{"id":6978,"date":"2021-10-01T09:19:16","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T14:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=6978"},"modified":"2021-10-01T09:22:29","modified_gmt":"2021-10-01T14:22:29","slug":"freshwater-research-a-collaborative-summer-at-eric","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/freshwater-research-a-collaborative-summer-at-eric\/","title":{"rendered":"Freshwater research: A collaborative summer at ERIC"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Photo
Britta Larson from UW-Superior was one of four students who did field work in Door County.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A Freshwater Collaborative for Wisconsin grant helped students from six UW campuses train at one of three locations of\u00a0 UW Oshkosh’s Environmental Research and Innovation Center<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n

When\u00a0Amanda Stickney\u00a0learned about chemistry\u00a0in sixth grade,\u00a0her love of math and science\u00a0clicked.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo
Amanda Stickney analyzes samples at the ERIC lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn high school, I went to a semester boarding school that focused on environmental science and stewardship,\u201d says\u00a0the recent graduate of UW-Stevens Point\u2019s chemistry program. \u201cThat\u2019s when I knew I wanted to do something with environmental\u00a0chemistry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Last summer, Stickney had a unique opportunity to expand her laboratory skills at UW Oshkosh\u2019s Environmental Research and Innovation Center (ERIC), the UW System\u2019s most comprehensive research and testing center. Each year ERIC hires about 40 students for its various programs. Historically, most of them have been undergraduates from UW Oshkosh. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A grant from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin (FCW) helped give students from other UW campuses, including UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout, UW-Superior, UW-Parkside and UW-Whitewater, the opportunity to train at one of ERIC\u2019s three locations \u2014 Oshkosh, Manitowoc, or Door County. The FCW grant funded four positions, and an additional three-and-half positions were funded through matching grants. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe provide opportunities for students to learn the techniques, the workflow and the environment of this type of laboratory,\u201d says Greg Kleinheinz, Viessmann Chair of Sustainable Technology and professor of environmental engineering technology at UW Oshkosh. \u201cOne of the goals of our Freshwater Collaborative project was to make inroads with other campuses and bring students from the different campuses together.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Students spent a week in the ERIC lab training and learning analytical techniques. Because of her major, Stickney worked in the lab all summer, learning how to run the equipment, analyze samples and follow standard operating procedures.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I want to work in a lab, I wanted to really learn chemical safety,\u201d she says. \u201cNot everyone can follow an\u00a0SOP\u00a0<\/span>[Standard Operating Procedure]\u00a0<\/span>for how to run a test or make a chemical.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Being a chemistry major, Stickney also appreciated the opportunity to learn more about biology and microbiology. That knowledge will help her succeed at Ohio State University, where she began the master\u2019s in environmental science program this fall.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Britta Larson (top photo), a biology and chemistry major at UW-Superior, was one of four students who did field work in Door County. They\u00a0<\/span>tested\u00a0beaches for coliforms,\u00a0E. coli,\u00a0microcystin and microplastics;\u00a0looked at parameters that could influence bacteria levels\u00a0at the beaches;\u00a0assisted in method development for finding and analyzing the microplastics; and analyzed\u00a0the safety of\u00a0drinking water.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo
Jason Trzebiatowski from UW-Eau Claire<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis program was very field heavy, and it taught me that conditions are variable and to be prepared to problem solve.\u00a0<\/span>This also helped me to notice what type of career I would like<\/span>,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Larson, who plans to\u00a0go to\u00a0graduate school for\u00a0<\/span>water\u00a0<\/span>resource management or natural resource management.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Larson and her\u00a0teammate Jason\u00a0Trzebiatowski, a\u00a0<\/span>biology major and pre-professional medicine minor\u00a0from UW-Eau\u00a0Claire, say one of the\u00a0highlights was learning how to run and manage a field laboratory.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Peyton Maki, a senior environmental science major at UW Stout, the\u00a0hands-on experience\u00a0provided insight into his\u00a0career path. His\u00a0current post-graduation plan is two years in the Peace Corps, where he hopes to practice\u00a0the skills\u00a0he learned\u00a0over the summer,\u00a0followed by\u00a0graduate school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo
Peyton Maki from UW-Stout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c<\/span>By participating\u202fin this internship, I think I have largely increased my skill for both field and lab work, as well\u00a0as\u00a0learning my passion\u00a0for\u00a0the work I have done this summer,\u201d he says.\u202f\u201cIt has let me get a better understanding of some of the tasks I will need to solve and work in for a future job.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kleinheinz says the program has exceeded expectations \u2014 and response to the FCW-funded positions was so strong that UW Oshkosh hired 20 additional students for a different program that studies invasive aquatic species in Vilas County.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the student experiences, the ERIC program is fulfilling another goal of the Freshwater Collaborative: connecting UW System faculty. Kleinheinz says when they reached out to UW Stout to discuss the ERIC program, the conversations snowballed into additional collaboration to develop common coursework and certificates. And this past summer, faculty from UW-Eau Claire brought a field class, also funded by the FCW, to visit the ERIC students and study water resources in Door County.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe students are an easy way to make introductions between the faculty,\u201d\u00a0Kleinheinz\u00a0says.\u00a0\u201cFaculty are busy,\u00a0but when they see how an opportunity directly benefits their students, they start to see how they can do other collaborative things. That starts to build those faculty connections, and that will grow into\u00a0future\u00a0students research\u00a0opportunities.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Freshwater Collaborative for Wisconsin grant helped students from six UW campuses train at one of three locations of\u00a0 UW Oshkosh’s Environmental Research and Innovation Center When\u00a0Amanda Stickney\u00a0learned about chemistry\u00a0in sixth grade,\u00a0her love of math and science\u00a0clicked.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIn high school, I went to a semester boarding school that focused on environmental science and stewardship,\u201d says\u00a0the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":6982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[96,107,94,105,95,90,110,84],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-6978","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-eau-claire","institution-uw-milwaukee","institution-uw-oshkosh","institution-uw-parkside","institution-uw-stevens-point","institution-uw-stout","institution-uw-superior","institution-uw-whitewater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/6978","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=6978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=6978"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=6978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}