A New Adventure Begins

Traveling to a new place is always exciting because I have the opportunity to expand my perspective, make friendships, and explore new things. Already within the first week of the LAKES REU program, I have gone on many adventures including visiting the local farmer’s market, eating homemade pie while listening to live music, and driving a tractor from the 1950’s. This town is full of life with community events held throughout the week, fun coffee shops to try, and numerous parks to explore. I am excited to discover more unique aspects of the town throughout the summer with the LAKES students. One aspect of Menomonie that surprised me was the culture of community. It can be seen from walking down the streets and interacting with the locals that they value relationships. I hope that I can continue to make connections with the locals as well as the fellow student researchers during the two months I am here.

This week we listened to several speakers who talked about the Red Cedar Watershed’s phosphorus pollution problem. It was interesting to hear about the issue from multiple angles including social, biological, and physical. I learned that this is a complex problem which requires an interdisciplinary approach to create sustainable, impactful solutions. Implementing solutions to environmental issues tend to be long-term. However, it was mentioned in one of the presentations that it can be difficult to communicate this to the locals because people like to see results immediately. During a tour at Dan Prestebak’s cattle farm, we learned about soil health and water quality. Having grown up on a family farm in central Illinois, it was interesting to hear about the challenges farmers are facing in Wisconsin to maintain soil health and mitigate nutrient loss.

For my project, I will be analyzing two policies, the Clean Water Act Section 319 and the Conservation Reserve Program, to identify their effectiveness in reducing pollution levels in the local watershed. My partner Emily and I have already begun the beginning stages of the research and look forward to diving into deeper analysis in the weeks to come. Although each project has its own focus, it has been cool to see how all of the projects relate to each other through an interdisciplinary approach. I am excited to see how all of the projects develop throughout the summer.

The first week in Menomonie has been a great start to what I know will be one of my best summers yet!

View from Dan Prestebak's farm