Tuesday, June 16th, 2026

Session 1A: PFAS

• Insights From a Surveillance Study Evaluating PFAS, PPCP, and Microplastics in Biosolids and Sludge From 27 Facilities - Shubha Oza, Brown and Caldwell and Dr. John Norton, Great Lakes Water Authority
  
• PFAS in a Haystack: Searching for Unknown PFAS Sources - Mark Prein, Prein&Newhof and Lexi Szurna, Prein&Newhof
• The Challenges in Determining PFAS Local Limits- Steve Wordelman, Jones & Henry Engineers, Ltd. 

• Seven Habits of Highly Effective PFAS Source-Trackers - Soroosh Mortazavian, Carollo Engineers, Inc.

• Destruction of PFAS in Landfill Leachate Concentrates Using Photoactivated Reductive Defluorination (PRD) - Sarah Meyer, Enspired Solutions

Session 1B: Facility Operations

• The Great Soo Adventure Update - The History of Sault Ste Marie's WWTP and its Ongoing Improvements- TJ Bates, Donohue and Associates
• Maintaining Operations During Major Solids System Upgrade at GLWA's Water Resource Recovery Facility Pump Station 2 - Elizabeth Mann, Great Lakes Water Authority and Daniel DelPup, Commerical Contracting Corporation
• Leaveraging High-Strength Waste for Improved Performance: Marquette's Robust and Flexible High-Strength Waste System - Kris Ransberger, Donohue and Associates
• Real-Time Wastewater Process Benchmarking - Dr. Evangelia Belia, Primodal US Inc. and Doug Englesman, City of Zeeland

• How are we DOing? A Comparison of SSWRF's New and Existing Aeration Systems Operating During Construction - Lindsey Busch, Carollo Engineers, Inc. and Garrett Sheehan, Carollo Engineers, Inc.

Session 1C: Case Studies

• Dan Wolz Grant Recipient: Engaging Youth Through Great Lakes Place Based Stewardship Education: Posen High School Marine Debris Prevention Program -  Stephanie Dege Goebel, Posen High School
• Change of Hart: Facility Expansion at the City of Hart Biopure Treatment Plant, Case Study- Peter Brink, Prein&Newhof
• The Diamond of the Mitten State: A Project History of the Reed City Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvement Project - Joshua Redner, Fishbeck
• ARTP Sludge Solids Processing and Disposal- Chad Laucamp, AECOM and Patrick Frazee, Genesee County Drain Commissioner
• New Professional Presentation Spotlight- Zanna Leciejewski, Hazen and Sawer, Tiffany Minder, City of Flint and Alyssa Gruda, Great Lakes Water Authority

Session 1D: Stormwater Planning

• East Lansing's Wet Weather Resiliency Plan: Incorporating Climate, Affordability, and Equity to Reduce Flood Risk - Tom Batroney, HDR and Ernie West, HDR
  
• Developing Appropriate Spatially-Variable Rainfall Events for Evaluating Flood Risk in Southeast Michigan - Gregory Ewing, LimnoTech
• Community Collaboration & Modeling to Build Flood Resilience in Ypsilanti Township- Humaira Monowara Jahangiri, OHM Advisors and Brandon Ellefson, OHM Advisors
• Integrating Early Planning and Stormwater Assessment through SEMCOG's Eco and Stormwater Planning Tools - Bailee Pasienza, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG)
• Nature-Based Solutions for Regional Flood Resilience: SEMCOG's Flooding and Resilience Plan - Nathan Zgnilec, Drummond Carpentrer

Wednesday, June 17^th, 2026

Session 2A: Operations

• What the Engineer Owes the Operator - Andrew Bennett, Hazen and Sawyer and Brooke Ballard, Great Lakes Water Authority
• Innovative Training for Operators: Bridging the Gap with Digital Tools - Steve Roberts, Jacobs
  
• Retention Treatment Basin Effluent Channel Flap Gate Project - Nathaniel Coffin, Hubbell, Roth and Clark, Inc. and Duane Russow, Veolia North America
• Rethinking Digester Design to Address Operational Issues, Process Intensification and Resource Recovery - Christopher Muller, Brown and Caldwell and Dr. John Norton, Great Lakes Water Authority

Session 2B: Workforce Engagement

• The New Paradigm of Team Member Recruiting and Retention - Michael Olson, City of Ferndale
• Leadership Workshop with Conference Keynote Leading with Purpose: 5 Ways to Success! - Michael Angelo Caruso

Session 2C: Case Studies

• Creating the Largest Disc Filter Facility in North America - Kalamazoo's Tertiary Treatment Upgrade - Aaron Davenport, Jones & Henry Engineers, Ltd.
• Further Minimizing Aeration Energy & Process Stabilization at the Grandville Clean Water Plant - John Koch, EnviroMix and Eric Vroman, City of Grandville CWP
• Design Expansion, Construction and Start-up of the SHAWSA WWTP - Mike VanderPloeg, Fleis & VandenBrink and Tyler Wittman, Fleis & VandenBrink
• We Are Still Building New Trickling Filters? - Tyler Pozan, Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc.

Session 2D: Stormwater and Watershed

• More than a Parking Lot: Nature Based Solutions and Public Education at John Ball Zoo - Carrie Rivette, Progressive Companies and Brandon Simon, Progressive Companies
• Greener Together: Nature Based Solutions through Strategic Partnerships - Sarah Stoolmiller, Oakland County Water Resources and Don Carpenter, Drummond Carpenter
• No Longer a Pipe Dream: Stormwater Utilities in the Post-Bolt Era - Facilitated by Greg Kacvinsky, OHM Advisors; Gillian Gainsley, EGLE; Karla Kramer, City of Marquette; Sara Rubino, Oakland County Water Resources and Nikkiya Branch Penson, DWSD

Session 3A: Residuals and Biosolids

• GLWA's (with US Department of Energy) Hydrothermal Liquefaction Sludge Feasibility Study - John Willis, Brown and Caldwell and Dr. John Norton, Great Lakes Water Authority
• Treating a Multitude of Solid Wastes by a High Temperature Thermochemical Surface Melting Furnace - Larry Morris, Kubota Water and Environment USA Corportation
• We Can Work It Out: Lessons from the Long and Winding Road of Biosolids Drying- Adam Parmenter, HDR
• A Novel Combined THP, Storage and Digestion Technology for Enhanced Biogas Production and Solids Destruction - Sarah Mason-Renton, Lystek

Session 3B: Research and Innovation

• Pilot Scale Application of Partial Nitritation Anammox and Partial Denitrification Anammox Treating Industrial Waste - Shakthi Jayavelu, World Water Works
  
• Pushing the Boundaries of Convention: Integration of Cogeneration and Mobile Organic Biofilm at Clinton River WRRF - Medhavi Gupta-Goze, Jacobs and Mary Skywinter, Oakland County Water Resources
• The Juice is Worth The Squeeze! How the MOB Process Unlocks Plant Capacity - Alex Danuser, Nuvoda
• Reducing Methylene Chloride Use in Environmental Laboratories - Maya Murshak, Merit Laboratories, Inc
  

Session 3C: Collections

• Innovative Flow Control Program for the MID Wastewater System - Karen Ridgway, Applied Science, Inc. and Steven Rozycki, Macomb County Public Works
• How Wet Is Your System, Really? Try Antecedent Moisture Modeling - Alex Litofsky, OHM Advisors and Ashley Wadsworth, OHM Advisors
• The Hidden Backbone: Navigating the Maintenance of Large Diameter Sewers - Deann Falkowski, Fishbeck
• Modeling for More Than Master Planning: How DWSD's All-Pipe Sewer Model Became a Diagnostic Tool for Smart Planning - Erika Campbell, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and Esther Kaufman, AECOM

Session 3D: Groundwater and Asset Managment

• EGLE and USGS Hydrologic Enhancement for Michigan (HEMI) Project- Sydney Ruhala, EGLE and Howard Reeves, USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center
  
• Optimizing Nutrient Pollution Reduction in Michigan's Waters - Pat Young, HDR
  
• Bridging the Gap Between Construction and O&M, Driving Efficiency Through Seamless Integration - Veronic Cliett, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and Catherina Taylor, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
• Strategic Planning that Sticks: Creating a Plan Your Utility Can Actually Use- Jamie Decker, Hazen and Sawyer

Thursday, June 18th, 2026

Session 4A: Research and Innovation

• Understanding Data Centers and Industrial Clients and their Potential Impact on Water and Wastewater Utilities - Britton Evans, Black & Veatch and Heather Cheslek, Black & Veatch
• Innovations in Anaerobic Digestion Intensification - Dr. John Norton, Great Lakes Water Authority and Dr. Farokh Kakar, Hazen and Sawyer
• Beyond Chlorine: Innovating Wastewater Disinfection with PFA and PAA - John Conway, Brown and Caldwell and Dr. John Norton, Great Lakes Water Authority
• Performic Acid for Wastewater Effluent and Combined Sewer Overflow Disinfection: ALternative Methods of PFA Production - Dr. John Norton, Great Lakes Water Authority and Kati Bell, Hazen and Sawyer

Session 4B: Pump Stations

• Pump 11 & 14 Improvements at Detroit WRRF Pump Station 2- Jeff Swartz, Arcadis of Michigan, LLC and Philip Kora, Great Lakes Water Authority
• Revitalizing Lift Station 3: Triumph Over Hidden Depths and Dated Plans - Tyler Kindle, Jones & Henry Engineers, Ltd.
• Riverview Lift Station: A Hydraulic Balancing Act with Combined Flows - Weston Engel, Carollo Engineers, Inc.
• Pumping Up Local Growth: Wastewater Infrastructure Supports Community Development in Holland Charter Township- Will Thies, Prein&Newhof

Session 4C: Case Studies

• Beyond the Lagoons: Engineering the Future of Clean Water in Belding, MI- Corey Turner, Fleis & VandenBrink
• All-In on Wastewater - Andy Austin, Fishbeck
• A Study in Fudge: Design and Startup of the Mackinac Island WWTP - Nate Sculley, Fleis & VandenBrink & Lauren Wittmann, Fleis & VandenBrink
• Full Scale Low Enegy BNR at NEW Water - Britton Evans, Black & Veatch and Leah Pifer, Black & Veatch

*Not all presentations were available for posting online.