Presented at the WI Lakes & Rivers Convention, the 2025 Outstanding Stream Volunteer awards recognize WAV volunteer stream monitors (individual or 2 person team) who have gone above and beyond to contribute valuable water quality data while supporting stream health, stewardship, and/or education in their community.
The 2025 Outstanding Stream Volunteer recipients are Kris Smith and Lance Green. Both were recognized at the Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention Awards Banquet in April 2026 and gifted a handmade pottery plaque designed by WAV volunteer Heidi Hankley and produced by local artist Amandalynn Jones.
Kris Smith
A certified Master Naturalist, Kris has been a WAV volunteer since 2023, monitoring with Crossroads at Big Creek and the Door County Land Trust. In 2025, Kris monitored four sites: Hibbard Creek on her own property, Big Creek, Bear Creek, and Stony Creek. Though she began monitoring alone, Kris now monitors with two wonderful teammates who, as she puts it, come up with the little tricks that make the work efficient
In her colleague’s words, “Kris consistently goes above and beyond in her volunteer role—training new volunteers, coordinating and evaluating sites, and serving as a trusted peer resource for others in the program .Beyond monitoring, Kris helps lead aquatic invertebrate exploration programs at Crossroads at Big Creek and Heins Creek Nature Preserve. She also serves as a volunteer hike leader for the Door County Land Trust, leading hikes, maintaining trails, planting native species, and more. A self-described worker bee, Kris notes “Grunt work is my speciality.”
As another colleague said “Kris is one of those rare volunteers who not only gets the job done but also inspires and teaches others.” When asked what she looks forward to this upcoming monitoring season, Kris said she was excited to get back out there and get in a creek.
Lance Green
Lance has been a WAV volunteer and active advocate for Starkweather Creek since 2015, collecting data at his sites through the Yahara Watershed Improvement Network and Rock River Coalition. Lance also serves as a chloride monitor for the creek through a program with the Capital Area Planning Commission and the Friends of Starkweather Creek. He currently serves as the co-chair for the Friends of group and has been a member since its inception in 2002.
As one colleague noted, “Lance’s monitoring work has heavily increased the available watershed data, not just for baseline data but also for nutrient, chloride, and PFAS data.” In Fall of 2024, Lance spearheaded a PFAS monitoring initiative around 20 stream sites, in collaboration with the East Madison Community Center, the Sierra Club, Cyclopure Inc. and several of his fellow stream monitors. The report of their PFAs Monitoring results garnered local news attention.
A retired Wisconsin DNR air management specialist, Lance’s environmental work extends well beyond water monitoring. Lance leads extensive outreach efforts focused on water quality and outdoor education, including teaching kids about macroinvertebrates, leading water tours for UW-Madison classes to highlight Starkweather Creek’s chemical issues, and leading free canoe and bike tours within his community. When asked what he enjoys most about his monitoring work, Lance said “ I love seeing the look in someone’s eyes – they can be any age – when they feel joy and understanding about some aspect of the stream, whether it’s planting a native, taking water samples, or just floating in a canoe.”