Making Fishable, Swimmable, Drinkable Water
The letter M was selected for Milwaukee’s manufacturing legacy. We still make things here and water moves the machine that is our economy.
“M” is for Milwaukee, making, manufacturing… Water infuses our work. From wooden water wheels that powered the first flour mills, to freighters hauling iron ore across frigid lakes, to genomic sequencing tracking waterborne pathogens, water has always been an engine of industry, a corridor for commerce, a key ingredient in the manufacture and sale of economic goods, and the foundation for family-supporting jobs. In a truly “water-centric city,” clean water is the invisible assumption that makes the economy go. Globally, the water sector constitutes an immense industry and market opportunity across for-profit, nonprofit, academic, and governmental career fields. Headquartered locally, Rockwell Automation serves this niche with water control systems and leads with sustainable practices, as Gary Ballesteros, Majo Thurman, and Sadhna Morato-Lindvall share. UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences graduates go on to rewarding water-related careers, as dean Val Klump notes. Wilniesha Smith explains how, together with many partners including the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, local nonprofits like Reflo Sustainable Water Solutions are helping transform Milwaukee’s schoolyards with green infrastructure and guiding a new generation to water-related trades careers. Anna Ostermeier shares the power of volunteer-driven community coalitions like Plastic Free MKE to rally together businesses committing to reducing plastic pollution. Discover how building a sustainable world is not just an “environmental” thing—it’s good business.
Milwaukee Professionals Who Work With Water
Meet Gary. A vice president at Rockwell Automation, Gary also serves on the board of directors at Harbor District, Inc. and has taught as an adjunct professor at the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences. Rockwell was an early adopter of what is now The Water Council. When it was first created, Gary served as Rockwell’s representative. “We viewed that as a very sensible alliance between academics and government and industry coming together all centered here in Milwaukee to help us create a water hub of expertise and a center of excellence for water quality,” Gary says.
Meet Wilniesha. She’s administrative coordinator for the nonprofit Reflo, headquartered just down the road from E. Greenfield Avenue in Walker’s Point inside the Arts @ Large Community Center on S. 5th Street. After earning a degree in environmental health water quality technology from Milwaukee Area Technical College and three summers interning with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wilniesha joined Reflo in 2017.
Meet Anna. A job in water drew her from Madison to Milwaukee. Anna is an Americorps member serving as the nonprofit Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s sustainability coordinator. In that role she organizes the Plastic Free MKE coalition, where she coordinates volunteers and conducts public education in order to reduce single-use plastic consumption in the Milwaukee area. Single-use plastic includes things like packaging, water bottles, take-out containers—anything designed for us to discard after just one use.
Web Map
Click to see a map of how the theme of water and work extends beyond E. Greenfield Avenue.
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