2019 Keynote & Lunch Speakers
Agenda subject to change.
Valuing Ecological Services to Make Smarter Water Decisions
On Thursday, we will be joined by Dr. Kate Brauman. Dr. Brauman is the lead scientist for Global Water Initiative at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, where she studies the coupled interaction of land-use change and water resources. Kate brings together the study of hydrology and plant-water relations with economics and policy to explore the effects of land cover on water delivery to downstream users. She is focused on hydrologic ecosystem services and global water availability and use, particularly by agriculture. Kate received her doctorate from the Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources at Stanford University, where she designed and led a project on the Big Island of Hawai’i quantifying the effects of pasture and forest on groundwater recharge and calculating the associated costs of water extraction.
PRESENTATION: Valuing Ecosystem Services to Make Better Water Decisions (PDF)
A Guide to Restoring the Little Things that Run the World
Friday’s keynote takes a closer look at how nature can (and does!) provide for itself through the complex web of life that is most often based on the relationship between plants and insects. Dr. Douglas W. Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has taught for nearly forty years. Dr. Tallamy is the author of the best-selling garden book, Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, and was awarded the 2008 silver medal by the Garden Writers Association. His research demonstrates the enduring connections between plants and the insects that feed on them. Though we may think of these insects as pests, they are in fact critical food sources for native birds and small mammals. Doug argues that we all can “pay it forward” to nature by including many more native plants in our domesticated landscapes, whether at an “up north” cabin or in the middle of Milwaukee; our deeds will be multiplied and eventually will return to us in the form of a more diverse and resilient natural community.
Adrian Stocks, Water Quality Program Director, Wisconsin DNR
In December, Adrian Stocks began his new role as Water Quality Program Director for the Wisconsin DNR. Adrian says, “I am thrilled and humbled to be starting in this role. Over the last five years, I have had the opportunity to work with many of you in the Water Quality program. The incredible knowledge and dedication of staff and supervisors in the program gives me great confidence that we will be able to continue the excellent work we are doing, improve the program and successfully address some of the pressing issues before us such as PFAS contamination, nitrate in groundwater and moving more impaired waters towards restoration plans.”
VIDEO of Adrian Stocks lunch talk
Todd Ambs, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Wisconsin DNR
Before being named to the DNR Secretary’s leadership team, Todd Ambs had previously served as DNR Water Division administrator from 2003-2010. Ambs has worked in the environmental policy field for more than 35 years, most recently as the director for Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. He has extensive experience in both state government and nonprofit organizations includes serving as executive director of two statewide river organizations, policy director for the Ohio Attorney General and senior policy analyst for the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Ambs graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1980 with a BS in Political Science/Speech.
PRESENTATION: Collaborative Vision for Wisconsin Lakes Wisconsin Lakes Partnership Convention (PDF)
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