For over 20 years, Laura worked tirelessly as both a volunteer and as Kansas Riverkeeper for Friends of the Kaw to promote public awarenss of the Kaw, an outstanding natural resource and valuable drinking water source in the state of Kansas. Each year she paddle sthe entire 170 mile Kansas River to check on its health and condition. Laura has been instrumental in moving sand dredging operations out of the river, and led the effort to institute the Kansas River Inventory, the first comprehensive, publicly available inventory documenting the entire river system’s on-going conditions, structures, animal and plant life and recreational opportunities.