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University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumnus Noah Ryan ’24, foreground, was captain on the UWO trash collection boat in the Manitowoc River in May 2023. The spring graduate was hired by Fond du Lac County as its environmental health sanitarian.

For more than two decades, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students have been spending their summers in Door County and other northeastern Wisconsin beach towns to ensure the waters are safe for drinking and recreation.

UW Oshkosh senior Bobbi Blahnik (in yellow) works with fellow water testing interns Marissa Fleege, a senior from UW-La Crosse, and Chase Fisher, a senior from UW-Platteville.

Bobbi Blahnik, a UW Oshkosh senior majoring in environmental studies, grew up wading in the waters of Door County. For six generations, her family has lived in the city of Algoma, about 20 miles away from Sturgeon Bay, where she works in the state-certified laboratory inside Crossroads at Big Creek.

“I grew up swimming at the beach, not really knowing what’s in the water,” said Blahnik, who is one of five interns who test water samples from 38 beaches from Door County to Washington Island. The interns work from Memorial Day to Labor Day and report their findings to city and county officials about levels of E.coli and other bacteria.

“What we do at the lab can help keep the community safe,” she said.

Blahnik is responsible for 10 beaches—eight in Door County and two in Kewaunee. She logs 75 to 120 miles daily in her 2007 white Chevy Impala but isn’t complaining.

“My best friends from the track team are working with young kids and in an office this summer,” said Blahnik, who is a thrower (shotput and hammer) for the UW Oshkosh Track and Field team. “And the fact that I get paid to go to the beach every day…I love my job.”

UWO senior environmental studies major Bobbi Blahnik collects water samples at Sunset Park Beach in Sturgeon Bay.

UW Oshkosh has been on the front lines of keeping Wisconsin communities safe through its beach monitoring program. Greg Kleinheinz, chair of the department of engineering and engineering technology, recalls a public health crisis at Nicolet Beach that spurred UWO’s involvement 22 years ago.

In July 2002, 68 people became ill due to E. coli bacteria after swimming at Nicolet Beach. This led county officials to shut down the beach during peak tourist season as Door County had no beach monitoring program then.

Kleinheinz heard about the contaminated beach through news reports and contacted then-Door County Public Health Director Rhonda Kolberg ‘79 BSN to offer water testing services. At that time, Kleinheinz and a couple of UWO students collected water samples several times a week for testing back on campus. This initiated a mutually beneficial relationship between Door County and UW Oshkosh.

Door County Conservationist Greg Coulthurst remembers those difficult days when contamination forced them to shut down beaches without knowing its source—a move that impacted tourism significantly.

“Water testing wasn’t really on our radar at that time,” Coulthurst said. “UW Oshkosh has been an invaluable partner. If we had interns back then at Nicolet Beach, we would have saved many people a lot of sick time.”

Allie McDonald, an environmental health specialist in Door County stated: “Without student interns, the beach monitoring program would not exist.” Each summer before testing starts McDonald takes interns on a tour throughout Door County beaches adding: “These student interns provide capacity that we as the county do not have.” She emphasized how crucial their work is for ensuring residents’ access to clear recreational waters—a valued asset for which they are thankful.

Kleinheinz noted how these internships offer students new perspectives within their studies: “The students get lab experience; they get field experience.” He added: “The students collect samples run tests analyze data—they feel like wow I’m really making a difference.”

A year after Nicolet Beach's crisis formalized funding allowed Kleinheinz's oversight over college intern programs including data collection since inception leading over 150 students—many from UW Oshkosh—to work within state-certified labs housed within Crossroads Nature Education Center covering four additional locations besides expanding into Vilas Manitowoc & Oshkosh counties staffed by students across multiple colleges/universities ranging eleven institutions including Michigan Tech Northern Michigan University & all UW campuses facilitating wider public/business engagements aiding surface/drinking-water quality assessments/needs even introducing drop-off/pick-up programs improving analytical efficiency especially targeting Washington Island businesses/citizens

Marissa Fleege majoring chemistry-senior-from-UW-La-Crosse expressed satisfaction landing internship-Sturgeon-Bay recounting academic-fieldwork similarities asserting "Here actually going out-different-beaches collecting running-samples doing-work-yourself"

Noah-Ryan-environmental-studies-alumnus-UW-Oshkosh shared past-internship-responsibilities overseeing fifty-two-beaches-cleanup-Kewaunee-Manitowoc-rivers describing systemic/environmental-challenges emphasizing intertwined societal/natural/political dimensions underlying broader pollution issues reflecting significant learning experiences contributing post-graduation role-Fond-du-Lac-County-environmental-health-sanitarian

Blahnik-spending-second-summer-Door-County cherishes last-moments-before-returning-class September-fourth reflecting-public-health-importance reinforcing community safety value-added through dedicated efforts ensuring clean/recreational waters