restoration projects to improve the health of the watershed.

The initial monitoring group was started two decades ago as a volunteer organization but languished after its leader retired. Funding from the Freshwater Collaborative since 2022 has provided continuity of data collection and built capacity to gather data from more sites and more diverse ecosystem types. Eighteen students have participated so far, and recent funding investments will ensure the project continues.

Fulfilling a Community Need

“The Red Cedar River Basin Monitoring Group trains students to collect data on aquatic ecosystems and fills a critical need of collecting data related to management and restoration,” says Nicole Hayes, an assistant professor at UW-Stout.

Hayes says the goals of the Red Cedar River Basin Monitoring Group are twofold. First, it leverages the expertise of scientists at UW-Stout to work with local community groups to understand how environmental change is impacting lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands in the watershed. Second, it builds a better understanding of how these ecosystems are responding to ongoing degradation and mitigation and restoration efforts. The data gathered is used to support management decisions.

The group of four faculty at UW-Stout collaborates with the WDNR Fisheries, City of Menomonie, Dunn County, Beaver Creek Reserve, the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and The Prairie Enthusiasts, among others. This allows students to start building a professional network while gaining professional skills.

Each intern also develops an independent research project in addition to contributing to the overall data collection. Several students have continued their research projects into the following academic year, and many have presented their findings at local, state and even a national conference.

Connections Beyond One Campus

Thanks to Freshwater Collaborative funding, fourteen of the interns have received scholarships to participate in additional freshwater coursework at UW-Stout, UW-Eau Claire, and UW-River Falls. The coursework helps prepare them for their internships and provides the opportunity to work with faculty and students from other universities.

“It was eye opening to see how the different universities teach as well as what areas they focus on,” says Faith Fogarty, an undergraduate at UW-Eau Claire. “The summer freshwater course was also a great way for us interns to get to know each other and get on the same page before starting our summer work.”

Grant Abelson, an undergraduate at UW-River Falls, says the individual research project helped improve his research and analysis skills. He looks forward to presenting his research at Research in the Rotunda in 2026.

“This internship allowed me to be the head of my own project and to explore my own interests more deeply,” he says.  

He also found it valuable to work with students from other universities.

“It gave me a chance to gain more valuable connections and see the differences between schooling programs,” he adds. “Overall, it widened my perspective of how beneficial UW schools are.”

Read more about the students in Student Q&A: Red Cedar Basin Monitoring Group.

Written by Heidi Jeter, Freshwater Collaborative.

UW-Green Bay hosted its largest cohort of Freshwater Summer Scholars yet. Fifteen students from 12 high schools worked on freshwater research projects during the summer internship program funded by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin.

The students were highly engaged in hands-on activities, combining fieldwork with lab analysis and community engagement. This included activities such as electrofishing, collecting water and soil samples, bird samples, building filtration system prototypes and community outreach.

Each student worked on an individual freshwater project under the mentorship of a faculty member, graduate student or qualified undergraduate student. They also participated in group field trips to learn more about water quality and careers.

“Students were challenged to learn and apply new knowledge, such as using new equipment, identifying fish species, and condensing complex information for their final posters,” says Emily Tyner, director of freshwater strategy at UW-Green Bay. “Many students were excited about the positive impact they were making on the environment and knowing that they were contributing to real research.”

This year’s research projects were based in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Appleton and Two Rivers. Participants worked on a UW-Green Bay faculty research project or with one of three partner organizations — Wisconsin Sea Grant, Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust, or Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve.

The students have the option to present their research at the annual Lakeshore Water Summit, which will be held on the Manitowoc campus in October 2025.

Students were asked to write a personal essay or to create a poster presentation for their final projects. Below are the poster presentations students shared.