The 2026 MW CASC Summer Science Symposium will take place August 3-6, 2026 at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. An optional interactive 2-day workshop on transdisciplinarity and coproduction will take place Monday, August 3 and Tuesday, August 4. An optional off-site field trip is planned for attendees not participating in the workshop.
All attendees are encouraged to join us for a welcome presentation on Tuesday evening. Wednesday, August 5 will showcase a full day of conference sessions and activities. Thursday, August 6 wraps up with a half day of sessions, followed by an optional off-site field trip. See more details below.
If you have questions, please reach out to Jess Del Fiacco ([email protected]).
Monday, August 3
11:00am – 12pm Registration Open
Location: Third Floor, Coffman Memorial Union
12:00 – 5:00pm Workshop Day 1: Transdisciplinary Research and Coproduction Methods: How Engaged Research Mutually Benefits Adaptation Science and Practice
This 2-day interactive workshop will focus on the importance of transdisciplinarity as a powerful research approach that, appropriately applied, fosters trusted relationships for improved project outcomes and more relevant and actionable science. NOTE: Workshop capacity has been met – participation is limited to those who have confirmed RSVPs.
Location: President’s Room, Coffman Memorial Union
5:00pm End of Formal Program
Tuesday, August 4
8:00 – 9:00am Registration & Coffee
Location: Third Floor, Coffman Memorial Union
9:00am – 2:30pm Workshop Day 2: Transdisciplinary Research and Coproduction Methods: How Engaged Research Mutually Benefits Adaptation Science and Practice
This 2-day interactive workshop will focus on the importance of transdisciplinarity as a powerful research approach that, appropriately applied, fosters trusted relationships for improved project outcomes and more relevant and actionable science. NOTE: Workshop capacity has been met – participation is limited to those who have confirmed RSVPs.
Location: President’s Room, Coffman Memorial Union
1:00 – 3:00pm Field Trip to Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (Optional)
If you’re in town early on Tuesday, join us for a field tour at the renowned Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve – called the birthplace of ecosystem ecology. Cedar Creek is a large biological research site just outside of the Twin Cities, sitting at the intersection of three major biomes: the tallgrass prairie, coniferous forest and deciduous forest.
The carpool group will depart from The Graduate Hotel entryway / parking circle promptly at 12:15pm. If you are willing to take a few passengers along with you, please bring your car to the meeting point at 12:00pm, otherwise you are welcome to drive straight there! It is about a 45 minute drive to Cedar Creek (2660 Fawn Lake Dr NE, East Bethel, MN). Folks can park in front of the Lindeman Center, or in any other open spaces. The tour will begin there at 1pm and end at 3pm. Our group will drive back to campus, arriving by approx. 4pm, and can drop passengers back at the Graduate Hotel.
What to bring: Please dress for the weather! Walking will be limited, but we’ll be outdoors! Sturdy shoes, bug spray, sunscreen, and a water bottle are recommended. Lunch is not provided, so please eat beforehand.
3:00 – 4:30pm Consortium Leadership Team Meeting (Invite-Only)
This is a working meeting for members of the MW CASC Consortium Leadership Team.
Location: Board Room, Coffman Memorial Union
5:00pm Welcome Speaker: Unlocking the Mystery of Moose Mortality in Minnesota: An Ecosystem Health Challenge
Tiffany Wolf, University of Minnesota
Light snacks will be provided.
Location: Best Buy Theater, Northrop Auditorium (enter via East Entrance). Northrop is a 5 min. walk from Coffman Memorial Union. The closest parking option to the East Entrance is the Church Street Garage.
7:15pm End of Formal Program
Wednesday, August 5
8:00 – 9:00am Registration & Coffee
Location: Third Floor, Coffman Memorial Union
9:00 – 9:30am Welcome Remarks
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
9:30 – 10:15am Keynote Speaker
Tadd Johnson, University of Minnesota Regent
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
10:15 – 10:45am Break
10:45 – 11:30am Research Lightning Talks
Researchers across the Midwest CASC community will share their climate adaptation science in short presentations.
- Owen McKenna, USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. "Climate-driven changes in wetland connectivity: Waterfowl habitat and water quality implications"
- Samuel Kelly, University of Minnesota Duluth. "Does Less Ice Cover Equate to More Turbulent Overwinter Conditions on Great Lakes Fish Spawning Reefs?"
- Ryan Burner, USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center. "Projected changes to wetland hydroperiods and suitability for breeding amphibians in forest ephemeral wetlands"
- Bonnie Myers, National CASC. "CASC Science Throughlines: Advancing Adaptation from 2008 to Today"
- Ivy Widick, University of Wisconsin-Madison. "The role of protected areas and shifting management responsibilities in climate-driven range shifts of Great Lakes birds"
- Gretchen Hansen, University of Minnesota Twin Cities. "Projected warming and fish community responses in Midwestern lakes"
- Nisogaabokwe Melonee Montano, University of Minnesota. "Midwest TEK and Climate Adaptation Strategies"
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
11:30am – 12:30pm Reflecting on Tribal Partnerships for Adaptation
- Eric Clark, Consortium for Cooperative Ecological Resilience, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
- Mae Davenport, Center for Changing Landscapes at University of Minnesota
- Holly Embke, USGS MW CASC
- Melissa Kenney, Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota
Tribal Nations are influential in climate adaptation as sovereign governments, rightsholders, and environmental stewards. This panel discussion will reflect on Tribal partnerships for climate adaptation, including success stories, lessons learned, and opportunities to improve collaborative relationships. As all MW CASC institutions operate within the ancestral territories (and many within the current territories) of Tribal Nations, we invite all attendees to join this session to reflect on treaty and trust responsibilities and opportunities for ethical Tribal engagement in your work.
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
12:30 – 2:00pm Lunch Break
Lunch on your own.
12:30 – 1:30pm Lunch Workshop: Early Career Pathways (Optional)
Opt-in via the registration form to receive details on sessions designed for students and early career researchers. This session has reached capacity.
Location: Room 303, Coffman Memorial Union
12:30 – 1:30pm Community of Practice (Optional)
Join the MW CASC Community of Practice (CoP) for an informal and interactive lunch discussion on “Real-World Implementation of Adaptation Action” led by Abigail Lynch, a Research Fish Biologist with the USGS National CASC. Lynch will present on the Resist-Accept-Direct framework for decision making, and facilitate group discussion. Lunch will be provided to those who RSVP.
Our CoP of climate adaptation researchers and practitioners meets for shared learning about adaptation science while informing, using, and implementing MW CASC research and resources. Learn more about the CoP and how to participate. This session has reached capacity.
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
2:00 – 3:00pm Concurrent Breakout Sessions
Forest Climate Adaptation Planning: Integrating Conservation, Restoration, and Community Impacts (Breakout A)
Moderator: Seth Fore, University of Minnesota
- Linda Nagel, University of Minnesota
- Marcella Windmuller-Campione, University of Minnesota
- Paul Kortebein, Three Rivers Park District
Forest ecosystems are experiencing unprecedented ecological change due to shifts in climate conditions, invasive species, and natural resource use patterns. Effectively managing forests for the diverse benefits they provide society requires linking adaptation actions (resistance, resilience, transition, no-action) to place-based management objectives. While the importance of place-based, climate-informed adaptive management strategies is widely recognized among forest managers, understanding how to develop, implement and evaluate adaptation actions at their appropriate spatial and temporal scales remains challenging. This breakout session will discuss the current status of forest climate adaptation science as well as how the coproduction of adaptive management strategies (involving local partnerships, land managers, and research scientists) can help improve conservation outcomes and their social impacts across national, regional and local scales.
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
Ponds to Great Lakes: How Water Management Strategies Change Across Scales (Breakout B)
Moderator: Mariel Jones, ORISE
- Brian Stenquist, Upper Mississippi River Basin Association
- Nfamara Dampha, University of Minnesota
- Becky Christopher, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District
Water resources are changing rapidly across the Midwestern United States from shrinking winter snow to prolonged drought ridden summers to more frequent flash floods and torrential rain. As climate change progresses, each of these impacts will challenge us to re–evaluate the way we develop water management decisions. This process will likely look very different depending on the area of impact (e.g. outdoor recreation, navigation, or restoration and rehabilitation) and the location within the Midwest– but the fundamental ideas on how to build resiliency and adaptation into our management planning processes are universal. This session will focus on some examples of how these ideas have already been used effectively and how we can improve cross-organization collaboration to promote better water management planning.
Location: Room 325, Coffman Memorial Union
Prairie Restoration in a Changing Climate (Breakout C)
Moderator: Dan Larkin, University of Minnesota
- Katherine Charton, University of Minnesota
- Megan M. Benage, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
- Ferin Davis Anderson, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
Tallgrass prairies are among North America’s most imperiled ecosystems. Across the Midwest, tremendous effort and resources have been invested to restore prairies where they have been lost or degraded. This work is already challenging, and climate change is introducing new challenges. Rising temperatures, milder winters, shifting rainfall patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events may alter restoration outcomes and require new approaches to management. Through moderated discussion and audience Q&A, panelists representing prairie restoration practice and research will discuss how climate change is influencing restoration, where the greatest uncertainties remain, and how practitioners and researchers can work together to advance climate-adaptive restoration.
Location: Room 303, Coffman Memorial Union
3:00 – 4:30pm Research Poster Session
Learn about climate adaptation research happening across the MW CASC community. Light refreshments will be provided. The deadline to submit a poster has passed.
Presenters include:
- Christopher Rounds, University of Minnesota Twin Cities. "The effects of shifted ice phenology across multiple trophic levels"
- Paul Buchmann, University of Wisconsin-Madison; WI State Climatology Office. "Unraveling How Land Use Changes and More Extreme Precipitation Affect Flooding on Wisconsin's Rock River"
- Kayla Lenz, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. "Fine-scale identification of walleye spawning habitat and behavior – implications for a changing climate"
- Alia Benedict, University of Minnesota Duluth. "Using the Accumulative Winter Severity Index to predict biological dynamics in lakes"
- Emma Blackford, University of Wisconsin-Madison. "A Hurdle-Model Framework to Explain Variability in Coldwater Fish Habitat"
- Chelsea Peterson, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. "Quantifying the synergistic impacts of climate change and shifting policies on vulnerable wetland ecosystem services in Illinois"
- Kaylin L. Wallen & Eric R. Larson, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. "A review of the effects of warmer winters on freshwater non-native invertebrates in north temperate lakes in the Midwestern United States"
- Audrey Lothspeich, USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. "Relieving the sting: spatial prioritization of future conservation efforts for an imperiled pollinator under a changing climate"
- Shasta Kamara, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. "Quantifying the Influence of Acclimation Temperature on Thermal Tolerance, Preference and Performance in Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula)"
- Hannah Bey, Michigan State University. "Impacts of changing plant communities on invertebrates and anurans in wet meadows"
- Miao He, University of Minnesota. "Realign, but not return: community composition following nutrient cessation converges toward successional trajectory"
- Amy Waananen, University of Minnesota Twin Cities. "Incorporating Local Adaptation into Species Distribution Models for the Invasive Plant Common Tansy"
- Marinna Guzy, Michigan State University. "Research as relationship building: Climate adaptation science collaboration with the Bay Mills Indian Community"
- Louis Miller, University of Minnesota Twin Cities. "Investigating the Impacts of Agriculture and Climate Change on Manoomin Waters in the Otter Tail River Watershed in Northwestern Minnesota"
- Laurel Sacco, University of Minnesota. "Thermal Sensitivity of Walleye Strains: Implications for Fisheries Management in a Warming Climate"
- Kesondra Key, Indiana University. "Earlier peak daily evapotranspiration under water stress: evidence across 40 eddy covariance sites"
- Sadie Neuman, Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. "Upper Mississippi River System Integrated Water Availability Assessment"
- Sean Dorr, University of Minnesota. "Developing multi-reality visualization tools for climate adaptation decision-makers and knowledge-holders"
- Diele Lobo, University of Minnesota. "The Midwest Adaptation Commons"
Location: President’s Room, Coffman Memorial Union
4:30pm End of Formal Program
6:30 – 8:00pm Student & Early Career Researcher Event: Exploring Careers in Natural Resource Management (Optional)
Opt-in via the registration form to receive details on sessions designed for students and early career researchers!
Thursday, August 6
8:00 – 9:00am Registration & Coffee
Location: Third Floor, Coffman Memorial Union
9:00 – 9:15am Welcome Remarks
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
9:15 – 9:45am Keynote Speaker
Ann Pierce & Dean Paron, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
9:45 – 10:45am Fresh Eyes on Ice: Connecting Communities Through an Innovative(?) and Adaptive(!) Freshwater Ice Observation Network in Alaska and Beyond
Christopher Arp, University of Alaska Fairbanks
This presentation is part of the MW CASC's Innovation in Adaptation series.
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
10:45 – 11:00am Break
11:00 – 11:30am Research Lightning Talks
Researchers across the Midwest CASC community will share their climate adaptation science in short presentations.
- Molly Cross, North Central CASC.
- Marcella Windmuller-Campione, University of Minnesota. "Five years of Climate Adaptive Silviculture at Crosby Farm"
- Rebekkah La Blue, University of Wisconsin, Madison. "Evaluating the Role of Protected Areas as Climate-Change Refugia for Range-Shifting Birds"
- Kyle Hill, University of Minnesota. "The Mni Sota Center"
- Angela Burrow, Michigan State University. "The Power of Semi-automated Ecological Data Synthesis"
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
11:45am – 12:15pm Closing Activity: Putting Our Work Into Action
Moderators: Jess Del Fiacco, University of Minnesota & Sara Smith, College of Menominee Nation
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
12:15pm Closing Remarks
Location: Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union
12:30pm End of Formal Program
2:00 – 3:30pm Field Trip to Crosby Farm Park (Optional)
Stick around after the end of the conference for a guided field tour of Crosby Farm Regional Park, home to a long-term research site that is part of the Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) network.
Anyone who wants to carpool should meet at the registration table after the Symposium’s closing session. We will depart from Coffman Memorial Union at approximately 1:30pm to arrive at the Crosby Farm pavilion by 2pm. There is lots of parking available nearby. It will be about 25 minutes of walking each way -- the path is paved and an easy walk, but we may need to talk over down dead wood and other brush to get into the research plots.
The tour will conclude by 3:30pm and carpool groups will return to campus. NOTE: Crosby Farm is located less than 10 minutes from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport. If you would like to be dropped off at the airport after the tour, please let the organizers know at the registration table.
What to bring: Please dress for the weather – we’ll be outdoors! Sturdy shoes, bug spray, sunscreen, and a water bottle are recommended. There is stinging nettle on site, so long pants and closed toed shoes are important.