{"id":49727,"date":"2025-09-15T04:14:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T09:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/?p=49727"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:24:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:24:19","slug":"celebrating-60-years-of-watershed-stewardship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/celebrating-60-years-of-watershed-stewardship\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating 60 Years of Watershed Stewardship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It all started with a conversation at the Memorial Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1956, Henry Hart, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison, invited his colleague Arno Lenz from civil and environmental engineering to join him for lunch and an idea. Hart proposed a cross-disciplinary course on river basin planning \u2014 a forward-thinking response to how water resource decisions were often made within artificial political boundaries, rather than guided by the realities of the physical environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Did You Know?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been 843 total WRM graduates<\/strong> as of spring 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Both men had worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority, a pioneer in large-scale watershed management. They knew the limitations of siloed thinking. Lenz agreed to the proposal, and in 1958, the first river basin planning seminar launched, cross-listed in both of their departments. Students chose a topic within the realm of water resources management and developed individual research reports \u2014 a traditional seminar model, but one that began pulling in faculty from across campus, including law, urban and regional planning, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seminar became a seed. At a national water conference in 1962, Lenz heard growing momentum around interdisciplinary water programs at other universities. Energized, the UW seminar committee drafted a proposal for a new Water Resources Management<\/a><\/em> (WRM) master\u2019s degree. It was approved in 1965, laying the foundation for what would become one of the nation\u2019s earliest and most respected interdisciplinary environmental programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’ve been able to sustain 60 years of this integrated interdisciplinary focus on water resources management,\u201d says Ken Genskow, current WRM program chair. \u201cStudents take away real world experiences as part of their education, and that’s helped them secure positions in different agencies and organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\"A\n\n\n\n
WRM student Emily Kilstrom packs up equipment on a pier on the property of Karen Huber, president of the Beaver Dam Lake Improvement Association. Photo by Taylor Wolfram\/UW-Madison<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\"A\n\n\n\n
WRM student Eamon Peterson uses a vacuum filtration system to filter chlorophyll, or algae, out of the water samples. Photo by Taylor Wolfram\/UW-Madison<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Building the program took both vision and resources. Hart, Lenz, and fellow professors Fred Clarenbach (political science), Jake Beuscher (law), and Gerard Rohlich (engineering) secured a major training grant from the U.S. Public Health Service. Enrollment surged. The grant funded students, supported supplies, and enabled program administration to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As word spread, faculty from an expanding range of disciplines \u2014 agricultural economics, botany, journalism, limnology, soils \u2014 joined the effort. So did students from all kinds of academic backgrounds and career paths, creating a learning environment enriched by diverse perspectives and real-world experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1970, the newly established Institute for Environmental Studies (now the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies) offered the WRM program a broader academic home \u2014 joining the institute in 1972 and anchoring itself in an interdisciplinary community and serving as a blueprint for future professional degree programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\"\"\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\n<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The focus on delivering upon the needs of a client \u2014 in our case, Monroe, Vernon, and La Crosse Counties \u2014 forces students to reckon with the social and political dynamics that interact with what can otherwise be a straightforward research question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Jackson Parr, WRM ’20<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The early federal funding didn\u2019t last. In 1975, amid economic downturn and growing federal deficits, the Nixon administration cut the training grants that had supported WRM\u2019s growth. But even without robust financial backing, the program thrived. Applications continued to climb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By then, the seminar model had evolved into something new. In 1971, the WRM program was presented with a complex, real-world project<\/a>: the federal relicensing of the Chippewa Flowage dam in northwestern Wisconsin. Originally constructed in 1924, the dam was up for review, and its impacts \u2014 ecological, social, political \u2014 were the subject of intense debate. WRM students worked for two years alongside state agencies, utilities, tribal nations, and local communities to investigate and document the issues. They traveled to Washington, D.C., to present their findings before the Federal Power Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That experience reshaped the WRM model. Practicum workshops became a cornerstone of the program\u2014 team-based projects where students tackle pressing water and environmental challenges for real clients. It\u2019s a model that has endured for over five decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Where has WRM been? Check out an interactive map showing locations and summaries of every practicum project.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Explore the storymap<\/a><\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe very first semester [the students] are here, they begin learning about what their project will be, and how they will meet the needs of local stakeholders and partners while also addressing their own interests that they came to graduate school to study. They’re not just handed a research project. They really have to, as a group, define the parameters of that research project that’s then applied to the needs of a community,\u201d says Genskow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now celebrating its 60th year<\/a>, the WRM program continues to ripple outward. Dozens of communities have benefited from WRM practicums, and hundreds of graduates have gone on to shape water policy, steward ecosystems, and build bridges across disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n\"Two\n\n\n\n
WRM students Naz Nazri and Emily Kilstrom use an integrated sampler to take a sample from the water column on Beaver Dam Lake. Photo by Taylor Wolfram\/UW-Madison<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe WRM program really exemplifies the Wisconsin idea because it works with communities on real-world watershed issues. Each cohort of WRM students acts as a consulting firm \u2014 coming up with management recommendations and writing a report,\u201d says Jim Miller, Nelson Institute graduate program manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Watch a video of WRM students working on their Beaver Dam Lake practicum project<\/a><\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Students in the WRM program gain a well-rounded education that combines breadth with flexibility, allowing them to tailor their studies to their individual interests and career goals. The two-year program requires nine credits in science, nine credits in human dimensions, six credits in analytical tools, and 15 credits in a self-selected area of specialty, giving students both a strong foundation and the freedom to shape their degree around their professional aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back to the program\u2019s beginnings, interdisciplinarity remains its strongest draw \u2014 attracting applicants from around the world who bring a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. \u201cThe program looks for leaders and hard workers \u2014 people who are motivated, dependable, reliable, and mature,\u201d Miller says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As an undergrad, I had a lakes and watershed management professor who pointed me towards the WRM program. He said there was no other place like UW-Madison \u2014 the birthplace of limnology \u2014 where you could study surrounded by water and then go enjoy a beer out on the Terrace. I needed no more convincing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Paul Dearlove, WRM ’96<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Looking forward to the program\u2019s future, Genskow cites advancing technologies as the touchstone for managing water resources. \u201cThere\u2019s more data available, more analytical tools for rapidly processing that data, new kinds of environmental monitoring that can provide real time information to work with, and more public access to these kinds of democratized tools with the need for someone to help interpret them.\u201d Genskow says. \u201cSo more of the same, but in a really amplified way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What began as a lakeside conversation between two professors is now a legacy \u2014 one that flows through every student, stakeholder, and watershed it touches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the Numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Check out these interesting stats about the WRM practicum experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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32<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focused on watersheds<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focused on a lake<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supported a county government<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had a statewide focus<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were on the UW-Madison Campus\/Arboretum<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partnered with a Wisconsin Tribal Nation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

WRM Reports<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

See every water resources management practicum report cover, starting in 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\"\"\n\n\n\n

\n

View the gallery<\/a><\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

History of WRM Chairs<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Ken Genskow<\/strong>
2024-present<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Anita Thompson<\/strong>
2015-2023<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Ken Potter<\/strong>
2007-2015<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Linda Graham<\/strong>
2004-2007<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Fred Madison<\/strong>
1999-2004<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Jean Bahr<\/strong>
1995-1999<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Ken Potter<\/strong>
1992-1995<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Dave Mickelson<\/strong>
1990-1992<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Steve Born<\/strong>
1988-1990<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Erhard Joeres<\/strong>
1984-1988<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Steve Born<\/strong>
1983-1984<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Erhard Joeres<\/strong>
1980-1983<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Henry Hart<\/strong>
1977-1980<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Image\n\n\n\n

Dave Stephenson<\/strong>
1975-1977<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Image\n\n\n\n

Charles Falkner<\/strong>
1974-1975<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Image\n\n\n\n

Dave Stephenson<\/strong>
1968-1974<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\"\"\/\n\n\n\n

Fred Clarenbach<\/strong>
1965-1968<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For 60 years, the WRM practicum has trained generations of water leaders \u2014 and transformed communities, ecosystems, and policy along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":50139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[36,32,34],"tags":[53,35],"post_template":[],"class_list":["post-49727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation","category-sustainability","category-water","tag-deep-dive","tag-fall-2025"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCelebrating 60 Years of Watershed Stewardship | The Commons Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For 60 years, the water resources management practicum has trained generations of water leaders \u2014 and transformed communities, ecosystems, and policy along the way.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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