Conference program
Explore the full schedule for the 2020 Wetland Science Conference below. Click here for a printable PDF.
Full abstracts and biographies for presenters coming soon.
* denotes a student presentation competition participant.
Tuesday February 18th
8:00 – 5:00 Wetland Processes as the Foundation for Wetland Management (Crystal Lake Room)
Sponsored by Wisconsin DNR, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Ducks Unlimited
SOLD OUT This special classroom training is your chance to learn and apply new skills and methodologies for wetland management. Pre-registration for the special training is required. Add your name to the waiting list. Learn more.
6:00 – 9:00 Conference Kickoff Social and WWA Annual Meeting (Elkhart Lake Ballroom)
Catch up with your wetland colleagues and friends while enjoying light snacks and a cash bar. Hear highlights from WWA’s work in 2019 and meet and vote for candidates for WWA’s Board of Directors during a brief Annual Membership Meeting. This fun event kicks off Wisconsin Wetlands Association’s 2020 Wetland Science Conference. Learn more about this event on our networking page.
Wednesday February 19th
9:00 – 10:10 Plenary Session (Grand Libelle Ballroom)
Sponsored by Sterling
9:00 Welcome and Opening Comments
9:20 Conference Keynote: A Clear Path to Collaborative Wetland Restoration: Achieving Results at Scale. Joanne Marchetta, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
10:10 – 10:40 Break (Villa Gottfried Room & Foyer)
Sponsored by Heartland Ecological Group
10:40 – 12:00 Concurrent Sessions
Wetland Challenges
Location: Palm Garden A
Moderator: Jason Granberg
Session Details
10:40 Webster: Efficacy of non-native Phragmites treatment and impact on wetland plant communities in northeast WI
11:00 Scherer: Wisconsin Purple Loosestrife Biocontrol Program updates
11:20 O’Brien, M.*: Invasive cattail residence time affects plant communities and below-ground processes
11:40 Garcia: Are microsattelite markers useful in detection of invasive plant species? A case study with Typha domingensis
* denotes presenter is participating in the student presentation competition
WWA in Action
Location: Palm Garden BC
Moderator: Katie Beilfuss
Session Details
10:40 O’Brien, E.: Making every action count: Advancing a wetland conservation vision for Wisconsin
11:00 Magyera: Using wetlands to solve problems: Highlights and lessons from the field
11:20 Western Hauser: Legislative updates and new WWA initiatives
11:40 Panel discussion and Q&A with WWA staff re: vision, projects, and legislative initiatives
Science-informed Policy
Location: Palm Garden DE
Moderator: Tom Bernthal
Session Details
10:40 Robertson: Redefining WOTUS 1: A GIS-based model to predict the spatial extent of federally-protected waters and wetlands
11:00 Miller: Redefining WOTUS 2: An assessment of potential impacts to Wisconsin wetlands and wetland services
12:00 – 1:30 Lunch (Grand Libelle Ballroom)
Sponsored by Cardno
1:30 – 3:10 Concurrent Sessions
Wetlands 101
Location: Palm Garden A
Moderator: Dreux Watermolen
Session Details
1:30 O’Connor: Swamp, bog, or fen? An introduction to wetland types of Wisconsin
1:50 Seilheimer: Diversity and renewal in Wisconsin’s Great Lakes coastal wetlands
2:10 Casper: Developing bioacoustic tools for wetland wildlife monitoring
2:30 Bernthal: WFQA 1: Floristic Quality Assessment for monitoring wetland plant community health: Theory, metrics, uses
2:50 Trochlell: WFQA 2: How to use the WDNR timed-meander survey protocol and WFQA calculator
Wetlands & Water Management
Location: Palm Garden BC
Moderator: Drew Fowler
Session Details
1:30 Fleener: Prioritization of wetland infrastructure: An agency’s approach to strategically manage impounded wetlands
1:50 Kraszewski: Challenges and benefits of a large wetland restoration in an urban environment
2:10 Lennie: Badger Mill Creek and its wetlands: A tale in watershed planning and implementation
2:30 Ahearn: Isotope tracers in nutrient source tracking (NST) of nitrate in surface and groundwater
2:50 Fowler: Wetland management through the lenses of the Wetland Review Process: What, why, and how
Special Sessions
Session Details
1:30-2:50 (Location: Palm Garden DE) Book Club with Ben Goldfarb
2:10-3:10 (Location: Palm Garden F) Tribal Wetland Programs Working Group (by invitation only) Faciltated by Randy Poelma, Ho-Chunk Nation
Made possible with support from the Forest County Potawatomi Foundation
3:10 – 3:40 Break (Villa Gottfried Room & Foyer) (Grand Ballroom and Foyer)
Sponsored by Ho-Chunk Nation
3:40 – 5:00 Concurrent Sessions
Wetlands & People I
Location: Palm Garden A
Moderator: Sue Schumacher
Session Details
3:40 Grill: Connecting Milwaukee youth to urban wetlands
4:00 Mossman: How many people does it take to protect a Riverway?
4:20 Beilfuss: New video suite: Landowners caring for wetlands
4:40 Highsmith: Mary Linton wetland poetry session
Wetland Flora & Plant Communities
Location: Palm Garden BC
Moderator: Nick Miller
Session Details
3:40 Cooper: Climate-vulnerability of coastal wetlands in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
4:00 Milburn: Calcareous fens in northwest Minnesota
4:20 Oines*: Influence of flooding and gap size on the fate of UMRS floodplain forest canopy gaps
4:40 Marti: Clear as muck: Wetland soil physiochemistry as a driver of wetland plant community condition across Wisconsin
* denotes presenter is participating in the student presentation competition
Working Groups
Session Details
3:40-5:00 (Location: Palm Garden DE) Wetland Review Working Group Facilitated by Drew Fowler
3:40-5:00 (Location: Palm Garden F) In Lieu Fee Wetland Restoration Priority Planning Working Group Facilitated by Thomas Pearce
5:00 – 6:30 Poster Session and Cash Bar (Villa Gottfried Room & Foyer)
Poster Session Sponsored by Wisconsin Coastal Management Program
Featured posters
Bethel, Adrian * – Population dynamics of the rare orchid Neottia convallarioides in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Haines, Anna – County government approaches to protecting, restoring, and managing wetlands
Hennen, Sadie * – Hydrostratigraphy of natural and constructed wetlands in Cumberland District, Daniel Boone National Forest, KY
Lauscher, Taylor * – Phosphorus determination in the West Fond du Lac River
Li, Yu * – Relationships between stream nutrient concentrations and wetlands in the Yahara River watershed
Mohammadi, Rose * – Constructing a habitat suitability model for invasive European frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae)
Mossman, Mike – Lower Wisconsin Riverway: A new Ramsar Wetland of International Importance?
Noll, Christopher – Floristic composition of major wetland community types across four level 3 Omernik ecoregions
Pociask, Geoff – Differentiating hydrologic conditions to support coastal wetland functional assessments in Illinois
St. John, Logan * – Combined impacts of invasive hybrid cattail and European Frogbit on Great Lakes wetlands
Staffen, Amy – Climate change adaptation at two wetland sites
* denotes presenter is participating in the student poster presentation competition
6:30 – 9:30 Banquet and Presentation (Grand Libelle Ballroom)
Sponsored by We Energies & Wisconsin Public Service
7:30 Banquet Presentation: Dam It: Seeing Beavers as Restoration Partners Ben Goldfarb, Author, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. This is a ticketed event. See our banquet page for more information and how to purchase tickets.
Thursday February 20th
8:30 – 9:20 Plenary Session (Grand Libelle Ballroom)
Sponsored by TBA
8:30 Welcome
8:40 Plenary Address: Telling the Wetlands Story in an Era of Information Overload: Matthew L. Miller, Director of Science Communications, The Nature Conservancy
9:30 – 10:30 Concurrent Sessions
Wetland Conservation in Agricultural Landscapes
Location: Palm Garden A
Moderator: Thomas Pearce
Session Details
9:30 Maile: Developing a wetland management program in the prairie region of Minnesota
9:50 Taylor: Identifying actually restorable wetlands in the Rock River Basin
10:10 Gall: Wetland creation and management: Planning and execution of degraded farm field restoration
Effective Wetland Restoration & Management Techniques I
Location: Palm Garden BC
Moderator: Matt Angerhofer
Session Details
9:30 Salas: Focusing management: Setting priorities when there’s more needs than time
9:50 Del Prete: Web-based GIS as a means to track spatial and temporal treatments of wetland invasive species
10:10 Potter*: Hyrdologic investigation of Wisconsin’s Chiwaukee Prairie and adjacent Nature Conservancy restoration site
* denotes presenter is participating in the student presentation competition
Aquatic Plant and Communication Workshops
Session Details
9:30-12:00 (Location: Palm Garden DE) Identification and Biology of Wisconsin’s Aquatic Plants Instructor: Paul Skawinski
*Pre-registration required. Register here.*
9:30-12:00 (Location: Palm Garden F) Story Time: Become an Effective Wetland Communicator Instructor: Matthew L. Miller
*Pre-registration required. SOLD OUT; add your name to the waiting list. Register here.*
10:30 – 11:00 Break (Villa Gottfried Room & Foyer)
Sponsored by TRC Companies, Inc.
11:00 – 12:00 Concurrent Sessions
Wetlands & People II
Location: Palm Garden A
Moderator: Travis Olson
Session Details
11:00 Bradshaw: Wisconsin duck hunters and wetland conservation
11:20 Robson: Community-based wetland monitoring: Citizen science in action
11:40 Englund: Providing a clear vision for wetlands during times of change through effective guidance
Effective Wetland Restoration & Management Techniques II
Location: Palm Garden BC
Moderator: Travis Schroeder
Session Details
11:00 Sulman: Five years of wetland response to vegetation management at Deer Grove West Nature Preserve
11:20 Rice: Sheboygan River AOC: Long-term planning for aquatic and wetland habitat restoration success
Aquatic Plant and Communication Workshops (cont’d)
Session Details
9:30-12:00 (Location: Palm Garden DE) Identification and Biology of Wisconsin’s Aquatic Plants, continued
*Pre-registration required. Register here.*
9:30-12:00 (Location: Palm Garden F) Story Time: Become an Effective Wetland Communicator, continued
*Pre-registration required. SOLD OUT; add your name to the waiting list. Register here.*
12:00 – 1:30 Lunch (Grand Libelle Ballroom)
Sponsored by Stantec
1:30 – 4:30 Field Trips, Working Groups, and Workshops
Working Group: Practitioners
Location: Palm Garden A
Facilitated by Dan Salas Learn more.
Field trip: Explore A Wetland Gem®: Nichols Creek State Wildlife Area
Field trip leader: Josh Jackl
All field trips will meet at the Conference Center Entrance by 1:20 to depart by bus. Pre-registration is required. Register here.
Learn more about our field trips.
Thank you to NES Ecological Services for their generous sponsorship of this trip.
Workshop: Amphibian Identification
Location: Palm Garden BC
Instructors: Rori Paloski, Josh Kapfer, and Rich Staffen Learn more.
*Pre-registration is required. Register here.
Field trip: Managing Cattails and Partnerships in the Sheboygan Marsh
Field trip leaders: Aaron Brault and Jon Gumtow.
All field trips will meet at the Conference Center Entrance by 1:20 to depart by bus. Pre-registration is required. Register here.
Learn more about our field trips.
Thank you to Merjent for their generous sponsorship of this trip.
Workshop: Introduction to Common Wisconsin Sedges
Location: Palm Garden DE
Instructors: Pat Trochlell and Steve Eggers Learn more.
*Pre-registration is required. Register here.
Field Trip: Snowshoes and Wetlands: Traverse the Kettle Moraine
Field trip leaders: Jackie Scharfenburg and Dale Katsma
All field trips will meet at the Conference Center Entrance by 1:20 to depart by bus. Pre-registration is required. Register here.
Learn more about our field trips.
Thank you to American Transmission Company for their generous sponsorship of this trip.
Workshop: Scenario Modeling of the Impacts of Groundwater Withdrawal on Calcerous Fens
Location: Palm Garden F
Instructors: David Bart, Steven Loheide, Eric Booth, and Tom Bernthal Learn more.
*Pre-registration is required. Register here.