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A new article by Journalist in Residence Dan Egan for Wisconsin Watch exposes a critical legal fight over public access to Lake Michigan beaches.  

The article follows the case of 51���� professor Paul Florsheim, who is fighting Shorewood’s issuance of a��trespassing citation��for��walking across a stretch of Lake Michigan beach��between the water’s edge and the Ordinary��High Water��Mark��that he has frequented for more than fifty years.��Egan’s��reporting��discusses��the regional legal disparity between Wisconsin and neighboring states such as Michigan and Indiana, where the public’s right to walk along the coastline��has been settled in favor of the public by state Supreme��Courts.��Egan’s story delves into the context surrounding the dispute, with a focus on the property owner’s compound��right on the beach��(pictured above). Florsheim’s case is pending a��decision in the municipal court.��

Read the full story on Wisconsin Watch:  

Read more of the Center’s Public Trust Doctrine research here!  

Center for Water Policy Director, Professor, and Lynde B. Uihlein Endowed Chair Melissa Scanlan was quoted in a��Washington Post��article examining a��recent report from the United Nations University, the U.N.’s research arm,��that��finds��climate change, pollution and decades of overuse have pushed the world into a state of “water bankruptcy,”��a state they define as a long-term condition that requires a global reset in approaches.������

Fresh water is a finite resource with inputs and outputs that make up a global water budget. People worldwide are starting to experience the impacts of overspending that budget. “The global scope of the report is useful in showing repeat patterns,” Scanlan said. “It’s not just the Southern Hemisphere, it’s not just the Middle East. There is something larger at play in terms of how we’re treating water across the world.” Professor Scanlan’s water law and policy research has included analysis of water budget issues closer to home, highlighting how climate change and population pressures have intensified water management challenges in the relatively water-rich North American Great Lakes. 

Read the full article from the Washington Post.  .   the UN report. 

And read the Center’s law review article on climate change and population pressures intensifying water management challenges here. 

Water Policy and Science Communications Graduate Student Research Fellowship 

 is seeking candidates for a two-year funded Water Policy and Science Communications Graduate Student Research Fellowship, while earning a master’s degree from the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

To be considered for the Fellowship, the student must be admitted to the School’s water policy thesis track in our master’s degree program. . Applicants should indicate interest in the “Water Policy and Science Communications Fellowship” on their personal statement when applying to the graduate program. The fall semester 2026 application deadline is January 31, 2026.

The Fellowship will begin in Fall 2026 and run through Spring 2028. The successful candidate will have a bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, political science, public policy, economics, environmental science, engineering, or a related field. Candidates should be interested in conducting graduate research toward a thesis focused on water policy and science communications as well as publishing papers in scientific journals, writing policy briefs, and communicating research results to broader audiences. The Fellowship represents a unique opportunity for a student who wants to explore the intersection between water policy, science, and communications.

The Fellow will be enrolled in the water policy thesis track master’s degree at 51����’s School of Freshwater Sciences to conduct original thesis research around the topics of water policy, science, and communication. The specific topic of the student’s work will be determined by the student, in consultation with Center for Water Policy Director, . Professor Scanlan will supervise the student work and serve as the student’s advisor. The work performed by the student will culminate in a thesis that will be defended before graduation. The student may have an opportunity to work with Dan Egan, Journalist in Residence and author of Death and Life of the Great Lakes and The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance.

The Fellow will also be employed 50% time in the Center for Water Policy. The Fellow will join a thriving interdisciplinary team focused on applying academic research to conserve, restore, and protect freshwater. The Fellow will develop multimedia communications, outreach materials, and strategies for Center publications, media, and events. These responsibilities involve stakeholder engagement and social media savvy.

The Center for Water Policy is interested in candidates who will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity in higher education through their research. Qualified women and members of underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. Fellows earn competitive pay ($22,285/academic year), health insurance, graduate tuition waiver, and the possibility of summer student hourly work.

Please email Tressie Kamp at waterpolicy@uwm.edu with questions or your interest in applying to the Fellowship and the graduate program. Please send a resume/CV (1-2 pages) and a letter of interest in this position (1 page).

Center for Water Policy Assistant Director Tressie Kamp was featured in a “Circle of Blue” article on wetlands and the 2025 1,000-year flood in Milwaukee, WI. The article examines how wetlands, “nature’s kidneys,” mitigate flood-related property damage after heavy rain events. The article also highlights wetland restoration sites around southeastern Wisconsin that successfully soaked up flood waters after the historic August 2025 storm. Rollbacks to wetland protections leave these critical ecosystems vulnerable.   

This summer, flooding caused nearly $76 million of damage to both private homes and public sector losses. “In southeast Wisconsin in particular, this issue exemplifies how the protection or lack of protection in an area can impact such a wide swath of stakeholders,” said Kamp.  

Read the full story from Circle of Blue here:  

Relatedly,��the federal government has��released����with an��updated��definition of “Waters of the United States.”��The public comment period deadline for stakeholders to weigh in on the scope of federal wetland protections is January 5, 2026.

Read about the Center’s wetlands research: Navigating Rough Waters After Sackett v. EPA: Federal, Tribal, and State Strategies