Water is essential to our well-being and survival. Maintaining healthy water systems is a challenge throughout the world even in Wisconsin.
In its early days, the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin worked with the Wisconsin State Legislature to identify 10 Grand Water Challenges. As we invest in curriculum and programs that recruit and train students for careers in water, we do so with the knowledge that our future workforce must be prepared to help solve our state’s Grand Water Challenges. Our funding has focused on two of the most prevalent challenges: Agricultural Water Management and Water Quality Safety & Emerging Contaminants.
In this biennial report, Solving Water Challenges Through Workforce Development, we highlight some of the growth and successes in these two areas. We also share more about our ongoing efforts to expand the water workforce through K-12 outreach, curriculum, and undergraduate research and internships.
Thank you to the governor, state legislature, faculty and staff at the Universities of Wisconsin, and the more than 300 partners who have collaborated with us. Working together, we are showing the future workforce that Wisconsin is THE place to study and work in water.
We invite you to view a PDF of our July 2023-June 2025 biennial outcomes report. You can request a print copy via email at freshwater-collab@uwm.edu.
