Redwood River Water Monitoring Project

Dr. Emily Deaver, Professor of Environmental Science and Dr. Elizabeth Desy, Professor of Biology at Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) received a grant in 2004 to develop a monitoring project on the Redwood River in Marshall, MN. The project is focused on active learning, civic engagement and collaboration with local secondary educators (Holly Knudson, Marshall High School and Carrie Sueker, Marshall Junior High School).

The project was able to expand and include broader outreach in 2016 because of funding provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

Each year SMSU students learn details about river water quality and methods to analyze a variety of parameters. The college students then work with local high school students to teach them the same information. The high school students in turn teach groups of 7th grade students and all three sets of students travel together to three monitoring sites on the Redwood River to measure the water quality.

The project allows SMSU students to make a connection to the area in which they are living, apply their knowledge to current, field-based issues and to serve as important role models and mentors for area students. Over 3200 students and 10 teachers have been involved in the mentoring and monitoring project so far (2004-2016), with about 250 students involved each year.