social good
Safeguarding Milwaukee’s water resources one interactive project at a time Michael Timm ’04 of Cudahy, Wisconsin, uses a combination of science, communication, creativity and fun to impact the future of water resources in the Milwaukee area. At Ripon College, he studied anthropology and English, and he received a master’s degree in freshwater science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He now manages the Milwaukee Water Stories program for the nonprofit Reflo-Sustainable Water Solutions.
student, employee and agent of change,” he says. “Science and the humanities don’t need to be at odds. There’s no fundamental dissonance between them. When they are complementary, they are more powerful. “I work with engineers, teachers, artists, scientists, community organizers, executives, volunteers, students and many more people,” Timm says. “My study of anthropology and English at Ripon shed insight into the power
of narratives to shape reality. Storytelling has the power to normalize patterns of behavior. Storytelling provides a sense of meaning about why things are the way they are and how we can change them. Stories are positive feedback mechanisms that can reverberate through culture. We are consciously changing the world by rewriting our city’s water story.” More about Milwaukee Water Stories can be found at refloh2o.com.
“We’re changing the world by creating urban green infrastructure projects that transform Milwaukee into a more resilient city, both in terms of stormwater management and rainwater reuse, but also in terms of community integration with nature-based spaces,” Timm says. He oversees three innovative and interrelated digital communication projects, including the Milwaukee Community Map, a free community-based resource using Google Earth to share water data and digital stories. He also is responsible for the public engagement app Water Story MKE, like Pokemon GO, to explore sites around the city related to water history and green infrastructure; and MKE Waterscape Game, an Augmented Reality role-playing experience he designed for use by students ages 13 and older. He previously designed the game Three Degrees, which won second place in the nationwide Climate Game Jam competition sponsored by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 2015. Three Degrees was honored among climate education games showcased at the Smithsonian Institution in early 2016. His game Mussel Madness is an interactive, cooperative board game about protecting phytoplankton from an oncoming mussel invasion. Mussels are an invasive species in the Great Lakes and have transformed the ecosystem in dramatic ways. Timm continues to find new ways to engage the public. “Be well-rounded as a person,
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College
Michael Timm ’04 collaborates with an artist and landscape architect to design the MKE Waterscape Game. ABOVE
Young people experience a sense of wonder with digital tools that stimulate the imagination. BELOW