Hamline Faculty present on national stage for community water stewardship. Ann Zawistoski and Sofia Wicklund from Hamline University’s Center for Global Environmental Education presented their paper, “Community Engagement and Storm Drain Stewardship with Adopt-a-Drain.org,” at the 2025 Water Environment Federation conference. Their presentation highlighted the Adopt-a-Drain.org program’s success in turning awareness into action through simple, meaningful steps that help protect local waterways.
Developed at Hamline in partnership with Metro Watershed Partners, Adopt-a-Drain encourages community members to “adopt” local storm drains to keep them clear of debris. Now celebrating its 10th year, the program has expanded to more than 150 communities across 12 states, engaging over 17,000 participants who have removed more than 950,000 pounds of debris from the streets and storm drains. Recent efforts include outreach to Spanish-speaking communities and the integration of Adopt-a-Drain into K-12 classrooms nationwide.