CO-AUTHOR: Keir Wefferling (UW-Green Bay) TITLE: Place-based peatland community trailside guide development ABSTRACT: Funded by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, researchers at UW-Green Bay and UW-Madison are collaborating on a two-year project (2025-27) focused on bringing peat-accumulating wetlands, or peatlands, into focus for students of a diversity of ages and backgrounds. We are working with a number of regional partners (The Ridges Sanctuary, The Land Restoration School) to develop educational resources including: 1) a Peatland Primer (with descriptions of peatland plant communities, species lists of bryophytes and vascular plants, maps, notes on access), 2) Trailside Guides (with information about specific points and species along a trail, maps, photos, illustrations, etc.), and 3) Educational outreach activities (e.g., bryophyte workshops, ArcGIS StoryMaps, and guided walks for community). We are piloting the Trailside Guides at Toft Point State Natural Area (SNA) and a publically-accessible trail on private land in Door County; the Trailside Guides allow users to take self-guided walks, learning about the more cryptic members of the peatland plant community and considering ecological dynamics that drive the formation and maintenance of these communities. For example, at Toft Point SNA, starting in 2024, we began developing, writing, and illustrating a trailside guide featuring the bryophytes growing along the main trails at the site. This guide features 10 points of interest and 28 species of moss. As we develop other guides, undergraduate and graduate students will create site-specific resources for these locations that can be used by visitors to identify the plants (and other biota) and gain a better understanding of the importance and ecological dynamics of peatlands and their freshwater. BIO: Sarah Baughman is a graduate student at UW-Green Bay studying biodiversity conservation and management. She works at the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity as the project coordinator for the Oneida Bird Monitoring Program and as the peatland education ambassador and technician for the Gary A. Fewless Herbarium.