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History

In the early 2000’s, government remedial actions focused on identifying responsible parties and developing clean-up plans for PCB contaminated sediments in the Lower Fox River. Local experts knew that, from an ecosystem standpoint, if we were going to have an impact on improving water quality, we needed to go beyond sediment cleanup, and address non-point sources of pollution--the type of pollution that contributes to the much publicized “dead zone” in the bay of Green Bay. To that end, a group of stakeholders representing academia, water resource agencies, local high schools and Arjo Wiggins Appleton, Ltd. (a potentially responsible party to the PCB cleanup) established the Lower Fox River Watershed Monitoring Program. The monitoring network is modeled after the successful Student Watershed Research Project at Portland State University (Lindbo and Renfro, 2003.)

The program was launched in 2003 when the first annual Teacher Workshop was held at UW-Green Bay. The program started with four streams and four schools, but three more streams along with eight schools were soon added. Currently, ten schools, including 11 teachers and over 160 students participate in the program. More than 1,200 students have participated in the program since 2003.

  • Apple Creek: Appleton East High School (2003-present), Appleton North High School (2010-2016)
  • Ashwaubenon Creek: West De Pere High School (2006-present), Green Bay East High School (2006-8, 2010-2017)
  • Baird Creek: Luxemburg-Casco High School (2003-2016), Green Bay Preble High School (2004-2016), Green Bay East High School (2019-present)
  • Duck Creek: Green Bay Southwest High School (2003-present), Green Bay West High School (2019-present)
  • Dutchman’s Creek: Ashwaubenon High School (2011-2017), Parkview Middle School (2019-2020)
  • Fox River: Aldo Leopold Community School (2021-present)
  • Kankapot Creek: Kaukauna High School (2017-2021)
  • Neenah Slough: Neenah High School (2022-present)
  • Pigeon River: Etude High School (2022-present)
  • Spring Brook: Markesan High School (2003-2007), Oshkosh North High School (2008-2015), Oshkosh Lourdes Academy (2016-present)
  • Trout Creek: Oneida Nation High School (2012-2016), Pulaski High School (2012-2016)
  • Waupaca River: Weyauwega-Fremont High School (2016-present)
  • Wequiock Creek: UW Green Bay and Town of Scott (2016-present)