|  | Dear Friend, We're thrilled to announce the keynote speaker for IEC's 2026 Annual Conference on September 29 in Des Moines. We believe this individual speaks to the moment we are in, when the importance of protecting wild spaces, restoring balance to our waterways, and working together to defend our environment and health have never been more important. Tamara Dean, noted writer, teacher, and advocate, will deliver the keynote address "River Bellwethers" at the IEC Annual Conference. Read more about Dean and her presentation below. Registration for the 2026 IEC Annual Conference will open to the public this Monday, August 3, 2026. Last year, the conference sold out, so be sure to get your tickets early to reserve your spot! Look for an email from IEC on Monday. |
| Tamara Dean is a widely published author of fiction and nonfiction. Her latest book, Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless (University of Minnesota Press, 2025), a Sarton Award and Wisconsin Writers Award finalist, invites readers to consider how we tend the earth in times of uncertainty and ways we thrive in community. It weaves ecology and history with Dean's experiences of living on the land in rural southwestern Wisconsin. Reviewers call it "luminous," "fascinating," and "a revelatory study of person and place, entwined." Author Jane Hamilton called it "an essential book for our time." The Progressive named it a favorite book of 2025, comparing it to Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac. Dean's essays and stories have appeared in The American Scholar, The Georgia Review, the Guardian, One Story, Orion, The Southern Review, and other publications. She lives in Wisconsin, where she proudly served on the boards of the River Alliance of Wisconsin and Valley Stewardship Network. She is currently Terrain.org's podcast editor and teaches writing with organizations across the nation. You can learn more about her at www.tamaradean.media. |
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| River Bellwethers, a Presentation by Tamara Dean for the IEC Annual Conference Minimally mobile and filtering gallons of water per day, native freshwater mussels are both boosters of water quality and indicators of environmental harm. They’re especially vulnerable. Their losses, from overharvesting, damming, pollution, and warming waters, are legendary. River Bellwethers, based on an essay from Tamara Dean's collection, Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless, presents the fascinating stories of determined individuals who battled government officials, changed policy, and set new standards to protect native mussels. Their courage — and the enduring impact of participatory science — will inspire you. In addition to Tamara Dean's thrilling presentation, the IEC conference will feature expert speakers and sessions covering today's most pressing environmental issues, including water quality and agriculture, Iowa's cancer crisis, our state's energy future, data centers, nature-based solutions, and much more. |
| | Special thanks to BeWildReWild, the Presenting Sponsor of the 2026 IEC Annual Conference. |
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| Interested in becoming a sponsor or exhibitor? Check out the options here, or contact IEC Director of Development Kourtney Kirkpatrick at [email protected]. |
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