Rick Olson

"The Mighty Dirty Mississippi" program, designed by Olson, is his winning comprehensive water quality research program for fifth and sixth graders at Horace Mann School. Not only will the students get hands-on experience with water sample collection and analysis, they will also gain a conceptual understanding of water quality issues. Because the school is within walking distance of the Mississippi River, students will be able to take field trips to collect samples from the river that 18 million people rely on for drinking water. Additionally, district staff members from Capital Region Watershed will visit the classroom and share information about the watershed concept, storm water vs. wastewater, effects of pollutants and conservation techniques. Olson resides in St. Paul.