Wetland Coffee Break

Tune in for an introduction to the 50 species of native mussels in Wisconsin. Lisie will discuss their ecology, historical uses, and cultural contributions, as well as their diversity, fascinating life history, and significance to water quality. Plus she’ll explain how mussels were key to bringing international recognition to some important Wisconsin wetlands! Last but not least, learn the difference between a mussel and a clam!

BioAcoustics is a cross-disciplinary combination of acoustics and ecology. Learn how landowners Mike and Marcie O’Connor are using this technique to document habitat changes over the course of restoring wetlands on their land, Prairie Haven, in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area. How does bioacoustic monitoring work, and what have they learned? Join us for this Wetland Coffee Break to find out!

Mike and Marcie O’Connor are retired landowners working to restore and manage their land in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area. Marcie started learning to identify plants when she was about 10 years old, studied botany and ecology in college, and has remained interested in plants and restoration ecology ever since. Today, she focuses on restoring Prairie Haven (www.PrairieHaven.com) and the citizen science of identifying and documenting all the animals and plants that she finds there. Mike is a retired tech-industry entrepreneur who started fooling around with music and audio about as early as Marcie got interested in plants. BioAcoustics is a great way for him to bridge between his interest in all things tech and the restoration work Marcie and he do.

In recognition of the ecological, cultural, and historical importance of the wetland and estuarine systems of Green Bay, UW-Green Bay is leading the process to designate the Bay of Green Bay as a National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). The NERR System is a national network of 29 sites across the coastal US, including the Great Lakes, designed to protect and study estuaries and their coastal wetlands. Wisconsin already has one designated NERR on Lake Superior. Emily will discuss the benefits of a NERR designation for Northeast Wisconsin and opportunities to provide input and thoughts on the role a reserve could fill in the region.

Join WDNR forester Brad Hutnik to learn about the threat posed to wetlands by the invasive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). Brad will cover some of the basics about this invader, share insights about how best to assess potential impacts, and discuss what can be done pre and post ash loss to mitigate these impacts on wetlands.

Brad Hutnik is a forester with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in forest management from UW-Stevens Point. Before joining the WDNR, Brad interned with Consolidated Papers (now New Page) and worked for the Lake County Forest Preserve District (Lake Co., IL) and Clark Forestry (Baraboo, WI) as a staff forester. From 2002-2012 he served as Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Forester, and since 2012, he has been a Silviculturist/Forest Ecologist. 

Learn about some of the modern-day challenges to turtle nest survival, focusing on the map turtles of the Lower Wisconsin River, one of Wisconsin’s Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance. Independent research biologist Greg Geller will trace the development of an electric fence designed to increase nest success and relate its use in turtle conservation efforts. He’ll also touch on a new frontier in turtle biology–the search for sound production in turtles and its possible function–and share the sounds produced by Ouachita map turtle hatching, the first documented for any species in North America.

Greg Geller is an independent field biologist who conducts research on the wildlife around his home base in southwest Wisconsin as an avocation, continuing a lifelong involvement in the natural sciences. He has a bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology from the UW-Madison (1982) but considers himself largely self-taught. Since 2006, his focus has been on exploring the natural history of turtles and turtle nest predators and ways to increase turtle nesting success as well as developing new field research techniques.

Ecological restoration, the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem, is a process of mending. In mending, there is much promise –- for both lands and people. Nancy Aten’s work practicing ecological restoration, especially involving wetlands, interacts with her work as a monotype printmaker — especially around this idea of mending. Join this Wetland Coffee Break to learn more about Nancy’s work and how these domains interact for her.

Nancy Aten, PLA, ASLA is an award-winning landscape architect practicing ecological restoration and conservation planning at her firm Landscapes of Place in Wisconsin. She is also an accomplished monotype printmaker who has exhibited at Urban Ecology Center and UW-Madison Arboretum.

Details coming soon!

Vince Mosca is Vice President and Senior Ecologist at Hey & Associates. He has been involved with thousands of wetland and ecological assessment projects over the past 30 years in northeastern Illinois and Wisconsin. He graduated from Northland College with a bachelor’s in biophysical environmental studies and chemistry and holds a master’s degree in ecosystem studies from UW-Green Bay.