Lake Michigan Day highlights the significant opportunities for continued restoration and protection of Lake Michigan and the broader Great Lakes Basin, while also addressing ongoing challenges. With an excellent lineup of panelists, speakers, and lightning talks, every August Lake Michigan Day provides a forum for practitioners, decision-makers, and community leaders to learn about ongoing collaborative, community-focused water and land conservation work. Each year the Lake Michigan Champions of Conservation awardees are honored at Lake Michigan Day for their outstanding leadership in protecting and enhancing the precious lands and waters of the Lake Michigan Basin.

2024 Lake Michigan Day Highlights

2024 Keynote Speaker:

Sara Smith

Sara Smith is a citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and works as the Midwest Tribal Resilience Liaison with the College of Menominee Nation - Sustainable Development Institute (CMN-SDI), in association with the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (MW CASC).

As a liaison for the Midwest, she works on facilitating stronger relationships between Tribes, climate researchers, organizations, academic institutions, and the MW CASC. In addition, she works with Tribes to build capacity and provides support by helping identify gaps and assisting with climate resilience efforts.

Sara holds a Master of Science in Ecology from the State University of New York – College of Environmental Science and Forestry and an undergraduate degree in Biology and First Nation Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Climate Change Action PaneL SPEAKERS:

MARCO MARQUEZ
WI State Director of Organizing at Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE)

JEFF LUTSEY
Executive Director of the Climate Change Coalition of Door County

SARA SMITH
Midwest Tribal Resilience Liaison with the College of Menominee Nation - Sustainable Development Institute (CMN-SDI), in association with the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (MW CASC)

Marco Marquez is the WI State Director of Organizing for ACE -- Action for the Climate Emergency. Marco leads young people in the fight for their future by giving them the skills, training and resources they need to become powerful climate activists. Marco has organized young people in many movement spaces, but is very passionate about protecting our land, air, and water. Marco lives in Milwaukee, WI and enjoys the beauty of Lake Michigan every single day.

Jeff Lutsey serves as the Executive Director of Climate Change Coalition of Door County and staff member of Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP), leading climate education and action in Door County. He volunteers and serves on the Boards of Directors at The Ridges Sanctuary, Destination Door County, and the Door County YMCA. He received a mechanical engineering degree from Northwestern University in 2002. He worked on nuclear reactor design, testing, and training supporting the U.S. Navy through 2015 and organic pasture-based farming through 2022.

LIGHTNING TALK SPEAKERS:

SUSIE SEIDELMAN
Take Back My Meds Coalition Director and Director of Victura Communications

BRIDGET BROWN
Chief Operations and Programs Officer with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative

GAVIN DEHNERT
Emerging Contaminants Scientist with University of Wisconsin Sea Grant

Susie Seidelman is the Director of Victura Communications. She has over fifteen years of experience working closely with nonprofits and foundations to understand their communications needs, craft goals and strategic plans to meet them, and execute that strategy to align messaging across platforms. Susie builds capacity within organizations, ensuring they have the skills and tools needed to do their best communications work, and trains organizations to use these tools to greatest effect. In 2017 Susie was hired to help Take Back My Meds Milwaukee develop their first strategic communications plan. In 2020, after several years of being instrumental to the campaign’s growth and implementation of accessible and safe medication disposal boxes, Susie became the Take Back My Meds Coalition Director.

Bridget Brown leads the Cities Initiative's municipal support programs around coastal resilience, water equity, water quality and climate action. The Cities Initiative's coastal resilience programs have provided engineering and financing support to over 100 U.S. Great Lakes coastal communities since launching in 2021. Leveraging funding through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the National Coastal Resilience Fund, these forward-thinking programs emphasize best practices for environmental sustainability by incorporating nature-based solutions for mitigating coastal flooding and erosion. Prior to joining the Cities Initiative, Bridget’s positions included community-based outreach (Oregon Sea Grant), higher education student engagement (UW-Milwaukee), and international water policy research (World Bank). Bridget grew up in the Great Lakes (Michigan) and is proud to call this region home. She currently lives in Milwaukee.

Gavin Dehnert 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 he 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, he 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.

2024 LAKE MICHIGAN DAY Sponsors:

 
 
 
 
 
 

Lake michigan Stakeholders

PO Box 224
Port Washington, WI 53074