Students from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and other UW System schools spent the summer on Lake Michigan cleaning up trash in the water and along the shorelines with a new trash skimmer boat and remote controlled drone purchased with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The large project also involves the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin and collaboration with the Council of the Great Lakes Region National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine debris project as well as public health, soil and water, nonprofits and the UW System.
Student Mason Kobilic says the work will help researchers access how much trash there is at various locations and the water samples collected will aid in microplastics research. Kobilic says he wanted to get hands-on experience through an internship so he could see what a career path could look like.
“It’s been great. We get to see the lab work and then we get to see the hands-on field work part of it, so we get to see the whole process, which is really cool,” he says.
He shares his experience in this a great video produced by the UW Oshkosh team.
Trash collectors: UW students help clean up Wisconsin waters