Wisconsin Water Week Virtual Opportunities woman using laptop to interact with others - photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Virtual Opportunities

We have Virtual Opportunities

There are several virtual opportunities for folks to connect during Wisconsin Water Week. 

Read a quick synopsis of these options in the dropdown lists below. 

Check back often to get an updated list!

Help Us make this event great

Do you know of a virtual event happening during (or around the time of) Wisconsin Water Week?

What about a pre-recorded educational resource that might be useful for water advocates?

We’d love to add it to our list! Fill out this form to share a water event!

Virtual Events

Our planet is experiencing accelerated climate warming, with dramatic consequences not only on lake ecology but also on the ecosystem services we rely on from our freshwater resources. Lakes with seasonal ice cover, which represent more than half of the world’s lakes, are especially sensitive to a changing climate, as ice cover is a strong determinant of lake ecosystem functioning. Lakes are losing ice cover at unprecedented rates. On average, ice duration is shorter by 17 days per century. However, in the past 25 years, lake ice loss is 6 times faster, with some lakes not freezing every winter. By the end of the century, over 200,000 lakes may no longer regularly freeze and almost 6,000 lakes may permanently lose ice cover with climate warming. With reduced ice cover, lakes may stratify earlier which can lead to elevated water temperatures, primary production, and the likelihood of algal blooms, some of which may be toxic. Mitigation of greenhouse gases is essential to preserving this ecological, cultural, and economically important resource.
 

The goal of this event is to review field season goals, AIS activities, Healthy Lakes and Rivers grant, and Citizen Lake Monitoring. Everyone is welcome who is interested in lakes in Portage County. A registration link will come at a later date. To learn more about the Portage County Lakes and Rivers group, visit the Facebook page.

Monitoring and assessment is one possible component of a Wetland Program Plan as described in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Core Elements Framework. Having a monitoring and assessment program is a critical tool for Tribes and states in managing and protecting their wetland resources. Monitoring and assessment can help document a baseline for wetlands extent, condition, and function and to detect changes over time in order to make appropriate resource management decisions. In this webinar, we will hear from Tribal representatives about their ongoing wetland monitoring and assessment programs, including priorities, design, and implementation. Register here.

It ain’t easy being green… but we’ve got some tips to make sustainability a cinch! In this four-day game, you’ll complete fun tasks like “find a butterfly garden” or “take a selfie with a solar panel” and answer trivia about Wisconsin’s environment and natural resources. You’ll use our game app to see how friends are doing, track your score, view your place on the leaderboard, and get alerts when new actions and trivia are released in the game.

CLICK HERE for more information.

Calling all Educators and Students
Join students across the watershed in learning how climate change is affecting us and what we can do as a community to help combat those changes.

Students will learn about:
•.  Local renewable energy efforts and their global effects.
•   Weaving indigenous science and culture with “western” academic sciences to create climate literacy.
•   The parallels between the lives of trees and humans.
•   Ways climate change affects the spread of invasive species and what conservationists are doing to help.
•   How to get involved with Climate Justice as a youth activist.
•   and more!

For more information, CLICK HERE.

Have you ever heard of “karst”? Hydrogeologist Maureen Muldoon will provide an introduction to the hydrogeology of Wisconsin’s karst landscapes. Geologist Grace Graham will talk about the relationship between karst springs and wetlands. Maureen Muldoon started her career with the Wisconsin Geological & Natural History Survey (WGNHS) in 1987. In 1998 she moved to UW-Oshkosh for 21 years, where she was a professor of Geology. She has recently returned to the WGNHS, where she conducts research that focuses on applied groundwater questions throughout Wisconsin with a focus on hydrogeology of karst. Grace Graham is a geologist for WGNHS, where she does fieldwork, data management, and geographic information system (GIS) work for a variety of projects and research topics, balancing her between the field and the office. Learn more

 

Run for the trees! No matter how you reach the finish line – walk, run or roll – you pick the pace and the place, anywhere outdoors. Everyone who participates in this Bob Ross-inspired virtual race gets a Happy Little T-shirt, a commemorative bib number and finisher’s medal. Proceeds support tree planting and forest protection efforts – such as invasive plant and forest pest management – in Wisconsin state parks, forests, trails and recreation areas.

Complete your race between April 22 and 28. Visit https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/outwigo for more information and suggested 5k (3.1 miles) routes in state parks.

Registration closes March 1.

This presentation will introduce the second volume of the MGLP’s Shoreline living document. With over 90,000 copies in circulation, both versions of the MGLP’s Shoreline Living document are excellent resources for starting conversations about natural shorelines. These magazine-style publications contain articles highlighting families who live on natural shorelines and have taken a variety of steps to benefit themselves and their lakes. Beautiful photographs of each property accompany the articles, where the families share their process in creating, maintaining, enjoying, and protecting their natural shorelines. This presentation will provide an opportunity to hear directly from some of the featured property owners as they share their experiences in conservation. Register here.

Online Resources

This webinar series is designed for members of lake associations and lake districts, or folks who are thinking about becoming a member or forming one of these groups, or interested in the topics provided.

Full YouTube Playlist
View more than 50 recorded sessions from the 2020 Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention, that was pivoted from an in-person gathering to an online learning event.