1. Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin awards $4.34 million in funding to bolster student training and workforce development in freshwater

    Photo of University of Wisconsin freshwater research (Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin)

    Projects also support research for statewide grand water challenges including PFAS and phosphorus pollution The Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin has awarded more than $4.3 million in funding for 22 projects that will increase research and training opportunities for high school and undergraduate students and will address Wisconsin’s biggest water challenges, including emerging contaminants such as […]

  2. Water-quality monitoring program connects teens to environment – Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

    Photo of students collecting water data: Data collected by high school students contributes to long-term monitoring of the Fox Valley watershed. (Photo courtesy of Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin)

    When Dana Lex, a science teacher at West De Pere High School, was approached by UW-Green Bay faculty in 2006 to participate in a new water-quality monitoring program, she jumped at the opportunity to create a course that would get students outdoors. “I’ve built my environmental science class around this project, and I feel it […]

  3. UWM Freshwater Sciences grad student makes a splash in the world of aquatic education

    Photo of Pierce VanValkenburg as Mermaid Echo interacting with children attending an educational performance at Discovery World. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)

    Pierce VanValkenburg grew up on the St. Croix River, which flows along the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota and down into the Mississippi. Since a young age, VanValkenburg’s life has been centered around water. Springs and summers were full of boating with family, swimming and watching sunfish the way other kids watched TV. “We spent […]

  4. UWO, UWL biology students use new FTIR spectrometer to study microplastics at ERIC lab

    Photo of UW Oshkosh biology student in ERIC lab

    New technology at a University of Wisconsin Oshkosh lab is allowing students to study microplastics in fish and mussels, giving insight as to what impact the materials might have on the environment and ecosystem. Students are using a new Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer to detect and identify microplastic particles in Wisconsin lakes and rivers […]

  5. UW-Madison water resources students get hands-on experience with creek cleanup

    Photo of Terry Bradshaw (left), president of the Menasha River Alliance, giving a rope technique demonstration with UW-Madison student Hannah Agner. (Photo by Bryce Richter/UW-Madison)

    Determined to remove a log from a large pile, several Nelson Institute Water Resources Management students leaned into their ropes in a field at Badger Farms. “You don’t think that just tying a rope around the log and yanking on it is going to do much, especially for me that’s barely over five feet tall,” […]

  6. Exploring unknown worlds: UW-Whitewater student blends communication and science in deep sea venture

    Photo of ship

    Studying the deepest depths of the ocean to learn more about space. It might seem counterintuitive, but it describes the mission of the JOIDES Resolution, a seagoing research vessel, which departed from Portugal and is exploring extreme parts of the Atlantic Ocean from April through June. UW-Whitewater graduate student (M.S. in Communication) Sarah Treadwell (pictured below, right) is […]

  7. UW-La Crosse research: Bees that nest in the ground

    Photo of Danielle Hudson, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse graduate student in biology, who has been conducting research on ground nesting bees in early spring outside on the university campus. The bees are typically out until the end of May.

    The vast majority of bees are living underfoot (not in hives) and they’re playing an important role in pollination We often hear most about honey bees and their hives — thanks to pop culture and Winnie the Pooh. But a whopping 70% of the world’s 20,000 bee species lay eggs in underground nests. If you’ve […]

  8. UW-Eau Claire biology class started alumna’s journey to becoming world-renowned scientist

    Photo of Lisa Schulte Moore, who graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 1993 with a degree in biology and is the associate director of the Bioeconomy Institute and professor of natural resource ecology and management at Iowa State University.

    Like many aspiring scientists, Dr. Lisa Schulte Moore came to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire curious about the natural world but not quite sure how she might help solve its many problems. She found her answer in a plant ecology class taught by Dr. William Barnes, a UW-Eau Claire professor of biology from 1972-1999. “He […]

  9. Project monitors phosphorus remediation strategies; trains students for workforce

    Photo of UW-Stout students conducting water research

    The Red Cedar Watershed in west-central Wisconsin is one of the most highly impacted watersheds in Wisconsin. The Red Cedar River was listed as an EPA impaired water in 1998, and Tainter Lake and Lake Menomin have been listed as highly impaired since 1972 due to high levels of phosphorus pollution, which depresses local property […]

  10. Ag-Water Nexus field trip explores water challenges, solutions in Southwest Wisconsin

    Photo of students learning about the groundwater sampling network at Pioneer Farm and receive a demonstration on how to sample water from wells.

    The University of Wisconsin-Platteville recently hosted students from across the state for the second Wisconsin Agriculture-Water Nexus Network field trip, funded by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, where students explored critical issues related to the connections between agriculture and water management. The three-day field trip course was developed last year by faculty from UW-Platteville, UW-Madison, UW-Green […]