Wisconsin Neonic Forum

About the Event

Join us and partners for the first-ever
Wisconsin Neonic Forum coming this fall!
Neonicotinoids, or neonics, are the most widely used insecticides in Wisconsin, applied to millions of acres of agricultural and urban land each year. What benefits do
they provide and what risks do they pose? Attend this statewide forum to learn more about where these chemicals are used, how Wisconsin is regulating them, and more.

Save the Date!

Wednesday, October 30th

8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

DeLuca Forum at UW-Madison’s

Discovery Center

330 N Orchard St., Madison WI

Registration closes October 20!

Programing Lineup

Arrival and Registration (8 – 8:30 a.m.)

Opening and Forum Overview (8:30 – 9:00 a.m.)

Welcome — Andy Morton / Michael Williamson – Trout Unlimited

An overview of neonicotinoids and the risks they pose to the environment — Mike Miller, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Use, efficacy, and detections of neonicotinoids in WI waters (9:00 – 10:15 a.m.)

Uses of neonicotinoids on the landscape — Dr. Russ Groves, Department of Entomology, UW-Madison

Efficacy of neonicotinoids in agricultural pest control — Dr. Shawn Conley, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UW-Madison

Where are neonicotinoids found in WI? Results of DATCP’s Surface Water and Groundwater monitoring — Dr. Carla Romano, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; Moderated by Michael Williamson, Trout Unlimited

Questions for speakers — Moderated by Michael Williamson, Trout Unlimited

Impacts of neonicotinoids on biota (10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)

Occurrence and potential biological effects of pesticides in tributaries of the Great Lakes — Dr. Samatha Oliver, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, United States Geological Survey

Impacts of neonicotinoids on aquatic insects – lab and field studies — Dr. Travis Schmidt, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, United States Geological Survey

Investigation of significant Hexagenia mayfly population declines in the upper Mississippi River — Shawn Giblin, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Questions for speakers — Moderated by Jeffrey Mears, Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council

Lunch (12:00 – 1:00 p.m.)

Impacts of neonicotinoids on biota (1:00 – 2:15 p.m.)

Understanding the impacts of neonicotinoid exposure on bees — Dr. James Crall, Department of Entomology, UW-Madison

Exploring neonicotinoids in aquatic ecosystems: A deeper look into their impacts on freshwater fish — Dr. Gavin Dehnert, Wisconsin Sea Grant, UW-Madison

Harms of neonicotinoids on birds and human health — Daniel Raichel, Natural Resources Defense Council

Questions for speakers — Moderated by Sara Walling, Clean Wisconsin

Current regulation of neonicotinoids in Wisconsin and in the US (2:45 – 4:15 p.m.)

EPA’s registration review process and updates on the neonicotinoids — Matthew Khan, EPA Office of Pesticide Programs

Regulation of pesticides in Wisconsin — Sara Walling, Clean Wisconsin

Recent developments in neonic regulation — Daniel Raichel, Natural Resources Defense Council

Questions for speakers — Moderated by Ellen Voss, River Alliance of Wisconsin

Closing & Final Remarks (4:15 – 4:30 p.m.)

Meet the Speakers

Mike Miller, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Mike Miller is a stream ecologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Madison. Mike primarily focuses on physical, chemical, and biological assessments of the state’s 42,000 miles of streams and rivers. Current projects include collaborating with the U.S. EPA on their National Rivers and Streams Assessment program, probabilistic surveys of pesticides in Wisconsin streams and rivers, advancing the use of drones and computer image classification tools to assess aquatic resources’ health, and collaborating with UW Madison engineering students to develop lighted insect camera traps to assess adult aquatic insect populations. He teaches a course on watershed and water resources management at the UW’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and is a coauthor of a University of Wisconsin Press – Field Guide to Wisconsin Streams.

Daniel Raichel, Natural Resources Defense Council

Daniel Raichel focuses on protecting our nation’s bee populations from the ever-growing threats to their health and existence—in particular, the use of bee-toxic pesticides. Before joining the Nature Program, he was co-director of NRDC’s Community Fracking Defense Project and an advocate for the cleanup of industrial pollution in the New York region. Daniel holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Cornell University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. He works out of the Chicago office.

Dr. Gavin Dehnert, Wisconsin Sea Grant, UW-Madison

Gavin received his undergraduate degree from the University of Miami (Florida) with a B.S. in marine science and B.S. in biology, with minors in mathematics and chemistry in 2015. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in integrated biology where I studied aquatic toxicology. Following Ph.D., he was a postdoctoral fellow with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services where he helped set recommended health groundwater standards including PFAS standards. Following the fellowship, Gavin began as an Emerging contaminant Scientist with Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a scientist, he conducts research on the impacts of emerging contaminants (PFAS, Pesticides, Microplastics) on aquatic ecosystems.

Dr. Travis Schmidt, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, United States Geological Survey

Travis S. Schmidt is a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specializing in aquatic ecology and ecosystem health. He primarily focuses on evaluating the effects of land use changes on contaminants in streams, rivers, and lakes. His research integrates ecological principles with chemistry, toxicology, and quantitative statistics. Travis applies this multidisciplinary approach to understand how mining, agricultural, and urban land uses impact U.S. waters. His recent research highlights include findings on the effects of pesticides on invertebrate communities.

Dr. Russ Groves, Department of Entomology, UW-Madison

Russell L. Groves is a Professor and Chairperson in the Department of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a majority of effort devoted to management of insects in vegetable crops. He has responsibilities for insect pests affecting all scales of production including commercial, organic and fresh market vegetables. The laboratory group focuses on applied insect ecology with an emphasis on insect vector-borne diseases of specialty crops, insect dispersal and movement, and insecticide resistance management.

Sara Walling, Clean Wisconsin

For over 20 years, Sara has worked at the nexus of agriculture and water quality, applying conservation principles and policies to agricultural systems in the Great Lakes region including over 15 years of direct experience working with farmers, agronomists, NGOs, and county, state and federal agency partners to improve the environmental footprint of farming systems. Sara is currently the Water & Agriculture Program Director for the state’s largest environmental non-profit organization, Clean Wisconsin, where she is responsible for steering the organization’s important work to protect and improve the quality of our state’s lakes, streams and groundwater.

Jeffrey Mears, Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council

Jeff is a citizen of the Oneida Nation and the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council (WTCAC). WTCAC works in partnership with the USDA NRCS and the eleven federally recognized Tribes in Wisconsin on natural resource and agricultural issues on Tribal lands. WTCAC is an advisory body to NRCS and all of USDA on Tribal issues to access federal programs while maintaining Tribes’ perspectives and priorities. Before directing WTCAC, Jeff was the Deputy Director of the Oneida Nation Environmental Health & Safety Division. He brings 30 years of experience working with tribes, federal agencies, state agencies, local governments, and technical committees. Jeff received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Public Administration from UW-Oshkosh.

Shawn Giblin, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Shawn Giblin is the Mississippi River Water Quality Specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He has been employed by the University of Wisconsin- Center for Limnology, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Colorado State University- Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands. He has been with the Wisconsin DNR since 2006. His research interests include: effects of lateral connectivity on water quality characteristics, light attenuation dynamics, water quality and habitat thresholds driving free-floating plant and cyanobacteria production, eutrophication mechanisms, plankton dynamics, interactions between water quality and biota, emerging contaminants and climate change adaptation measures.

Dr. Carla Romano, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

Carla Romano is an experienced hydrogeologist currently working at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). She currently manages several monitoring programs for pesticides in groundwater and surface water across Wisconsin. Prior to DATCP, she contributed to research on nitrate and neonicotinoid contamination while working at the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey and UW-Madison. With a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, UK, her expertise spans across water sampling, data analysis, and groundwater modeling.”

Dr. James Crall, Department of Entomology, UW-Madison

James received his Bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College (Biology, Sociology and Anthropology) and his PhD from Harvard University in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. He is interested in the behavior and ecology of insects and how these are impacted by rapid environmental change. His research group at UW-Madison studies bee health and plant-pollinator interactions, with an applied interest in supporting pollinators and pollination in agroecosystems. His lab develops low-cost, scalable techniques for experimental automation, data collection, and analysis, including the application of AI and computer vision. He is especially interested in how these emerging technologies can help us better understand the impacts of environmental change and pesticide exposure in particular on bees and other pollinators.

Dr. Samatha Oliver, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, United States Geological Survey

Samantha Oliver is a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey and contributes to a variety of data-intensive projects at the Upper Midwest Water Science Center, including analysis of long-term trends in stream water quality, assessing the biological relevance of contaminants in Great Lakes tributaries, producing national extent stream temperature predictions, and forecasting water quality for various end users. Samantha uses data science approaches in her work and supports R programming training across the USGS. She also serves as the center’s Science Coordinator, where she supports internal and external science communication and connecting with USGS partners. Samantha received her PhD in Limnology and Freshwater Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Master’s degree in Integrated Biosciences from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Matthew Khan, EPA Office of Pesticide Programs

Matt is a Chemical Review Manager in EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs’ Pesticide Re-evaluation Division working on the registration review of a number of conventional pesticides, and is the coordinator for the neonicotinoids. Matt is from central New Jersey but is currently living in Portland, Oregon. Matt has a BS and MS in Marine Biology and Coastal Sciences from Montclair State University. Prior to joining EPA, Matt worked aboard hopper dredges as an endangered species observer, and also served a year in the AmeriCorps prior to that on Jekyll Island, GA from 2017 to 2018. Matt has many interests including travel, cooking, photography, climbing, hiking, fishing, and gardening.

Additional Information

A special thank you to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Surface Water Grant Program for making this event possible. Click here for more information!

Questions?

Contact:

Clean Wisconsin Water and Agriculture Program Director Sara Walling – swalling@cleanwisconsin.org

OR

Trout Unlimited State Council Member Michael Williamson – mlwilliamson7@gmail.com