The 2025 series of free “Ask An Expert” webinars returns this fall! Please register for sessions of your choice using the links below.
If you have ideas for future topics or speakers, please email us with your suggestions!
October 28 @ 1:00 pm CST: "Microplastics and Freshwater Health: Insights from the pELAstic Project"
Dr.Chelsea Rochman (University of Toronto)
November 4 @ 12:00 pm CST: "Microplastics and Freshwater Health: Lessons from the Great Lakes"
Dr. Karen Kidd (McMaster University), Dr. Eden Hataley (Royal Canadian Military College), Dr. Rebecca Rooney (University of Waterloo)
Brendan Spearin (Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada), Chris Herc & Michaela Novak (Grand Council Treaty #3 Territorial Planning Unit)
Doug Jensen (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)
December 2 @ 1:00 pm CST: "Algae and Ice: Exploring the Science and Story"
Dr. Andrew Bramburger (Environment and Climate Change Canada) and Andrew Budziak (Royal Canadian Geographical Society / National Geographic Society Explorer)
Over the two days of the 2025 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum, we heard from nearly two dozen presenters. Missed the event or want to refresh your memory on these presentations? Now you can take in most of the talks as video recordings, available on our website at the link below!
video
2025 Watershed Forum
Doug Franchot was awarded the 2025 Wilson Stewardship Award.
The Wilson Stewardship Award is presented by the Foundation to individuals, groups, or projects that have made significant contributions to environmental stewardship in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods watershed through:
- Education, outreach, civic engagement and participation in stewardship initiatives or program development.
- Projects or programs focused on protection, restoration, preservation or reduction of environmental impact and development of sustainable practices.
This award is named in honour of its first recipient, Gerry Wilson, in recognition of her contributions to lake stewardship including development of volunteer monitoring programs, civic engagement and education and cooperative approaches between the public, universities and government agencies.
Doug was honoured with this international award in recognition of his exceptional legacy of volunteerism, stewardship, and education across the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed as a founding member of the Heart of the Continent Partnership, the former Chair University of Minnesota / Northeast Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (RSDP) and the Chair of the Koochiching Extension Committee/Koochiching County Board.
Doug has contributed in support of Voyageurs National Park, provided service as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Voyageurs Conservancy and has been a member on the Voyageurs Conservancy Science and Policy Committee.
More recently, Doug’s service and support has been extended to the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board where he serves as a member, a committee member, and the Community Advisory Group co-chair. Doug was commended for his broad knowledge of the issues facing our watershed, as a valuable resource for stewardship, governance, and public education in our watershed, and for his excellence in connecting partners, advocates, visitors, and volunteers throughout the Rainy-LOW watershed to make our region a better place.
For more information about the Wilson Stewardship Award see: www.lowwsf.com/wilson-award.
Shane and Kayla Bowe from the Red Lake Department of Natural Resources were recipients of the 2025 Larry Kallemeyn Award, presented the award on behalf of the community of scientists and resource managers from the United States and Canada working in our watershed. The Kallemeyn Award recognizes outstanding scientific contributions to the watershed.
Meghan Mills (she/her) joined the team to take over the International Watershed Coordinator role in January 2025.
Meg lives on Treaty 1 Territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and cherishes time spent off-grid at Pelicanpouch Lake, located on Treaty 3 Territory near Minaki, Ontario. She is thrilled to step into the role, joining others dedicated to protecting our shared waters.
The Proceedings Report of the 2025 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum is available for download at the Foundation’s website: lowwsf.com/forum-proceedings. Held March 12-13 in International Falls Minnesota, 100 researchers, resource managers, policy makers, and members of the public put Lake of the Woods and its watershed under the microscope.
For 20 years the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation has brought together citizens, dozens of municipalities and Indigenous nations and state, provincial and federal governments in Canada and the USA to amass the scientific, technical and community knowledge needed to inform an international water quality plan while building the trust and capacity to implement it.
With the arrival of the new year, the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation has some important announcements to share in our endeavour.
The Proceedings Report of the 2024 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum is available for download at the Foundation’s website: lowwsf.com/forum-proceedings. Held March 6-7 in International Falls Minnesota, 142 researchers, resource managers, policy makers, and members of the public put Lake of the Woods and its watershed under the microscope.
The Forum featured a moderated panel discussion on "From Science to Action" and 26 presentations in themes of: watershed governance, ecosystem modeling, contaminants and mining, ecological interactions, nutrient dynamics as drivers of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxin production, nutrient and sediment load tracing, and updates on the major monitoring programs of the MPCA and ECCC.
Fred Desjarlait, spiritual advisor from Miskwaagamiiwi – Zaagaiganing (Red Lake Nation), joined by Métis Senator Karen Cederwall, helped open the Forum, followed by addresses from Terry Duguid, Parliamentary Secretary and Special Advisor on Water to the Prime Minister and by US Consul Marilyn Gayton.