It's been a productive year. Thanks to state legislative funding, we awarded more than $4.3 million in funding for 22 projects that will increase research and training opportunities for high school and undergraduate students and will address Wisconsin’s biggest water challenges.
We also increased our outreach efforts. The Freshwater Collaborative co-sponsored the UW-Milwaukee Center for Water Policy's statewide conference on phosphorus, which was attended by more than 200 stakeholders and led to policy recommendations for the future.
In partnership with the Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium and Council of the Great Lakes Region, we hosted three online Great Lakes Symposiums, which encourage collaborations, share science across borders, and present research that is solving real-world problems.
In September we hosted our first FresH2O Partner event, pulling together Universities of Wisconsin faculty and staff, and partners from industry, government agencies, and nonprofits to discuss issues such as PFAS, phosphorus pollution, collaborative water research, and how to enhance the pipeline to jobs in water industries.
We've gathered great insight into the needs of our partners and how the Freshwater Collaborative can further enhance its role in connecting people throughout the state who care about water issues, and we look forward to implementing new ideas in the new year.
All the best,
Marissa Jablonski
Executive Director