Tyler Kunze never anticipated a career as a water scientist. Yet in May, he became the first student to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree in water science from UW-Green Bay. He\u2019s now a graduate student in UW-Milwaukee\u2019s School of Freshwater Sciences.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a long and winding road getting here,\u201d said Kunze, who grew up on a dairy farm an hour\u2019s drive from the nearest body of water. \u201cI never would have thought graduating high school that I would be in this position today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kunze\u2019s path exemplifies how opportunities to conduct undergraduate research and to build a professional network can lead to more water scientists \u2013 both of which will happen with the launch of 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s new Bachelor of Freshwater Sciences degree.<\/p>\n
On the family farm, Kunze developed a strong appreciation for the natural environment. He also really liked math and chemistry. A bachelor\u2019s degree in environmental sciences sounded like a perfect way to combine his interests.<\/p>\n
Toward the end of his sophomore year, Kunze took a course with Christopher Houghton, an assistant scientist and a graduate of 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s School of Freshwater Sciences, who suggested graduate school. The idea began to take hold after Kunze interned with NEW Water, the water resource utility serving northeastern Wisconsin, where he met people who managed the watershed. He added the water science degree when UW-Green Bay launched the program in 2019 because he thought it would prepare him for graduate school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gears were turning in my head that grad school was a possibility,\u201d Kunze said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I started my undergrad research, it jump-started my passion for conducting research and discovering new things about different processes in the science field.\u201d<\/p>\n
That research involved working with his advisor to determine whether Lake Michigan water was leaking into the aquifers in Door County. Kunze spent the summer before his senior year knocking on people\u2019s doors to collect water samples from their wells. Although they didn\u2019t find water from Lake Michigan, they used the samples to create the first isoscape \u2014 a geologic map of isotope distribution \u2014 for northeastern Wisconsin groundwater. Kunze analyzed the data and presented it at the 2021 American Water Resources Association Conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gave me a head start on what I\u2019d be doing at the School of Freshwater Sciences,\u201d Kunze said.<\/p>\n
In September, he began his master\u2019s in freshwater sciences at 51ÁÔÆæ, and he was able to begin working with his advisor and 51ÁÔÆæ professor Harvey Bootsma in June. Kunze spent the summer studying invasive mussels at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with Bootsma, Ben Turschak, a Freshwater Sciences alumnus who is now a fisheries research biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and scientists from the National Park Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m most looking forward to at the SFS is meeting these amazing scientists and learning from them,\u201d Kunze says. \u201cIt also will be really fun to do my own research, to figure out a problem and to try to find a solution that can help people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kunze isn\u2019t sure where his future in water will take him: water chemistry, water quality, invasive species mitigation, maybe a PhD? For now, he\u2019s leaving his options open.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you would have asked me even two years ago if I was going to get my master\u2019s degree, I probably would have had some doubts,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to put myself in a box. I want to see the different opportunities and see where I fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing is certain: Wisconsin has itself another freshwater scientist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tyler Kunze never anticipated a career as a water scientist. Yet in May, he became the first student to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree in water science from UW-Green Bay and is now a graduate student in 51ÁÔÆæ’s School of Freshwater Sciences.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40008,"featured_media":97422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174,175],"tags":[],"section":[139,143],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[338,264],"uwmnews-feed":[153,152],"class_list":["post-97421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-research","section-science-technology","section-water-environment","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-research","related-coverage-water","uwmnews-feed-graduate","uwmnews-feed-freshwater-sciences"],"yoast_head":"\n