Wisconsin Water News

Matt Ginder-Vogel and Amy Plechacek with the University of Wisconsin-Madison are studying how interactions between water and rock in Fond du Lac County might result in natural contamination of public and private drinking water wells.

A two-year project by three Sea Grant programs seeks to address complex erosion issues on Lake Michigan through an integrated physical, social and community approach. It’s led by Chin Wu with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sea Grant’s Deidre Peroff and Jumana Tanner are part of a program designed to keep beachgoers in Milwaukee safe even though there are no lifeguards on beaches there this summer.

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Anne Moser and Adam Bechle are beginning a project designed to connect middle-school students in Racine to their watershed by exploring coastal engineering concepts.

Richard Stewart and Daniel Rust at the University of Wisconsin-Superior are undertaking a study that looks at the impacts of reduced ice cover on Great Lakes marine transportation.

Kevin Masarik with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is working to reduce fertilizer pollution in the Central Sands area, a popular place to grow potatoes.

Deidre Peroff and Belle Pappalardo are working with Milwaukee Riverkeeper on a project designed to educate school children about microplastics and reduce the amount of plastics entering Lake Michigan.

People still tracking the mysterious accelerated corrosion of steel in Lake Superior have discovered the issue is occurring on inland lakes and in a river, as well.

Sea Grant researcher Christina Remucal is looking into the fate of harmful PFAS chemicals in the water and sediments of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. She describes her preliminary results.

This new learning kit focuses on trash found in waterways. Sea Grant educators Ginny Carlton and Anne Moser describe what’s in it, who can use it and how to request it.

The Friends of Lincoln Park successfully fought the closing of an aquatic center in their neighborhood on Milwaukee’s north side thanks to data from a mapping project by Sea Grant’s Deidre Peroff and Reflo.

Toben Lafrancois helps lead a unique underwater photography program in northern Wisconsin that uses the healing value and inspiration of spending time in water to aid youths facing significant mental health challenges, and to educate middle and high school students.

Sarah Vitale and other researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are investigating the possibility that phosphorous deep in the aquifer is the driver behind elevated levels of phosphorous in both surface water and groundwater in western Wisconsin.

Caitlin Zant with the Wisconsin Historical Society describes how they are developing online educational resources about Lake Michigan shipwrecks, along with a field school for budding maritime archaeologists – all with funding from Wisconsin Sea Grant.

A new Lake Michigan project addresses the need for skilled water workers and will enhance an online resource hub to promote cohesive stormwater messaging along the Wisconsin coast. Deidre Peroff, Rebecca Abler and Jacob Fincher describe how they will cooperate

Changes are coming to Barker’s Island in Superior in 2020 and 2021, all designed to reduce stormwater runoff. Julia Noordyk, Todd Breiby and Andrea Crouse describe what’s up and where the money’s coming from for the improvements.

Educators from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan learned more about Ojibwe culture, treaty rights and water ecology recently thanks to a Sea Grant-sponsored workshop.

Tim Campbell with Wisconsin Sea Grant describes results from a 2018 survey of boaters in Wisconsin regarding their knowledge of aquatic invasive species.

Christine Remucal with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Kristine Wammer with the University of St. Thomas found that various amounts and types of dissolved organic matter combined with sunlight can break down different pollutants in the St. Louis River.

Deanna Erickson with the Lake Superior Reserve runs a program designed to connect teachers and students to the Lake Superior Watershed.

John Berges and Erica Young with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are investigating a drastic rise in dissolved silica in Lake Michigan, which plays an important role in the base of the food web.

Sarah Dance, a Ph. D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was recently awarded a Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment grant to fund research into wild rice in Wisconsin. Her advisor, Matthew Ginder-Vogel, was pretty psyched that she was awarded the grant.

Three Wisconsin teachers joined a dozen others from around the Great Lakes on a week-long research cruise on Lake Erie with scientists. Hear how the teachers built on knowledge they gained during a previous Sea Grant cruise and how their students will benefit from the teachers’ new insights into large lakes. Jody Henseler and Brian Henrickson are interviewed.

A workshop about dangerous currents on Lake Superior’s South Shore drew community members to Ashland recently. Hear how Chin Wu, Todd Brieby and Deidre Peroff are doing to help with safety measures for swimmers and hear why excursion boat captain Shelly Holland attended the event.

Kenosha Dunes is a scenic natural area along Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, the dunes are eroding at an alarming rate. A team of specialists, including Chin Wu, Adam Bechle and Titus Seilheimer, are looking for new solutions to the old problem of erosion in order to save the dunes.