A Summer of Pie, Live Music, and Intensive Research

                                                           A view of Lake Menomin at sunset  

     Arriving at the airport on June 13th, I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. Spending two months doing intensive research with other students and living 2,000 miles from my home was daunting to say the least. However, I arrived with an open mind, and ready to learn from my mentor and peers in a new location. I was also excited to see whether the rumors about Midwestern hospitality and friendliness were true (they are).  On my first day in Menomonie, I was introduced to the other students in the LAKES program, the mentors, and our program coordinator over a pizza dinner. While exhausted from my flight, I appreciated how genuinely interested everyone was in my background and interests. When exploring Menomonie over the next few days, I was surprised by how empty the town felt without the presence of UW-Stout students, but happy to notice how engaged the townspeople were in community events. From pie and live music at the park to brewery events and a vibrant farmers market, I have yet to feel bored of activities happening in town. I have also been pleasantly surprised by how interested townspeople are in the work that I am doing this summer with LAKES.  

For the next 8 weeks, I will be working on Dr. Tina Lee’s anthropology team with 3 other students. There are also teams of students working on biology, engineering, and psychology projects. While we are all working on different projects, we are united in studying Lakes Tainter and Menomin in the Red Cedar Watershed. These lakes are eutrophic, have cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs), and have been designated “impaired waters” by the EPA. These CHABs create an anoxic lake environment, alter food webs, and produce toxins that can be harmful to humans and pets. Runoff from agricultural sources which are high in soluble phosphorus feed these algal blooms.   

The goal of my project is to understand the policies, rules, and regulations around nutrient pollution in the Red Cedar Watershed. Because my project is policy-focused, my first task was to write up a policy landscape detailing federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding nutrient pollution. This activity will help me during the interview stage so that information doesn’t go over my head when talking to policy professionals in the area. I am also hoping to identify a “need” within the community regarding these policies. For example, past projects have cited that many community members aren’t aware of the different county or state initiatives addressing the pollution in the watershed. Community members may also not be aware of how effective these policies have been at reducing phosphorus levels. How might I identify this need, quantify the effectiveness of these policies, and present this information in a way that is accessible to townspeople? I am currently in the data collection stage, and recently started interviewing members of local government, NGOs, and community advocacy groups. So far, I have conducted two interviews and attended a meeting of community advocacy groups and a meeting of an environmental committee. I also worked with the psychology team to include questions in a survey for local farmers about their satisfaction with local government and their understanding of policies and permits related to cleaning up the watershed. As I continue to conduct interviews, I expect my research focus to narrow further. I’m excited for the next 8 weeks!