Crops and Soils

2025 Wisconsin Water and Soil Health Conference Call for Breakout Sessions

Help us crowdsource innovative ideas and great speakers for WWASH 2025

December 2025, Kalahari Resort and Conference Center- Wisconsin Dells, WI

Proposal Submission Deadline: February 28, 2025

In an effort to continue the legacy of high-quality presenters and innovative ideas shared, the UW Madison Division of Extension invites you to submit a proposal for a conference breakout session at our 2025 Wisconsin Water and Soil Health (WWASH) Conference to be held in December in Wisconsin Dells, WI.

The Wisconsin Water and Soil Health Conference (WWASH) provides a gathering place for Wisconsin farmers, agronomists, conservation professionals, and others interested in agriculture, water quality, and soil health. Through on-farm data, conservation success stories, and rich conversations, attendees gain a systems-based understanding of the interaction between agriculture management practices and our soil and water resources.

The education, discussion, and networking opportunities provided at the conference aim to help Wisconsin farmers, agronomists, and conservation professionals make farm and landscape management decisions that improve Wisconsin’s overall water quality and soil health.

Questions? agwater@extension.wisc.edu

Submitted breakout session proposals should:

• Educate agronomists, conservation professionals and farmers on the effectiveness of practices on soil health and water quality outcomes
• Feature innovative talks
• Highlight success stories and partnerships within Wisconsin and the upper Midwest
• Introduce speakers not previously featured
• Provide resources and tools to stakeholders to have confidence in making agronomic and conservation changes
• Be educational in focus and must not have a sales pitch. Use of company and trade names must be limited to introductions.

The conference planning committee will review all submissions and reserves the right to modify and adjust conference content suggestions. The proposal process is new for 2025 and may undergo future edits and considerations based on feedback by stakeholders. Your patience and engagement with the process is very much appreciated!

Conference Session

The conference sessions are made up of 2-3 speakers each. Each session is 60 minutes. Conference presentations are done via PowerPoint Slides and all AV equipment will be provided. We will request conference presentations submitted to the session leaders 3 weeks prior to the conference. Please submit your idea for a conference session and indicate your interest in being the session leader. The WWASH conference does not use conference moderators, the session leader is responsible for designing the session, coordinating logistics, and moderating the session the day of. Duties include but are not limited to, session organization, including creation of session description, selecting and contacting of speakers, setting speaker timings, topics and expectations. 

Being a session leader typically includes attending ~seven virtual meetings with the planning committee through the year, for an estimated 15 hours of commitment.