2026 Upper Mississippi River Conference Schedule
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. | "Main Street Landing" Project Tour
- Speaker TBA, City of Davenport
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. | Conference Meet-up and Appetizers | Doubletree Hotel
Wednesday, November 4th, 2026
7:00 – 8:30 a.m. | Registration, Breakfast and Check-in | Atrium/MRH Entrance
8:30 – 9:00 a.m. | Welcome Remarks | Mississippi River Hall
- Kathy Wine, Executive Director and Founder, River Action
9:00 – 10:15 a.m. | Keynote Session | Mississippi River Hall
"Title TBA"
- Dr. Aaron Thompson, Landscape Architect and Horticulturist, Purdue University
10:15 - 10:30 a.m. | Networking Break
10:30 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. | Water Quality Panel Pt.1
"Water Quality Crisis: Restoring Our River System" (Moderated by Scott Tomkins)
- Kathy Jo Jankowski, Principal Investigator, Mississippi Restoration LTRM Program
- TBA, Nutrient Specialist, IA American Water
- Dr. Emily Jenkins, Senior Engineering Manager, Farnsworth Group
11:50 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Networking Break
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | Water Quality Panel Pt.2
- Rachel Curry, Agricultural Educator, IL Extension Office
- Whitney Clark, Executive Director, Friends of the Mississippi River
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. | Boxed Lunch | Atrium
1:30 – 4:00 p.m. | Field Tour
Sustainable Agriculture with Rob Ewoldt Field Trip ($15) - "Title TBD"
- Robb Ewoldt, Regenerative Farmer/Director, United Soybean Board
4:00 - 6:30 p.m. | Break & Dinner Set-up
6:30 - 8 p.m. | Plated Dinner and Presentation | Mississippi River Hall
"Title TBA"
Presentation description to come.
- Andrea Knepper, LCSW, Founder, Chicago Adventure Therapy
Thursday, November 5th, 2025
7:00 – 8:00 a.m. | Registration, Breakfast and Check-in | Atrium/MRH Entrance
8:00 – 9:15 a.m. | Journalism Panel | Mississippi River Hall
"PRESSing Forward: Addressing Challenges in Modern Journalism" (Moderated by Kathy Wine)
- Reggie McLeod, Editor and Publisher, Big River Magazine
- Deb Anslem, Executive Director, Iowa Newspaper Association
- Noah Glasgow, Journalist, North Scott Press
9:15 – 9:45 a.m. | Networking Break | Atrium
Student Schedule
(see regular agenda in next section)
9:15 – 9:30 a.m. | Next Gen Scholars Arrive
9:30 – 10:45 a.m. | Welcome and Environmental Career Panel | Conjoined Breakout Rooms
- Audrey Tran Lam, Environmental Health Program Director, UNI Center for Energy and Environmental Education
- Dr. Aaron Thompson, Landscape Architect and Horticulturist, Purdue University
- Carli J Schlabowske, Geographer, USACE
- Noah Glasgow, Journalist, North Scott Press
10:45 – 11:00 a.m. | Water Quality Issue Presentation
11:00 – 11:30 a.m. | Problem Solving with River Scientists
11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Digital Poster Making
12:00 – 12:30 p.m. | Student Presentations and Discussion
9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Breakout 1 - all attendees | Mississippi River Hall
"Friends of the River: Community Action at Work" (Moderator TBA)
- Whitney Clark, Executive Director, Friends of the Mississippi River
- Margaret Frisbe, Executive Director, Friends of the Chicago River
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m. | Breakout 2 - all attendees | Mississippi River Hall
"Conservation in the Age of A.I." (Moderator TBA)
- Kamyar Enshayan, Former Director, UNI Center for Energy and Environmental Education (CEEE)
- Everett Hamner, Literature, Film, and Science Professor, WIU
12:30 – 1:45 p.m. | Networking Luncheon | Main Ballroom
"Title TBD"
- David Cwiertny, Department Chair, University of Iowa Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Professor, Dept. of Chemistry
1:45 – 2:00 p.m. | Transition to Breakouts (Students Return to School)
2:00 – 3:15 p.m. | Divided Breakout Sessions
Breakout 3 | Mississippi River Hall
"Interdisciplinary Stewardship" (Moderated by Jerry Skalak)
- Carli J Schlabowske, Geographer, USACE
Breakout 4 | Mississippi River Hall
"Re-shaping Riverfront Recreation" (Moderated by James Lasher)
- Dan Williams, Principal Landscape Architect, MSA Professional Services
- Stephanie Oppel, Executive Director, ICON River Trails
3:15 – 3:30 p.m. | Networking Break
3:30 – 4:30 p.m. | Closing Plenary Session | Mississippi River Hall
"Title TBD"
- Chris Jones, Hydroscience Research Engineer, Iowa Water Center
4:30 p.m. | Adjourn
REGISTRATION NOT YET OPEN
CLICK HERE to download the 2025 printable brochure.