Her adaptability blossomed during her elementary years at a community-focused bilingual school in Milwaukee. Later, it drove her to earn a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and history as an undergraduate student at the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota.

“I knew that biochemistry was a broad enough scientific track that I could use it as a foundation to do anything,” she said. “And I want to do it all.”

In 2021, Dennis joined the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences as a PhD student — propelled by a love of water and bugs.

She now specializes in expanding our understanding of antibiotic-resistant organisms so that the field of medicine can better equip people to survive bacterial infections. Her research advocates for more diverse treatments against the pathogens we are exposed to in our water systems and other public spaces.

“I’ve taken antibiotics,” Dennis said, “but I didn’t think about the fact that treatments could or could not work based on what organism you’re sick with and whatever resistance mechanisms they pick up.”

Following ‘creepy crawlers’

Dennis’ biochemistry studies for her bachelor’s degree planted the seeds for her work as a grad student today. “I was just thinking about parasites,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in creepy crawlers.”

Charged with writing a mock proposal for research, her capstone explored the development of a vaccine against a disease spread by freshwater parasites. The process introduced Dennis to disease transmission routes, dynamic food chains and freshwater environments, including public parks and green spaces.

Dennis was fascinated and hooked, and she started as a freshwater sciences grad student at 51ÁÔĆć less than a month after graduation. “I drove home, rested for maybe eight days, then started here,” she said.

Probing antibiotic resistance

Over the past four years, Dennis has plunged into the complexities of how certain pathogens — such as E. coli, which is prevalent in bodies of freshwater and beyond — evolve and adapt to resist antibiotic treatment.

The issues of antibiotic resistance and multidrug-resistant organisms have grown significantly since the 1980s, which has prompted concern and significant funding to prevent a future where .

For Dennis, some days her research looks like microscopic sequencing of gene families in the lab. Other days, it requires donning her history hat, while contemplating anthropology, sociology and other disciplines.

“You can’t solve this issue when you only look at a slice of where it occurs,” she said. “It’s out in the community. It’s in the hospitals. It’s in our food chain. It’s in the water.”

Bridging science and neighborhoods

With her lab hat on, Dennis immerses herself in the detailed genetics and mutation patterns of these microorganisms, as well as the freshwater environments that drive the evolution of the pathogens. Her findings will help develop new solutions to protect us from them.

Recently, though, she also discovered a love for public health. She hopes to educate communities about these issues in our world, bringing the science to everyday people.

“There’s usually a disconnect between the people doing the actual research and the people doing advocacy or the application of research,” she said. “I would like to do both.”

Story by Tree Meinch | Explore more in Make New Waves

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In the early 1990s, after receiving a bachelor’s degree in marine biology, Bootsma accepted a job as the first director of Lake Malawi National Park. The job was based in the southern African country of Malawi and paid just $300 a month.

“I had just gotten married, and my wife and I went there for two years, where I was in charge of this park,” said Bootsma, who is originally from Canada. “I was 24 when I started that. I really didn’t know what I was doing, but I learned a lot.”

In the decades since, Bootsma has leveraged his knowledge of lake ecosystems to probe the complexities of Lake Michigan.

As associate dean, he’s also helped build the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences, which launched its first graduate program in 2009 and its undergraduate major in 2021. The school’s faculty and alumni help inform policy, improve water management and promote the health and sustainability of freshwater systems worldwide.

From Lake Malawi to Lake Michigan

Back in Malawi, that first job immersed Bootsma in a national park dedicated to the third deepest lake in the world. More than 2,000 feet deep, Lake Malawi also claims more species of fish than any other lake on Earth. Most are found only in that lake.

The opportunity directed his career and life work toward limnology, or the study of inland lakes and waters. “Lake Malawi is still my first love,” Bootsma said. “It was the pivotal point in my career.” He became enamored with the intricacies of the inland lake environment and how it can be viewed from different perspectives, from biology and chemistry to physics.

The Malawi experience inspired Bootsma to return to North America for graduate school, but he continued to return to Malawi for his doctoral research. He was working in Malawi in 1999 when he found a job at 51ÁÔĆć’s Great Lakes WATER Institute, a research center that has since blossomed into the School of Freshwater Sciences.

Probing Freshwater ecosystems

As a professor at the School of Freshwater Sciences, Bootsma is involved in a wide range of research, from climate change to the impact of invasive species. He also studies microplastics, synthetic chemicals and other substances with potential consequences for human health.

With invasive species, like the quagga mussel, Bootsma and his students are working to lessen their impact. One effort involves lining the bottom of the lake with tarps in shallow water to remove the invasive mussels. In deeper waters, the operators deploy a device called a mussel masher — a heavy plate that they drag across the bottom to crush the mussels.

Bootsma also works with colleagues in the school to deploy and oversee many instruments that collect and report vital data about Lake Michigan in real-time, via platforms like . These reports on variables like water temperature and wave conditions support anglers seeking fish, commercial ships navigating safe passage to ports and other fundamental daily operations on Lake Michigan.

In all of his work, Bootsma is connected to Lake Michigan and the people who live and work on it. That gives him satisfaction. But his greatest joys are the research dives that give him insight into the highs and lows of one of the world’s great freshwater bodies.

“My best days on the job have been out working on the lake,” he said.

Story by Tree Meinch | Explore more in Make New Waves

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This book is an excellent aid for students, practitioners, and judges. Copies are available to purchase on the  in both eBook and softbound formats.

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“Government actors need to go on the boat and understand what the conditions are years after the last Coast Guard inspection,” Kamp said. Anyone who wants to do something about the tug, whether government or private actors, cannot know what efforts will consist of, or how much it will cost, until that happens, she added.

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Dr. Newton was the recipient of the 51ÁÔĆć Office of Research/51ÁÔĆć Foundation Research Award. Since joining 51ÁÔĆć in 2015, he has secured $6.02 million in funding, published 37 peer-reviewed articles and a book chapter, and mentored seven graduate students and postdocs. Newton serves on 25 master’s and PhD committees, is active in five scientific societies, and is an editor for an American Society of Microbiology journal.

Congratulations to Dr. Newton and everyone recognized at this year’s Employee Excellence Awards!

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That’s the subject of the Center for Water Policy’s recent article. Water Policy Specialist Peyton McCauley, Interim Assistant Director Cora Sutherland, and Director Melissa Scanlan investigate the environmental footprint of data centers. Some data centers use as much as one-quarter of local water supplies, which has raised alarm.  However, the industry’s collective impact isn’t transparent; incomplete government records, inconsistent voluntary reporting, and limited reporting requirements produce fragmented data.     

Ultimately, this published academic research sheds light on the hidden water use of our increasing reliance on AI-data centers and highlights the need for greater sustainability and transparency in the industry. 

 
Quick Facts: What you need to know 

• Incomplete Environmental Data. While incomplete, early evidence suggests data centers are undermining decarbonization and water conservation progress.  
• Massive Amounts of Water. Lawrence Berkeley Lab estimated that in 2023 U.S. data centers consumed 228 billion gallons of water.  
• Lack of Transparency. In addition to obscured data showing environmental impacts, there’s very little public debate or analysis before data centers are announced.  This undermines local control and the ability to understand and make informed decisions about hosting data centers.  

 
Read the research:  

Peyton McCauley, Cora Sutherland & Melissa K. Scanlan, Spring 2025 Symposium Special Edition, Powering Progress or Peril? The Hidden Environmental Costs of Data Centers and AI, 51 Rutgers Comput. & Tech. L. J. SE1 (2025). [

 
Check out CWP’s previous work and involvement on data centers: 

 | Chicago Tribune, featuring quotes from CWP Director Melissa Scanlan (September 2025) 

 | The Conversation (August 2025)  

  | American Bar Association (April 2025) 

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±Ę°ů´Ç´Ú±đ˛ő˛ő´Ç°ůĚýJames Price published a new paper in Land Economics. Price, J., Dupont, D., Adamowicz, W., & Lloyd-Smith, P. (2025). Protecting against flood impacts: A choice experiment evaluating household preferences for insurance and home infrastructure improvements. DOI: 

School of Freshwater Sciences alum Susan Borchardt, and Professors Tracy BoyerĚý˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚýJames Price published a paper in Lake and Reservoir Management. Sue Borchardt is a former MS Thesis Student (graduated in Spring 2024, advised by James Price). Borchardt, S., Boyer, T., & Price, J. (2025). Valuing shoreland development and environmental disturbances: A hedonic analysis of lakefront properties in Wisconsin. DOI: 

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“How many straws are going into the Great Lakes over the next decade for data centers and their power plants in the four states surrounding Lake Michigan—that is the holistic view that is needed,” she said. “We need a governmental body to review the entire regional demands.” 

Check out more of the Center’s work on data centers on their publicationsĚý˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚýnewsĚý±č˛ą˛µ±đ˛ő!Ěý

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