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: Anticipating the hydrologic consequences of Emerald Ash Borer invasion in tribal forested wetlands through a sapflux network
Angela Waupochick discusses Black ash-dominated forested wetlands and how her research aims to help tribal managers strategize in their fight against emerald ash borers.
Wetland Coffee Break: State Natural Areas at 70: Still protecting Wisconsin’s Wetland Gems®
Join conservation biologist Thomas Meyer to learn about the Wisconsin DNR’s State Natural Areas Program, the oldest and largest state-wide nature preserve protection program in the nation, celebrating its 70th year in 2021.
Wetland Coffee Break: Climate change resources for wetland managers
Find out what types of wetlands are most vulnerable, what site-level factors can improve resiliency, and most importantly, what resources are available to help you create a customized adaptation plan for your specific site.
Wetland Coffee Break: Monitoring pollinators in wetlands: Opportunities for community scientists
Learn more about how data collected by citizen scientists help scientists and land managers.
Wetland Coffee Break: Wetland butterflies of Wisconsin
Join butterfly expert Mike Reese to learn about several Wisconsin wetland habitats and the butterflies that you could expect to find there.
Wetland Coffee Break: Visiting the Great Spirit’s Garden: Wild rice in Wisconsin’s wetlands
Learn about the ecology of wild rice (Manoomin) as well as its cultural and ecological significance, and hear about the challenges it is facing in a changing landscape.