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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Dr. Caren Binding, research scientist in aquatic optics and remote sensing at Environment and Climate Change Canada, is the 2024 recipient of the Larry Kallemeyn Award. The Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation presented the award on behalf of the community of scientists and resource managers from the United States and Canada working in our watershed.
Massive algae bloom covers nearly 70% of Lake of the Woods, September 30, 2023. Panels (left to right) show sentinel satellite image, derived chlorophyll-a, and derived annual Bloom Severity index, Environment and Climate Change Canada (2023). EOLakeWatch 2023 Algal Bloom Report - Lake of the WoodsThe Kallemeyn Award recognizes Dr. Bindings outstanding scientific contributions to the watershed, including leading her team that developed the EOLakeWatch tool that uses satellite imagery to track algae blooms in Lake of the Woods (and other "Great Lakes") and derives indices of bloom extent, intensity and severity that will likely be foundational to long term monitoring for progress assessment as plans are implemented to cut phosphorus loads to the lake.
A heartfelt thanks and congratulations to Caren from the Foundation and the researchers gathered at the Forum for a well-deserved accolade!
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Paul Anderson is the 2024 recipient of the Gerry Wilson Stewardship Award. Paul was honored with this international award in recognition of his lifetime of environmental advocacy work on behalf of the Rainy Lake Conservancy, Voyageurs National Park and Voyageurs Conservancy and his service on the Community Advisory Group of the IJC International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board.
The Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation presented the award to Paul on behalf of the community of scientists, resource managers and water stewards from the United States and Canada at the 2024 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum in International Falls, Minnesota.
Paul personifies the best of citizen engagement in conservation and protection. A life-long lover of Rainy Lake and the Rainy Lake watershed, Paul has been an active leader and contributor to initiatives to protect the watershed, including participating in oversight of hydropower and mining projects, advocating for emergency preparedness and response planning, reviewing the past two State of the Basin Reports, and advocating for improved land use and development planning.
Congratulations to Paul on this well-deserved recognition of his volunteer contributions to our waters!
The Foundation presents the Wilson Stewardship Award annually to recognize individuals, groups, or projects that are making significant contributions to environmental stewardship in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods watershed. For more information about the Wilson Stewardship Award see: www.lowwsf.com/wilson-award.