{"id":14022,"date":"2026-08-25T09:43:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T14:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/?post_type=campus_story&p=14022"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:44:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T14:44:31","slug":"uw-researchers-train-future-scientists-and-educate-communities-about-wisconsins-peatlands","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-researchers-train-future-scientists-and-educate-communities-about-wisconsins-peatlands\/","title":{"rendered":"UW researchers train future scientists and educate communities about Wisconsin\u2019s peatlands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Peatlands are powerhouses when it comes to improving water quality, minimizing flood risks, providing habitat and storing carbon. Yet, most people are unaware of these important ecological places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers and students from UW-Green Bay and UW-Madison hope to change that. With funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, they are studying the connection between water quality and vegetation in Wisconsin\u2019s peatlands and developing educational materials for students and community members. The project combines field work, lab skills, art and photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team includes seven undergraduates led by Keir Wefferling, principal investigator and herbarium curator at UW-Green Bay, and Mary Ann Feist, co-principal investigator and research curator at the Wisconsin State Herbarium at UW-Madison. Students also receive mentorship from two graduate students (Sarah Baughman, UW-Green Bay and Holly Johnson, UW-Madison) and a research assistant (Brandon Corder, UW-Madison).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great to have so many students working on the project and in the field,\u201d Wefferling says. He adds, \u201cIt\u2019s been wonderful to have funding to have the collaboration across campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The major goals of the grant are to get students into Wisconsin\u2019s peatlands for hands-on learning in plant identification, water chemistry, data collection and community assessment. Activities included Peat Retreat, a weeklong retreat in northern Wisconsin. Students learned from professionals including a sedge expert, a hydrogeomorphologist, a fern expert and a bryologist. At the end of the week, they were divided into teams for a competitive meander survey to see which team could identify the most plants correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted them to go out and see what they could do on their own,\u201d Feist says. \u201cIt was impressive to see how much they picked up in a week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past year, the students have presented at events and participated in numerous workshops and field days, one of which included students in UW-Green Bay\u2019s High School Summer Freshwater Scholars Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on their data collection, the students are creating educational Trail Side Guides for visitors to the The Ridges Sanctuary<\/a> in Door County, Kemp Natural Resources Station<\/a> in Oneida County, Scott Lake and Shelp Lake State Natural Area<\/a> in Forest County and North Lakeland Discovery Center<\/a> in Vilas County. Their first completed guide <\/a>is for Bayshore Wetlands in Door County. Their data will also be included in the Peatland Primer, a resource for high school to college level students to help them learn about peatlands. The primer will be incorporated into a core course at UW-Green Bay and a course at Land Restoration School<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hands-on Experiences in the Peatlands<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some of the undergraduates participating in the research shared details about their experience, what they are learning and how the project is training them for the workforce. Here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n