ONLINE: Clean Lakes 101

press release: Join us Wednesday, November 10, to hear Katie Richgels discuss actionable ways for residents to reduce stormwater runoff from reaching the lakes. Land use and climate impacts, such as heavy rain and runoff, and other headwinds threaten our progress toward healthy lakes. Fortunately, you don’t need to live on the lakes to make a difference in our Yahara Watershed. Many small actions can make our landscape more resilient and add up to big impacts for water quality.

Our speaker will cover how stormwater from the Madison Metro area impacts the Yahara Watershed and provide some practical strategies for reducing runoff and capturing stormwater where we live. From complex water mitigation installations such as swales and rain gardens, to simple redirection of downspouts and collection of leaf litter, we’ll highlight the many large and small ways you can reduce your impacts and contribute to sustainability of our lakes for many generations to come. Let's challenge each other to change just one thing, because together we can have a positive impact on the issues affecting our watershed.

About our Speaker

Katie Richgels earned her PhD in ecology and evolution from the University of Colorado and completed her undergraduate degree in wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin. She studied aquatic ecosystems and amphibian malformations for her thesis, and now manages a team of scientists who investigate wildlife disease outbreaks for a federal agency. She has taught introductory biology, biology for non-scientists, and parasitology at the University of Colorado, and currently is a recurring guest lecturer in the University of Wisconsin wildlife diseases course. Currently, she is the chief of the ecology and epidemiology branch at the National Wildlife Health Center of the USGS. She is a mom of two, avid natives gardener, and all around lover of the natural world. She began volunteering her time and expertise for The608.org in January of 2021, with a series of prerecorded informational talks called “Living Among Lakes”, which has provided a connection to the community of lake enthusiasts in Madison and a space where we can learn from one another.

Event Details

This event will be held online via Zoom. The online talk is free and open to the public. A link to access the talk LIVE will be sent to all registered attendees ahead of the event.

Clean Lakes 101 is a series of educational events open to the public and a great chance for residents to learn more about the science behind the issues that affect our lakes. Each month we feature a different expert to make the science accessible and interesting to non-technical audiences.

The series is produced in partnership with the UW-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and UW-Extension Lakes, with presenting sponsors First Weber Foundation and Johnson Financial Group, hosting sponsor The Edgewater, and supporting sponsor National Guardian Life Insurance Company.