Speaker: Marissa Ashbeck

Anyone can create a garden space, but can you create a sustainable landscape? 

During "Design Concepts for a Sustainable Landscape" we will be touching on thoughtful design concepts, low-impact gardens, low-maintenance landscaping, beneficial plants, and how to attract beneficial insects and wildlife into your yards. We will be getting back to the basics and talking about what is feasible and sustainable in our yards today. Join us and start brainstorming your sustainable gardens today!

Marissa Ashbeck is the Horticulture and Grounds Manager at Monk Botanical Gardens in Wausau, WI. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Horticulture- Landscape Design and Management at the University of Wisconsin- River Falls. Her passion for horticulture sparked when she was in high school, and through FFA career development events, she was able to confirm her aspirations. While attending college at UWRF, she was able to specialize in landscape management and design, while gaining first-hand experience in the lab, greenhouse, and in the field. Marissa spent her summers interning at local growers and garden centers, which led into her position as Nursery Manager after graduating from UWRF. After working in the retail garden center, Marissa found her niche in connecting people with plants where she is today at Monk Botanical Gardens.

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Program Sponsors - Aniko Litasi Gerlach and Terry Gerlach

Speaker: Susan Cook

Wisconsin has a remarkable musical past, one that shows the individual and collective power of its native and emigrant peoples, and its regional, national and international connections and relationships. This talk presents snapshots from the state’s historical and current soundscapes identifying the circumstances under which musical practices were made, remembered and changed.

Susan C. Cook, Director of the Mead Witter School of Music at UW-Madison, is a music historian and dance scholar whose published work and current research engages with American musical repertories of all kinds. She is particularly interested in the social contexts of art, musical and dance practices as well as the regional practices of Wisconsin.

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Program Sponsors - Dave and Brenda Wenberg

Speaker: James Skibo, PhD

The Wisconsin Historical Society in partnership with Wisconsin's Native Nations is preserving a pair of historic dugout canoes recovered from Madison's Lake Mendota in 2021 and 2022. Resting on the lake bottom 27 feet underwater, the first discovery contained seven notched stones known as net sinkers used to hold down fishing nets. Photos of the canoe showed it to be in such pristine condition that it was suspected it had been made recently. But radiocarbon dating showed it was in use around A.D. 800, likely by ancestors of today's Ho-Chunk Nation. These finds have prompted the Wisconsin Historical Society to research fluctuating weather levels and ancient shorelines to explore the possibility that the canoes were near what is now submerged village sites.

Skibo received his bachelor’s degree from Northern Michigan University where he was first introduced to archaeology and a master’s degree and Ph.D. at the University of Arizona.

Skibo is the Wisconsin State Archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society. He is a Michigan native who previously served in roles at Illinois State University for 27 years, first as a professor of anthropology and later as chair of the department.

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Program Co-Sponsors - Denny & Cindy Wandtke and the Waupaca Historical Society

Speaker: Jeffrey Kersten

Jeffrey Kersten with the Wisconsin Bureau of Consumer Protection will discuss the details of common scams, the warning signs of a scam, and what to do if you or someone you know falls victim to a scam or fraud. Helpful factsheets will be available. As Wisconsin’s lead agency for consumer protection, the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection, provides information and education, mediates complaints, investigates cases, and takes enforcement actions to fight fraudulent and deceptive practices that harm consumers and honest businesses.

Kersten is the Agency Liaison for the Bureau of Consumer Protection within the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.  As the Agency Liaison, Kersten travels around the state to educate the public, businesses, and law enforcement on privacy protection, data security, identity theft, and other areas of consumer protection. Kersten has over 12 years of experience as a police officer and is a prior Consumer Protection Investigator for the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

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Program Sponsor - Office Outfitters

Speaker: Jeffrey M. Glazer, JD

Jeffrey Glazer will examine the basics of the technology behind cryptocurrency from the blockchain to wallets to tokens. He will focus on some of the newsworthy people that have given cryptocurrency its reputation for better and for worse.

Glazer works in the UW Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic supervising students' representation of startup businesses. He (re)designs many of the Clinic's systems and processes to make handling large caseloads more manageable for both students and supervisors. He leads the Clinic's initiatives in food and beverage, agriculture, information technology, data privacy, and public policy.

Glazer has written and spoken frequently on issues facing startups in the food and beverage industry, agriculture (including CBD and cannabis), data privacy, cryptocurrency and blockchain, and technology in the law. 

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This program is sponsored by contributions in memory of Maurice Wozniak