{"id":11864,"date":"2025-02-21T08:56:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T14:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=11864"},"modified":"2025-02-21T08:56:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T14:56:05","slug":"getting-their-feet-wet-uwl-partners-with-j-f-brennan-providing-hands-on-experience-in-hydrographic-surveying","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/getting-their-feet-wet-uwl-partners-with-j-f-brennan-providing-hands-on-experience-in-hydrographic-surveying\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting their feet wet: UWL partners with J.F. Brennan, providing hands-on experience in hydrographic surveying"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Students in Colin Belby\u2019s Geospatial Field Methods course (GEO 410) gained hands-on experience in hydrographic surveying through a unique partnership with J.F. Brennan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

J.F. Brennan, a fourth-generation, family-owned marine construction firm based in La Crosse, specializes in environmental remediation, dam construction, commercial diving, harbor management and submarine cable services. It is also a top employer of UW-La Crosse students.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Students in\u00a0Colin Belby<\/a>\u2019s Geospatial Field Methods course (GEO 410<\/a>) recently gained hands-on experience in hydrographic surveying through a unique partnership with J.F. Brennan.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s reassuring to see former UWL geography students succeed at J.F. Brennan, knowing I can apply the skills I\u2019ve learned at UWL in my own career,\u201d says Jordan Carvenough, a senior majoring in\u00a0geographic information systems.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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J.F. Brennan hydrographers introduced students to the basics of setting up a sonar survey.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The collaboration kicked off with a training session led by J.F. Brennan hydrographers, who introduced students to the basics of setting up a sonar survey. The following week, students visited J.F. Brennan\u2019s headquarters for a day of fieldwork and data processing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership is an excellent opportunity for UWL students to work in the field with cutting-edge technology and processes to help craft the skills needed, as well as affording J.F. Brennan the chance to work with a world-class learning organization to assist with the development of tomorrow\u2019s workforce.\u201d says Brian Reitzel, senior learning and development officer at J.F. Brennan.<\/span><\/p>\n

“My favorite part of the J.F. Brennan experience was using the\u00a0UWL Research Vessel Prairie Springs<\/a>\u00a0to collect the hydrographic data,” Carvenough says. “We then learned how the data is processed. Seeing how the data is collected in the field and then brought to the computers and turned into a product they give their customers was an eye-opening experience.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carvenough highlighted how the experience bridged the gap between academic learning and practical application.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“The collaboration enhanced my education by just understanding how my classes throughout my college career can be applied to the real world,” Carvenough says.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Students were able to use the UWL Research Vessel Prairie Springs to collect hydrographic data.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the collaboration, J.F. Brennan staff went above and beyond to support the students’ learning experience.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“I am appreciative of the J.F. Brennan staff who took time out of their days to set up the Research Vessel Prairie Springs to perform this data collection,” Carvenough adds. “They stayed late while we were at J.F. Brennan to show us how the operations work and thoroughly answer any questions we had.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The collaboration highlights a valuable connection between UWL and J.F. Brennan, an academic partnership that was formalized in 2022, offering students an inside look at industry practices and potential career paths.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe exciting part of growing this partnership,\u201d Reitzel says, \u201cis the opportunity to pass on what we are seeing as the important factors that the workforce needs to understand and learn to be successful in tomorrow\u2019s world.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Written by UW-La Crosse<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwlax.edu\/news\/posts\/getting-their-feet-wet\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

J.F. Brennan, a fourth-generation, family-owned marine construction firm based in La Crosse, specializes in environmental remediation, dam construction, commercial diving, harbor management and submarine cable services. It is also a top employer of UW-La Crosse students.\u00a0 Students in\u00a0Colin Belby\u2019s Geospatial Field Methods course (GEO 410) recently gained hands-on experience in hydrographic surveying through a unique […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":11866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-11864","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/11864","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=11864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=11864"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=11864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}