UW Oshkosh Comprehensive Freshwater Training, Recruitment, and Research Experience Program
Collaborating Institutions: UW Oshkosh, UW-Eau Claire
Project Lead(s): Greg Kleinheinz, Sarah Vitale
UW Oshkosh offers student training opportunities at the Environmental Research and Innovation Center (ERIC), a state-certified laboratory for many water testing parameters as well as a contract R&D laboratory for various community and industry projects. The partnership with the Freshwater Collaborative provides students from any Universities of Wisconsin campus with opportunities to work at ERIC field research sites (or take a field course) each summer. These positions embed students in communities to study surface, well and groundwater. Funding from the Freshwater Collaborative allows for an on-campus summer STEM high school camp (20+ high school students). It also provides resources for faculty-student research and student-industry projects. Freshwater Collaborative funding expands opportunities through the UW Oshkosh Freshwater 101 course (BIO/ENG 119) and provides partial support for a summer field sampling and analysis course open to all UW students. Finally, UW Oshkosh offers access to research facilities and a teaching boat on the Lake Winnebago system at no charge to Freshwater Collaborative partners.
Development of Stable Carbon-Based Adsorbents with Metal Nanoparticles for PFAS Adsorption and Decomposition: Research, Education, and Community Engagement
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Stevens Point, UW-Madison
Project Lead(s): Seyed Javad Amirfakhri, Xuejun Pan
This project develops a new type of carbon-based material with tiny metal particles that can both capture PFAS from water and break them down into safe final products such as water and carbon dioxide. Students play a central role in this research, working in the lab to make and test these materials, run experiments, and analyze results. They also share their findings with the public, present at conferences, and develop hands-on PFAS workshops for K-12 students and teachers. This project addresses a critical water quality challenge while preparing the next generation of scientists and engineers to protect Wisconsin’s water resources.
Building the Future of Freshwater: Engaging Students and Communities aboard the Sadie Ann Education and Research Vessel
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Superior
Project Lead(s): Matt TenEyck
On-water access to Lake Superior is challenging for educational programs because the size and temperature of the lake require specialized vessels for safe travel. UW-Superior’s Sadie Ann is a 64-foot, hybrid-drive vessel custom designed for education and research on Lake Superior. This project capitalizes on the privately funded Sadie Ann to expand access to Lake Superior and to engage students and community members in experiences that equip them with knowledge, skills, and training required to contribute to Wisconsin’s water workforce. Specifically, the project provides annual, on-water, applied-learning field experiences for approximately 150 undergraduates, three workforce development training seminars led by water-sector professionals, and two recruiting events designed to introduce prospective students to career opportunities in Wisconsin’s water workforce.
Crop per Drop
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Stout, UW-River Falls
Project Lead(s): Keith Wojciechowski, Veronica Justen
Crop per Drop is a collaborative research project between UW-Stout and UW-River Falls aimed at understanding and improving water use in dry bean production. The team is studying the relationship between soil type, irrigation practices, crop quality and yield in the field and greenhouse. Studies incorporate crop images, sensor data, mathematical models, and artificial intelligence to develop water use models for dry beans. Undergraduate students are fully involved in growing and collecting crop information, analyzing sensor and image data, and developing water use models. The research team is partnering with local growers to apply model information in production fields. This hands-on experience helps students gain valuable skills in precision farming and data science while supporting Wisconsin agriculture.
Red Cedar River Basin Monitoring Group: Internship Program and Research Opportunities in Watershed Rehabilitation
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Stout
Project Lead(s): Nicole Hayes
The Red Cedar River Basin Monitoring Group is an internship program aimed at training students and understanding environmental changes in the Red Cedar River Basin. Reservoirs in the Red Cedar River Basin are impaired by phosphorus pollution, high rates of sedimentation, and prolific harmful algal blooms. Bank erosion and invasive species impair streams in the basin, and loss of wetlands contributes to declining water quality. Undergraduate students work with faculty to learn field and lab skills needed to study these diverse environmental challenges. Students also design and conduct independent research projects. They complete their internship with hands-on experience in aquatic and terrestrial sampling that will prepare them for a variety of careers in water sciences.
UW-Green Bay Pre-College Student Experiences in Freshwater, 2025-2031
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Green Bay
Project Lead(s): Emily Tyner
Pre-College Student Experiences in Freshwater, 2025–2031, offers middle and high school students — and their teachers — immersive learning in water science to spark interest in freshwater careers. Students participate in aquatic lab skills training, field research, watershed monitoring, and paddling trips on rivers like the Peshtigo and Fox. They seed and harvest wild rice, remove invasive species, and meet professionals at wastewater plants, restoration sites, and research labs. Teachers join seasonal workshops to bring freshwater topics into their classrooms. The program focuses on reaching students from across northeast Wisconsin. A new partnership with Oneida Nation High School and UW-Green Bay’s Center for First Nations Education deepens this impact. By connecting youth with water science early, the project builds a strong pipeline of future water professionals for Wisconsin.
Sustaining a Field Hydrology Course for University Students in Western Wisconsin
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls, UW-Stout
Project Lead(s): Sarah Vitale, Jill Coleman Wasik, Nicole Hayes
Field Hydrology is a three-week summer field course for upper-level university students majoring in programs related to freshwater science (such as Biology, Geology, Geography, or Environmental Science). The purpose is to create interdisciplinary, immersive, and hands-on field and laboratory experiences in western Wisconsin to prepare students for water-related careers. It provides students with knowledge and skills to be competitive in the job market, and to work across disciplines within freshwater science, which is critical to solving complex water issues in Wisconsin. The course is offered to students statewide.
Quantifying the Impact of Spatial and Temporal Variation in Hyporheic Zone Fluxes on Phosphorus Transport and Release in Wisconsin Streams and Rivers, Continued
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Green Bay,UW-Madison
Project Lead(s): Erin Berns-Herrboldt, Christopher Zahasky
Riverbed sediments can be an important source of phosphorus to Wisconsin waterways, driving eutrophication and negatively impacting aquatic health, human health, and local economies. There is limited understanding of how groundwater–surface water exchange impacts river sediment phosphorus storage, and this study aims to quantify these processes. Students are characterizing phosphorus and subsurface hydrology in stream sediments at two sites on Blackhawk Island at Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center during high and low water events. They will then conduct batch and column experiments on streambank sediment samples to evaluate which biogeochemical conditions promote storage and release of phosphorus. Project findings are anticipated to inform land, nutrient, and water management decisions. The project also includes multiple opportunities for high school students to conduct research and learn about water issues.
Leveraging the Strength of the Wisconsin Agriculture-Water Nexus Network for Transformative Student Experiences
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Platteville, UW-Green Bay, UW-Stevens Point, UW-River Falls
Project Lead(s): Joseph Sandford, Kpoti Gunn, Kevin Masarik, Bahareh Hassanpour
The Wisconsin Agriculture-Water Nexus Network gives students new ways to explore how agriculture and water are connected. This project brings together four UW campuses which will participate annually in a seminar series and field experience. The seminar series includes talks from researchers, farmers, and community partners who provide diverse perspectives on agriculture and water challenges. In addition, students participate in a field-based experience that rotates annually among different regions of Wisconsin, exposing students to a variety of agricultural practices and water issues across the state. By linking expertise across campuses and communities, the program prepares future leaders to develop practical, innovative solutions for resilient agriculture and freshwater systems.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Programmatic Funding Building Capacity for Water Careers, Education, and Freshwater Policy Connections
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Milwaukee, UW-La Crosse, UW-Whitewater
Project Lead(s): Rebecca Klaper, Tisha King-Heiden, Elisabeth Harrahy
The goals of this work are to provide resources for programming geared toward student success and workforce development. It includes experiential learning opportunities for students, cross-campus collaborative courses, and recruitment of students (grades 6-college) into the pipeline for jobs. Activities include transformative courses that create a nucleus of classes to support the Freshwater Collaborative freshwater certificates, training that is key to workforce development in freshwater, and leveraging UW-Milwaukee’s strengths in Great Lakes science, water and health. It also focuses on statewide outreach and recruitment to freshwater sciences to build the water workforce pipeline for the next generation of freshwater scientists. This project also builds upon the Freshwater Collaborative Water Policy Network as a community of practice around water policy issues.
Freshwater@UW: An Immersive Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunities Program for the Universities of Wisconsin
Collaborating Institutions: All UW Schools with UW-Madison coordinating
Project Lead(s): Ali Mikulyuk
The Freshwater@UW Summer Research Opportunities Program provides immersive, hands-on mentored research experiences to 20 promising undergraduates annually within the 13 member institutions of the Freshwater Collaborative. The program’s central aim is to support the growth of our freshwater research enterprise and freshwater workforce through collaborative, cross-system programming designed to train, recruit and retain the next generation of freshwater professionals. Funds support programmatic implementation and continued development as faculty and staff strive to create new, high-impact opportunities for talented students to build their skill and cultivate relationships within the Universities of Wisconsin. These opportunities will help students pursue careers in freshwater sectors.
Water in Western Wisconsin: An Interdisciplinary Freshwater Field Camp for High School Students
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Stout, UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls
Project Lead(s): Nicole Hayes, Sarah Vitale, Jill Coleman Wasik
Water in Western Wisconsin is a week-long field-based, hands-on learning experience that introduces high school students to freshwater science. It targets rising high school senior students, creating a gateway for prospective undergraduate students interested in freshwater programs at the Universities of Wisconsin. High school participants work with subject matter experts at UW-Stout, UW-Eau Claire, and UW-River Falls to grow their knowledge of undergraduate majors and career opportunities in water fields. Additionally, this project provides opportunities for two teaching assistants — undergraduates from the participating institutions — to gain teaching experience and to demonstrate and apply their subject matter expertise. These undergraduates also serve as ambassadors to their degree programs and their universities, providing peer support to students applying to college.
Engaging Undergraduate Students in Cutting-Edge Research on the Use of Earth Materials for the Removal of Contaminants including Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS)
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside
Project Lead(s): Shangping Xu, Lori Allen
Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are forever chemicals that stay in water and the environment permanently. In the previous project, researchers focused on legacy PFAS such as PFOA and PFOS. Recently, there is a growing concern about the occurrence and environmental impacts of an emerging type of PFAS, bis-perfluoroalkyl sulfonimides (bis-FASIs). Thanks to their excellent electrical conductivity, electrochemical stability, low volatility, and low flammability, bis-FASIs have been widely used as electrolyte and antistatic agents to produce rechargeable LiBs. The continuation of this project is allowing faculty researchers to work with and train undergraduate students to study the presence of bis-FASIs in Wisconsin’s surface water and groundwater and to quantify the removal efficiency of bis-FASIs through adsorption and/or filtration.
Next Steps to Creating Connected Freshwater Collaborative Programming at UW-River Falls
Collaborating Institutions: UW-River Falls, UW-Green Bay
Project Lead(s): Jill Coleman Wasik, Erin Berns-Herrboldt
This project supports UW-River Falls’ efforts to bridge its Freshwater Collaborative programming from the past — which has consisted of projects carried out by individuals who have the interest and capacity to carry out Freshwater Collaborative–relevant projects — to the future in which the university offers a comprehensive Freshwater Collaborative program that provides students with a more holistic water-related experience and training. The three projects funded include: Diatoms as Biological Indicators to assess the water quality of the Kinnickinnic River, From Field to Laboratory: Hands-on Techniques for Students in Water Sciences, and Seeing the DAM Crew Through Dam Removal.
Diatoms as Biological Indicators to assess the water quality of Kinnickinnic River: This project focuses on monitoring the Kinnickinnic River using single-celled algae (diatoms) as bioindicators. This river flows through the city of River Falls and is a great recreational resource for the community. UW-River Falls is situated on the Kinnickinnic River and is being used as a natural living laboratory. Undergraduate students will be collecting soil cores from different parts of the river and identify various types of diatoms. Researchers plan to build a database of diatoms that exist in this community and explore any patterns that might exist between the physical conditions of the river and the types of diatoms present. Students will communicate these results with the River Falls community and with the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust.
From Field to Laboratory, Hands-on Techniques for Students in Water Sciences, Continued: In this work, faculty are enhancing a previously developed course in laboratory and field techniques in freshwater science and providing internship opportunities for students in the field of freshwater science.
The course enhances students’ ability to conduct water measurements and analysis through hands-on training to prepare them for research and careers in water-centric fields. It focuses on water sampling, sample preservation, and analysis. Students are also trained in data analysis and presentation. Faculty seek to increase the job readiness of students and, ultimately, to help develop professionals in freshwater-related fields. They will bring diverse expertise and perspectives on water-related subjects through multi-campus collaboration.
The activities designed in this course provide the opportunity to increase students’ field and laboratory skills for freshwater-related work, support professional development, and cultivate interest in freshwater sciences, ultimately helping with students’ readiness for scholarly research to enhance freshwater sciences in the region and the state. This course improves students’ flexibility and comfort level in conducting water-related projects, and their ability to explore and research various water-related fields and analytical methods. The course includes field campaigns for water and soil sampling and measurements, in addition to preserving samples and keeping visual and written records. The laboratory training within the course ranges from basic to complex analytical work and sample analysis. Finally, students learn to analyze, visualize, and interpret data.
In the internship experience, students receive extensive training to work on cutting-edge research studies that investigate water dynamics focused on water quality and quantity. These internships provide an excellent opportunity for learners to advance their laboratory and field skills while conducting a research study. They provide students with mentoring and networking opportunities, such as attending conferences. Such high-impact opportunities improve problem-solving, troubleshooting skills and build confidence and independence.
Seeing the DAM Crew Through Dam Removal: This project continues the implementation of the stream monitoring plan in place on the Kinnickinnic River in River Falls, Wisconsin. The river is a treasured economic and ecological resource in the region and state of Wisconsin, supporting some of the highest density of trout per mile in the upper Midwest. Two run-of-the-river dams on the Kinnickinnic River in the city are slated for removal in the coming five years. DAM Crew participants learn hands-on, workforce-ready skills in stream geomorphological and ecological monitoring from practicing professionals while filling a critical knowledge need for the regional community. Participants collect and provide high quality scientific information to guide decision-making processes and keep stakeholders apprised of changing conditions on this valuable water resource.
Root River Explorers Program
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Parkside
Project Lead(s): Laura Schulz
The Root River Environmental Education Community Center (REC) opened in 2008 with a mission to provide community members with opportunities to explore the Great Lakes and to connect ecosystems through recreation, education, demonstration, and research. The REC is a partnership between UW-Parkside and the City of Racine. Funding from the Freshwater Collaborative will support UW student workers for two main initiatives at the REC:
- The Root River Explorers Program: 3-hour field trips for underserved youth groups that include a paddle and an environmental education workshop. Six workshops will be offered in summer 2026 and four in early summer 2027.
- Weekend rental operations in the 2026 summer season (May to September) to ensure the REC can continue to offer affordable water recreation opportunities to Racine and area residents.
Students and Water in Wisconsin’s Peatland Plant Communities
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Green Bay, UW-Madison
Project Lead(s): Keir Wefferling, Mary Ann Feist
Students and Water in Wisconsin’s Peatland Plant Communities aims to connect undergraduate and graduate students and community members of diverse ages around the topic of peat-accumulating wetlands. Peatlands are rich in bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) and vascular plants and are extremely important in global carbon cycles, as well as for hosting species-rich and highly specialized biotic communities. Faculty and student researchers will focus research and learning outcomes on water chemistry and the plant communities that form and are maintained under different conditions: from alkaline to acidic, nutrient-rich to nutrient-poor, and species-rich to species-poor. Students will help create learning resources for peers and for the larger community, focused on the unique plants and processes in these special communities.
Empowering the Next Generation of Water Stewards Through Transformative Research Experiences: Tackling the Toxicity of PFAS to Larval Fishes
Collaborating Institutions: UW-La Crosse, UW-Madison
Project Lead(s): Tisha King-Heiden, Gavin Dehnert
Various communities across Wisconsin struggle with PFAS-contaminated water and the impacts of these forever chemicals on ecosystem and human health. This project addresses knowledge gaps with respect to sensitivities of fish larvae to environmentally relevant concentrations of PFAS. The fish toxicity assays evaluate effects on key developmental milestones that can impact the ability of fish populations to sustain themselves, and data translates to human health. Working with undergraduate and master’s level students, faculty is examining impacts on development, behavior and the immune system. Beyond technical experience, students gain familiarity with goal-oriented project management and effective time management, while strengthening their written and oral communication skills. These experiences develop competencies that speak to career-readiness and prepares students for success in graduate programs.
The River Studies Field Course at UW-La Crosse
Collaborating Institutions: UW-La Crosse
Project Lead(s): Ross Vander Vorste
Once developed, the River Studies Field Course will provide 10 to 20 undergraduate students, aka River Scholars, with a transformative opportunity to learn about Wisconsin’s Grand Water Challenges. Accompanied by instructors and student trip leaders, scholars will embark in canoes on a three-day river trip. They will learn basic skills in river navigation and safety while building strong teamwork and problem-solving skills. During the trip, scholars will participate in a diverse set of instructor-led field lessons and meet industry, non-profit, and agency professionals who will introduce them to careers in a variety of freshwater disciplines. The river trip will culminate with an in-depth experience on UW-La Crosse’s Research Vessel Prairie Springs, where students will use state-of-the-art river research and monitoring equipment.
BenthicNet: Aquatic Invertebrate Reference Specimen Collaborative for Regulatory and Community Science
Collaborating Institutions: UW-Parkside, UW-Madison, UW-Stevens Point
Project Lead(s): Jessica Orlofske, Craig Brabant, Jeffrey Dimick
Insects and other invertebrates are the most abundant and varied residents of freshwater habitats. Their presence and abundance are used as powerful tools to assess water quality, a practice called biomonitoring. Biomonitoring was developed in Wisconsin and has now spread globally. The legacy of those experts includes the techniques as well as the specimens they preserved in museum collections. Access to these irreplaceable materials and their data are now the necessary fuel for future innovation. BenthicNet forms a network of specialists across Wisconsin that will expand access to these historically significant specimens while simultaneously training the next generation of experts.BenthicNet also creates opportunities to directly support statewide monitoring objectives of regulators and their partners.
