Agenda (subject to change)

Registration Link

Our Vision

Wisconsin's Green Fire advances science-informed analysis and policy solutions that address Wisconsin’s greatest conservation challenges.

Artwork by Ann Christensen

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Wisconsin citizens enjoy the benefits of clean water, clean air, and healthy ecosystems achieved through scientific and thoughtful management of natural resources

Our Mission

Wisconsin’s Green Fire

www.wigreenfire.org

Student membership in WGF is free!

One of our strategic goals:

Supporting New Generations of Conservationists.

WGF seeks to engage and support young people and people from all backgrounds and abilities in conservation and environmental careers and to help tackle tomorrow’s conservation challenges.

https://wigreenfire.app.neoncrm.com/forms/student-membership-form

“To the future young folks of Lowenwood: I wish you all love, hope, happiness, and a long and healthful life. May your understanding of mankind be broadened through your association with and, I am sure, your love of Lowenwood.”

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Jim Lowenstine, May 13, 1965

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Lowenwood Northwoods Retreat

January 8-10, 2025

� 5400 North Black Oak Lake Road� Land O Lakes, WI 54540� Phone: 715-500-5046��

Located in the heart of Wisconsin’s northwoods, this campus was nationally recognized as an environmentally focused private academy.

Conserve School's 1,200-acre (4.9 km²) campus was named Lowenwood by Conserve School's founder, James Lowenstine

History

With the passing of James Lowenstine in 1996, the building of his dream, a school to inspire conservation minded environmental stewards, began. Following the directions Mr. Lowenstine left in the Conserve School Trust the Conserve School Board of Trustees began the initial planning for Conserve School. Mr. Lowenstine directed the Trustees to create a school with a curriculum that would include: instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, and nature study. The nature study was to include a focus on the ecology of unspoiled forest and lake areas such as Conserve School's Lowenwood campus. In addition the school should include instruction in outdoor sports including skiing, use of snowshoes, archery, ice skating, target practice, swimming, fishing, boating, camping, sledding, methods of survival in unexplored areas, and other outdoor activities.

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From the fall of 2002 until the spring of 2010 Conserve School operated as a four-year college preparatory school. Due to financial concerns, the school switched to a semester school model in the fall of 2010. The decision to transition the school was legally challenged by a group of concerned parents, alumni, and community members, as well as by the Culver Educational Foundation.

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On August 21, 2010 the first semester school semester began with 48 students from 12 different states.

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The final semester of Conserve School finished in June 2020 following the relinquishment to the Culver Academy.

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There are 7 wilderness lakes.

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Amenities

• Gymnasium
• 17 miles of trails
• Camp fire pits
• Summer – Bicycles, soccer field, running track, volleyball, horseshoes

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Visitors use trails for hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and skiing. The campus has access to 8 lakes (of which 4 are completely enclosed by school property).

There are five housing units along the Student Path, each containing four wings of suite-style dormitories, as well as 4 apartment sections reserved for staff. Each wing is equipped with a kitchenette ready for minimal culinary activities. Each housing unit is named after a piece of Lowenwood's history, including James, Elaine, Daisy, and Mandell, all of which relate to the founding fathers and mothers of Conserve School, as well as Donahue, a prevailing logging company in the north woods.

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The property has a large photovoltaic array and a “Green Machine” wastewater treatment facility.

We will stay in the Mandell house 5470 Aldo Leopold Ln, Land O' Lakes, WI 54540 (follow the signs)

Accommodations

• Kitchenette –
• Big refrigerator, microwave, small dishwasher
• Bring your own dishes and silverware, napkins
• Hi speed wifi
• Hot showers

Lowenstine’s Hunting and Fishing Museum

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email davisfos@uwosh.edu with questions

Conservation Professional Panel

Panelists:

• Jeb Barzen
• Katie Hein
• Carly Lapin
• Bruce Neeb
• Casey Baye

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Panel Questions:

1. What do you like the most about your job?
2. What experiences did you have in college (inside or outside the classroom) that most prepared you for your career?
3. What do you wish you had done differently while in college?
4. What surprises you most about your current work?
5. What advice do you have for students looking to get into your line of work?
6. What were your dreams as a college student? How many times have your goals changed?
7. How have world events affected your life path? How have your values guided you during major life events?

JOSEPH T. MRNAK

I am a Research Scientist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and an Honorary Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Limnology. I also train graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and work with the U.S. Geological Survey Climate Adaptation Science Center.

I earned my B.Sc. degree from Northland College in 2016 and M.Sc. degree from South Dakota State University in 2019. I just recently finished my Ph.D. at UW-Madison, focusing on how ecosystems work and how we can better manage fisheries and aquatic habitats. My work includes studying invasive species, restoring ecosystems, and tackling the impacts of climate change. I’ve led large-scale whole-lake experiments, mentored students who have moved on to exciting careers, and published research to help solve environmental challenges. I believe in using science to make a real difference, working with government agencies and communities to protect our natural resources for the future.

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Bruce Neeb joined Wisconsin’s Green Fire (WGF) in 2018 after serving 27 years with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Information / Education (I&E) and Grants and Loans programs.

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Bruce was a U.W. Eau Claire Journalism graduate and returned to the city after doing TV news in Madison for eight years after college, then working for seven years with DNR’s I&E Bureau. In Eau Claire, Bruce oversaw DNR West Central Region grant, loan and public outreach efforts and coordinated review of waterway access abandonment requests.

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He volunteers with the WGF Communications Committee and sits on WGF’s Wetlands and Public Trust Work Group.

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BRUCE NEEB

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KATIE HEIN

Katie started working as an Aquatic Research Scientist at UW-Madison's Trout Lake Station in September of 2024. Prior to her new role, she worked for 11 years as the Statewide Lake Monitoring Lead for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Katie grew up in Wisconsin and got her bachelor's degree in zoology and her master's degree in limnology at UW-Madison. She then received her PhD in aquatic ecology at Utah State University studying streams in Puerto Rico. She also worked for 4 years in Arctic Sweden as a post doc and then an assistant professor at Umeå University's Climate Impacts Research Centre. Her career has enabled her to study and experience a variety of ecosystems, from tropical streams to temperate and Arctic lakes.

CARLY LAPIN

Carly serves as the north-central Wisconsin District Ecologist for the WDNR’s Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation. In this role, she cares for State Natural Areas and participates in rare and non-game species conservation efforts across a 9-county region. Outside of work, Carly lives in Rhinelander with her husband and two dogs and spends her free time hiking, biking, skiing, canoeing, baking, and knitting.

CASEY BAYE

Casey is the Property Manager for the Turtle Flambeau Scenic Waters Area under the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Division. He is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (May 2024), where he earned a degree in Natural Resource Conservation Planning and Soil Sciences. Casey brings a wealth of experience from his work as a park ranger with three notable agencies: Peninsula State Park (WDNR), Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (USFS), and Yellowstone National Park (NPS). During his college career, Casey was actively involved in several student organizations, holding leadership roles such as Vice President of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, Treasurer of Ducks Unlimited, and Co-Leader for The Wildlife Society’s Wood Duck Project. He was also a dedicated member of the UWSP Soil Judging Team. Casey’s diverse background reflects a strong commitment to conservation, resource management, and environmental stewardship.

JEB BARZEN

I have spent most of my 40-year career studying birds in the field and applying ecosystem restoration tools for these species in wetlands, grasslands, and savannas worldwide. This includes studying 4 crane species extensively (Sandhill, Sarus, Siberian and Whooping), Bald Eagle winter ecology and Canvasback migration ecology. Now being officially an old bird ecologist, I am naturally interested in how conservation of birds has changed over time. Concomitantly, I have also realized that most really interesting projects last well beyond my own lifetime, so my research and conservation action also includes teaching, mentoring, and advancing the tools that we depend upon to improve bird and ecosystem restoration now and in the future.

M.S., University of North Dakota; B.S., University of Minnesota; Private Lands Conservation, LLC; Chair, Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council; President, Ferry Bluff Eagle Council

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Mandel House and Recreation Center

Parking lot to meet for hike with John Bates.