“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.”