Clean Lakes 101 (formerly Yahara Lakes 101) is a series of educational events open to the public. These monthly lectures are a great chance for residents to learn more about the science behind the issues impacting our lakes. Each month, we feature a different expert to make the science accessible and interesting to technical and non-technical audiences alike.
Events are currently being held online via Zoom, due to COVID-19.
Under typical circumstances, events are held at The Edgewater. Come at 7:30 a.m. for a meet-and-greet and to enjoy coffee, pastries, and fruit. The program begins at 8 a.m., and class is dismissed by 9 a.m. Complimentary event parking will be available at The Edgewater.
2021
November 10, 2021 – Dr. Katie Richgels, “At-Home Water Quality Action”
October 20, 2021 – Cassie Goodwin and Jacob (J.) Blue, “A New Compact for Cleaner Lakes”
August 11, 2021 – Tim Baye and Jessica Niekrasz, “Farm, Energy, Water, & Carbon Markets”
July 14, 2021 – Gina LaLiberte, “Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms in Our Waters”
April 14, 2021 – Dr. Matt Diebel and Dr. Richard Lathrop, “Yahara CLEAN Compact: State of the Science”
March 10, 2021 – Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, John Reimer, and Kathy Kuntz, “Healthy Land, Healthy Lakes”
February 10, 2021 – Justin Chenevert, “Love in the Lakes”
January 13, 2021 – “Awards, Accomplishments, & Ambitions”
2020
December 9, 2020 – Dan Williams and Eric Knepp, with an introduction from Satya Rhodes-Conway, “A Master Plan for Vilas Park”
November 11, 2020 – John Reimer, Chin Wu, Eric Knepp, and David Rowe, “A New Vision for the Cherokee-Yahara River Estuary”
October 14, 2020 – Bill Selbig, “Leaf-Free Streets: Reducing Urban Phosphorus”
September 9, 2020 – Patrick Goggin, “Shorelines, Clean Water, and Healthy Lakes”
August 12, 2020 – Joe Parisi, Lloyd Eagan, and Mark Wegner, “Pheasant Branch Conservancy: Protect, Restore, Preserve”
June 10, 2020 – Paul Skawinski, “The Beauty and Basics of Rain Gardens”
May 20, 2020 – Gary Brown, Lauren Striegl, and Aaron Williams, “Back to the Future: The Planning of Willow Creek as a Campus Amenity”
March 11, 2020 – Dr. Daniel Wright, “Planning for a Hotter, Wetter Wisconsin”
February 3, 2020 – Marie Raboin, Christy Remucal, and Carrie Sanders, “Women in Water & Sustainability”
January 8, 2020 – Paul Garrison, “History in the Mucking”
2019
November 13, 2019 – Jeff Endres, “Yahara Pride Farms: Collaborating for Farm Sustainability and Water Quality”
October 9, 2019 – Dr. John Lyons, “The Decline of the Small Fishes of the Madison Lakes”
September 11, 2019 – Dr. Steve Vavrus, “Climate Change and Lake Impacts”
July 24, 2019 – Dr. Claire Gervais, “Yahara Watershed Pollutants and Health”
June 12, 2019 – Dr. Paul Hanson, “Lake Mendota Phosphorus and Our Water Quality Woes”
April 10, 2019 – Dr. Karen Oberhauser, “Monarch Conservation: All Hands on Deck”
March 13, 2019 – Janice Rice, “If the Waters Could Speak: Ho-Chunk Lifeways”
February 13, 2019 – Dr. Hilary Dugan, “Salt and Our Freshwater Lakes”
January 9, 2019 – Dr. Claudio Gratton, “Upending the Paradigm: Agriculture and the Environment for a Sustainable Future”
2018
November 14, 2018 – Phil Gaebler, “Rake for Our Lakes: Urban Leaf Management”
October 10, 2018 – Joe Parisi and Dr. John Reimer, “Recovery, Rebuild, Resilience: Dane County Budget Flood Initiatives”
August 8, 2018 – Dr. Cal DeWitt, “Waubesa Wetlands: A New Look at an Old Gem”
July 11, 2018 – Dr. Trina McMahon, “Cyanobacteria: The Known and Unknown”
June 13, 2018 – James Tye and Eric Knepp, “Back to the Beach”
May 9, 2018 – Karen Oberhauser, “Monarch Butterfly Conservation: All Hands On Deck”
April 11, 2018 – Susan Graham, “Aquatic Invasive Species”
March 14, 2018 – Michael Mucha, “Respecting Every Drop: The Adaptive Challenge”
February 14, 2018 – Justin Chenevert, “Love in the Lakes: An Overview of Aquatic Reproductive Strategies”
January 10, 2018 – Dr. Paul Robbins, “Water at UW: current research, science and engagement for lakes, streams and watersheds”
2017
November 9, 2017 – James Tye, “Our Lakes at a Crossroads”
October 12, 2017 – Phil Gaebler, “Clean Streets, Healthy Lakes”
September 14, 2017 – Sara Walling, “Nutrient Management Planning and Water Quality”
August 10, 2017 – David Rowe and Austin Ragotzkie, “Fish of the Yahara Lakes”
July 13, 2017 – Dr. Sandra McLellan, “Tracking bacterial contamination in urban waterways”
June 8, 2017 – Dr. Jake Vander Zanden, “What do invasive spiny water flea and zebra mussels mean for water quality in Lake Mendota?”
May 11, 2017 – Jenny Siefert and Jeremy Solin, “Systems and Scenarios: New Ways of Engaging Your Community in Water Sustainability”
April 13, 2017 – Jeremy Balousek, “Dane County’s Science-based Approach to Regulating Construction Site Erosion”
March 9, 2017 – Mark Riedel, “Rock River Recovery, aka the Clean Water Act at work”
February 9, 2017 – Mike Parsen, “Characterizing the sources of elevated groundwater nitrate in Dane County, Wisconsin”
January 12, 2017 – Dan Brown and Missy Tracy, “The Ho-Chunk People of TeJop”
2016
November 10, 2016 – Clean Lakes Alliance staff, “A Clear Year on the Yahara Lakes?”
October 13, 2016 – Joe Parisi, “Impacts of Conservation and Legacy Sediment on Water Quality within the Dorn Creek Watershed”
September 8, 2016 – Cassie Goodwin & Gary Brown, “UW-Madison Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Runoff to Lake Mendota”
August 11, 2016 – Dane County and Clean Fuel Partners, “The Future of Digesters in Dane County”
July 14, 2016 – Dr. Jake Walsh, “The past, present, and future of invasive species in Madison’s lakes”
June 9, 2016 – Dr. Rebecca Larson, “Managing manure to reduce water quality impacts”
May 12, 2016 – Amy Barrilleaux, “One Water: The critical need for water conservation in a ‘water-rich’ city”
April 14, 2016 – Dr. Ken Potter, “Climate change, lake levels, and flooding”
March 10, 2016 – Dr. Steve Carpenter, “Water quality in the Yahara 2070 scenarios”
February 11, 2016 – Kathy Lake, “When there is no away: preventing pollution for cleaner waters”
January 14, 2016 – Dr. John Magnuson, “What lake ice tells us about climate change and variability: An update on Mendota and lakes around the world.”
2015
November 12, 2015 – Katie Nicholas, James Tye, Jordan Barrette – “LakeForecast.org: All Eyes on Lake Water Quality”
October 8, 2015 – Roger Bannerman – “Saving Our Urban Waterways: The Role of Stormwater Management”
September 10, 2015 – Todd Stuntebeck – “Carried Away: Stream Flow and Nutrient Transport to the Lakes”
August 13, 2015 – Alison Mikulyuk, “Weird Wisconsin Weeds: Getting to Know the World of Underwater Plants”
July 9, 2015 – Dr. Eric Booth, “Climate, Cities, and Farms: Challenges for Improving Water Quality”
June 11, 2015 – Dr. Vander Zanden and Jake Walsh, “Lake invaders: How invasive spiny water flea have degraded water quality in our lakes”
May 14, 2015 – Dr. Cory McDonald, “Where and When: Seasonality in Sources of Phosphorus in the Yahara River Watershed”
April 9, 2015 – Dr. Dick Lathrop, “Restoring Shallow Lakes by Reducing Carp Densities”
March 12, 2015 – Dr. Ankur Desai, “Can Lakes Change the Global Climate?”
February 12, 2015 – Beth Wentzel, “Stream Restoration as a Tool for Restoring Watersheds”
January 8, 2015 – Bob Uphoff, “The Yahara Pride Farms farmer-led conservation model”
2014
November 13, 2014 – Katie Van Gheem and Paul Dearlove (CLA Staff), “Citizen Monitoring and Crowdsourcing to Track and Forecast Near-Shore Lake Conditions”
October 9, 2014 – Ken Bradbury, “Lakes, Streams, and Groundwater: A Single Resource”
September 11, 2014 – Dr. Chin Wu, “Floating Bog Interceptors in Cherokee Marsh”
August 14, 2014 – Dr. Trina McMahon, “Blue-green algal toxins in Lake Mendota: the Mystery of the Missing Nitrogen”
July 10, 2014 – Dr. Eric Booth, “Development of the Yahara 2070 Scenarios”
June 12, 2014 – Dr. Calvin DeWitt, “Sustaining Yahara Lakes and Waterscapes”
May 8, 2014 – Dr. Emily Stanley, “Yahara Long Term Ecological Research: Trends & Patterns”
April 10, 2014 – Dr. Doug Soldat, “Lawn Care, Soils and Water Quality”
Monthly Sponsor – Weed Man Lawn Care
March 13, 2014 – Greg Fries, “Urban Stormwater Runoff”
February 13, 2014 – Dennis Frame, “Manure Management and Ag Innovation”
January 9, 2014 – John Magnuson, “Climate Change and the Yahara Lakes”
2013
Nov. 14, 2013 – William Selbig, “Leaves and Lakes: Urban Phosphorous Runoff”
Oct. 10, 2013 – Clean Lakes Alliance staff, “Work in the Watershed”
Sept. 12, 2013 – Jon Standridge, “Testing the Waters: Citizen Water Quality Monitoring”
Aug. 8, 2013 – Alison Mikulyuk, “They’re Not Weeds! Discovering Aquatic Plant Communities”
Monthly Sponsor- Spectrum Brands
July 11, 2013 – Ted Bier, “More than Hook’n’Line: Fish of the Yahara Lakes”
Monthly Sponsor- CUNA Mutual Foundation
June 13, 2013 – Jake Vander Zanden, “Mussels and Spines: Invasive Species and the Yahara Lakes Food Web”
Monthly Sponsor – Beyler Chiropractic
May 9, 2013 – Doug Soldat, “Green Lawns, Green Lakes? Lawn Care and Water Quality”
Monthly Sponsor – Weed Man Lawn Care
