Center for Limnology

Outreach Overview

The Center for Limnology offers a variety of outreach experiences every year at Hasler Lab and Trout Lake Station including open houses, class field trips, guest lectures, and more. 

Contact Helen Schlimm at schlimm@wisc.edu (Hasler Lab) or Gretchen Gerrish at ggerrish@wisc.edu (Trout Lake Station) if your group would like to visit the CFL for a scientific field trip or if you are interested in an outreach event held at your location. Outreach requests will be considered as staff and resource availability allows.

The Center for Limnology is committed to the full inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Our Hasler Laboratory and Trout Lake Station facilities were built before the Americans with Disabilities Act and are not fully ADA accessible. If you have any questions about accommodations to participate in any outreach or department event, email Monet Hutchins (Hasler Lab) at monet.hutchins@wisc.edu or call 608-262-2009, or email Gretchen Gerrish (Trout Lake Station) at ggerrish@wisc.edu or call 608-890-4763.

Center for Limnology Outreach Programs

Open Houses

Join us at our Open House events at Hasler Lab every June and Trout Lake Station every August. Meet scientists, explore the labs and lakes, and learn first-hand how we study these ecosystems.

A CFL undergrad is leaning over a table helping a young person with a microscope during an Open House.

Field Trips

Students and community groups get hands-on experience collecting data and learning about water quality, aquatic life, and environmental science. See contact information above.

Two people are sitting on a pontoon boat during Open House at Hasler Lab. They are wearing tshirts and shorts and peering at and pointing to zooplankton in bottle of water from Lake Mendota.

Science on Tap Minocqua

Science on Tap Minocqua invites the community to engage with scientists over a casual discussion. Each event features a lively, interactive discussion on topics ranging from fish and forests to climate change and conservation.

A woman is standing in front of a crowd of people. She is wearing a blue sleeveless dress. There are small lights drapped across the ceiling.

UW-Madison Science Expeditions

We set up the Lakeshore Learning Lab as part of UW-Madison's annual campus-wide science open house event every April to share information about limnology and host hands-on science activities.

Group of people are standing outside of Hasler Lab with Lake Mendota in background. They are wearing colorful coats and hats as the weather is cool. They are peering at aquatic plant life in containers.

Clean Lakes Alliance Frozen Assets

We set up an Ice Lab at the Clean Lakes Alliance's annual winter festival every February to share information about winter limnology and host hands-on science activities.

Group of people are standing on frozen Lake Mendota around a hole in the ice as CFL grad student explains winter limnology

NTL LTER Schoolyard

Our NTL LTER Schoolyard winter limnology program brings the science of frozen lakes directly to students in the Trout Lake Station area, turning snow and ice into a living laboratory. This program is not accepting new participants at this time.

A child is dressed in winter clothing and is peering into a hole in the snow covered lake ice.

Community Water Monitoring Network

The CFL’s Community Water Monitoring Network is a volunteer pond monitoring program in the Madison area. ‘Pond Pals’ engage in limnological data collection and local environmental stewardship.

Four people wearing red, green, and blue tshirts are crouched beside of tubs of water on the shore of a pond

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