2026 Meeting highlights

4/22/2026

50th Annual Meeting*
Meeting Info

April 9-10, 2026, at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel in Brookfield
Download the Conference Program

The theme of the 2026 annual meeting was AWRA-WI at 50: Honoring Our Past, Shaping our Future. The board recognized the 50th anniversary of Wisconsin AWRA by reflecting on our history, recognizing individuals who have supported the organization, and discussing the future of water resources in Wisconsin.

The conference included technical sessions with 48 talks and an evening poster session with 43 posters. The opening plenary session was a panel discussion on coordinating and supporting water work across Wisconsin. The panel included Mike Cardiff (moderator), Christina Anderson, Tory Kress, Kevin Masarik, and Mike Ursin. The evening plenary was presented by Shaili Pfeiffer of the Wisconsin DNR on The Great Lakes Compact.

Board members elected at the meeting included Ian Anderson (vice president), Brent Brown (secretary), Sam Brockschmidt (technical chair), and Narayani Sunil Pillai (student engagement).

Kevin Fermanich, Emeritus Professor of Water Science, Geoscience, and Environmental Science at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, was awarded the Distinguished Service Award. Nominators praised Kevin's abilities and passion for teaching, research, and stakeholder engagement and the impacts his works has had on the Lower Fox River and Green Bay.

The 2026 Student Awards were presented to:
• Eric Kastelic, best oral presentation
• Savannah Finley, runner-up oral presentation
• Danika Wanish, best poster presentation
• Logan Goulette, runner-up poster presentation
• Jillian Lukez, runner-up poster presentation
• Margaret Phillips, runner-up poster presentation

* A note on the meeting number: The 2020 meeting would have been the 44th but was cancelled due to Covid, so the 2021 meeting was referred to as the 44th and so on through the 48th annual meeting in 2025. But since 2026 is the 50th year of the chapter, the board decided to re-sync the conference numbers with age of the chapter.