Environmental Management and Business InstituteEMBI

Welcome to the 10th Annual Student Watershed Symposium!

Each year, the annual Watershed Symposium provides a forum for sharing student research projects from all of the watersheds. The symposium brings together student-teachers teams from the participating schools, program partners, agency representatives, water resources professionals and community members to learn about overall Program activities and research projects, and to exchange ideas and compare data from the various watersheds. Students present findings in oral or poster format from projects about assessing and improving stream health. The symposium provides high school students with a rare opportunity to interact with researchers in water quality fields. The proceedings are also published in the annual report.

The symposium is held in coordination with the Green Innovations Symposium. Please contact program coordinator Annette Pelegrin pelegria@uwgb.edu or 465-5031 for more information or visit the LFRWP website.

Schedule

Tuesday, April 23, 2013:8:00-3:30

(pdf version)

8:00 a.m.	Registration			Phoenix Rooms University Union
8:30 a.m. 8:45 a.m.	Lower Fox River Watershed Symposium Student Watershed Research Projects	Introductions and Project Overview Annette Pelegrin, Coordinator Lower Fox River Watershed Monitoring Program, UW – Green Bay School Presentations
9:45 a.m.	Panel Discussion: Water Quality and Agriculture Moderator: Annette Pelegrin, UW – Green Bay Panelists: Ryan Stockwell, Agriculture Program Manager for the National Wildlife Federation Jim Snitgen, Water Resources Supervisor for the Oneida Tribe
10:45 a.m.	Break and Student Poster Session
11:30 a.m.	Overview of UW – Green Bay Opportunities Eco-U Water Camp & Biodiversity Camp - Mona Christensen, Director of UW – Green Bay Camps Environmental Science Degrees – Matthew Dornbush, Professor Natural and Applied Sciences, UW – Green Bay EMBI Certificate – John Arendt, Associate Director Environmental Management and Business Institute		Student Videos
Noon	Lunch and Student Poster Session
1:00 p.m.	Tour: Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy Located about five miles from Lake Michigan, the Pagel family places a strong emphasis on environmental stewardship by monitoring surface water and groundwater for sediments and nutrients. This practice helps maintain and improve water quality for rivers, lakes and wells. As part of their efforts to educate non-farm people, Pagels explain how they use one of livestock agriculture's most bountiful byproducts—manure. Once considered waste, Pagels turn nutrient-rich manure into several useful products. http://pagelsponderosa.com/			Kewaunee County
3:30 p.m.	Return from Tour			Phoenix Rooms University Union

Student Research Poster Topics

“The Impact of Agriculture on Macroinvertebrates in Duck Creek” – Duck Creek Team
Green Bay Southwest High School
Teachers: Lynn Terrien & Rick Berken

“Effects of High and Low Stream Flow on Water Quality Indicators” - Dutchman’s Creek Team
Ashwaubenon HS and Green Bay Boys & Girls Club
Teachers: Dan Albrent & Carolina Bacelis

We investigated the variability in water quality data collected during drought periods (low flow) compared to data collected after rain events (high flow). This will expose the variability due to just stream flow, so that this variability might be taken in consideration for future tests when evaluating water quality of our stream.

“Impact of Rain and Snow Levels on Spring Brook” – Spring Brook Team
Oshkosh North High School
Teachers: Barb Reed & Mark Lieffring

“High Nitrates in Trout Creek; Rare Bird Sighting” – Trout Creek Team
Oneida Nation High School, Pulaski High School
Teachers: Becky Nutt & Stefanie Stainton

After one year of monitoring, the Trout Creek Team’s greatest concern is high nitrate levels. We were pleased to find a diverse bird population which is highlighted by the rare Dickcissel.

“Ashwaubenon Creek Water Chemistry - Data Analysis” - Ashwaubenon Creek Team
Green Bay East High School, West De Pere HS
Teachers: Rich Krieg & Dana Lex

“Influence of Phosphorus on Dissolved Oxygen in Apple Creek” –Apple Creek Team
Appleton North HS, Appleton East HS
Teachers: Jamie Sadogierski, Sheryl Stidham-Gebert, Ryan Marx, Kara Pezzi

We investigated a potential correlation between phosphorus concentrations and dissolved oxygen levels in Apple Creek.

“Baird Creek” – Baird Creek Team
Luxemburg-Casco HS, Green Bay Preble HS
Teachers: Charlie Frisk, Chris Hansel, Kevin Hendricksen

Panelists

Jim Snitgen, Oneida Nation Water Resources Supervisor
Jim received both his Bachelors in Biology and Masters in Aquatic Biology from Northern Michigan University. He has worked in the field of aquatic biology for 23 years as a consultant conducting fisheries research, a taxonomist identifying benthos from the Great Lakes and from streams across the country for the U.S. EPA. He was a regulatory biologist for the state of Florida and a researcher at the Lake Superior Research Institute. Jim has been with the Oneida Environmental, Health and Safety Division since 1999. He has published numerous peer reviewed publications in the area of aquatic macroinvertebrate community analysis and ecology, as well as presenting nationally on the comprehensive monitoring of restoration projects using biological indicators. Jim has successfully implemented nine stream restoration projects in the Green Bay watershed, including the removal of the Duck Creek Dams, the restoration and reintroduction of brook trout to Trout Creek, and the restoration of fish passage to Lancaster Brook. He takes advantage of the rewarding opportunity to both continue research but also implement restoration projects and interact with the community via outreach activities. Jim and his wife Kelly reside in Bellevue, WI with their two children, Jacob and Autumn.

Photo of Ryan Stockwell Ryan Stockwell, Agriculture Program Manager, National Wildlife Federation

UW-Green Bay’s Environmental Management and Business Institute will award Ryan with the 2013 Earth Caretaker Award-Congratulations Ryan!

After graduating Magna Cum Laude from UWGB in 2001 with a double major in Social Change and Development and History, Ryan pursued graduate education and completed a Masters in history at Miami University and a Ph.D. in history at the University of Missouri. For over five years Ryan has worked on environmental issues through multiple capacities; as a Legislative Assistant in the Missouri House of Representatives working on renewable energy legislation, as a community organizer in Montana and other western states for the Western Organization of Resource Councils working to organize landowners and residents around climate change, and as program director for the Minnesota Project, a non-profit organization, educating farmers, community leaders, and policy makers about renewable energy opportunities through anaerobic digesters. Currently, Ryan is the Agriculture Program Manager for the National Wildlife Federation where he conducts outreach on agriculture policy, performs policy analysis on agricultural legislation impacting wildlife and natural resources, and provides strategic leadership in eliminating barriers to farmer adoption of cover crops. Ryan and his wife, Stephanie (UWGB undergraduate degree in biology and education, 2002) live in Medford, Wisconsin, where they raise three boys and farm using no till and cover crop practices.

About the Lower Fox River Watershed Monitoring Program

The LFRWMP is a collaborative watershed education and stream monitoring program focused on identifying nonpoint source pollution within the Fox River watershed. Our program engages high school students and teachers in hands-on science while collecting high quality data about the conditions of Fox River tributary streams and riparian habitats. So beyond innovative educational benefits, the school-based teams contribute to a robust database of water resource conditions that can be used to assess long-term trends and evaluate restoration efforts.

Our school monitoring network is administered by the Department of Natural and Applied Sciences and the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. It is a partnership between the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, the Watershed Research program directed by Kevin Fermanich, and 11 area high schools.

Our students and teachers regularly monitor seven streams in the Fox River watershed for water quality and ecological health. They take on the role of scientists and explore local streams and waterways, in partnership with the scientific community. Standardized methods and annual teacher training sessions allow students to collect quality-assured data in their watersheds. Data from student monitoring is shared on the project website and at an annual Student Watershed Symposium.

University of Wisconsin - Green Bay