{"id":11488,"date":"2024-10-10T09:44:35","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T14:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=11488"},"modified":"2024-10-10T09:44:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T14:44:35","slug":"high-school-summer-internships-give-students-freshwater-experience-before-college","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/high-school-summer-internships-give-students-freshwater-experience-before-college\/","title":{"rendered":"High school summer internships give students freshwater experience before college"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
High School Summer Scholars conduct a mussel survey. The High School Freshwater Summer Scholars internship program at UW-Green Bay offers paid internships that provide high school students hands-on career experience before heading to college. The program is one of the K-12 outreach efforts supported by Educators and Students Rise to Freshwater Challenges, which UW-Green Bay developed with funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin. This program helps to attract students into water science majors and careers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not often that high school students have the opportunity for paid internships that provide them hands-on career experience before heading to college.<\/p>\n

The High School Freshwater Summer Scholars internship program at UW-Green Bay does exactly that. What began as a pilot program with one intern in 2022 grew to 10 interns in summer 2024. The program is one of the K-12 outreach efforts supported by Educators and Students Rise to Freshwater Challenges, which UW-Green Bay developed with funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scholars program provides students with opportunities to explore water science by participating in UW-Green Bay research projects,\u201d say Emily Tyner, director of freshwater strategy at UW-Green Bay. \u201cWe had 24 applicants for 10 spots this year. It was our most competitive application pool yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s students came from Green Bay, Oshkosh, Milwaukee and Manitowoc.<\/p>\n

High school students must apply and go through an interview process. Accepted students are then matched with a UW-Green Bay mentor who is engaged in freshwater-centered research. Mentors may be faculty\/staff, graduate students, or a qualified undergraduate who is supervised by a faculty\/staff member. This year, two students were also placed at Atlas Science Center in Appleton. Students commit to working 120 hours over the summer and receive a $1,500 stipend.<\/p>\n

In addition to conducting research, interns participate in group field trips and other opportunities to explore water science careers and research. For example, they toured NEW Water\u2019s wastewater treatment facilities where they learned about wastewater treatment, internships and jobs.<\/p>\n

Sam Frauenfeld, a UW-Green Bay biology major with an emphasis in ecology and conservation, had a unique role in the program. She took on a brand-new position as the high school scholar program coordinator.<\/p>\n

Thanks in part to her role in this project, Frauenfeld has been hired by Lakeshore Natural Resource Partners to help manage conservation activities. She\u2019ll work part-time during the school year and go full-time after graduation.<\/p>\n

As the high school scholar program coordinator, Frauenfeld was part of the hiring process and interviewed potential interns. Throughout the summer, she served as the students\u2019 primary point of contact, answering their questions and providing peer support.<\/p>\n

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Students conduct mussel research with the WDNR.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Frauenfeld says it can be intimidating for high school students to ask questions of university faculty and staff. Not only could she answer their questions, but she provided feedback to the UW-Green Bay team so they can improve the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the students\u2019 first point of contact for anything they needed,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole new ballgame going from high school to college, so I helped bridge that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another part of Frauenfeld\u2019s role was to help organize the field trips. One unique experience included a visit to Oneida Reservation to see completed restoration work. Site leaders taught students how to identify plant and bug species. They also used E-bird and Merlin apps to monitor birds, and they engaged in water quality sampling.<\/p>\n

On another field trip, high school scholars met with Jesse Weinzinger from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to conduct a mussel monitoring survey in a local stream in Mishicot. They donned waders and used bathyscopes to search the sediment floor of the streams. The experience was particularly exciting because the group found eight mussel species, two of which are rare.<\/p>\n

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Sam Frauenfeld collects lake sturgeon for conservation research.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Frauenfeld also works on lake sturgeon research in associate professor Patrick Forsyth\u2019s lab. She helped mentor Tessa Losurdo, a high school summer scholar from Suring High School who was assigned to the project.<\/p>\n

Under Frauenfeld\u2019s mentorship, Losurdo learned to assess fish and macroinvertebrate populations in Dutchman and Ashwaubenon Creeks, and to collect and tag northern pike in Green Bay. They also collected lake sturgeon in the Menominee River as part of a\u00a0large conservation project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past summer I have had the chance to tour multiple different facilities and learn more about our water and ecosystems,\u201d Losurdo stated in her poster presentation about her internship. \u201cThe Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin program grew my love for environmental science and conservation has grown, and I can\u2019t wait for what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Losurdo wasn\u2019t the only one who enjoyed the experience. The internship program received rave reviews from participants. A few comments from the anonymous end-of-summer survey include:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very unique experience that really can let people see into the life of a college student. I think this is a fantastic experience for people who have an interest in science and biology, and for people considering a career within these fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would 100% recommend this experience to anyone. It was such a cool opportunity, and it was so nice being able to work with so many different people and do so many different things all in one summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would absolutely recommend this experience to anyone who is interested in anything pertaining to the environment. It\u2019s such a cool way to get out there and do actual research that contributes to something real.\u201d<\/p>\n

All participants created a video or poster about their research. They are invited to present their work at the annual\u00a0Lakeshore Water Summit\u00a0<\/a>in Manitowoc on Oct. 9 and UW-Green Bay\u2019s Spring Symposium in March 2025.<\/p>\n

Learn more at\u00a0www.uwgb.edu\/freshwater-collaborative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7piJGD8P9ns?feature=oembed&w=640&h=360]<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Written by Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/freshwater.wisconsin.edu\/high-school-summer-internships\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not often that high school students have the opportunity for paid internships that provide them hands-on career experience before heading to college. The High School Freshwater Summer Scholars internship program at UW-Green Bay does exactly that. What began as a pilot program with one intern in 2022 grew to 10 interns in summer 2024. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":11491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[111],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-11488","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-green-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/11488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=11488"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=11488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}