UWGB receives $478,275 for water quality research and education | Latest News | insightonbusiness.com
The University of Wisconsin–Green Bay will receive $478,275 for 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 PFAs and agricultural water management issues such as phosphorus pollution.
The funding is part of a statewide initiative, backed by the Wisconsin State Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers, to tackle Wisconsin’s Grand Water Challenges and support curriculum development, undergraduate research opportunities, career development, and field training experiences for students interested in studying water-related fields at the 13 UW universities.
Funding includes support for the following student-involved projects at UW-Green Bay:
- $86,879 – Quantifying the impact of spatial and temporal variation in hyporheic zone fluxes on phosphorus transport and release in Wisconsin streams and rivers. (Joint UW-Green Bay and UW-Madison)
- $97,036 – Mitigating PFAs contamination of groundwater: Biochar Sequestration of PFAs in Biosolid Leachate at the Field Scale (Joint UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee)
- $281,794 – UW-Green Bay pre-college student experiences in freshwater, 2023-2025
- $12,566 – Water, health and habitat interactions: building capacity for water careers and education (Joint UW-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay, UW-La Crosse, UW-Parkside, UW-River Falls and UW-Whitewater)
“This new funding will support student-engaged research and educational programs to better understand two pressing water quality challenges in northeastern Wisconsin: nutrient runoff and PFAs,” said Emily Tyner, director of Freshwater Strategy for UW-Green Bay. “With these funds, faculty, staff and students will improve our understanding of how land-based nutrients and chemicals impact waterways, provide tools for local educators to teach about water quality threats and prepare students for statewide water-focused careers.”
Students will be involved in projects and programs that include studying riverbed sediments as an important source of phosphorus in Wisconsin waterways, evaluation and mitigation of PFAs contamination in groundwater, enhancing freshwater-focused learning opportunities for pre-college students and teachers around Green Bay and Lake Michigan watershed, and a collaboration with five UW campuses to implement hands-on courses for undergraduate students to conduct research and field work on Lake Michigan.
