NAWM

The National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) holds eight webinars per year for members. NAWM Member webinars cover a variety of topics encompassing wetland science, policy, program implementation, and legal issues. These webinars, including recordings for past webinars are available to NAWM members.  

Not a NAWM Member? Join or Renew 

For more information about this webinar series, please contact Laura Burchill at laura@nawm.org or
(207) 892-3399. Learn more about sponsorship opportunities.

If you haven’t used Teams before or you just need a refresher, please view our guide prior to the webinar.

View Past NAWM Members Webinar Series Here 

View a List of Past NAWM Members Webinar Series Recordings Here 

American Wetlands Month Webinar: Advancing Wetland Conservation Through Community Engagement 

Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - 3:00-4:30p.m. ET  PRESENTERS Kellie Uyeda, UC San Diego Natural Reserve System Mark Dilley, MAD Scientist Associates Jenny Adkins, MAD Scientist Associates

ABSTRACTS

Community Outreach through Love Your Wetlands Day
Kellie Uyeda

Love Your Wetlands Day is an annual celebration of wetlands at UC San Diego's Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve that consistently attracts more than 1,000 people. The event was started by UC San Diego staff in collaboration with the City of San Diego and was attended by just a few dozen volunteers in 2005. In the last few years, San Diego Bird Alliance and the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve have joined as hosts as well. All the event hosts have slightly different motivations for engaging in this outreach event, which I'll explore in this talk.

Bringing Wetlands to Your Community – and Vice Versa!
Mark Dilley and Jenny Adkins

Wetlands are a complicated and sometimes controversial topic, yet they are vital to our planet and its inhabitants - humans and wildlife alike. In this presentation, we will share tips on how to identify opportunities to restore or enhance wetlands in your community's parks and green spaces, how to manage and care for them, and most importantly, how to engage the community in meaningful and effective ways to garner interest and support for these important and fascinating ecosystems. Several illustrative (and special) stories will be shared to highlight the value of wetlands to unexpected stakeholders.

BIOS

Kellie Uyeda is the Executive Director of the UC San Diego Natural Reserve System, where she works at the intersection of research, education, and conservation. She has a PhD in Geography from San Diego State University/UC Santa Barbara.

Mark Dilley earned a B.S. in Natural Resources (Fisheries Management) in 1991 and a M.S. in Environmental Science (specializing in wetlands) in 2003, both from The Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources. He and his wife Christine are co-owners of a WBE, WOSB, and EDGE-certified environmental consulting firm, MAD Scientist Associates, specializing in ecological and wetland consulting. Their company mission is Making A Difference – through Science, Service and Education. Mark has over 30 years of experience as a field biologist, ecologist, and wetland scientist. He is a Certified Senior Ecologist, Certified Ecological Restoration Professional (CERP), and Senior Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS). Mark was also a lecturer at The Ohio State University, where he taught Wetland Ecology & Restoration for 13 years. He is the Past President of the Ohio Wetlands Association and currently serves as a Member-at-Large for the Ohio Ecological Restoration Association.  

Jenny Adkins works as an environmental scientist specializing in botany and environmental education at an ecological consulting firm in Westerville, Ohio. She received her M. Ed. in Adult, Young Adult Life Sciences and B.S. in Biology from Wright State University. Her position at this unique company allows her to work closely with formal and informal educators throughout Ohio, designing outdoor learning spaces, tailoring curriculum to incorporate environmental education, and leading hands-on exploration activities in the outdoors.

A Certificate of Attendance to be used toward Continuing Education Credits is available when participating in NAWM's live webinars. All Certificates must be claimed no later than 60 days from the live presentation. Certificates are not available for viewing recorded webinars. More Information.

Exploring the Economic Benefits of Wetland Ecosystems and Management Programs

Wednesday, June 24, 2026 - 3:00-4:30p.m. ET  Presenters Glen Delaney, Earth Economics Donna Bilkovic, Virginia Institute of Marine Science

ABSTRACTS

An Economic Valuation of H2Ohio’s Agriculture and Wetlands Program
Glen Delaney, Earth Economic

The H2Ohio initiative is delivering measurable results for Ohio’s people, economy, and environment. The goal of the initiative is to tackle the harmful impacts of excess phosphorus in surface waters, improving water quality through wetland restoration, reducing nutrient runoff, and promoting agricultural best management practices (BMPs), among other programs. The initiative has restored more than 180 wetlands covering 11,000+ acres and enrolled over 3,200 farmers to apply BMPs across 2.2 million acres in 2024 alone, preventing 420,000 pounds of phosphorus from entering waterways. Earth Economics valued the non-market benefits created by H2Ohio’s investment and calculated the ripple effect and job creation of the initiative's spending on wetlands and ag BMPs. Analysis by Earth Economics demonstrates that H2Ohio generates strong returns on investment from H2Ohio’s work restoring wetlands and supporting farmers to reduce nutrient runoff, as the program remediates harmful algal blooms, improves drinking water security, and strengthens local economies.  

What are Marshes Worth? Valuing Coastal Community Benefits with SHORE-BET
Donna Bilkovic, Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Marshes are important natural capital assets for many coastal communities, providing a range of ecosystem services such coastal protection and erosion control, nutrient removal, fish habitat, and recreational opportunities. We combined economic valuation techniques with human use and preference surveys, local ecological data, and physical and geospatial modeling to estimate the monetary value and spatial variation in services provided by marsh and living shorelines, within a NOAA habitat focus area in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, the Middle Peninsula. Our interdisciplinary approach aligns with the site-specific spatial scales of restoration decisions and can be translated to other types of natural capital (e.g., oyster reefs, beaches). This study demonstrated that marsh and living shoreline ecosystem service value is a significant asset for local communities, amounting to about $90M per year in benefits to the Middle Peninsula or ~ 3.3% of the region’s GDP annually. Moreover, insights from an important stakeholder group, recreational fishers, show they place a high value on marshes in the region. Marsh and living shorelines were the most used shoreline habitats by recreational fishers and generate more than 3X the value when compared to armored shores. We developed a decision tool - SHORE-BET: Coastal Community Benefit Tool for Marsh Restoration that calculates the economic value of community benefits to be gained by using living shoreline techniques that restore marshes. This tool helps to account for these ecosystem services so that coastal communities can be better informed when making decisions impacting their environment, economy, and overall quality of life. 

BIOS

Glen Delaney (he/him) is a project director and director of partnerships at Earth Economics, a non-profit with a mission to quantify and value nature for better decision-making. He has led valuations of diverse ecosystems from salmon habitat restoration in Washington to the Greater Everglades. Previously, Glen was a British commercial officer in San Francisco, supporting the UK’s climate agenda during COP26.

Dr. Donna Bilkovic is a marine ecologist and professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary and Assistant Director of the Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM). With over 25 years of experience, she employs socio-ecological theory, spatial modeling, and field ecology to investigate the intersection of coastal ecosystems and human communities. Her research advances understanding of how nature-based coastal protection techniques can enhance the resilience of ecosystems and communities, while also quantifying the ecological and economic benefits of these systems for decision-making. She works at the interface of science and management, developing tools, guidance, and partnerships that inform policy and on-the-ground implementation of nature-based solutions. Her efforts have helped shape coastal management practices in the Chesapeake Bay region and beyond, with a focus on sustaining both ecosystem function and human communities in the face of climate change.

 A Certificate of Attendance to be used toward Continuing Education Credits is available when participating in NAWM's live webinars. All Certificates must be claimed no later than 60 days from the live presentation. Certificates are not available for viewing recorded webinars. More Information. 

To view Past Members Wetland Webinars:

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View Past Members Webinar Series Here

View a List of Past Members Webinar Series Recordings Here

The National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) formerly the Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) collaborated to develop a series of webinars introducing the topic of restoration of aquatic ecosystems through the reintroduction of beavers, the use of beaver dam analogues (BDAs) or restoration designed to attract beavers to an area to contribute to changing hydrology and restoring ecosystem services. The webinar series was planned by a national workgroup of beaver restoration experts and webinars are presented by expert practitioners, managers and researchers working in the field. In 2020-2021, the six-part webinar series covered the basics of beaver restoration and continuing through implementation challenges and ways to encourage beaver restoration projects. The series has been added to our Online Trainings library, available here.

If you haven’t used Teams before or you just need a refresher, please view our guide prior to the webinar here.   

View Past Beaver-related Restoration Webinars
  

Please check back for future Beaver-related Restoration Webinars.

See the NAWM-BLM Beaver-Related Restoration Training Series

Receive information on upcoming NAWM Webinars

Thank you!

The Association conducts research and publishes reports, guidebooks, news articles, brochures, white papers, and summaries of findings of symposia and workshops. These are available electronically to all interested individuals and organizations.

NAWM Publications

Wetland News Digest

Wetland News (Members' Only)

Weekly News of Interest

Listed below are links to news articles that may be of interest to the wetland community. Readers are encouraged to send links to recent articles, publications, and other resources pertaining to wetlands in their local area to Portia Osborne, Executive Director at news@nawm.org and reference “In the News” in the subject.

• Gov. Spanberger signs wetlands, PFAS and flooding bills

• Beavers Turn Rivers Into Powerful Carbon Sinks, Study Finds

• Invasive plant threatens livelihoods in Colombia’s largest coastal wetland

• This Utah State graduate is studying how climate change affects Arctic wetlands

• West Memphis project aims to transform floodplain into wetlands, trails and public green space 

• Local land trust hosts frog walk in Northeast Georgia wetland

Comment Letter – January 5, 2026 –
NAWM Comments on Updated Definition of "WOTUS"
The National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) submitted comments in response to the proposed rule, “Updated Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’,” EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0322. The NAWM letter addresses the following key issue areas: 1) importance of working with states and tribes to define WOTUS; 2) definitions and implementation of “relatively permanent waters,” “tributary,” and “adjacent wetland”; 3) appropriateness of proposed tools for implementing jurisdictional tests; 4) proposed approaches to exclusions from WOTUS; and 5) elimination of interstate waters as a category of WOTUS. The full comment letter can be found here.

MISSION

The mission of the National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) is to build capacity for state and tribal members and foster collaboration among the wetland community of practice by encouraging the application of sound science to wetland management and policy, promoting the protection and restoration of wetlands and related aquatic resources, and providing training and education for members and the general public.

VISION

As a result of NAWM’s work, the wetland community has access to and effectively uses sound science, policy, and private/public partnerships to preserve, protect, and restore the nation’s precious and limited wetlands and related aquatic resources.

HISTORY

The National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) was founded by Jon A. Kusler, Esq., Ph.D., and Scott Hausmann in 1983 with two goals — to support state wetland programs and to support national wetland policy reflecting sound wetland science. NAWM has tried to stay true to these goals throughout the years, during the ups and downs of funding and politics. Read more.

Officers

Samantha Vogeler, Chair

Samantha Vogeler has worked for the Kentucky Division of Water since 2015. With a strong regulatory background, she has extensive experience in implementing regulations under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. She is the Supervisor for the 401 Water Quality Certification Section, where she ensures statewide implementation and compliance with the 401 Water Quality Certification Program and serves on the Kentucky Interagency Review Team. Since 2019, Samantha has served on the National Association of Wetland Managers Board of Directors and is currently the Chair. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, playing sports, traveling, and exploring the outdoors. 

Amy Lounds, Secretary

Amy Lounds has served as the Section Manager for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Field Operations Support Section in the Water Resources Division for the past five years. The Section is responsible for administering, supporting, and enforcing division programs such as the Wetlands, Lakes and Streams, Great Lakes, Floodplains, Critical Dunes, High Risk Erosion Areas, Dam Safety, and the Coastal Management programs, which includes Michigan’s assumed Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act program. Her duties include managing program staff, ensuring compliance with federal requirements and state-federal agreements, providing program guidance for staff and the public, and resolving complex and controversial technical and policy issues. Amy has worked for EGLE for over 25 years and earlier in her career served as the Wetlands, Lakes and Streams Unit Supervisor and the statewide wetland policy specialist and the administrator of the wetland mitigation banking program. Prior to working for EGLE, Amy worked for the Michigan Department of Transportation doing environmental reviews and permit applications for wetlands, inland lakes and streams, and floodplains. Amy has a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Michigan State University and a Maters in Landscape Architecture and Conservation Biology and Ecosystem Management from the University of Michigan. Amy currently lives in Holt, Michigan with her husband and two daughters, and enjoys spending time with her family and being outdoors. 

Lauren Driscoll, Treasurer

Lauren Driscoll is the Manager of the Wetlands Program at the Washington State Department of Ecology, a position that she has held since 2005. She is responsible for ensuring statewide consistency in the implementation of wetland permitting, technical assistance, and guidance for local wetland regulations. She oversees the wetland compliance program and writes grants for wetland program activities including projects to improve wetland mapping in Washington. Lauren specializes in wetland policy, mitigation options such as wetland banks, In Lieu Fee and advance mitigation, and analyzing federal legislative and executive actions related to wetlands. Lauren received her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the Evergreen State College where she studied ecology, botany, organic agriculture and computer sciences.

Mark Biddle, Past Chair

Mark Biddle is a certified Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) with more than 35 years of experience. Mark retired from a long career at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources in the Watershed Assessment and Management Section. Mark managed the Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program, the Watershed Management Program, Stream Habitat and Biology Program, and the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Program. Mark has been involved in Delaware’s regulatory and permitting responsibilities for tidal wetlands, subaqueous lands, 401 water quality certification, and drafting legislation and regulations for non-tidal wetlands. His work has involved the Delaware Wetlands Conservation Strategy, wetland restoration, compensatory mitigation, wetland banking, assessing restored wetlands for nutrient assimilation, and serving as team leader for Delaware Whole Basin Management. He's helped lead multiple statewide and regional wetland mapping and other geospatial efforts and participated in various ecological and green infrastructure initiatives. Since leaving employment at DNREC, Mark worked for Maryland Environmental Service as Program Manager for Engineering and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He is currently doing environmental consulting with Dewey Environmental, LLC.

Members At Large

Stacia Bax - Missouri Department of Natural Resources

Stacia Bax is the Environmental Manager in the Financial Assistance Center within the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Her section awards loans and grants to wastewater, stormwater, and nonpoint source projects across the State of Missouri. Stacia has over 23 years of experience with the department and has also worked most recently with the Section 401 Water Quality Certification Program for over 11 years, Section 402 NPDES program master general permits (industrial stormwater, industrial process water, construction/land disturbance stormwater, and municipal stormwater), and NPDES eReporting Rule. She also has worked with Section 319 Nonpoint Source grants, Water Quality Standards rulemaking, TMDL development, Montauk State Park as a seasonal naturalist, and fieldwork in the beautiful Ozarks of Southwest Missouri.

In her personal time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter and son (and two dogs) hiking, camping, and kayaking as well as archery, scouting activities, and watching her daughter play college volleyball and son with shotgun sports. In her spare time, Stacia loves to read, cook and bake (pies are her favorite), explore new places, and craft fiber arts (knitting and crocheting namely, though she has a loom she would love to learn to weave on). She lives in Central Missouri.
 

Denise Clearwater - Maryland Department of the Environment

Denise Clearwater has worked in Maryland’s wetland programs since 1986. She has a background in developing and implementing programs in wetland regulation, wetland training, and mitigation, as well as managing special projects for grants and program improvement and assisting in policy development. She has represented the Wetlands and Waterways Program in the Maryland Department of the Environment on numerous interagency work groups for regulatory, wetland monitoring, restoration, preservation and stream health and is a past co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Program Wetland Work Group. She is also a member of the Society of Wetland Scientists. Denise has a B.S. in zoology from the University of Maryland and an M.S. in wildlife management from Frostburg State College (now University). 

Andy Robertson, GeoSpatial Services at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

Andy Robertson is the Executive Director of GeoSpatial Services at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. In this role, he is responsible for oversight and management of all GeoSpatial Services projects, activities and staff. GeoSpatial Services is engaged in a wide variety of projects across the Lower 48 and Alaska including wetland inventory; National Hydrography Dataset updates; spatial data development; and, natural resource condition assessments. Andy has a diverse background in spatial information systems, watershed planning, wetland inventory, forest management, environmental impact assessment, desktop and server system support and database administration. He is a Registered Professional Forest Technologist (Alberta, Canada) and has experience leading natural resource projects for both private sector companies and public agencies across Canada and the United States including the Department of Interior, United States Army Corp of Engineers, NOAA, and the Department of Agriculture. Andy has a Forest Technology Diploma from Sault College of Applied Technology in Ontario, Canada, a B.Sc. in Environmental Science from the University of Waterloo and has completed postgraduate work in forest management at the University of Toronto. He is also a steering committee member for the Wetland Mapping Consortium and is co-chair of the Alaska GeoSpatial Council Wetland Technical Group. 

Bill Ryan - Oregon Department of State Lands

Bill Ryan is the Deputy Director at the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) leading the Aquatic Resources Management Program which is responsible for implementation of Oregon’s Removal-Fill and Wetlands Conservation Laws. Prior to joining the DSL in June of 2010, Bill enjoyed 14 years at the Oregon Department of Transportation performing environmental compliance work including wetlands delineation and mitigation, mitigation banking, regulatory streamlining and process improvement. Bill started his professional career in Southern California in 1989 providing environmental planning and habitat restoration expertise for various planning and engineering firms. Bill has been a member of NAWM (ASWM) for nine years. He also serves on the Board of the Oregon Public Management Association which provides networking and low-cost training opportunities for managers and aspiring managers in public service. Bill has an undergraduate degree in Geography Ecosystems Management from UCLA and a master’s in Biology from California State University, Fullerton. His master’s thesis topic was a study of succession in the alluvial scrub plant community following flood events in the Santa Ana River, California. In his spare time Bill enjoys hiking, camping, travel, skiing, singing acapella madrigals with the Sherwood Renaissance Singers and reading a good book.

Mary Ann Tilton - New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services

Mary Ann Tilton is the Assistant Wetlands Bureau Administrator with the State of New Hampshire, Department of Environmental Services (NHDES), Wetlands Bureau. Mary Ann oversees wetlands permitting and assists in overall wetlands bureau natural rescue management. She has been with NHDES for over 30 years in various management and supervisory positions. She helped develop the Wetlands Enforcement program and supervised wetlands compliance for 17 years. She has served as the Assistant Administrator since 2005 and oversees state wetlands rules development, program development, and wetlands permitting. She is the recipient of an EPA Merit Award (2019) for development of a Wetlands BMP, multi-year rules initiative, and development of stream crossing rules. She holds a BA degree in Botany and Zoology from Connecticut College, MS in Zoology from University of Rhode Island, and a JD from UNH Law School (formerly Franklin Pierce Law Center), and is a Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) and member of the Society of Wetland Scientists. She lives with her family in Concord, NH and enjoys biking, hiking, skiing, and birding, and exploring amazing wetland habitats.

NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY

The National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, or sex in administration of its programs or activities, whether carried out by NAWM directly, through a contractor, or any other entity with whom NAWM arranges to carry out its programs, services and activities. NAWM does not intimidate or retaliate against any individual or group because they have exercised their rights to participate in actions protected, or oppose action prohibited, by 40 C.F.R. Parts 5 and 7, or for the purpose of interfering with such rights.

NAWM collects and maintains demographic data on the race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability status of the population it serves.

NAWM continually seeks effective ways to accommodate those with visual or hearing impairments. NAWM also takes reasonable steps to ensure that persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) will have meaningful access and an equal opportunity to participate in our services, activities, programs, and other benefits.

NAWM designated civil rights coordinator: Portia Osborne, Executive Director

The NAWM Executive Director is responsible for coordination of compliance efforts and receipt of inquiries concerning non-discrimination requirements implemented by 40 C.F.R. Parts 5 and 7 (Non-discrimination in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency), including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; and Section 13 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (hereinafter referred to collectively as the federal non-discrimination laws).

If you have any questions about this notice or any of NAWM’s non-discrimination programs, policies, or procedures, you may contact:

Portia Osborne, Executive Director
500 Washington Street, Suite 201
Portland, ME 04103
207-892-3399 Ext 11
portia@nawm.org

If you believe that you have been discriminated against with respect to a NAWM’s program or activity, you may contact the Executive Director identified above or visit our website at nawm.org to learn how and where to file a complaint of discrimination.