SER-MWGL Fall 2025 Webinar: Integrating Prairie Strips on Farm for Water Quality and Resilience
By Mr. Greg Olson & Dr. Heidi Peterson, Sand County Foundation
Date: Wednesday, September 17
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm CDT
Description:
Sand County Foundation’s efforts to advance the adoption of prairie strips began in 2017, with the implementation of six demonstration sites in Wisconsin to demonstrate how they function on varying soil types, topography, and management. We will present highlights of our research.
Abstract:
A prairie strip is a linear planting of native perennial forbs and grasses within or along the edge of a row crop field. Seed mixes include wildflower species that bloom in the spring, summer, and fall, providing habitat for pollinating insects across the growing season. The stiff stems and deep roots of these diverse species filter nutrients and sediment from water moving through the strip. Sand County Foundation works with farmers to demonstrate how prairie filter strips work on farms of varying soil types, topography, and management. Our prairie strip efforts began in 2017, with the implementation of six demonstration sites in Wisconsin. Our goal has been to validate the capability of the practice to reduce erosion and improve water quality, while identifying benefits and potential barriers to farmer adoption. Prairie strips are now an approved practice in the federal Conservation Reserve Program. Over the years, our team of scientists has learned directly from farmers and conservationists about their views, concerns, and resources needed to apply and maintain prairie strips. The primary perceived barriers to adoption are the loss of productive acres and the time demand for management. We also learned that the most effective way to promote the practice are in-field demonstrations and farmer-to-farmer mentoring. NRCS and FSA staff trainings held in the summer of 2023 revealed that few conservation professionals had heard of prairie strips. Our presentation will share background on prairie strips including highlights of our research over the past eight years.
Key Implications/Takeaways:
Prairie strips intercept water to filter sediment and nutrients displaced by sheet and rill erosion. They should be planted perpendicular to water flow. Prairie strips should be planted with a diverse mix of native plants with varying structure to slow water flow.
Dr. Heidi M. Peterson leads Sand County Foundation’s agricultural conservation team and sets its strategic direction in research, and farmer and rancher engagement. She brings significant leadership, teaching, and research experience surrounding agricultural conservation and water quality issues. Heidi previously served as the Phosphorus Program Director with the International Plant Nutrition Institute, and prior to that at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. She serves the scientific community on the Agronomic Science Foundation’s Board of Trustees, as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, and as an associate editor with the Journal of Environmental Quality. Heidi completed her Ph.D. in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Minnesota. At Purdue University she received a MS degree in agronomy, and a BS degree in natural resources and environmental science.
Greg Olson joined Sand County Foundation in 2010 as coordinator of a watershed nutrient management project in the West Branch of the Milwaukee River. In 2013, he began overseeing all field activities for water quality and nutrient management work. Born and raised in the Upper Peninsula of Mich., Greg has a degree in Wildlife Biology and Management from Central Michigan University. From 2004 to 2010, he worked in wetland, prairie, and forest restoration and research. Prior to Sand County Foundation, Greg worked for Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy, USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service and the US Geological Survey.
Register for the webinar HERE
SER-MWGL Summer 2025 Webinar Call for Abstracts
The SER-MWGL Webinar Committee is currently seeking proposals for the Summer 2025 Webinar Series! This summer’s theme is Restoration in Rural and Agricultural Landscapes. We are seeking abstracts for presentations encompassing ecological restoration through research, practice, and/or policy related to this summer’s webinar theme.
Additionally, SER-MWGL will provide an individual webinar speaker honorarium of $250 or a $150 honorarium to a multi-speaker webinar (maximum of 3 speakers).
This is a great opportunity to share your work with others and reach like-minded ecologists who are passionate about restoration. If your work sounds like a good fit, we highly encourage you to submit an abstract! More details and submission link here.
Fall Webinar 2024: Dam Removal and River Restoration
If you missed the Fall webinar check out the recording HERE! Use passcode:
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Description: This webinar will examine some important dimensions of dam removal for river restoration including dam removal at both large and small scales, the elements of planning, feasibility, experimental design and execution of dam removal, and the importance of community engagement and stewardship of the restored river. Our three presenters will provide:1) A review of the feasibility of the removal of the Ford Dam on the upper Mississippi River in Minnesota’s Twin Cities metropolitan area; 2) An analysis of before and after effects of the removal of the Brown Bridge Dam on the aquatic invertebrate communities of the Boardman/Ottaway River in northern Michigan, 3.) A discussion of the long-term past, present, and future commitment to the health and value of the Ottaway River by an Indigenous People, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians with historic and continuing relationship to the Ottaway.
Summer Webinar 2024: Large-scale Wetland Restoration Projects in Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana
If you missed the Summer Webinar…
Passcode: .8SC.N8X
Check out the recording HERE!!
“The Wetland Initiatives large-scale wetland restoration projects in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana”
Description:
Katie Kucera, ecologist with The Wetlands Initiative, will give attendees an overview of TWI’s large-scale wetland restoration projects in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. TWI’s mission focuses on restoring landscapes—including wetlands—to improve water quality, climate, biodiversity, and human well-being. At the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, TWI has restored 3,000+ acres of wetland and upland habitat along a corridor of the Illinois River, benefiting birds, plants, and outdoor enthusiasts. In the bistate Calumet region, through collaborative partnerships with a range of conservation peers, agencies, and local community groups, TWI is having success restoring degraded/remnant urban wetland areas to healthy hemi. This on-the-ground work is benefiting a range of wetland-dependent birds that had been nearly extirpated from this area, and also returning quality natural areas for the Calumet’s underserved communities to visit and enjoy.
Here are links to our last three webinars hosted by the SER-Midwest Great Lakes Chapter.
Winter/Spring Webinar, 2024
Measuring Success: What Indicators Quantify Water Quality and Habitat Improvements of Urban Watershed Restoration Projects
Bennett Kottler P.E. Ph.D.- Program Director, Mill Creek Alliance
Kate Moran – Environmental Analyst, Kimley-Horn
Thursday, March 28th, Noon-1PM (EDST)
This webinar ties together the themes of ecological restoration practices with the measurement of local water quality and habitat integrity in an urban watershed. . Bennett Kottler, Project Director, of the Mill Creek Alliance (MCA) will discuss the history of MCA and present case studies of doing watershed restoration projects while connecting to local stakeholders along the Mill Creek Watershed in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kate Moran, an Environmental Analystwith Kimley-Horn, will tie these case studies together with presentations of both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis strategies used to gauge the positive impacts of these projects. These case studies and the data analysis tools discussed are applicable to practitioners working within any urban watershed.
Here is the link:
Fall, 2023 Webinar
Daylighting human quality of life benefits of ecological restoration.“
The ecological benefits of restoration projects are routinely measured using metrics such as acres of improved area, increase in target species abundance, or reduction in sediment loads. The human quality of life (i.e., human wellbeing) benefits of ecological restoration projects are rarely considered during project planning or measured either as a baseline prior to restoration or as a result of a restoration action. I provide an example for developing and ranking human quality of life (QOL) indicators for ecological restoration projects. QOL indicators can be relevant to restoration priorities (e.g., birding visits increase with bird abundance and diversity) and resonate with a local community (e.g., increased recreation translates to a better economy). I also present results of a recent analysis of data from 11 years of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) projects that indicate GLRI projects are incorporating metrics for QOL benefits despite not being required for funding and not being reported. Based on an online survey, more than 70% of responding project managers who set a human wellbeing goal for a restoration project believed they achieved it. Human quality of life metrics can provide an important complement to ecological data by providing further (social) justification for funding programs and building community support for ecological restoration efforts. The United Nations’ “Decade of Ecosystem Restoration” set a goal to promote more socio-ecological goals in ecosystem restoration. Restoration practitioners should develop systems to better measure and track such efforts to document the full extent of restoration outcomes.
| CHRISTOPHER A. MAY, CERP |
Here is the link:
Summer Webinar, 2023
“Disturbance/renewal ecology: science, application, and the future” Trevor will be hosting. This speaker, Stephen Thomforde from Stantec, Inc.,
Here is the link: https://vimeo.com/society4ecorestoration/download/860221268/a98ff9e2ec