Hi John,
My name is Andrew, and I’m the Conservation Biologist here at Save the Boundary Waters. If we haven’t met yet, nice to meet you! I’m happiest spending time on our public lands… listening, learning, and doing my part to protect the places that have shaped me.
I deeply believe that science is one of the most powerful tools we have to protect wild places and the communities connected to them. Here, our science program is something I am incredibly proud to be a part of.
The Boundary Waters is one of the last truly wild places left — and it’s packed with life. Around 50% of all endangered species rely on healthy, unspoiled wetlands for critical stages of their life cycle. The Boundary Waters is home to an incredible abundance and diversity of these wetlands, making it an important refuge for wildlife.
Not only that, but the Boundary Waters holds 20% of all the freshwater in the National Forest System. In many lakes, you can still lean over the canoe and drink straight from the surface.
This isn’t normal. This is exceptional. And it’s worth defending.
For the past six years, our water quality monitoring team has been tracking sulfate pollution that threatens the health of these waters, the wildlife that depends on them, and the survival of wild rice – an irreplaceable staple of Minnesota’s landscape and a sacred food for Ojibwe communities. Sulfate also enables bacteria in aquatic systems to convert inorganic mercury into methylmercury – a powerful neurotoxin that threatens fish, wildlife, and human health.
This is why we monitor throughout every season. Even in the coldest months, our team drills through the ice to collect data – because protecting this water is worth every step.
Our impact is real. Our team has:
- Helped secure Birch Lake’s designation as impaired for sulfate – creating obstacles for mining permits.
- Built essential baseline data for Minnesota’s scientific record – filling gaps to ensure decisions about these waters are rooted in real, on-the-ground science.
- Logged 72 field days and 3,000+ hours of research in 2025 – with two more months of fieldwork still ahead.
