{"id":2912,"date":"2021-12-07T13:20:44","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T18:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/?p=2912"},"modified":"2021-12-08T17:21:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T22:21:34","slug":"looking-forward-to-protecting-water-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/looking-forward-to-protecting-water-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Forward to Protecting Water Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2021\/12\/Mary-Larson-Grad-Profile-1280.jpg” title_text=”Mary-Larson-Grad-Profile-1280″ admin_label=”Mary Larson Headshot Image” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n

Mary Larson\u2019s passion for science and the outdoors started when she was young.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI really wanted to be a horticulturalist, but I didn\u2019t really know what that was,\u201d Larson said. \u201cI had a little microscope that I kept putting stuff under, like plants.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That passion never left her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Larson maintained a curiosity about science and the outdoors when she arrived at WSU, but it came into full fruition after taking a few introductory classes in geoscience and hydrology. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Larson, who already has an impressive background in the field of geoscience, plans to study hydrology, the study of water, at the graduate level next. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This Fall, Larson will be graduating with an Environmental Science and Spanish double major with a geography minor. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of my\u00a0general education\u00a0courses was natural disasters with Dr.\u00a0Stephen\u00a0Allard,\u201d Larson said while talking about her geoscience\u00a0class. “Then\u00a0I took watershed science next and that\u2019s when I was really like, I want to study water and water on Earth\u2019s surface.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To Larson, water itself as a resource was intriguing to her, and hydrology was an area that she could further explore that interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n

I want to help better our water resources since we have quite a bit of fresh water in our area. I want to help protect and better manage it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Choosing Environmental Science and Spanish as her majors opened up many opportunities for Larson, including internships, jobs, immersive field work, and even a study abroad experience where she visited the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina and later did a project on it when she returned. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI think my favorite thing that I got to do was go to Duluth, Minnesota, with my minerals and rocks class,\u201d Larson said. \u201cDr. Allard brought us there for an extended weekend and he showed us some really cool rock structures and cool unique rocks to the area.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Not only did Larson like to be immersed in field work, but also she eventually grew an appreciation for the process of research. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI worked on a research project where I evaluated the soil quality in the Winona State SEED Garden<\/a> to discover how well the soil helps plants grow and to make it better,\u201d Larson said.\u00a0\u201cFrom that experience, I realized that I would like to pursue research.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Larson learned\u00a0more about the problem, collected\u00a0soil samples,\u00a0completed\u00a0a\u00a0nutrient analysis in\u00a0the lab, investigated\u00a0the water content\u00a0in the soil, evaluated\u00a0the soil quality, researched\u00a0the data, and\u00a0came\u00a0up with\u00a0ways to fix it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With this research project, Larson was selected to work one-on-one with Dr. Candace Kairies-Beatty (K.B.)\u2014who later became a mentor who connected her to more opportunities. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n

I had really great professors to help me, and my research adviser, Dr. K.B, helped me through looking at graduate schools and talking me through the process.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Following her research project with Dr. K.B, Larson completed an internship where she assisted with herbicide studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, Larson is working as a Geographic Information Systems Technician (GIS). For the next year, she’ll continue to map wetlands for the Fish and Wildlife Service. After this, Larson will pursue a graduate degree at at possibly the University of Wisconsin-Madison or the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities\u2014which both have great hydrology programs. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the future, Larson is enthusiastic to get started on solving issues related to water and preserving those resources.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n

We will need to figure out ways to reverse and slow down the contamination of our water systems. I think it\u2019s really important to be able to manage the water resources and protect it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mary Larson\u2019s passion for science and the outdoors started when she was young.\u00a0 \u201cI really wanted to be a horticulturalist, but I didn\u2019t really know what that was,\u201d Larson said. \u201cI had a little microscope that I kept putting stuff under, like plants.\u201d\u00a0 That passion never left her. Larson maintained a curiosity about science and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":2963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,116,305,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-cose","category-commencement","category-feature-post"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2021\/12\/Mary-Larson-Grad-Profile-1280.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2ffS-KY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2912"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2971,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912\/revisions\/2971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}