The Rainy-Lake of the Woods (R-LotW) Watershed Forum at Minnesota North College’s Rainy River Campus has been a meeting point of cross-border research collaboration specific to these waters since 2004. This event is a symposium for research and water resource managers, policy makers, and the public interested in the  R-LotW watershed.

This approximate 734,783-acre watershed resides on the Canada-United States border between Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota. This year, attendees listened to presentations on topics such as ecosystem modeling, contaminants and mining, watershed governance, and watershed monitoring and characterization project updates.  

Kelly Sjerven, a Minnesota North College Rainy River Campus Biology faculty and forum organizing committee member, talked about how important this conference is. “I’ve been involved since I started working at Minnesota North. The primary focus of this conference is to have both sides of the border work together to solve problems like pollution and algae control in this watershed.” 

This watershed forum is designed to share these findings. Most attendees have some affiliation with R-LotW Watershed, but some also come from other areas to disseminate results from research within other watersheds.  

Dr. O’Niell Tedrow is a  Minnesota North College-Vermilion Campus Chemistry faculty who was present at this forum . He brought two students who have an interest in watershed science. Dr. Tedrow has been involved with multiple research projects focused on, and funded by, R-LotW Watershed research groups, and is currently participating in a Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) grant within headwaters (Kawishiwi and Stony Rivers) of R-LotW funded by MPCA. 

The purpose of this grant is to better understand influences on Minnesota’s river waters from spring melt and precipitation events. Local partners then use data from this program for planning and implementation of management tactics in priority locations. This grant allows employment of students interested in watershed science to participate in watershed science projects and directly contribute to large-scale river water datasets used for critical management decisions. 

“The students and I sample water from Stony River and Kawishiwi River. Total phosphorus, nitrate and nitrite, total suspended solids, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen are measured from Stony River water samples; dissolved orthophosphate is an added analyte for Kawishiwi River water samples. The MPCA wants to know how spring melt and substantial precipitation events throughout the year influence these river water characteristics. Monitoring these characteristics throughout consecutive years is critical for deciding on watershed management tactics and relevant locations for their implementation.” 

Since 2014, 12-15 students at Vermilion campus have been employed, or worked, on this project. This field work has been an exceptionally meaningful experience for multiple students. Rainy River has also had students working on this project in the past.  

Overall, the Rainy River and Vermilion campuses continue to provide students interested in watershed science exposure to resources focused on critical empirical research projects. Additionally, these campuses continue to provide access to a research-focused symposium designed for dissemination of watershed-project data. As a result, participating students have gained, and continue to gain, experience ‘waking the walk and talking the talk’ specific to watershed science. Maintaining these activities for student involvement is important for their academic, professional, and personal development and success.