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
Hydrology and Hydraulics 101
Dave Kraft, Hey & Associates, Inc.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025
10:30 am CT
Description
The hydrology and hydraulics of the watershed and waterways that we work in are key drivers to understanding wetlands and developing preservation and restoration approaches. How much water there is and how it navigates the landscape can also influence regulatory needs. This presentation will provide wetland scientists and other practitioners with an introductory understanding of hydrology and hydraulics, or H&H, and how to work with the water, not against it.
Rooted in a deep passion for the outdoors, Dave Kraft has over 20 years of professional experience in water resources engineering with a focus on restoration of natural wetland and stream systems in a wide range of settings. Mr. Kraft holds a BS in Civil/Environmental Engineering from UW Madison and is a registered Professional Engineer in Illinois and Wisconsin.
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: Taxonomy, natural history, and conservation of Wisconsin fireflies
Tune in to learn about one of our favorite signs of summer—fireflies!
Wetland Coffee Break: Investigating the relationship between showy ladyslipper and European skipper butterflies
While working on wetland delineations, environmental scientist Matt Knickelbine has been observing instances of showy lady slipper flowers being filled with dead, invasive European skipper butterflies.
Makak Aabajitoon Ganawendang Manoomin: Guiding wild rice conservation with Anishinaabe worldview
Learn more about a collaboration to develop a low-cost remote sensor to monitor environmental factors affecting manoomin (wild rice), and how it aims to complement tribal interests in wild rice restoration and managment.
Wetland Coffee Break: Aquatic habitat management for amphibians and reptiles in Wisconsin
Learn from professor Josh Kapfer some of the more general concepts and approaches that natural resource managers can consider when developing or enacting strategies for amphibians and reptiles in aquatic habitats.
Wetland Coffee Break: Coexisting with beavers to increase wetland functionality and support biodiversity
Restoration ecologist Clay Frazer will discuss beaver behavior and how having beavers on the landscape can improve water quality, mitigate flooding, support biodiversity, and increase wetland functionality.
Wetland Coffee Break: Bioacoustic evidence that bats benefit from beaver ponds
Wisconsin’s beaver management policies are primarily aimed at benefiting the state’s trout populations. But what if beaver ponds are ideal habitats for threatened and endangered species like the bats of Wisconsin?