For some, happiness is associated with pleasant things, like a good book, maybe relaxing with family, or the satisfaction that comes from a job well done. But not Nancy Warren. Her contentment? It seems to come from ‘the good fight,’ preferably one with long odds of winning.

“My husband has said I am not happy unless I have five or six wars going on,” Nancy laughs. “In fact, it’s become a tradition when friends visit, they always say, ‘What are you fighting this time?’”

The inclination is ingrained. “Once you get the activist’s blood,” she contends, “you can’t stop.” Which has been good for the environment of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

For Joan Rose, water has always held a kind of magic. Maybe that’s in part because Rose, Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research at Michigan State University, was born and raised in a place without any water to speak of: Victorville, California, which she calls, “a sleepy little desert town.” As a kid, water meant fun. It meant family beach vacations or lakeside camping trips.

You can still find Rose having fun on the beach—today she’s more likely lounging in Saugatuck or on Mackinac Island than the Pacific Coast—but her relationship with water has become something much deeper. It is scarcely possible to overstate the impact and influence of her pioneering work on the causes and prevention of waterborne diseases.

Michigan Environmental Council to honor pair June 14 in Ypsilanti