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2026 Keynote Speakers 

Dr. Steven P Loheide II, 2026 Darcy Lecturer

Dr. Steven Loheide is the Distinguished Professor of Water Resources Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Geological Engineering, Freshwater and Marine Sciences and Water Resource Management at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He received his BS in Environmental Chemistry and Geology from the University of Northern Iowa (1999), MS in Geology from Indiana University (2001), and PhD in Hydrogeology from Stanford University (2006). As an ecohydrologist, Loheide’s research focuses on the interactions between ecological and hydrological processes in natural and built systems with special attention to the role of groundwater. His approaches use a combination of field data, remote sensing, and numerical modeling to understand the feedback between vegetation patterning, plant water use, soil moisture availability, groundwater regimes, stream-aquifer interactions, and agricultural and urban water management. This work is focused on improving the scientific basis for stream, floodplain, meadow, and wetland restoration efforts; quantifying the provisioning of hydrologic ecosystem services under current and future scenarios; and evaluating interactions among groundwater and urban, agricultural, and natural environments.