Start your day off with Pennsylvania’s Amber Stillwell as she leads folks through morning wake-up yoga. Bring your own yoga mat or a towel from the hotel. All levels welcome.

Event included in registration fee; registration required for planning purposes.

Greet the morning with birding at the Evanston lakefront. Sammy Cabindol, Loyola University alum recently of the Natural Science Museum on Nantucket, will take folks along the lakefront helping spot and identify local and migrating birds. Bring your own binoculars if possible. All levels welcome.

Event included in registration fee; registration required for planning purposes.

This professional development session will cover best practices for making accessible documents and give GLSGN members the opportunity to ask questions and share their experiences with document accessibility. We’ll discuss the importance of accessibility; offer best practices for document creation using Word, PowerPoint, Google Docs and InDesign; review NOAA’s five Section 508 compliance requirements; introduce the Accessibility Check tool in Adobe Acrobat; and provide resources for continued learning. We’ll also discuss how to convey accessibility requirements to freelance graphic designers to ensure final products are compliant. Organized by Sarah Congdon, WISG creative manager.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a suite of more than 90 manufactured “forever chemicals” that are persistent in the environment and toxic to many organisms. They are a critical contaminant of emerging concern in that they are being found everywhere, they do not behave as better-known contaminants do with respect to movement through the food web, and they are a major human health concern. There are several angles to tackling this issue: for example, State and Tribal agencies are monitoring PFAS and related chemicals, and scientists are learning about their effects on environmental and human health. While it seems key for all to reduce their exposure to these chemicals, the lack of information makes messaging extremely difficult. In addition, recently released research results (Barbo et al. 2023) suggest that Great Lakes fish are contaminated to a higher degree than commercially raised fish, which raises important questions about how the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network communicates this risk. In this session, we will review the status of knowledge and awareness of PFAS-related risks in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain regions, particularly as pertains to fish consumption; develop messaging that can be used by anyone across the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network to respond to questions about PFAS and related substances; discuss broadly the PFAS-related research and extension activities that are underway across the network; and identify additional needs or products that could help Sea Grant professionals respond to this emerging threat. Organized by Sarah Zack, IISG pollution prevention extension specialist; Carolyn Foley, IISG research coordinator; and Gavin Dehnert, WISG emerging contaminants scientist.

From natural disasters to racialized aggression, Sea Grant staff members might face a variety of traumatic experiences on and off the job. In this session, MSU Extension’s Carly Sandoval, program lead for the Adult Mental Health First Aid Program, and Abigail Cudney, health educator, will help us explore ways to support our fellow Sea Grant staff members’ mental, emotional, and physical well-being in times of crisis and healing. Principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (DEIJA) will be emphasized as we seek to understand how to care for ourselves and others. The session will include a presentation from Mental Health First Aid trainers. Organized by Geneva Langeland, MISG communications editor; Cindy Hudson, MISG extension program communications manager; and Heather Triezenberg, MISG associate director and program leader.

This session is designed for members of the broader Great Lakes Sea Grant invasive species community of practice to share information about new tools, resources, challenges, and success stories in invasive species management and outreach. Join us for talks on physical barriers for invasive invertebrates, the soon-to-be-rebooted “Nab the Aquatic Invader” website, inclusive language in AIS education, and more! Organized by El Lower, MISG GLANSIS research associate; Greg Hitzroth, AIS outreach specialist; and Tim Campbell, WISG AIS outreach specialist.

Join us to learn more about Great Lakes Water Safety through a series of lightning talks (ex: Wisconsin’s Beach Ambassador Program, statistics on drowning/demographics, water safety curriculum) plus an interactive discussion of tools, resources, and educational materials to use when doing outreach on beach safety in the Great Lakes. What tools have been most effective in educating the public? What are the barriers and opportunities to this work? How can we better engage vulnerable communities in lifeguarding and swimming programs to reduce further drownings? This session will include a presentation by Drew Ferguson, executive director, Great Lakes Water Safety Consortium. Organized by Deidre M. Peroff, WISG social science outreach specialist.

So, hybrid meetings are a thing now. This is a bit of a mixed blessing: on the one hand, they offer a tremendous opportunity to increase meeting efficiency and inclusivity. On the other hand, they often kind of stink because of inadequate meeting facilities, unpredictable technological challenges, and a lack of know-how. Can we avoid these “worst of both worlds” outcomes? In this session, bring your own thoughts, ideas, and experiences as we share lessons learned, good practices, and horror stories while we work together to try to figure out a way to, at a minimum, make hybrid meetings stink less. Organized by Stuart Carlton, IISG assistant director, and Meaghan Gass, MISG extension educator.

Great Lakes communities experience frequent severe storms, flooding, and degraded water quality from expanding urbanization, and these challenges are expected to continue. Marginalized communities of low income, communities of color, and those lacking access to safe and stable neighborhoods are often most impacted, yet also have the fewest means to adapt to and mitigate water quality and quantity issues. Additionally, small and medium-sized communities across the Midwest face a unique challenge, with community needs typically outstripping local capacity. Sea Grant programs are well-positioned to provide technical assistance and leadership to build capacity and support community resilience on multiple scales.

This session will highlight projects supporting communities and neighborhoods with technical assistance and leadership to improve community resilience to climate change through green infrastructure. Session presenters will highlight practices for equitable and inclusive community engagement and demonstrate how they foster collaboration to plan, site, and maintain successful green infrastructure practices. Organized by Kara Salazar, IISG assistant program leader for community development and sustainable communities extension specialist.

This round table session will provide an opportunity for participants to learn more about NOAA’s work and resources in the region and help identify potential areas for coordination or collaboration. Representatives of NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, and the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research will join a moderated panel to highlight key initiatives and information related to observations/monitoring data availability, coastal flood inundation modeling, coastal resilience training and capacity building, and stakeholder engagement in the co-creation of research. The session will culminate with facilitated discussion and Q&A among panelists and participants. Organized by Chiara Zuccarino-Crowe, Great Lakes regional team lead, Office for Coastal Management

This alcohol-free event will be held at Evanton’s Lighthouse Beach Fire Circle. Join friends and colleagues for an evening of sand, socializing, and smores.

Event included in registration fee; registration required for planning purposes.

Join Illinois-Indiana’s TMAGL podcast host Stuart Carlton and his co-hosts for a live taping of their interview of a local Great Lakes expert and help us all learn a little bit more about the Great Lakes. Bonus: Union Squared Pizza is just a six-minute walk from the Holiday Inn.

Start your day off with Pennsylvania’s Amber Stillwell as she leads folks through morning wake-up yoga. Bring your own yoga mat or a towel from the hotel. All levels welcome.

Event included in registration fee; registration required for planning purposes.

Greet the morning with birding at the Evanston lakefront. Illinois-Indiana’s Angie Archer will take folks along the lakefront helping spot and identify local and migrating birds. Bring your own binoculars if possible. All levels welcome.

Event included in registration fee; registration required for planning purposes.

This session, presented by former MESG Director Paul Anderson and NYSG Associate Director Kathy Bunting-Howarth is about time management, and staying focused while being over-subscribed. It will discuss when and how to say YES as well as NO to potential new programming. It touches on staying connected to the program goals (strategic plan). We’ll also discuss how electronic communications have made our lives both easier and harder and how important it is to take care of ourselves as people and professionals, so we are at our best at home and at work. Ideally, it involves a lot of group discussion because there’s no right answer to any of it. Organized by Kathy Bunting-Howarth.

All Great Lakes Sea Grant Network members are encouraged to join and learn about the awesome work the Center for Great Lakes Literacy is leading across the basin – from engaging youth in marine debris prevention to supporting educators exploring Great Lakes topics in hands-on training. Through presentations by the CGLL Team, learn how our education team, programs and partnerships can support and enhance our broader Sea Grant mission and work! Organized by MISG Brandon Schroeder, senior extension educator, and Meaghan Gass, MISG extension educator.

This session will focus on Great Lakes coastal hazards, including flooding, erosion and water level fluctuations. Record high water levels in recent years led to widespread damage across the Great Lakes shoreline. Many Great Lakes Sea Grant programs provided coastal hazard outreach and education to private property owners, local governments, and state agencies. Many Sea Grant programs have also supported research on erosion processes, sediment transport, and solutions to these issues. The first half of this session will feature presentations on the current state of coastal hazard outreach, education and research. The second half of the session will be reserved for discussion on Sea Grant’s role and potentially varied approaches going forward in this space. Organized by NYSG Roy Widrig, Great Lakes coastal processes and hazards specialist, and Adam Bechle, WISG coastal engineering outreach specialist.

Start your day off with Pennsylvania’s Amber Stillwell as she leads folks through morning wake-up yoga. Bring your own yoga mat or a towel from the hotel. All levels welcome.

Event included in registration fee; registration required for planning purposes.

Greet the morning with birding at the Evanston lakefront. Illinois-Indiana’s Angie Archer will take folks along the lakefront helping spot and identify local and migrating birds. Bring your own binoculars if possible. All levels welcome.

Event included in registration fee; registration required for planning purposes.

This professional development session is for anyone interested in learning more about evaluating extension programming for impact. During the first hour of this session, Chelsea Poeppel, evaluation specialist for the University of Wisconsin Extension’s Agriculture and Natural Resource Institutes, will provide training on a variety of methods to measure program impact, and will share best practices for collecting evaluation data before, during, and after programming. The last 30 minutes of the session will allow participants to share how they currently collect evaluation data, and how they might apply what they learned to evaluate the impact of their programming in a facilitated discussion. Organized by Kelsey Prihoda, MNSG Great Lakes transportation extension educator, and Madison Rodman, MNSG resilience extension educator.

Discover the future of innovation at the Tools Café! This 90-minute session features seven brief presentations that showcase groundbreaking tools, products, and technologies. This session allows you to rotate through stations and explore a diverse range of innovative projects and resources that could help shape the future. The seven presentations are:

Lake Champlain Sea Grant’s program-level DEIJA roadmap helps us strengthen our DEIJA initiatives, promote complementarity and consistency across our programming, and enhance accountability at the individual and program levels. We will overview our journey in developing our DEIJA roadmap, highlighting the lessons we learned and mistakes we made along the way. Following this overview, we will lead an hour-long interactive sharing session and workshop dedicated to crafting DEIJA goals and objectives tailored to programs’ needs. As we continue to learn and grow in this process, we highly value input and welcome suggestions others may have from their own experiences. Organized by Julianna White, LCSG research program coordinator, and Anna Marchessault, LCSC communications and program associate.

Climate change poses a critical challenge to the resilience of local governments in the Great Lakes and globally. While many cities and towns have access to climate-related information and tools, they often lack the capacity and technical expertise to effectively utilize them. Sea Grant has been working to fill this gap by assessing the needs of local officials and local government staff related to community-based planning and climate resilience.

This session will provide a space for the GLSGN Programs to share the status of climate adaptation with local governments from their home state. We will start with brief introductions and a session overview. During introductions, participants will be asked to share their name and program, and indicate their experience working with local governments on climate resilience using “fist to five.” Immediately following the introductions, each state program will have an opportunity to share the status of coastal resilience of their cities and towns. These will be short, verbal (no PowerPoint), 5-minute updates. After state program updates, we will explore the idea of increased collaboration across the region, around coastal resilience work targeting local governments. Organized by Mary Austerman, NYSG Great Lakes coastal community development specialist; Sara Stahlman, PASG extension leader; Sarah Noyes, flood resilience educator; and Aude Lochet, LCSG water resources extension specialist.