What to Watch in 2019: Celebrate Water Summit

Celebrate Water Door County will conclude its year of celebration with a three-day summit, June 4-6, 2019, at the Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor. Throughout 2018, groups and organizations have celebrated all things water with gallery shows, performances, concerts and more. During the winter, these celebrations will continue through educational presentations and activities organized in collaboration with groups such as Crossroads at Big Creek, the Door County Library, the Door Community Auditorium, Write On, Door County, and more.

The June summit will feature a line-up of 12 speakers, including Jill Heinerth (cave diver and inaugural explorer in residence, Canadian Geographical Society); Dan Egan (author and journalist); Joel Brammier (president and CEO, Alliance for the Great Lakes); David Groenfeldt (founder and director, Water-Culture Institute); Val Klump (dean and professor, School of Freshwater Science); Mike Gilbertson (agricultural nonpoint source implementation coordinator, DNR); Jamie Patton (outreach specialist, UW-Madison and UW-Extension); Dennis Hickey (fisherman, Hickey Bros. Fisheries); Greg Kleinheinz (professor, UW-Oshkosh); Don Niles (farmer, Dairy Dreams Dairy); Amber Beard (design and project manager, sustainability strategist and healthy-building strategist consultant, projekt hABitat); Bret Bicoy (president and CEO, Door County Community Foundation); and more.

Heinerth will open the summit June 4 with a 7 pm keynote presentation at the Door Community Auditorium. The public is welcome to attend for free, although donations are welcome.

The speakers will start their presentations on June 5, with the first sessions beginning at 8:30 am, and the last concluding at 3 pm. Two speakers will present concurrently, so participants may choose between the two presentations. All of the educational sessions fall in one of four subject categories: State of the Waters, Policy/Advocacy/Ethics, Industry and Agriculture, or Contemporary Issues. The second day will wrap up with a presentation of student poster projects, when high school and college students will have the opportunity to present a project to their peers and professionals. Prizes will be awarded to the students.

A farewell address by Bret Bicoy will wrap up the summit on June 6, and an afternoon of optional field trips will follow. So far these include a shoreline tour with Shoreline Charters in Gills Rock, a Dunes Lake tour and a tour of Waseda Farms. To end the summit with a splash, participants and presenters are welcome to visit Door County Brewing Co. in Baileys Harbor for tours of its facility and networking.

For more information, a complete summit schedule and details about more Celebrate Water events, visit celebratewaterdoorcounty.org. Sign up for the biweekly newsletter to receive more information about Celebrate Water events taking place throughout the year, as well as updates on the June summit. Summit registration will be coming soon.