The Minnesota Chapters of the Society of American Foresters, American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society, invites you to attend our 2026 Joint Annual Meeting that celebrates “Collaboration and Conservation: Interdisciplinary Management of Natural Resources.” This conference is the largest annual event for these organizations and will be held February 24-26 at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center in Duluth, Minnesota.
Late registration open through Eventbrite.
Late registration open through Eventbrite.
2026 SAF-AFS-TWS Minnesota Joint Chapter Meeting
Conservation and Collaboration: Interdisciplinary Management of Natural Resources
Feb 25th Concurrent Session 1 (Wednesday) 10:20-11:40 AM
Applied Technologies (Students) - Room L
10:20 AM Jared Langer
Trends in watercraft traffic on Minnesota lakes: Utilizing motion-activated trail cameras to provide insights on freshwater recreation
10:40 AM Dylan Undlin
Salmonid Movement and Habitat Use in Minnesota Tributaries to Lake Superior
11:00 AM Jack Vannurden
Acoustically conditioned bigheaded carp deter naïve fish from upstream passage
11:20 AM Aidan Waterhouse
A Comparison of Vessel and Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Based Acoustic Estimates of Demersal Fish Density in the Great Lakes
Tribal Session - Room M/N
10:20 AM Grace Lavan (Student)
Effects of Anthropogenic Structures on Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Movements on the Fond du Lac Reservation
10:40 AM Mike Schrage
Response of ma’iinganag (gray wolves) to oil pipeline construction on the Fond du Lac Reservation in northeast Minnesota
11:00 AM Morgan Swingen
Ma’iingan (Wolf) Pup Survival Monitoring
11:20 AM Michele Lovara
Working Dogs for Conservation
Ecological Resilience (Students) - Room O
10:20 AM Lauren Willman
Comparative Analysis of Attachment Strength in Invasive and Native Lamprey Species under Static and Flowing Conditions
10:40 AM Ian Grossenbacher-McGlamery
MCH, a pheromone component produced by female eastern larch beetle, interrupts the aggregation behavior of flying eastern larch beetles.
11:00 AM Emily Banks
Modeling the risk of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, an emerging pathogenic fungus, in Minnesota amphibians
11:20 AM Kerri Beers
Chytrid presence in Minnesota True Frogs (Family Ranidae)
General Session (Students) - Gooseberry Falls 1
10:20 AM Lane Moser
How loggers identify and protect sensitive soils during their operations
10:40 AM Erin Clark
EAB and Forest Management in Black Ash Wetlands: Impacts on wildlife, carbon storage, hydrology, forest structure and biodiversity.
11:00 AM Grace Haynes
Long term oak regeneration after oak wilt management
11:20 AM Lane Moser
Findings from the 2024 survey of silvicultural practices in Minnesota
General Session (Students) - Gooseberry Falls 2
10:20 AM Smith Freeman
Participating in the Minnesota Animal Movement Archive
10:40 AM Amanda Tveite
Lifecycle modeling as a tool for conservation
11:00 AM Jeannine Doyle
Evaluating prey limits on larval walleye growth using bioenergetics-based modeling
11:20 AM Kaylee Bachman
Through the Looking Glass: Reconstructing Historical Trophic Ecology of Walleye by Stable Isotope Analysis of Fish Eye Lenses
General Session - French River 1
10:20 AM Alec Lackmann
Population dynamics of the carpsuckers (Carpiodes spp.)
10:40 AM Ethan Rasset
Population Dynamics of Rock Bass in Select West-Central Minnesota Lakes
11:00 AM Kristen Patterson
Cold Fish, Hot Data: Using Genetics to Understand Burbot Populations
11:20 AM Matt Davis
Wrestling with halfbeaks: A Phylogenomic Perspective on the Evolutionary Relationships of Atherinomorpha (Ovalentaria)
General Session - French River 2
10:20 AM Tony Kennedy
Walleye Harvest Management in the Red Lakes: 20 Years of Adaptive Management
10:40 AM Sam Peterson
St. Louis River and Western Arm Lake Superior Walleye Regulation Change
11:00 AM Thomas Hrabik
Spawning habitat partitioning of sympatric salmonid populations in the upper Bois Brule River, Wisconsin
11:20 AM Nick Peterson
A Hidden Stronghold: Lake-Spawning Coaster Brook Trout in Grand Marais Harbor
Feb 25th Concurrent Session 2 (Wednesday) 1:20-2:40 PM
Applied Technologies (Students) - Room L
1:20 PM Taylor Velander
Using temperature loggers to monitor den box use by American martens, fishers, and tree squirrels
1:40 PM Adam Mortensen
Testing assumptions in fisher (Pekania pennanti) habitat suitability indices to understand fisher distribution in Minnesota
2:00 PM Sam Skinner
Using Traditional and eDNA Surveys to Detect Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) in Minnesota
2:20 PM David Gallagher
Evaluating eDNA metabarcoding for fish community sampling on a remote freshwater archipelago
Tribal Session - Room M/N
1:20 PM Bugwajiniinii (Daniel Devault) (Student)
Miinin (blueberries), Prescribed Fire and Cultural Burning in Red Pine Ecosystems: The Sunken Lake Blueberry Project
1:40 PM Erik Carlson
Blueberry Burning
2:00 PM Eric Torvinen
Fond du Lac Lake Superior Subsistence Fishery
2:20 PM Ryan Grow
Listening to the Lake: Tracking Subsistence Giigoonh (Fish) Movements in Grand Portage Waters
Ecological Resilience (Students) - Room O
1:20 PM Benjamin Erb
Improving Walleye and Lake Whitefish Performance Indicators for Lake Water Level Management on Rainy – Namakan System
1:40 PM Christopher Rounds
Bright spots and factors related to unexpected walleye success
2:00 PM Laurel Sacco
Thermal Sensitivity of Walleye Strains: Implications for Fisheries Management in a Warming Climate
2:20 PM Jeremiah Shrovnal
An evaluation of Cisco condition in Wisconsin waters of Lake Superior
General Session (Students) - Gooseberry Falls 1
1:20 PM Samuel Overfors
Behavioral Plasticity, Landscape Features Drive Variability in Fawn Space Use
1:40 PM Miranda Huang
Zombie Deer are Coming: Portrayal of Chronic Wasting Disease in U.S. Newspapers
2:00 PM Krysten Zummo (Professional)
Grazing...it's for the birds!
2:20 PM Anna Peterson
A multi-model approach to flying squirrel survey planning and conservation in Minnesota
General Session (Students) - Gooseberry Falls 2
1:20 PM Georgina Leramo
Factors Influencing the Body Condition of Yellow Perch in Minnesota Lakes
1:40 PM Griffin Blegen
Emerald Bowfin Ecology in Three Minnesota Lakes: Abundance, Age Analysis, Diet Composition, and Stable Isotope Food Web.
2:00 PM Gabrielle Gonzales
Comparing life history and trophic ecology of Longnose and Shortnose Gars between Northern and Southern metapopulations
2:20 PM Charles Vaughan
Understanding Longnose Gar otolith age derivation, growth, and population dynamics in two large Upper Midwestern rivers
General Session - French River 1
1:20 PM Laura Reuling
Lowland conifer forests: Structure, composition, and alternative management
1:40 PM Anna Yang
Rehabilitating Old Growth: a Synthesis Framework for Eastern Forests
2:00 PM Jennifer Corcoran
Applications of Remote Sensing
Policy and Program Reviews - French River 2
1:20 PM Shannon Fisher
Managing People in Fisheries Management: An Overview of Fishing Regulations
1:40 PM Amy Rager
Volunteers Can Help You to Meet Your Mission & Conservation Goals
2:00 PM Alison Cariveau
Minnesota's Wildlife Action Plan Updated for 2025-2035
2:20 PM Shanell Lovelace
Public Preferences for Deer, Moose, and Wolf Wildlife Management in Northeast Minnesota
Feb 25th Concurrent Session 3 (Wednesday) 3:10-4:30 PM
Applied Technologies - Room L
3:10 PM Carli Wagner
Protecting Upper Mississippi River from Invasive Carp - Lock and Dam 5 Deterrent Project
3:30 PM Grace Loppnow
Easier egg hunt: Using FluEgg modeling of silver carp ichthyoplankton drift to tailor monitoring methods and locations in Minnesota
3:50 PM Kara Snow
eDNA to Identify Presence of Terrestrial Invasive Species in Minnesota
4:10 PM Christopher Smith
A New Tool for Early Detection of Endangered Turtles
Tribal Session - Room M/N
3:30 PM Carl Klimah
Thermal niches of predator and prey fish species in Mille Lacs Lake
3:50 PM Michael O'Brien
Odibaabandamawaan odinawemaagana, Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag adikamegwag “Looking in on our relatives, the Leech Lake Whitefish”
4:10 PM Nick Bogyo
Sturgeon Monitoring on the Lower St. Louis River
Ecological Resilience - Room O
3:10 PM Carl Pedersen
Straight River Bait and Potential Bait Harvest Impacts
3:30 PM Greg Harris (Student)
Decay and longevity dynamics of retained snags following regeneration of red pine stands in north central Minnesota
3:50 PM Spencer Rettler
Monitoring the Response of Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) Populations to Forest Management
4:10 PM Lucas Spaete
Urban Tree Assessment - Trends in Urban Tree Populations Using Repeat Surveys and Remote Sensing
Forestry for Birds - Gooseberry Falls 1
3:10 PM Josh Kolasch (Student)
Forest structural complexity and its influence on black spruce peatland bird communities.
3:30 PM April Strzelczyk Haverstock (Student)
Performance of Automated Acoustic Classifiers for Two Declining Bird Species
3:50 PM Josh Bednar
Wildlife responses to alternative harvesting in black spruce forests of northern Minnesota.
4:10 PM Steve Kolbe
State of Minnesota’s black spruce: a bird’s eye view
General Session - Gooseberry Falls 2
3:10 PM Charmayne Anderson
A Comparison of Gear Efficacy for Fishes Occupying Near-Shore, Off-Channel Riverine Habitats
3:30 PM Derek Bahr
Fish index of biological integrity monitoring and assessment: Baseline conditions in Minnesota lakes
3:50 PM Grant Vagle
Applying machine learning to predict and understand native and invasive aquatic species distributions
4:10 PM Jordan Wein
Goldfish management in a shallow urban lake: familiar tactics for a new foe
General Session - French River 1
3:10 PM Gretchen Hansen
NOBODY SAID IT WAS EASY, NO ONE EVER SAID IT WOULD BE THIS HARD: QUANTIFYING FISH RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN LAKES OF THE MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES
3:30 PM Claire Rude
Restoring nearshore lake ecosystems through mechanical harvest of invasive cattails
3:50 PM Brian Herwig
Lake restorations followed by northern pike and yellow perch stocking to improve habitat quality in shallow southern Minnesota lakes
4:10 PM Sara Vacek
Walleye Biomanipulation: Collaborative Conservation in Prairie Wetlands
Policy and Program Reviews - French River 2
3:10 PM Jaime Thibodeaux
Multi-disciplinary, All-Lands, Forest Resource Planning through the Regional Landscape Program
3:30 PM Keb Guralski
Operationalizing Lidar Derived Forest Inventory
3:50 PM David Wilson
Achieving interdisciplinary resource management through integrated forest management guidelines
4:10 PM Lane Johnson
Mainstreaming Prescribed Fire with the Minnesota Prescribed Fire Council
Feb 26th Concurrent Session 4 (Thursday) 8:00-9:20 PM
Applied Technologies - Room L
8:00 AM Jessie Koehle
Innovative technology applications in fisheries management: remote monitoring buoys, an underwater game camera, and modified trap nets in Eagan, Minnesota
8:20 AM Logan Cutler
Angler use of stocked trout lakes in northwest Wisconsin
8:40 AM Kamden Glade
Can Angler PIT Tag Reporting Assist with Lake Vermilion Muskellunge Management?
9:00 AM Calub Shavlik
Now the rest of the Muskellunge DNA story.........
Tribal Session - Room M/N
8:00 AM Ferin Davis Anderson
Reconstructing Forests to Foster Cultural Revitalization
8:20 AM Keith Karnes
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Co-Management with the Chippewa National Forest
8:40 AM Matt Petz Giguere
Twig Production Models for Moose Forage Species: A Method to Estimate Forage Density from Forest Regeneration Surveys and Implications for Forest Management
9:00 AM Phil Haas
Collaborative Forestry Grounded in Indigenous Values
Ecological Resilience - Room O
8:00 AM Heidi Rantala
The plants have it! Aquatic plant communities explain sport fish community structure in Upper Midwest Lakes
8:20 AM Cam Mosley
EVALUATING THE INFLUENCE OF LAKE CHARACTERISTICS, CLIMATE FACTORS, AND THERMAL TOLERANCE ON NICHE BREADTH AND OVERLAP OF MINNESOTA FISH POPULATIONS
8:40 AM Jessica Massure
Characterizing Fish Communities in Northeastern Minnesota Lakes: Creating a Framework for Classification, Monitoring, and Condition Assessment
9:00 AM Joel Hoffman
Isotope tracers inform area of concern actions in St. Louis River fish
Forestry for Birds - Gooseberry Falls 1
8:00 AM Jacob Crawford
Conservation of Eastern Forest Birds Through Audubon's Bird-Friendly Maple Program
8:20 AM Peter Dieser
Forestry for Minnesota Birds Conservation Guide: Practical Management Considerations and Strategies to Support Forest Birds
8:40 AM Dale Gentry
Where Migrants Pause: Mapping Stopover Sites to Inform Avian Conservation in Minnesota
9:00 AM Reid Siebers
Small Cuts, Big Impact: Exploring the effects of small-scale, frequent harvests on game and non-game forest birds
General Session - Gooseberry Falls 2
8:00 AM Kevin McDonnell
Evaluating the current status of lean lake trout populations in the Minnesota waters of Lake Superior
8:20 AM Devon Oliver
Determination and Comparison of Morphometrics and Meristics Used to Identify River and Shorthead Redhorse
8:40 AM Lynn Waterhouse
Survival of the Fishes: Expanding the Poor-Recruitment Paradigm
9:00 AM Peter Sorensen
An historic reconstruction of Minnesota’s gamefish fishery describes a 50% decline in the annual number of game fish caught (and kept) since 1990
General Session - French River 1
8:00 AM Katie Pfaff
Flying squirrel activity at overlapping range boundaries
8:20 AM Charlotte Roy
Hybridization of Sharp-tailed Grouse and Greater Prairie-chickens in Minnesota and North Dakota
8:40 AM Douglas Johnson
Bird counts are more than data
9:00 AM Charlotte Roy
Predator Use of Fences in Conservation Grazing Applications
Policy and Program Reviews - French River 2
8:00 AM Julianne Grenn
Minnesota Sea Grant’s role in building a sustainable aquaculture future in Minnesota
8:20 AM Seth Moore
When Conservation Becomes Overreach: Federal Natural Resources Acts as an affront to Indigenous Sovereignty
8:40 AM Tim Mitchell
Restoration of common loons in Minnesota
9:00 AM Dave Trauba
Saving Wetlands, Shaping a Legacy: 75 Years of Minnesota’s WMA System
Feb 26th Concurrent Session 5 (Thursday) 10:00-11:20 AM
Applied Technologies - Room L
10:00 AM Anna Weesies
Using Technology and Field Work to Identify and Describe Moose Use at Mineral Licks, Potential Ecological Traps
10:20 AM James Forester
Movement, Habitat Use, and SARS-CoV-2 Dynamics in Suburban White-tailed Deer
10:40 AM Michael McMahon
Habitat Selection of Sympatric Bobcats and Fishers Contributing to Fisher Predation Risk
11:00 AM Tyler Ahrenstorff
Can forward-facing sonar be used to more effectively sample fish?
Tribal Session - Room M/N
10:00 AM Alex Mehne
One Tribe’s response to combat the threats of emerald ash borer and climate change to forested swamps around wild rice lakes
10:20 AM Gabriel Miller
A Tribe's Climate-Adaptive Strategy for Emerald Ash Borer Mitigation of a Floodplain Forest within the Upper Mississippi River Basin
10:40 AM Gene Mensch
Untitled
Ecological Resilience - Room O
10:00 AM Mike Reinikainen
Adapting old tools for new challenges: silvicultural practices on Minnesota's state lands
10:20 AM Marcella Windmuller-Campione
Fire, Regeneration, and Stewardship of Minnesota's Northern Forests
10:40 AM Michael Lynch
Minnesota Fire Needs Assessment
Forestry for Birds - Gooseberry Falls 1
10:00 AM Alexis Grinde
Connecticut Warbler at the Southern Edge: Population Declines, Range Retraction, and Conservation Priorities
10:20 AM Stephen Nelson
Golden-winged Warbler productivity and fledgling movement in young forest and shrub wetland habitats of northern Minnesota
10:40 AM Michael North
Woodpeckers and Their Aspen Habitat in Northern Minnesota
11:00 AM Edmund Zlonis
Status of Wood Duck Nesting Habitat in North-central Minnesota
General Session - Gooseberry Falls 2
10:00 AM Lisa Elliot
Balancing Water Storage and Chinook Salmon Objectives Under Uncertainty: How Decision Analysis can Inform Resource Management Tradeoffs
10:20 AM Brian Mason
Reconnecting Rivers: Fish Barrier Removal and Culvert Assessment on the Pomme de Terre River
10:40 AM Sean Gibbs
A cost-effective approach using eDNA and habitat assessment to inform fish passage restoration in Sand Creek, Minnesota
11:00 AM Tracey Anderson
Establishing the baseline: Characterizing the water quality and macroinvertebrate community in the Pomme de Terre River before channel modification
General Session - French River 1
10:00 AM Andrew Herberg
30 Years of Blanding's Turtle (Emydiodea blandingii) Conservation Work at Camp Ripley Training Center
10:20 AM Gaea Crozier
Wood Turtle Conservation in Northeastern Minnesota
10:40 AM Neil Slifka
Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) Conservation Efforts in Southeastern Minnesota
11:00 AM Heather Waye
Patterns of variation in Western Painted Turtle body condition within and between years
Policy and Program Reviews - French River 2
10:00 AM Sue Colvin
Mind the gap: Where Clean Water Act rulemaking fails to meet the science and legislative intent in defining waters of the United States.
10:20 AM Andrew Gardon
Taconite Mine Pit Water Discharges and Bioaccumulation of Methylmercury in Aeshnidae Larvae and Cyprinidae in the Dunka River (Babbitt MN)
10:40 AM Paul Radomski
Variation in Fish Mercury Contamination: Crafting Consumption Advisories
11:00 AM Annie Bracey
Use of Common Tern Sterna hirundo chick feathers and mercury isotopes to assess changes in methylmercury exposure and remediation effectiveness in an Area of Concern
The Minnesota Forestry Community includes anybody dedicated to the health and wellness of forest ecosystems, wildlife, economic systems, etc. Minnesota SAF strives to provide a welcoming and accommodating environment for all event participants.
Conservation and Collaboration: Interdisciplinary Management of Natural Resources
Feb 25th Concurrent Session 1 (Wednesday) 10:20-11:40 AM
Applied Technologies (Students) - Room L
10:20 AM Jared Langer
Trends in watercraft traffic on Minnesota lakes: Utilizing motion-activated trail cameras to provide insights on freshwater recreation
10:40 AM Dylan Undlin
Salmonid Movement and Habitat Use in Minnesota Tributaries to Lake Superior
11:00 AM Jack Vannurden
Acoustically conditioned bigheaded carp deter naïve fish from upstream passage
11:20 AM Aidan Waterhouse
A Comparison of Vessel and Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Based Acoustic Estimates of Demersal Fish Density in the Great Lakes
Tribal Session - Room M/N
10:20 AM Grace Lavan (Student)
Effects of Anthropogenic Structures on Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Movements on the Fond du Lac Reservation
10:40 AM Mike Schrage
Response of ma’iinganag (gray wolves) to oil pipeline construction on the Fond du Lac Reservation in northeast Minnesota
11:00 AM Morgan Swingen
Ma’iingan (Wolf) Pup Survival Monitoring
11:20 AM Michele Lovara
Working Dogs for Conservation
Ecological Resilience (Students) - Room O
10:20 AM Lauren Willman
Comparative Analysis of Attachment Strength in Invasive and Native Lamprey Species under Static and Flowing Conditions
10:40 AM Ian Grossenbacher-McGlamery
MCH, a pheromone component produced by female eastern larch beetle, interrupts the aggregation behavior of flying eastern larch beetles.
11:00 AM Emily Banks
Modeling the risk of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, an emerging pathogenic fungus, in Minnesota amphibians
11:20 AM Kerri Beers
Chytrid presence in Minnesota True Frogs (Family Ranidae)
General Session (Students) - Gooseberry Falls 1
10:20 AM Lane Moser
How loggers identify and protect sensitive soils during their operations
10:40 AM Erin Clark
EAB and Forest Management in Black Ash Wetlands: Impacts on wildlife, carbon storage, hydrology, forest structure and biodiversity.
11:00 AM Grace Haynes
Long term oak regeneration after oak wilt management
11:20 AM Lane Moser
Findings from the 2024 survey of silvicultural practices in Minnesota
General Session (Students) - Gooseberry Falls 2
10:20 AM Smith Freeman
Participating in the Minnesota Animal Movement Archive
10:40 AM Amanda Tveite
Lifecycle modeling as a tool for conservation
11:00 AM Jeannine Doyle
Evaluating prey limits on larval walleye growth using bioenergetics-based modeling
11:20 AM Kaylee Bachman
Through the Looking Glass: Reconstructing Historical Trophic Ecology of Walleye by Stable Isotope Analysis of Fish Eye Lenses
General Session - French River 1
10:20 AM Alec Lackmann
Population dynamics of the carpsuckers (Carpiodes spp.)
10:40 AM Ethan Rasset
Population Dynamics of Rock Bass in Select West-Central Minnesota Lakes
11:00 AM Kristen Patterson
Cold Fish, Hot Data: Using Genetics to Understand Burbot Populations
11:20 AM Matt Davis
Wrestling with halfbeaks: A Phylogenomic Perspective on the Evolutionary Relationships of Atherinomorpha (Ovalentaria)
General Session - French River 2
10:20 AM Tony Kennedy
Walleye Harvest Management in the Red Lakes: 20 Years of Adaptive Management
10:40 AM Sam Peterson
St. Louis River and Western Arm Lake Superior Walleye Regulation Change
11:00 AM Thomas Hrabik
Spawning habitat partitioning of sympatric salmonid populations in the upper Bois Brule River, Wisconsin
11:20 AM Nick Peterson
A Hidden Stronghold: Lake-Spawning Coaster Brook Trout in Grand Marais Harbor
Feb 25th Concurrent Session 2 (Wednesday) 1:20-2:40 PM
Applied Technologies (Students) - Room L
1:20 PM Taylor Velander
Using temperature loggers to monitor den box use by American martens, fishers, and tree squirrels
1:40 PM Adam Mortensen
Testing assumptions in fisher (Pekania pennanti) habitat suitability indices to understand fisher distribution in Minnesota
2:00 PM Sam Skinner
Using Traditional and eDNA Surveys to Detect Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) in Minnesota
2:20 PM David Gallagher
Evaluating eDNA metabarcoding for fish community sampling on a remote freshwater archipelago
Tribal Session - Room M/N
1:20 PM Bugwajiniinii (Daniel Devault) (Student)
Miinin (blueberries), Prescribed Fire and Cultural Burning in Red Pine Ecosystems: The Sunken Lake Blueberry Project
1:40 PM Erik Carlson
Blueberry Burning
2:00 PM Eric Torvinen
Fond du Lac Lake Superior Subsistence Fishery
2:20 PM Ryan Grow
Listening to the Lake: Tracking Subsistence Giigoonh (Fish) Movements in Grand Portage Waters
Ecological Resilience (Students) - Room O
1:20 PM Benjamin Erb
Improving Walleye and Lake Whitefish Performance Indicators for Lake Water Level Management on Rainy – Namakan System
1:40 PM Christopher Rounds
Bright spots and factors related to unexpected walleye success
2:00 PM Laurel Sacco
Thermal Sensitivity of Walleye Strains: Implications for Fisheries Management in a Warming Climate
2:20 PM Jeremiah Shrovnal
An evaluation of Cisco condition in Wisconsin waters of Lake Superior
General Session (Students) - Gooseberry Falls 1
1:20 PM Samuel Overfors
Behavioral Plasticity, Landscape Features Drive Variability in Fawn Space Use
1:40 PM Miranda Huang
Zombie Deer are Coming: Portrayal of Chronic Wasting Disease in U.S. Newspapers
2:00 PM Krysten Zummo (Professional)
Grazing...it's for the birds!
2:20 PM Anna Peterson
A multi-model approach to flying squirrel survey planning and conservation in Minnesota
General Session (Students) - Gooseberry Falls 2
1:20 PM Georgina Leramo
Factors Influencing the Body Condition of Yellow Perch in Minnesota Lakes
1:40 PM Griffin Blegen
Emerald Bowfin Ecology in Three Minnesota Lakes: Abundance, Age Analysis, Diet Composition, and Stable Isotope Food Web.
2:00 PM Gabrielle Gonzales
Comparing life history and trophic ecology of Longnose and Shortnose Gars between Northern and Southern metapopulations
2:20 PM Charles Vaughan
Understanding Longnose Gar otolith age derivation, growth, and population dynamics in two large Upper Midwestern rivers
General Session - French River 1
1:20 PM Laura Reuling
Lowland conifer forests: Structure, composition, and alternative management
1:40 PM Anna Yang
Rehabilitating Old Growth: a Synthesis Framework for Eastern Forests
2:00 PM Jennifer Corcoran
Applications of Remote Sensing
Policy and Program Reviews - French River 2
1:20 PM Shannon Fisher
Managing People in Fisheries Management: An Overview of Fishing Regulations
1:40 PM Amy Rager
Volunteers Can Help You to Meet Your Mission & Conservation Goals
2:00 PM Alison Cariveau
Minnesota's Wildlife Action Plan Updated for 2025-2035
2:20 PM Shanell Lovelace
Public Preferences for Deer, Moose, and Wolf Wildlife Management in Northeast Minnesota
Feb 25th Concurrent Session 3 (Wednesday) 3:10-4:30 PM
Applied Technologies - Room L
3:10 PM Carli Wagner
Protecting Upper Mississippi River from Invasive Carp - Lock and Dam 5 Deterrent Project
3:30 PM Grace Loppnow
Easier egg hunt: Using FluEgg modeling of silver carp ichthyoplankton drift to tailor monitoring methods and locations in Minnesota
3:50 PM Kara Snow
eDNA to Identify Presence of Terrestrial Invasive Species in Minnesota
4:10 PM Christopher Smith
A New Tool for Early Detection of Endangered Turtles
Tribal Session - Room M/N
3:30 PM Carl Klimah
Thermal niches of predator and prey fish species in Mille Lacs Lake
3:50 PM Michael O'Brien
Odibaabandamawaan odinawemaagana, Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag adikamegwag “Looking in on our relatives, the Leech Lake Whitefish”
4:10 PM Nick Bogyo
Sturgeon Monitoring on the Lower St. Louis River
Ecological Resilience - Room O
3:10 PM Carl Pedersen
Straight River Bait and Potential Bait Harvest Impacts
3:30 PM Greg Harris (Student)
Decay and longevity dynamics of retained snags following regeneration of red pine stands in north central Minnesota
3:50 PM Spencer Rettler
Monitoring the Response of Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) Populations to Forest Management
4:10 PM Lucas Spaete
Urban Tree Assessment - Trends in Urban Tree Populations Using Repeat Surveys and Remote Sensing
Forestry for Birds - Gooseberry Falls 1
3:10 PM Josh Kolasch (Student)
Forest structural complexity and its influence on black spruce peatland bird communities.
3:30 PM April Strzelczyk Haverstock (Student)
Performance of Automated Acoustic Classifiers for Two Declining Bird Species
3:50 PM Josh Bednar
Wildlife responses to alternative harvesting in black spruce forests of northern Minnesota.
4:10 PM Steve Kolbe
State of Minnesota’s black spruce: a bird’s eye view
General Session - Gooseberry Falls 2
3:10 PM Charmayne Anderson
A Comparison of Gear Efficacy for Fishes Occupying Near-Shore, Off-Channel Riverine Habitats
3:30 PM Derek Bahr
Fish index of biological integrity monitoring and assessment: Baseline conditions in Minnesota lakes
3:50 PM Grant Vagle
Applying machine learning to predict and understand native and invasive aquatic species distributions
4:10 PM Jordan Wein
Goldfish management in a shallow urban lake: familiar tactics for a new foe
General Session - French River 1
3:10 PM Gretchen Hansen
NOBODY SAID IT WAS EASY, NO ONE EVER SAID IT WOULD BE THIS HARD: QUANTIFYING FISH RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN LAKES OF THE MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES
3:30 PM Claire Rude
Restoring nearshore lake ecosystems through mechanical harvest of invasive cattails
3:50 PM Brian Herwig
Lake restorations followed by northern pike and yellow perch stocking to improve habitat quality in shallow southern Minnesota lakes
4:10 PM Sara Vacek
Walleye Biomanipulation: Collaborative Conservation in Prairie Wetlands
Policy and Program Reviews - French River 2
3:10 PM Jaime Thibodeaux
Multi-disciplinary, All-Lands, Forest Resource Planning through the Regional Landscape Program
3:30 PM Keb Guralski
Operationalizing Lidar Derived Forest Inventory
3:50 PM David Wilson
Achieving interdisciplinary resource management through integrated forest management guidelines
4:10 PM Lane Johnson
Mainstreaming Prescribed Fire with the Minnesota Prescribed Fire Council
Feb 26th Concurrent Session 4 (Thursday) 8:00-9:20 PM
Applied Technologies - Room L
8:00 AM Jessie Koehle
Innovative technology applications in fisheries management: remote monitoring buoys, an underwater game camera, and modified trap nets in Eagan, Minnesota
8:20 AM Logan Cutler
Angler use of stocked trout lakes in northwest Wisconsin
8:40 AM Kamden Glade
Can Angler PIT Tag Reporting Assist with Lake Vermilion Muskellunge Management?
9:00 AM Calub Shavlik
Now the rest of the Muskellunge DNA story.........
Tribal Session - Room M/N
8:00 AM Ferin Davis Anderson
Reconstructing Forests to Foster Cultural Revitalization
8:20 AM Keith Karnes
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Co-Management with the Chippewa National Forest
8:40 AM Matt Petz Giguere
Twig Production Models for Moose Forage Species: A Method to Estimate Forage Density from Forest Regeneration Surveys and Implications for Forest Management
9:00 AM Phil Haas
Collaborative Forestry Grounded in Indigenous Values
Ecological Resilience - Room O
8:00 AM Heidi Rantala
The plants have it! Aquatic plant communities explain sport fish community structure in Upper Midwest Lakes
8:20 AM Cam Mosley
EVALUATING THE INFLUENCE OF LAKE CHARACTERISTICS, CLIMATE FACTORS, AND THERMAL TOLERANCE ON NICHE BREADTH AND OVERLAP OF MINNESOTA FISH POPULATIONS
8:40 AM Jessica Massure
Characterizing Fish Communities in Northeastern Minnesota Lakes: Creating a Framework for Classification, Monitoring, and Condition Assessment
9:00 AM Joel Hoffman
Isotope tracers inform area of concern actions in St. Louis River fish
Forestry for Birds - Gooseberry Falls 1
8:00 AM Jacob Crawford
Conservation of Eastern Forest Birds Through Audubon's Bird-Friendly Maple Program
8:20 AM Peter Dieser
Forestry for Minnesota Birds Conservation Guide: Practical Management Considerations and Strategies to Support Forest Birds
8:40 AM Dale Gentry
Where Migrants Pause: Mapping Stopover Sites to Inform Avian Conservation in Minnesota
9:00 AM Reid Siebers
Small Cuts, Big Impact: Exploring the effects of small-scale, frequent harvests on game and non-game forest birds
General Session - Gooseberry Falls 2
8:00 AM Kevin McDonnell
Evaluating the current status of lean lake trout populations in the Minnesota waters of Lake Superior
8:20 AM Devon Oliver
Determination and Comparison of Morphometrics and Meristics Used to Identify River and Shorthead Redhorse
8:40 AM Lynn Waterhouse
Survival of the Fishes: Expanding the Poor-Recruitment Paradigm
9:00 AM Peter Sorensen
An historic reconstruction of Minnesota’s gamefish fishery describes a 50% decline in the annual number of game fish caught (and kept) since 1990
General Session - French River 1
8:00 AM Katie Pfaff
Flying squirrel activity at overlapping range boundaries
8:20 AM Charlotte Roy
Hybridization of Sharp-tailed Grouse and Greater Prairie-chickens in Minnesota and North Dakota
8:40 AM Douglas Johnson
Bird counts are more than data
9:00 AM Charlotte Roy
Predator Use of Fences in Conservation Grazing Applications
Policy and Program Reviews - French River 2
8:00 AM Julianne Grenn
Minnesota Sea Grant’s role in building a sustainable aquaculture future in Minnesota
8:20 AM Seth Moore
When Conservation Becomes Overreach: Federal Natural Resources Acts as an affront to Indigenous Sovereignty
8:40 AM Tim Mitchell
Restoration of common loons in Minnesota
9:00 AM Dave Trauba
Saving Wetlands, Shaping a Legacy: 75 Years of Minnesota’s WMA System
Feb 26th Concurrent Session 5 (Thursday) 10:00-11:20 AM
Applied Technologies - Room L
10:00 AM Anna Weesies
Using Technology and Field Work to Identify and Describe Moose Use at Mineral Licks, Potential Ecological Traps
10:20 AM James Forester
Movement, Habitat Use, and SARS-CoV-2 Dynamics in Suburban White-tailed Deer
10:40 AM Michael McMahon
Habitat Selection of Sympatric Bobcats and Fishers Contributing to Fisher Predation Risk
11:00 AM Tyler Ahrenstorff
Can forward-facing sonar be used to more effectively sample fish?
Tribal Session - Room M/N
10:00 AM Alex Mehne
One Tribe’s response to combat the threats of emerald ash borer and climate change to forested swamps around wild rice lakes
10:20 AM Gabriel Miller
A Tribe's Climate-Adaptive Strategy for Emerald Ash Borer Mitigation of a Floodplain Forest within the Upper Mississippi River Basin
10:40 AM Gene Mensch
Untitled
Ecological Resilience - Room O
10:00 AM Mike Reinikainen
Adapting old tools for new challenges: silvicultural practices on Minnesota's state lands
10:20 AM Marcella Windmuller-Campione
Fire, Regeneration, and Stewardship of Minnesota's Northern Forests
10:40 AM Michael Lynch
Minnesota Fire Needs Assessment
Forestry for Birds - Gooseberry Falls 1
10:00 AM Alexis Grinde
Connecticut Warbler at the Southern Edge: Population Declines, Range Retraction, and Conservation Priorities
10:20 AM Stephen Nelson
Golden-winged Warbler productivity and fledgling movement in young forest and shrub wetland habitats of northern Minnesota
10:40 AM Michael North
Woodpeckers and Their Aspen Habitat in Northern Minnesota
11:00 AM Edmund Zlonis
Status of Wood Duck Nesting Habitat in North-central Minnesota
General Session - Gooseberry Falls 2
10:00 AM Lisa Elliot
Balancing Water Storage and Chinook Salmon Objectives Under Uncertainty: How Decision Analysis can Inform Resource Management Tradeoffs
10:20 AM Brian Mason
Reconnecting Rivers: Fish Barrier Removal and Culvert Assessment on the Pomme de Terre River
10:40 AM Sean Gibbs
A cost-effective approach using eDNA and habitat assessment to inform fish passage restoration in Sand Creek, Minnesota
11:00 AM Tracey Anderson
Establishing the baseline: Characterizing the water quality and macroinvertebrate community in the Pomme de Terre River before channel modification
General Session - French River 1
10:00 AM Andrew Herberg
30 Years of Blanding's Turtle (Emydiodea blandingii) Conservation Work at Camp Ripley Training Center
10:20 AM Gaea Crozier
Wood Turtle Conservation in Northeastern Minnesota
10:40 AM Neil Slifka
Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) Conservation Efforts in Southeastern Minnesota
11:00 AM Heather Waye
Patterns of variation in Western Painted Turtle body condition within and between years
Policy and Program Reviews - French River 2
10:00 AM Sue Colvin
Mind the gap: Where Clean Water Act rulemaking fails to meet the science and legislative intent in defining waters of the United States.
10:20 AM Andrew Gardon
Taconite Mine Pit Water Discharges and Bioaccumulation of Methylmercury in Aeshnidae Larvae and Cyprinidae in the Dunka River (Babbitt MN)
10:40 AM Paul Radomski
Variation in Fish Mercury Contamination: Crafting Consumption Advisories
11:00 AM Annie Bracey
Use of Common Tern Sterna hirundo chick feathers and mercury isotopes to assess changes in methylmercury exposure and remediation effectiveness in an Area of Concern
The Minnesota Forestry Community includes anybody dedicated to the health and wellness of forest ecosystems, wildlife, economic systems, etc. Minnesota SAF strives to provide a welcoming and accommodating environment for all event participants.
