When you’re very, very lucky, work converges with fun and serves an important public mission, too.

That was the case for 11 staff, students, and friends of IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering, who spent a day canoeing down the Turkey River in northeast Iowa as part of Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition). Project AWARE is an annual weeklong, canoe-based river cleanup that removes an average of 35 tons of garbage from Iowa’s rivers each year.

Temperatures in the 90s on July 14 didn’t discourage the IIHR volunteers; in fact, the river waters were so inviting, almost everyone took a dip for a quick cooldown. The team paddled 14.5 miles, gathering trash along the way. 

By the end of the day, everyone was tired, muddy, and a little smelly, but happy to have been part of such a worthwhile event.

“It was so much fun!” says Olivia Hubbard, program coordinator and organizer of IIHR’s participation. “The Turkey River is beautiful, and it reminded us of why IIHR’s focus on water resources is so important. Outdoor recreation and beautiful natural spaces are a key part of our quality of life here in Iowa.”

Project AWARE is a nonprofit organization run by a volunteer board. Each year, it focuses on cleaning up a different Iowa river. Since it began more than 20 years ago, almost 7,000 volunteers have collected more than 1,000 pounds of trash over 1,500 river miles. It focuses on education as well as cleanup, and volunteers can learn about the history, geology, and ecology of Iowa’s rivers.