Watershed Moments: Ashley Muench

Ashley grew up fishing with her dad on Lake Winnebago, but it was taking two environmental science classes at UW-Oshkosh that gave her a more concrete idea of how important the environment is. For the first time, she started to understand the human impact on the environment, and in particular, the effect her actions were having on the ecosystem.

“Why didn’t I hear about this until I went to college?” asked Ashley.

Ashley was starting to think about getting involved and making a difference, but wasn’t sure how. Then at a food truck festival in Fond du Lac, she saw the Fox-Wolf staff handing out brochures. She asked if there were volunteer opportunities, and then Ashley jumped in with both feet.

In just two years, she has been a volunteer with a restoration project, water quality monitoring, Winter Salt Watch, and AIS Snapshot Day. She has been a Site Leader at the Watershed Cleanup for two years in row. She does it all because she believes “it isn’t until you see things with your own eyes that you realize how important it is, and how big of an impact you can have.”

At last year’s Watershed Cleanup, the volunteers at her site cleaned up over 200 pounds of trash. “When you see what 230 pounds of trash looks like, it’s different than just hearing that number,” Ashley said. The biggest surprise to her was when a volunteer struggled to pull a huge tarp out from the water. “You wouldn’t have seen it if you were just walking by. I had no idea how much garbage is really in our waterways,” she said. “I literally felt like I wanted to cry seeing that first hand. Is this what we’re really doing to the environment?”

Instead of letting that realization overwhelm her, Ashley is using it to launch a plan for her adult life. She is working to complete a degree in environmental science. She has an internship this summer with the Glacial Lakes Conservancy, creating interpretive signage for waterways. She has applied for a research assistantship doing stream sampling looking at the effects of pollution.

For Ashley, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance has made all the difference.

“Before I started volunteering with Fox-Wolf, I would have thought I shouldn’t even apply,” Ashley said. “But two years of volunteering with Fox-Wolf means I have a lot to talk about.” She has received a scholarship, is applying for more, and is now considering job opportunities that once seemed out of reach.

Like most students, Ashley is busy, but she is hooked on water conservation. “It’s easy to see something and assume someone else is going to do something,” Ashley said. “But you can’t assume that other people are going to do it for you. I’m part of the problem; what can I do to fix it?”

“Volunteering has developed me as a person. It’s nice to get out there and know you’re making a difference,” she said. She would encourage everyone else to just get out there and do it too. “It’s personally rewarding. It provides a sense of community. And it helps you sleep at night!”