Blog

Smiling woman by lake

From intern to staff member

November 4, 2021

Today we’re featuring Lila Franklin, who joined Freshwater in December 2019 as a program intern. Her internship continued until January 2021, when she became a program associate.

Smiling woman

How an internship helped define career goals

November 3, 2021

Today we’re featuring Olivia Forsheé, a Freshwater intern and Macalester student. Olivia is majoring in environmental studies and minoring in psychology, and is in her final year of college. She began interning with Freshwater in September, and she’s another fully remote Freshwater intern.

Young woman in coat and hat standing above an ocean beach

Meet Julia

November 3, 2021

Julia Weimer is another current intern at Freshwater, helping with communications projects. Julia went to high school in Woodbury and split her college time between the universities of Colorado and … Read more

Two students in a lab

Freshwater’s freshest interns

October 26, 2021

Freshwater’s latest and youngest interns, high schoolers Winner Soe and Lala Vang, spent the summer of 2021 learning all about Minnesota groundwater with Freshwater Research and Policy Director Carrie Jennings. The Minnesota Groundwater Association funded this internship to give young, diverse students an opportunity to explore the field of groundwater research and conservation and to increase awareness of potential career paths.

woman leaning on reflective wall

Free virtual lecture series on water and the environment

October 25, 2021

Freshwater and the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences are cohosting a free online lecture open to the public on Wednesday, Nov. 17, from 12–1:30 pm. St. Paul, Minnesota (Oct. 25, 2021)—The public is invited the Moos Family Speaker Series on Water Resources for an event of influential experts presenting the latest research on timely and important issues.

After working for 100+ years, many drinking and wastewater systems are aging and failing. Imagine a Day Without Water, Oct. 21, 2021 #ValueWater

Imagine a Day Without Water

October 21, 2021

Today, Freshwater is participating in the national Imagine a Day without Water, sponsored by the U.S. Water Alliance. From a shower to morning coffee or tea, watering our plants and gardens to flushing our toilets, water is essential to our daily life. Our bodies are mostly water—78% as infants and 60% in adults. Safe and reliable water is essential to every one of us.

Imagine a Day Without Water, Oct. 21, 2021

Imagine a Day Without Water

October 20, 2021

St. Paul, MN—Freshwater’s eighth annual Big Island & Back! 10K Paddle will take place on Saturday, August 7, 2021 starting at 9 am. Tune up your canoe, kayak, or paddleboard and head on over to Excelsior on Saturday, Aug. 7, for a friendly race out around Big Island and back.

Woman and man smiling in front of waterfall

One Water Steward’s path

October 19, 2021

Freshwater’s online training materials and weekly classes were a lively blend of disciplines—ecological networks, hydrological cycle, city management of stormwater and wastewater, agricultural practices contributing to excess stormwater and pollution, community organizing techniques, and so much more.

Student and teacher Zooming

Calendars in the Classroom: virtual learning style

October 7, 2021

Freshwater happily supplied Minnesota Weatherguide Environment calendars to 50 middle schoolers at Crosslake Community School this year.

evergreen tree with dead, brown tips

Weather whiplash

July 29, 2021

This is very much what the long-term climate projections showed: more intense rainfall separated by longer periods of drought.