Drop of Life Project: Paddling the State to Bring River Science to Life

Debra Mauzy-Melitz (CSE) and Ann Snyder (UWM) load equipment into their canoe for a test run.

MILWAUKEE -- Ann Snyder, professor of human kinetics, will do just about anything to teach people about their bodies - even strap monitors to her own body and canoe down the Milwaukee River for nearly three weeks, while instruments in a following van collect data on her heart rate, oxygen consumption and other vital statistics.

Snyder is only one of the many UWM faculty members and staff involved in a science and river studies program that is reaching people - particularly older schoolchildren - across the state. Called "Waters of Wisconsin to the World: Drop of Life," the program involves educators kayaking or canoeing long stretches of the Wisconsin, Fox, and Milwaukee rivers, and shorter parts of the Menomonee river.

At journey's end on May 31 at the Milwaukee lakefront, the paddlers together will have covered 700 miles of Wisconsin waters, including a length of Lake Michigan from Sturgeon Bay to the Port of Milwaukee, working with students at school stops along the routes and also interacting with schoolchildren who track them on the program Web site: www.dropoflife.org.

The paddlers, supported by the Science Van from UWM's Center for Science Education (CSE), are teaching kids and adults how to apply mathematical, technological and scientific principles to help resolve environmental problems.

"It's a way to demonstrate the value of our rivers and to teach younger students to become stewards of the land," says CSE director Mary Gruhl about the project's mission.

They are collecting data using sophisticated equipment on board their crafts that monitor air, water, weather and even their own bodies. The data is then transmitted to the Science Van and posted on the Web site, bringing their experiences to life for students online.

The paddlers include Dave Kuckuk from the Elwood H. May Environmental Park in Sheboygan, who already has spent 31 days of his 42-day trek kayaking all kinds of weather, even snow. From his water craft, the Otter, he has monitored air, water and weather with on-board equipment, and taken soil samples on his stops.

Highlights from his travels so far illustrate how many UWM faculty and staff are playing a part in Drop of Life. For example, the "scientist of the day" includes the research of people such as:

Gerald Bergtrom, professor of biosciences, on hemoglobin
James Reinartz, senior scientist at the UWM Field Station, on bats
Fred Binkowski, senior scientist at the WATER Institute, on fisheries
J. Rudi Strickler, Shaw Distinguished Professor of biosciences, on zooplankton

Ann Snyder fits Dave Kuckuk with a mask that will be used to measure his respiration.

Snyder and paddling partner Debra Mauzy-Melitz of the CSE are steering the canoe Dragonfly downstream on the Milwaukee River and focusing on the relationship among exercise, weather, and nutrition. The information shows kids what effect weather has on the body and how nutrition makes a difference in body functioning.

Read about their leg of the trip, which began May 13, at http://dropoflife.org/Water/The_Daily_News/The_Dragonfly_Digest/fly_front_page.html.

Also, to see how Kuckuk prepared for his arduous role, see http://dropoflife.org/Water/Preparations/preparations.html and scroll down.

Beginning near Slinger and paddling the Lady Slipper along parts of the Menomonee, Gruhl, who begins her route today, will reveal the relationship among industry, rivers and the Great Lakes.

See maps of three routes at www.dropoflife.org/Water/ and click on "What's Happening."

The project culminates on May 31 when all participants arrive at the Port of Milwaukee at the same time.

The Drop of Life project will continue in 2003, when volunteers will navigate the mighty Mississippi River in Wisconsin and also parts of Lake Michigan. In the third year, plans call for volunteers to compile their experiences kayaking in the Tirimbina Rainforest in Costa Rica on the Web site. By then, organizers hope the project's Web site will have international use and encourage international exchanges among students.

Support comes from the following UWM schools and divisions:

The Department of Human Kinetics, College of Health Sciences
The College of Letters and Science
The UWM Division of Information and Media Technologies
The Great Lakes WATER Institute

Drop of Life sponsors include: The City of Sheboygan, Ellwood H. May Environmental Park, Maywood, JLM Visual Products, Life Tools Adventures Outfitters of Green Bay, The Milwaukee Art Museum, The Milwaukee Public Museum, Net Notes by K.B., The Neville Public Museum of Brown County, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, The Illinois Brigade of the Voyageurs, The Smoky Hollow Muzzle Loaders, Wisconsin Lake Schooner Education Association, and WITI Fox 6 Weather Team.

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