Wetland Coffee Break

The Wetland Coffee Break series helps keep our community of wetland lovers connected and learning about wetlands throughout the year, from anywhere! Bring your coffee and learn about wetlands, the plants and animals that call them home, and the many natural benefits they provide to our communities. Sessions are held on Zoom and feature time for audience Q&A.

See below for a list of upcoming presentations and to register. Once you register, you’ll receive an automatic email including the URL link and password you’ll need to access the meeting. We record and post each presentation so you can watch any that you missed live. You’ll find links to these recordings below, and you can also find them on our Facebook page.

We are grateful to all of the presenters for sharing their knowledge and expertise and to everyone interested in learning more about wetlands! If you are interested in giving a Wetland Coffee Break presentation, or if you have a wetland topic you’d like to see covered, please contact Katie.Beilfuss@wisconsinwetlands.org.

We are now able to provide attendance verification to Wetland Coffee Break audience members who attend the live sessions and request this service. We created this mechanism in response to requests from members of the Wetland Coffee Break audience who would like to apply their Wetland Coffee Break learning to their continuing education or certification requirements. Learn more about how to receive attendance verification here.

Register for upcoming presentations       Watch previous presentations

Register for a Wetland Coffee Break

Native wetland plant restoration pilot project: Fish Creek Slough Estuary in Ashland, Wisconsin

Kevin Brewster, Super Rivers Watershed Association
Friday, August 7, 2026
10:30 am CT

Description
Join Kevin Brewster of the Super Rivers Watershed Association to learn about the ecological impacts on Fish Creek Slough from historic and present-day human presence in the Fish Creek watershed and Chequamegon Bay, invasive species dynamics, and the emerging challenges of climate change. He will discuss how the project will achieve its goal of demonstrating how application of proven restoration strategies—guided by local traditional knowledge—can help recover the ecological and hydrological health of a once-vibrant coastal wetland ecosystem. We will also discuss our plans for engaging the community in exciting volunteer work and educational opportunities as the project progresses.
 
As a life-long northern Wisconsin resident, Kevin Brewster has worked as restoration coordinator, grant writer, board member, and volunteer with the Superior Rivers Watershed Association since 2009. Prior to that, he co-directed a reforestation and wildlife rescue project in northeastern Costa Rica and also worked as an ecological consultant for the US-Forest Service, WDNR, and local Tribal governments. He holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental journalism and graduate certification in restoration ecology practices.
Register here

Zoogeography and ethnobiology of Wisconsin’s fishes: A historical perspective

Madeline Cleveland, Avocational ichthyologist 
Friday, August 14, 2026
10:30 am CT

Description
In this Wetland Coffee Break, we will take a look at the people and places that influenced how Wisconsin’s fish fauna appears in the landscape today. We’ll answer questions like: How did fish survive the last ice age? What did fisheries management look like in 1200 CE? How do we account for some species’ apparently disparate ranges? And what has changed since the first fishes swam the waters of Wisconsin? Tune in to find out from fish enthusiast and researcher Madeline Cleveland.
 
Madeline Cleveland is a long-time fish enthusiast. Her passion for research has led her to explore the sciences from Astronomy to Zoology. In her spare time, you can find her absorbed in a book or tracking down a new species for her life list.
Register here

Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge: An urban gem, 16 years old and growing

Vince Mosca, Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge
Friday, August 21, 2026
10:30 am CT

Description
The Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge is located in Walworth County, Wisconsin, and McHenry County, IL. It is designated as an urban wildlife refuge serving nearly 12 million people who live within an hour and half drive of the refuge. The work of many land partners resulted in the realization of a new acquisition of 985 acres known as Tamarack Farms in 2024. Tamarack Farms is the largest conservation acquisition in the Chicago region since the creation of Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in 1996. This strategic purchase connects previous holdings into a large riparian corridor along Nippersink Creek. Vince Mosca, Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge board member, will discuss the specifics of the purchase and the overall value of Hackmatack for biodiversity, water quality protection, and climate change resiliency.
 
Vince Mosca is a Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge board member and wetland practitioner with 37 years experience in Wisconsin and Illinois.
Register here

Northern lowland hardwood forests: Learning from experience, managing for change

Martha Sample, University of Minnesota & Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science
Friday, September 11, 2026
10:30 am CT

Description

Across the hardwood swamp and floodplain forests of the Upper Midwest, emerald ash borer, altered hydrology, and a changing climate are causing canopy mortality and shifts in defining ecosystem characteristics, including potential conversion to non-forested wetlands. Currently, operational management projects outnumber research studies, and management experience could play an important role in addressing persistent knowledge gaps and identifying successful management strategies. However, operational projects are monitored and documented at varying levels and not commonly shared externally. Increased and coordinated monitoring, reporting, and sharing of information may facilitate opportunities for aggregated management experience to promote successful adaptation to environmental change.

Martha Sample is a Climate Adaptation Specialist with the University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources and the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS). Her current work focuses on supporting adaptation management in the northern forests of the Upper Midwest by providing information resources, decision support tools, and direct technical assistance to natural resource managers. She earned her PhD (2024) and MS (2016) at Northern Arizona University studying the ecology, management, and policy of natural resource conservation and climate change adaptation.

Register here

Science to the Sidewalk: Relational care of people and nature

Kristen Voorhies, Greenlight Nature Lab for People and Places, LLC
Friday, September 18, 2026
10:30 am CT

Description
Explore the tension at the heart of conservation practice: how formal scientific knowledge and community-held knowledge can work together rather than compete, and why relationship — not just policy — is what makes environmental work durable and equitable. Drawing on decades of fieldwork from sea turtle beaches to Great Lakes wetlands, Dr Kristen Voorhies will share a place-based, relational approach to redefining how science, management, and policy connect people to the land and water they depend on — an approach that can inform how you do outreach in communities you work with.
 
Dr. Kristen Voorhies is the founder of Greenlight Nature Lab for People and Places, LLC, an environmental consulting practice bridging scientific rigor with community-led climate adaptation and nature-based solutions. With a PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Chicago and prior roles at USGS, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Field Museum’s Keller Science Action Center, she brings deep expertise in conservation science alongside a commitment to knowledge equity and environmental justice. She lives in Chicago with her husband, their two sons (ages 5 and 8), and two reptile companions — a red-eared slider and a gargoyle gecko — who keep her grounded in the everyday wonder of the natural world she works to protect.
Register here

Advancing hydrologic connectivity in Dane County, WI

James Brodzeller, Dane County Land & Water Resources Department
Friday, October 2, 2026
10:30 am CT

Description
The Dane County Land & Water Resources Department and partners have completed a series of restoration projects over the last few years focusing on repairing hydrologic impairments. Shared goals span from nutrient reduction and water quality improvement, to flood mitigation, recreational enhancement and bolstering ecological integrity. Sitting in the shadow of the state capital, the projects have been used to demonstrate techniques and the many co-benefits of hydrologic restoration to local residents, legislators, community officials, and natural resource practitioners. Learn more about these projects from Watershed Coordinator James Brodzeller.
 
James Brodzeller has worked in water resources management throughout Wisconsin for 17 years. A proud UW – Stevens Point graduate, he has spent time monitoring the Wisconsin River Basin, developing water quality and hydrodynamic models, and served as Wisconsin DNR’s Wetland Program Coordinator. He currently focuses on stream and wetland restoration on Dane County parkland.
Register here

What does Soil Health have to do with wetlands anyway?

Randy Zogbaum, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP)
Friday, November 6, 2026
10:30 am CT

Description

This presentation will explore how land use, in particular agricultural land use, impacts soil and soil health in and around wetlands. We will discuss what is soil, what is soil health, and how implementing soil health principles protects and enhances wetlands.

Randy Zogbaum has worked as a soil scientist and educator in a variety of roles serving Wisconsin agriculture focusing on the connection of soil and water quality. He currently serves as the Soil Health Program Manager at DATCP.

Register here

Watch previous presentations

Click “Older Entries” below to see more past presentations, or view our Google Sheet index of past presentations here.