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
Introduction to wetland sedges (Carex)
Aaron Feggestad, Stantec
Friday, November 14, 2025
10:30 am CT
Description
Genus Carex, the true sedges, form a fascinating and diverse group of plants. An evolutionary success story, Carex is the most species-rich genus in Wisconsin with more than 150 species. This introductory talk will focus on basic Carex ecology, morphology, and common terminology, and will be useful for anyone looking to expand their understanding and use of identification guides and keys.
Aaron Feggestad has been a practicing wetland professional for the past 20+ years, working in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region as a consulting ecologist, volunteer, and educator. Fascinated by the role of Carex in natural area function and the importance of Carex in the restoration of many types of natural communities, he is working towards a goal of cataloging nearly all the 158 species that occur within the state.
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: An introduction to Wisconsin’s wetland-loving snakes
Get acquainted with the 8 species of snake in Wisconsin that spend time in wetlands for at least part of the year in this Wetland Coffee Break presentation from Rebecca Christoffel.
Wetland Coffee Break: Immediate avian response to restoration in Lower Green Bay
Learn how migrating and nesting birds are responding to wetland restoration projects in Lower Green Bay.
Wetland Coffee Break: Restoring the Little Yellow River watershed in central Wisconsin
Learn how this restoration project is aiming to help the community be more resilient to extreme weather events.
Wetland Coffee Break: Blanding’s turtle: A true wetland denizen
Join Rebecca Christoffel to learn more of the fascinating life history of Blanding’s turtles as well as some current conservation efforts underway to help their populations.
Wetland Coffee Break: Wetlands in Wisconsin’s mega moraines
One of the largest concentrations of wetlands in our state is found in a unique area of large hummocky moraines that spans across north-central Wisconsin.
Wetland Coffee Break: On, in, and underwater: Life cycles and life history of wetland invertebrates
Join Dr. Jessica Orlofske of UW-Parkside to learn about Wisconsin’s wetland invertebrates that skate on the surface, swim in the water column, or crawl along the substrate.