Grit & Gratitude: Celebrating St. Louis River Successes
March 3-5, 2026 • UW–Superior Yellowjacket Union
The 16th St. Louis River Summit will take place March 3-5, 2026, returning once again to the campus of UW-Superior at the Yellowjacket Union. The theme of the Summit this year is Grit & Gratitude: Celebrating St. Louis River Successes.
Stay in the know with news about the upcoming Summit in 2026 and ways to participate by signing up for Summit emails.
What is the St. Louis River Summit?
The Summit is a multi-day opportunity to learn and share about the St. Louis River.
Like an estuary, the St. Louis River Summit is a place where people meet and mix. It provides a diversity of solutions and strategies for a healthy St. Louis River watershed and nourishes the community with education and outreach opportunities. Since 2010, the St. Louis River Summit has brought together key audiences working in the region. You can view the proceedings of all past Summits to see what has been presented over the years.
The Summit provides many learning and connection opportunities for river enthusiasts and curious minds.
Join us during the program to engage with:
- The status and findings of current research connected to the St. Louis River estuary
- The results of projects that have been implemented
- Ideas and discussion of future work in and around the estuary
- Ways that people are connecting with the river
Register for the Summit
Registration information
We strive to keep the St. Louis River Summit welcoming and accessible to anyone interested in attending, whether you’re joining as an interested community member, as part of your professional life, or a mix of both! We are introducing tiered pricing this year in an effort to cover increasing costs associated with hosting this event while also keeping the Summit open to all.
All registrations include admission to all sessions, including Keynote, Oral Presentations, Poster Session, Connect & Collaborate, and Wednesday lunch. They also include the pre-event coding workshop and Thursday field trips until their registration capacity is met.
We ask that you self-select the registration category that best describes your attendance at the Summit:
- Professional ($100): For those attending as part of your job or or as part of a professional organization.
- Community ($60): For river enthusiasts attending on your own, not as part of your work. This includes retirees, recent graduates, and neighbors interested in learning about the estuary and sharing your experiences.
- Student (FREE): For students of any age, from pre-K through graduate school.
Online registration opens January 6. We will close registration after February 23. The cost for same-day onsite registration is $120.
Call For Abstracts
We are still accepting abstract submissions through Monday, January 26th for poster presentations sessions. View the full call for abstracts for detailed instructions and links to the submission forms. Please note that you do not need to submit a completed poster by the January 26 deadline! We are looking for a complete abstract (short descriptive summary) for your poster content in the submission form.
The deadline to submit oral presentations and Connect & Collaborate sessions was December 5.
Abstract Submission Deadlines
Friday, Dec. 5th, 2025 – all oral presentation and Connect & Collaborate (formerly Networking) abstracts
Monday, Jan 26th, 2026- all poster presentation abstracts
Ready to submit? Follow the links below. Before you do, we encourage you to read the Guidelines for Submission first in the call for abstracts, and check out the session descriptions section.
🎨Where’s the call for art? This year, the St. Louis River Summit is celebrating and supporting a new wonderful partner-led art show happening concurrently with the Summit.
The St. Louis River Alliance invites artists and community members to take part in The River Speaks: Art of the Estuary, a community 2D art exhibition celebrating the deep ecological, cultural, and personal connections people hold with the St. Louis River Estuary. This exhibition will be hosted throughout March 2026 at Wussow’s Concert Café.
Call for Art Proposals
Art Submission Deadline: January 31, 2026.
A full Call for Art Proposal document is available as a PDF with complete submission guidelines.
Summit Schedule & Sessions
Keynote Event
Details and information to be announced
Session Descriptions
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
At the St. Louis River Summit, we encourage speakers from across disciplines to share their knowledge in a space where everyone learns together. It is tradition at the Summit for oral presentations to be featured as the main program in a single track. This event clusters submitted talks on a variety of river-related topics into sessions across multiple days. Session talks are delivered live in-person at the Yellowjacket Union on the UW–Superior campus.
POSTER SESSION
All registered Summit attendees are welcome to attend the event’s poster session, where presenters highlight discoveries, updates, and lessons from new and ongoing projects connected to the St. Louis River area. This year, the poster session will be hosted downstairs in the atrium of the Yellowjacket Union in the early evening of March 3. Light refreshments will be served. A full list of posters will be posted when it is finalized.
CONNECT & COLLABORATE SESSIONS
People with shared interests and unique knowledge have a lot to talk about when they come together! The Summit strives to support collaboration on timely topics to the St. Louis River community by creating space for Connect & Collaborate sessions (formerly called Networking sessions). Hosts submit sessions proposing focused conversation or a work session during the Summit. This year, Connect & Collaborate sessions will be held concurrently during the program in smaller breakout spaces.
FIELD TRIPS
The Summit is once again offering an opportunity for attendees to get out and experience this amazing place! Enjoy exploring different parts of the estuary & community on Thursday afternoon. All field trips begin at 1:30pm on March 5. Please select your preferred field trip option when you go to register for the Summit. Advance registration for field trips is required. Attendees are responsible for coordinating transportation to field trip sites.
New! Bonus Workshops
Interested in sharpening your poster presentation skills? Want to get more comfy using R to work with environmental data? This year, there are two bonus learning opportunities associated with the Summit.
Poster Presentation Workshop
Thursday, February 19, 2026, 5:00-6:30PM
VIRTUAL (ZOOM)
There will be a free poster presentation workshop on February 19. This event is held in conjunction with the St. Louis River Summit, but any interested individual is welcome to attend.
This interactive workshop is designed for students, professionals, and community members who want to strengthen their skills in poster design and presentation. Whether you are creating your first poster for the Summit or refining your approach for future conferences, you’ll gain practical strategies and have hands-on opportunities to build your poster presentation skills in a supportive environment.
Read the full description of the workshop here.
Analyze estuary data using R
Tuesday, MARCH 3, 2026, 9:00AM-12:00PM
YELLOWJACKET UNION Room 204
We are excited to offer a new opportunity to learn fundamental coding skills and apply them to environmental data from the St. Louis River Estuary. This hands-on session is open to all Summit attendees and community members interested in data analysis, environmental science, and coding.
This workshop is open to anyone and assumes no prior coding experience. Participants will actively code alongside the instructor on their own laptop. If you’re enthusiastic about environmental data and curious about integrating coding into your work, this workshop is for you!
How to sign up for the workshop: When you register for the Summit, you will have an opportunity to sign up as part of registration. This workshop is capped at 25 participants, and is offered as part of the Summit at no additional cost to attendees.
Guidance for Summit presenters
If you are giving an oral presentation, hosting a networking session, or presenting a poster, make sure you read through the Information for Summit Presenters page here: https://lakesuperiornerr.org/summit/presenter-info/.
Whether you are a first-time or returning presenter, please read through the Presenter Information! This page contains guidance for developing your presentation as well as important deadlines to meet in preparation for the Summit.
Tabling at the Summit
This year, sponsoring organizations will be given first opportunity for available table spots at the Summit. Feel free to reach out if you are interested in either becoming a sponsor or being considered for a tabling spot if any become available.
Request Accommodations
The Lake Superior Reserve strives to make programming accessible. You may request an interpreter, materials in an alternative language and/or format, and/or other services to make this event more accessible. Please reach out to Karina Heim at karina.heim@wisc.edu or (715) 399-4089 to discuss accommodations prior to the Summit. It takes time to make arrangements. To help us serve you best, make your request by February 2. There is no added cost to you for these services.
The Yellowjacket Union venue
The Summit main session, networking sessions and the poster session will be held in-person at UW–Superior’s Yellowjacket Union (YU) on March 3-5. The YU is located on the UW-Superior campus. Get directions to YU. All sessions will be held on the second floor of the YU. An elevator is available to reach the second floor of the YU and accessible parking is available. There will be signage to help you find your way to the YU’s Great Room and adjacent rooms where events are being held.
PARKING
Parking is available in select UW–Superior parking lots 2 and 11, shown on this map. You may park in either of these lots without requiring a pass or payment. Please do not park in any space with a Yellowjacket symbol or a sign indicating it is reserved for another use.
RESTROOMS
Restrooms are located on the same floor just down the hall from the rooms where Summit events are taking place.
LACTATION SPACE
There is a private space available for pumping and breastfeeding downstairs on the main level of the Yellowjacket Union. A key for the space can be requested from the staff at the building’s front desk.
COVID-19 AND ILLNESS
Summit attendees are encouraged to monitor for signs and symptoms of illness. For the safety of all, please take precautions or do not attend if there is reason to believe you may be sick.
SUMMIT SPONSORSHIP
The Summit is made possible by the generosity of event sponsors who help cover the costs of putting on this multi-day event. Organizational sponsors may be eligible to receive a number of complimentary registrations. To become a Summit sponsor or donor, please email summit.sponsorship@folsr.org.
Thank you to our awesome 2026 sponsors.
Watershed
River
Tributary
Nonprofit
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SUMMIT?
Contact:
Karina Heim, Coastal Training Program Coordinator
karina.heim@wisc.edu
FIND INFORMATION ABOUT PAST SUMMITS
The proceedings of all past Summits have been summarized and made available in a downloadable PDF format. View past summit proceedings.
A NOTE ABOUT ADVOCACY AND THE ST. LOUIS RIVER SUMMIT
The St. Louis River Summit is intended to facilitate shared community dialog related to socio-ecological issues and natural and social science in the St. Louis River estuary. The Summit is organized and financially supported by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, with help from many generous sponsors. As a part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension and the NOAA-led National Estuarine Research Reserve system, the Reserve itself does not engage in advocacy and as state employees, staff follow clear guidelines. The views of presenters and sponsors who participate in the Summit are theirs or their organizations and do not represent the views, mission or work of the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve.