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 a Wetland Coffee Break
How do beavers impact water?
Cortney Dean, Conservation Biologist
Friday, September 26, 2025
10:30 am CT
Description
Do beaver dams actually increase water temperatures? How do beaver ponds impact water quality, pollutants, and sediments? Conservation Biologist Cortney Dean takes a look at the data, challenges, and unexpected findings of beaver-water research in northwestern Wisconsin.
Cortney Dean is a conservation biologist located in Eau Claire, WI. She studies beaver impacts to the biotic and physical components of ecosystems. Her research focuses on water quality, food webs, and biodiversity impacts to avian and bat species.
Watch previous presentations
Click “Older Entries” below to see more past presentations, or view our Google Sheet index of past presentations here.
Wetland Coffee Break: It’s the little things that run the world
Join stream ecologist Mike Miller to learn about the variety of invertebrates found in Wisconsin’s flowing waters and connected wetlands.
Wetland Coffee Break: The role and application of prescribed fire in Wisconsin wetlands
Join Hannah Spaul, Director of Land Management for The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin, to learn about the historic role of fire in the state’s wetlands.
Wetland Coffee Break: Northern pike life history along Green Bay’s west shore
WDNR Fish Biologist Tammie Paoli provides an overview of the unique life history of northern pike along Green Bay’s west shore.
Wetland Coffee Break: Restoring wild rice in Green Bay west shore coastal wetlands
Manoomin (wild rice) is a native annual wetland grass with profound importance for many indigenous tribes in Wisconsin along with fish and wildlife. Conservation professionals are using an adaptive management approach to seed wild rice in the fall at priority Green...
Wetland Coffee Break: Breathing life into an old canoe
Retired after a long career in wetland restoration with the USFWS, Jim recently contributed his vision, time, and expertise to WWA to restore an old wood canvas canoe as the grand prize for our wetland Swampstakes.
Wetland Coffee Break: Upper Mississippi River restoration history
Mississippi River habitat restoration is an art that blends an understanding of historical events, science, insight, communication, and societal desires.