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: Snapshot Wisconsin: Gathering and using trail camera data in wetlands and beyond
Learn about how the trail camera data from the Snapshot Wisconsin project can be used to monitor wildlife in Wisconsin’s wetlands and beyond and how you can get involved.
Wetland Coffee Break: The story behind the SWANCC decision: Site history and permitting
While all wetland practitioners know the impact of the SWANCC decision on wetland jurisdiction, few people know the backstory of the site that led to this monumental court decision.
Wetland Coffee Break: Visible and invisible mending: An intersection of art and ecology
Learn how presenter Nancy Aten’s work practicing ecological restoration, especially involving wetlands, interacts with her work as a monotype printmaker.
Wetland Coffee Break: Old lineage, new threats: The Ouachita map turtles of the Lower Wisconsin River
Learn about some of the modern-day challenges to turtle nest survival, focusing on the map turtles of the Lower Wisconsin River.
Wetland Coffee Break: Managing impacts of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer on Wisconsin’s wooded wetlands
Join forester Brad Hutnik to learn about Emerald ash borer, including the current status of EAB in Wisconsin, current management recommendations, and its effect long-term on the ecology of forested wetlands.
Wetland Coffee Break: Establishing a Bay of Green Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Watch Emily Tyner’s presentation on the process to designate the Bay of Green Bay as a National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR).