Lunch & Learn: Flux Towers Measure the Breathing Land

Name: Lunch & Learn: Flux Towers Measure the Breathing Land
Start: 2026-03-19T12:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-03-19T13:00:00-05:00
Location: Three Waters Reserve

Schedule

Thu Mar 19 2026 at 12:00 pm to 01:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Three Waters Reserve | Brodhead, WI

Wandering the trails at Three Waters Reserve, you may have noticed a shiny new addition to the landscape – a newly installed flux tower and solar panel. This tower is designed to monitor the environmental impacts of the restoration work taking place across Three Waters Reserve. Think of it as a supercharged stethoscope for the land: the sensors measure what gases (such as greenhouse gases) are absorbed by plants and soil microbes, and what is released back into the atmosphere.
One of only about 120 flux towers deployed worldwide, this station places Three Waters Reserve at the forefront of global research evaluating how carbon and water move through ecosystems. In simple terms, the tower is monitoring the exchange of carbon between the land and the atmosphere – capturing the Earth’s “breathing.”
The station also tracks evapotranspiration, weather conditions, soil moisture, and many other environmental indicators. We’re excited to learn what this data will reveal about how the land is responding to restoration through our collaboration with Quanterra.
During this Lunch and Learn session, you’ll learn more about who Quanterra is, why nature-based solutions matter, and how the data collected at restoration sites like Three Waters Reserve can inform conservation efforts locally and around the world.
Speaker: Steven Apfelbaum, Ecologist, SWLC - President, Applied Ecological Institute - Founder
Host: LSRWA
Ticket Cost: $21.95
Featured Lunch Buffet: Irish
Register by: March 15th, 2026