{"id":49945,"date":"2025-09-15T03:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T08:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/?p=49945"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:26:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:26:02","slug":"a-river-runs-through-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/a-river-runs-through-him\/","title":{"rendered":"A River Runs through Him"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stephen Born came really close to becoming an oil man. After earning a master\u2019s in geology from the University of Oregon, he worked as an exploration geologist at Shell Oil as the company was pioneering the search for oil Outer Continental Shelf<\/a>. He explored the whole West Coast, from San Francisco to Cape Flattery, planning for a future where oil derricks dotted the horizon. Shell came to him with an offer for a special position with big potential. \u201cWhere does all this lead?\u201d he wondered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he took the job, he would have spent a year overseas being formed into a true corporate magnate. He would\u2019ve kept climbing \u2014 someday, perhaps, all the way to the top. It was a bright future, to be sure, but it was missing one critical ingredient: water. Wadable, fishable, water. \u201cI\u2019ve always been haunted by water,\u201d Born says. \u201cWhether it’s oceansides, rivers, springs emanating out of the ground, wetlands \u2026 I can’t imagine not being near water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n\"Born\n\n\n\n
Born began his work at the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1969. Photo courtesy of Stephen Born (3)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

He politely declined, following his already-set plan to head back to school for his PhD. He enrolled in the geology program at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison, where he came across the water resources management program in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. He added it to his course load, and the rest, as they say, is history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy enough to find the timeline of Born\u2019s seven-decade career: from being one of the first students in the Nelson Institute\u2019s water resources management program<\/a> to leading the program and establishing others; from directing the Wisconsin State Planning Agency to chairing Trout Unlimited, the nation\u2019s largest cold water conservation organization. But the river that runs through it holds a deeper look at the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Famer<\/a>\u2019s raison d\u2019\u00eatre. \u201cAside from the fact that you and I are made up largely of water \u2014 from an aesthetic point of view, from a literary point of view, from a recreational point of view \u2014 it was always magic for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cPull away from yourself and take a look at what you’re doing [and] how you’re relating to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Stephen Born<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born grew up in Chicago\u2019s south suburbs. He remembers a summer vacation when he was seven or eight years old. In a creek somewhere in Michigan, he saw people fly-fishing. Fascinated, he waded into the stream. He emerged with legs covered in leeches and an \u201caddiction\u201d to fishing. \u201cBy the time I was 12, we were sneaking away regularly, occasionally ditching school, and going down to fish this little canal for bluegills and carp, catfish and one thing or another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he went to college at the University of Illinois\u2013Urbana Champaign, he entertained a career in ichthyology, or fish zoology. A geology professor captured him with a more interdisciplinary approach. \u201cGeology became this integrated, synthetic science, which also provided a framework for thinking about resources, including water,\u201d he recalls, so Born enrolled in the program. In his sophomore year, he headed west for a field geology camp in Wyoming\u2019s Bighorn Mountains. \u201cThat was where the Western love affair started,\u201d he says. That\u2019s how he ultimately wound up in Oregon, and then at Shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\"Born\u2019s\n\n\n\n
Born\u2019s work with Trout Unlimited has spanned four decades. With Lauren Brown and Tom Krauskopf along lower Black Earth Creek in 2018. Photo courtesy of Trout Unlimited Wisconsin<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 1966, Born made the move to Madison to start his PhD. With encouragement from several faculty members, he tacked on the water resources management<\/a> (WRM) MS. \u201cI pursued the WRM degree to expand my skillset and my vision about resources management,\u201d he says. \u201cWRM has played a big role in my life. It was a perfect program with really interesting people.\u201d When he ventured to Wisconsin, Born fully expected to go back out west. He tried: after earning his master\u2019s, he went to the Desert Research Institute in Nevada to finish his dissertation. (He lived on the Truckee River<\/a> and focused his work on the Truckee and Pyramid Lakes, \u201chome to the largest Lahontan cutthroat trout<\/a> in the world that had become extinct through water management practices.\u201d) But \u201cWisconsin came calling,\u201d he says, with a position at the UW to work between state government and the university on the management of Wisconsin\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of faculty [members] at the university had really nurtured me, played big roles in shaping my outlook and interests. So, even though I thought I would be headed back out west, I wound up staying,\u201d he says. A few years later, it was then-Governor Patrick Lucey<\/a>\u2019s turn to come calling with an offer for Born to head up the State Planning Agency and, eventually, serve as the energy director. While working for the state, Born kept a foot in academia. He stayed on the UW\u2013Madison faculty through his retirement in 2005, teaching in both the Nelson Institute and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. He served two terms as chair of the water resources management program and led several of the program\u2019s hallmark practicum projects. Fusing his role as the state\u2019s energy director with his position at the Nelson Institute, Born also helped spur the creation of the institute\u2019s energy analysis and policy program.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlong the way, I drank the Wisconsin Kool-Aid: a magical combination of people in the university; the resource heritage here; the environmental ethic, and a clean state government at that time doing a lot of interesting progressive things,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Line<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As Born\u2019s connections through both the university and the government grew, so did his influence. He used it for good, engaging with a number of nonprofits dedicated to watershed health and management. The connections didn\u2019t hurt in the world of fishing, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI learned to fly fish at Herb Kohl\u2019s ranch,\u201d he says, casually referencing the 190-acre Red Hills Ranch in Wyoming, which was owned by Kohl<\/a> until his passing. Born, alongside a few friends (\u201ca couple other ne\u2019er-do-wells,\u201d he jokes) would convene every summer to spend a week fishing. \u201cEven though we were only out there on the ranch for a week or two each year, there were so many great things. That was a spectacular spot to learn,\u201d he remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\"A\n\n\n\n
A lifetime of loving fish and the places they live. Born catching an Atlantic Salmon in Iceland, 2015.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It was a serendipitous connection, Born says, that led to a lifetime of fly-fishing. He has since written a book on Wisconsin\u2019s fly-fishing<\/a>, traveled the world in search of game fish, and offered expertise to water resources management groups around the globe. One such group, the Henry\u2019s Fork Foundation<\/a>, finally drew him back in the western United States. \u201cI put heartstrings and deep roots down in that part of the country,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I didn’t know this little corner of southeast Idaho and this famous river out there. I figured this would be a great chance to learn to fish this challenging, world-famous river \u2014 and learn about western water resource management.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through his service on the Henry\u2019s Fork Foundation board, he\u2019s made some lifelong connections \u2026 and yes, further expanded his fishing. \u201cA lot of the people I wander around the world fishing with these days are people I met out on the Henry’s Fork. An eclectic crowd of people gravitate there \u2026 physicists and computer engineers from MIT and Harvard, doctors from San Francisco, and corporate executives from Texas,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd the heartbeat of the whole thing was trying to fool a trout on the Henry’s Fork River.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry\u2019s Fork remained a pivotal spot for Born. In 2023, he established a scholarship<\/a> through the Nelson Institute to pair UW\u2013Madison students as interns with the Henry\u2019s Fork Foundation. \u201cIt\u2019s a chance to really expand one\u2019s vision, from the water riches of Wisconsin and the Midwest to a very different perspective on water management,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Sinker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beyond racking up accolades, Born hasn\u2019t changed too much from the little boy emerging from a stream covered in leeches. He spends most of his time fishing streams and watersheds around the globe. This summer, he was in Idaho, Montana, and Cuba, and the Caribbean or Puerto Rico is up next. \u201cAnd yes, there\u2019s a fish \u2026\u201d he says, anticipating a canned question like what\u2019s your favorite fish.<\/em> \u201cI\u2019m chasing tarpon<\/a> right now,\u201d he says. \u201cThat’s what I’ve been chasing around in Cuba. My saltwater fishing is not out there trolling for big tuna or letting the boat do all the work. This is sight fishing in small boats on the flats. You’re just totally, organically part of the environment. It’s off the charts in terms of the aesthetic and the emotional experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n\"Born\n\n\n\n
Born shares his knowledge and passion to develop conservation values in the next generation.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps none of this \u2014 from the accolades to the lure collections \u2014 would\u2019ve happened if Born had stayed at Shell in 1966. \u201cLeaving Shell was a complicated decision,\u201d he reflects. \u201cBut I knew if I didn\u2019t get back to school then, I would be trapped in a corporate career.\u201d Embedded in his memory is a two-hour conversation with the vice president of Shell, who helped him work through the decision. \u201cI was absolutely shocked that a busy corporate executive would put aside time and clear his desk, for two hours, to talk to me about my <\/em>future. I was surprised and caught off guard,\u201d Born remembers. \u201cThat influenced me for the rest of my life,\u201d he says, his voice breaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a lesson in deep mentorship, human connection, and the humility needed to give time for others. \u201cPull away from yourself and take a look at what you’re doing [and] how you’re relating to other people,\u201d he says. He carries that lesson through the rest of his life, sharing it with countless UW\u2013Madison students \u2014 now today\u2019s changemakers. \u201cWhen students or other people came in with life-influencing decisions, sure I was busy, sure I was doing my own stuff. But make time,\u201d he says. \u201cAll of that became part of my ethos, my working style, as I tried to work my way through life \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and I caught some fish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most humans are 60 percent water; Stephen Born is 100 percent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":50099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[36,34,43],"tags":[46,35],"post_template":[],"class_list":["post-49945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation","category-water","category-wisconsin","tag-alumni-in-focus","tag-fall-2025"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA River Runs through Him | The Commons Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Water has always been magical for Stephen Born - from an aesthetic point of view, from a literary point of view, and from a recreational point of view.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/a-river-runs-through-him\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A River Runs through Him | The Commons Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Water has always been magical for Stephen Born - 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