Access to clean freshwater is essential to industry, ecosystems, and life itself. But freshwater comprises less than 1 percent of the water on the planet. (That’s why wars are fought over it.) The Jefferson Project is an unprecedented effort to use the most advanced technology to study human impacts on freshwater lakes in a way that has never been done before anywhere in the world.

The Jefferson Project relies on the full diversity of disciplines and specialties at Rensselaer—biologists, environmental scientists, computer scientists, data analysts, and multiple kinds of engineers. That includes the participation of more than 100 undergraduate students. We’ve had engineering students design and build the sensors that are going out in the lake. We’ve had undergraduates conducting research on invasive species and various pollutants. We have undergraduate artists and animators developing computer games that tell the public why it’s important to value and protect freshwater. And the project involves all of those people very intentionally. That’s how we designed it. And, of course, partnering with IBM and all of their strengths is really just the ideal combination.