Katie Schulz: On the Pulse of PFAS Research

Meet Katie. She grew up in Milwaukee and knew she wanted a future in science. As a master’s student at the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, Katie spent her first year reviewing research on a group of synthetic compounds known collectively as PFAS. You may have heard of them in the news. PFAS are known as “emerging contaminants” because although they’ve been around for some time, they are “emerging” in the sense that scientists, industry, and government are finding that they have unintended effects on life when they get into our environment. Katie is supporting Dr. Klaper and others working to find out more about PFAS and how to avoid the worst health impacts.

Emily Koster: Putting Together the Plume Puzzle Pieces

Meet Emily. A Milwaukee native, Emily is a graduate student in Dr. Sandra McLellan’s lab at the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences helping to put together the puzzle pieces of evidence that inform when we should close our beaches to protect the public from exposure to pathogens in the water. Ever since she was a little girl playing in and around Wisconsin’s lakes, Emily was interested in protecting this precious natural resource. From Dr. McLellan and other researchers who underscore that interdisciplinary collaboration is the norm at SFS—including Dr. Ryan Newton and Dr. Hector Bravo—Emily has learned what it means to work in a lab, how to communicate scientific knowledge to audiences with different perspectives, and more about microbiology than she ever imagined. Emily is looking ahead to applying what she’s learned to a career that bridges science and policy.

Jill McClary-Gutierrez: Combining Microbiology and Water Health

Meet Jill. For the past two-plus years at SFS, she’s worked not only with Dr. McLellan but also with Dr. Ryan Newton and Dr. Val Klump on a interdisciplinary project to pinpoint the sources and timing of different contamination pulsing through our waterways after heavy rains. Jill gains from all three scientists’ perspectives—Newton’s expertise on microbial genomics, Klump’s expertise on sediment chemistry, and McLellan’s expertise on tracking novel gut bacterial indicators—to alert the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and other local regulatory entities with detailed data on how rural and urban areas contribute distinct pollution to our waters when it storms.

Kyle Poplar: Researching Health from Aquaculture to Zebrafish

Meet Kyle. He participated in the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences’ Applied Urban Aquaculture Certificate program, and then worked for one year in Dr. Michael Carvan’s research lab examining zebrafish embryos exposed to a battery of 42 chemicals in a high-throughput screening ultimately in the service of human health. In July 2020, Kyle started his new job at a Milwaukee-area wastewater technology firm, Saukville-based Aquarius Technologies.

Becky Curtis: Researching Aquatic Toxicology of Nanomaterials

Meet Becky. She’s conducting doctoral research on how nanomaterials impact aquatic organisms at the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences in the lab of Dr. Rebecca Klaper. Becky went back to school after a long track record working in sustainability, including for the City of Milwaukee to support its recycling programs. But she chased her life’s dream to do research in aquatic science. “It really is a dream come true,” she says.