Meet Clay, a BS in Freshwater Sciences student who graduated in Spring 2025.
Clay St. John grew up along the shores of Lake Michigan with a deep curiosity about freshwater ecosystems and a dream of making an environmental impact. Through UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences, he turned his convictions into a clear path forward.
For his capstone, he did water sampling in Port Washington to support restoration of the Valley Creek Corridor with Dr. Newton’s class and in collaboration with Lakeshore Natural Resource Parternship. The students acted as a small consulting team, tasked with gathering and analyzing stream data to inform both the restoration process and future research opportunities.
Clay gained experience while in school as an intern at Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) over a couple years. There he assisted in the installation of residential green infrastructure and eventually led other interns in this installation during the summer months. During the fall and winter seasons, he supported outreach and land management work.
He also served as a co-chair for the UWM chapter of Engineers Without Borders and design lead for a water distrubtion project in Vivitz, Guatemala. Along with other students, he traveled to Guatemala to install a water-distribution system to help communities get access to clean water. Clay is now a graduate student at Ball State University in the Master’s Landscape Architecture (MLA) program.