Meet Meredith Freeby: Badger engineer for healthy rivers, habitats, & Great Lakes

Civil engineering is a career of problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration for public and environmental good. For water resources engineer Meredith Freeby, EIT, it’s also an outlet to combine passion with purpose that is close to home.

“I love what I do, and I love doing what’s right for our streams,” says Freeby. “I have a strong connection to the Great Lakes and streams are a sensitive piece of our surface water network.”

Born and raised in Michigan, Meredith grew up with an appreciation for the outdoors and the Great Lakes region. After earning a B.S. in Biosystems Engineering with a minor in American Indian and Indigenous Studies from Michigan State University, she explored her father’s alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and landed in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Professional master’s program. The one-year degree timeline put her on the path to strengthen her education while networking and integrating into the professional workforce through opportunities on campus and internships.

“I found it to be a great transition from student to professional life, and I think it really kickstarted my career, too. The coursework was challenging and working through it gave me good experience for the future.”

Post-college, Meredith took on a different challenge many can relate to—finding the right fit for her knowledge, skills, and professional interests. Working in the civil engineering consulting space helped her get a feel for the industry while honing her long-term goals. When an opportunity with the non-profit organization Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA) came up, Meredith found her niche.

“When you’re new in your career, you might need to try a few things to find the right fit and that’s ok. Now I’m in a role where there’s a culture of autonomy but also knowledge sharing and collaboration, so I have the opportunity to offer my insight while continuously learning from my colleagues. It’s the perfect balance. We’re a small but mighty team, and our work helps preserve northwest Michigan streams and ultimately strengthen the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.”

As a project manager for CRA, Meredith gets to do a bit of everything from field work to construction observation and continued monitoring post construction. She enjoys the collaborative and rewarding nature of her role, which brings stakeholders together to form community partnerships, a critical aspect of CRA’s mission to restore and revitalize rivers and watersheds in northwest lower Michigan. This area of Michigan may feel remote, but Meredith points out that it’s hard, if not impossible, to find a place untouched by human impact. And while that’s not inherently a bad thing, some traditional systems, like dams for example, emerged from a perspective that sees nature as something to control and contain, without much thought for the watershed and aquatic communities who call it home.

CRA helps address these challenges by evaluating road stream crossings to improve river flow and fish passage, and reduce sedimentation, among other goals. The team also guides watershed plantings, stream bank stabilization projects, habitat improvement projects, and dam removals. Their 2025-2027 River Care Workplan spans 60 projects in 18 watersheds.

A current focus for Meredith is the Boyne Falls Dam Removal, which will restore upstream passage to 3 miles of the South Branch of the Boyne River and 38 miles of its tributaries, while also opening passage to 36 miles of the North Branch subwatershed. Boyne Falls is a small village with less than 400 residents, and Meredith is helping the community navigate funding, grant requirements, and several other aspects. A feasibility study is in progress and the project is anticipated to take 5-10 years to complete. The dam is beyond its 100-year lifespan and is considered a significant hazard. Removing it supports watershed goals to protect aquatic habitat diversity; protect and improve water resource quality; maintain recreational opportunities; and support sustainable watershed management practices.

“This project is a great example of a community coming together to work with the river, instead of against it. By initiating the dam removal, the Village is prioritizing community safety, ecological health, sustainable recreation, and an overall resilient ecosystem for both people and wildlife alike. At CRA, our goal is to leave each site in a state of dynamic stability, where the river can move freely and access its floodplain while minimizing risks to infrastructure. That is my hope for this project. Once complete, the river will be free-flowing, aquatic communities can access more habitat, and residents and visitors can experience the dynamic beauty and energy of a natural river system.”

Featured image: Meredith (pictured left) stands with a coworker during a construction inspection of a bridge project on the Jordan River.