Veteran’s winding path leads to UWRF degree, new career in water management

UW-River Falls graduate Ronald Owen stands near the Kinnickinnic River in downtown River Falls in August. Owen, a U.S. Navy, Wisconsin National Guard and U.S. Army veteran, recently began a new career as a geographic information systems (GIS) analyst for the Southwest Florida Water Management District. UWRF photo. Ronald Owen has had to chart a new course more than once in his life. After graduating from St. Croix Central High School in Hammond in 2009, Owen enlisted in the U.S. Navy, working as a Navy corpsman at medical centers in Virginia and California and serving two deployments to Afghanistan. His path then took some twists and turns before he earned his bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in May and began a new career in late August as a geographic information systems (GIS) analyst for the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

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