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Full Day Short Courses
Ecohydraulics
Full Day
Instructors: Rocko Brown, PhD & Joseph Merz, PhD
Ecohydraulics is a multidisciplinary field and practice that combines ecology, biology, chemistry, engineering, hydrology, hydraulics and geomorphology to understand how aquatic organisms and their ecosystems are shaped and evolve with lotic systems. This course aims to introduce ecohydraulics for people interested in learning about some of the basic principles and concepts in ecohydraulics, with a focus on applications to solve real world management questions.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer: Understanding current and future flow and fisheries relationships is at the heart of applied and basic fisheries science and management. Advances in science and technology, such as numerical modeling and field-based evaluations of fish community and flow structure, make this topic important.
Material to be covered: The morning will cover an introduction and history of ecohydraulics, how aquatic organism use lotic systems, human influences on aquatic systems, and characterizing water flow and aquatic habitats. After lunch the instructors will give insight into habitat suitability and habitat suitability modeling. The course will end with two case studies including details on incorporating populations on the Kings River.
Target audience and recommended prerequisites: We intend this course for new employees and journey level professionals seeking an introduction or refresher on ecohydraulics.
Instructor Bios: Joseph E. Merz, Ph.D. is a registered scientist with the American Fisheries Society. He has over 20 years of experience working with aquatic resources and has been the principal scientist on several salmonid habitat restoration programs in the California Central Valley. He has taught environmental science, salmon biology and restoration courses for the past fourteen years. Joe is known for his work with human and fisheries habitat interactions, and for his ability to communicate with scientific and stakeholder audiences alike. He has earned degrees in Environmental and Systematic Biology (Bachelors), Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo (1991); Biological Conservation (Masters), California State University, Sacramento (1994); and Conservation Ecology (Ph.D.), University of California, Davis (2004). Dr. Merz has worked for California public, provide and non-profit entities on resource monitoring and fisheries habitat enhancement. He is noted as an environmental studies and natural resources lecturer, and for his successes working with stakeholders. He has coauthored a variety of peer-reviewed publications*, focusing on river rehabilitation, fish movement, invasive species, woody debris/redd associations, and evaluation of spawning habitat enhancement, among others. In line with his professional interests, he is a member of the Ecological Society of America, the American Fisheries Society and the Southwestern Association of Naturalists. Dr. Merz has been honored with a variety of awards and has received research and restoration grants from multiple stakeholders for restoration related projects in California, Oregon and Washington for salmonid habitat restoration; salmonid management and reintroduction; monitoring of fish migration and movement; fish passage improvement; and assessment of invasive species interactions with native salmonid populations.
Rocko Brown, Ph.D., P.E. is an expert design geomorphologist who uniquely balances applied and scientific aspects of geomorphology and engineering. He focuses on process-based assessment and restoration of fisheries resources through channel manipulation integrating geomorphic, hydraulic and ecological frameworks. He has extensive experience in hydraulic and sediment transport modeling and design for fish passage improvements, channel design, large wood and instream habitat structures, and bank stabilization. Rocko has led the design of seasonal floodplain, spawning habitat, and fish passage projects in a diverse array of physical and regulatory settings. He has made contributions to spawning habitat rehabilitation efforts, including assessment, modeling, design and construction of projects on several of California’s most-important rivers. Dr. Brown has published heavily on evaluating the interactions of topography and flow hydrology for geomorphic processes needed for salmonids to complete their life cycle and how to design functional riverscapes that honor these linkages. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from Temple University and Master’s and Doctorate Degrees in Hydrologic Sciences from the University of California, Davis. He is also a licensed Civil Engineer in the State of California.
Facilitating in the Wild: Working with Complexity and Diversity
Full Day
Instructor: Maggie Chumbley
A facilitation short course on how to run a room so you get great participation, balanced voices, and progress on chronic challenges.
Join this short course to brush up on your foundational facilitation skills, and then learn practical methods to lead groups better when things are complex, stakeholders come from diverse backgrounds and adaptive strategy is your aim. You’ll leave feeling tuned up with not only a plan to improve everyday meetings, but also doable designs for ambitious large systems projects. You may even gain a reputation for holding meetings that people want to come to, aren’t boring, and where things get done.
Material to be covered:
Foundational Facilitation
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- Clarity of purpose of your session and priming the group
- Does every agenda item have a goal and is there an interactive activity? (if this meeting can’t be an email, then prove it)
- Analysis of how good design makes for the group dynamic and results you want
Adaptive Strategy: How to facilitate and lead among complex systems
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- Seeing your system through the lens of complexity
- Fostering the right amount of structure, and letting direction arise.
4-5 structures to aid facilitating strategically in the wild
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- Un-fancy methods to change the pattern of engagement in the group.
- Doable moves you can apply right away.
Recommended pre-symposium reading and/or web site:
Nine Emerging and Connected Organizational and Leadership Principles
SRH-2D: Erosion, Aggradation and Sediment Transport Modeling
Full Day
Instructor: Yong Lai
Ever encounter a study question related to erosion or aggradation with your project? Ever feel that it is difficult to gain insights to answer sediment study questions? Overwhelmed by the sediment theories, or the extensive empirical choices, or the large collection of input parameters with sediment models? Or wonder which model to use for a specific project? Welcome to this one-day short course - as it is prepared for engineers like you.
The instructor has faced many similar challenges when sediment study questions were asked of him with many agency projects. Research, development and application by the instructor in the past 20 years led to the development of a two-dimensional (2D) flow and sediment model named SRH-2D. Extensive experiences and best practices have been accumulated in the process, which have been shared to the hydraulic engineering community. In this course, the relevant sediment theory will be explained, best practices and guidelines will be presented, and study questions will be discussed using sample field cases. In particular, hands-on training of SRH-2D is taught to solve various erosion, aggradation and sediment transport processes.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer: The short course centers around SRH-2D model - a 2D depth-integrated flow and sediment transport model developed at U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The model has been freely distributed for public use since 2006. Federal Highway Administration has partnered with Reclamation since 2013 to advance and apply SRH-2D for hydraulic and erosion analyses. The model is becoming rapidly adopted by state DOTs and FEMA as a 2D assessment tool and covers the spatial scales from small-structures to watershed processes. The objective of the course include: (a) explain sediment theory in simple terms; (b) prioritize various process model options and input data needs; (c) offer modeling guidelines; (d) discuss model applicability and limitations; and most importantly, (d) learn SMS and SRH-2D for practical applications.
In the course, relevant manuals/publications and the latest SRH-2D will be distributed.
Target audience and recommended prerequisites: The course is designed for project engineers in the river engineering field. Trainings and materials should be applicable to all levels of user experience and no prerequisites are necessary.
Instructor Bio: Yong Lai is a specialist hydraulic engineer at the Technical Service Center, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado. Dr. Lai obtained his Ph.D. in 1990 from Arizona State University and has since been working on a wide range of projects in research, development, and engineering applications. His professional career includes working for a consulting company, a research institute, the IIHR Hydroscience and Engineering at the University of Iowa, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Dr. Lai has published more than 60 scientific journal papers and hundreds of conference papers. He is the lead developer of SRH-2D - a 2D flow and sediment transport model, and U2RANS - a 3D computational fluid dynamics model. Dr. Lai currently serves as an associate editor of the ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for several conferences and journals. He regularly provides short courses on hydraulic and sediment modeling.
Half Day Short Courses
Diverting Bias
Half Day: Morning
Instructor: Dr. Derron Coles
This session will examine cultural impacts on our ability to build and maintain diverse teams and authentic community participation in watershed restoration, enhancement, and protection. We will use the neuroscience behind implicit bias and cultural conflicts to better understand how and why our biases impact our decision-making team cohesion, and the level of engagement community partners have in our projects. Along the way will learn specific barriers to engagement cited by members of historically disenfranchised cultural groups and identify strategies for diverting our biases to provide space for collaborations to grow.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer: By the end of the workshop, participants will understand (a) what implicit bias is, its connection to culture and cultural norms, how it impacts our teams and environmental stewardship, and strategies for disrupting or reducing its occurrence.
Material to be covered: Implicit biases, cultural values and cultural conflict management, and barriers to inclusion and belonging.
Target audience and recommended prerequisites: This session is for water resources professionals who are new to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion work, or are knowledgeable but looking to gain new perspectives and strategies for integrating JEDI practices into their work.
Recommended pre-symposium reading and/or web site: Too many to name, but Daniel Khaneman’s “Thinking, Fast and Slow” captures the science behind bias well.
Instructor Bio: Executive Director, Dr. Derron Coles is a learning strategist with over 20 years of experience designing learner-focused workforce development training. Derron has a wide-ranging portfolio that runs the gamut from learning solutions for technical topics, like a globally utilized online training on river system analysis, to interpersonal skills training, such as his award-winning equity diversity and inclusion (EDI) curriculum. Derron has earned certificates in eLearning design, the Treisman method of collaborative learning, and the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST). Upon completing his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Derron moved to Oregon to complete a masters and doctorate in civil engineering at Oregon State University. He then spent eight years managing the mathematics program for the OSU Educational Opportunities Program. In this role, Derron led culturally responsive efforts to recruit and retain underrepresented science and engineering students. In addition to his work with Blueprint, Derron is owner and principal consultant for DRC Learning Solutions, a culturally responsive company focused on helping organizations in both the private and public sectors develop and sustain social and environmental justice initiatives. As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Derron brings a process-oriented and learning-based approach to projects. The current DRC LS portfolio includes projects for small nonprofits, such as WaterWatch, larger organizations like the U.S. Forest Service, and multiorganization collaboratives like the Intertwine Alliance EDI Cohorts.
Speaking of Science — Delivering Inspired Presentations
Half Day: Morning
Instructors: Janine Castro
We are offering a Part 1 online on January 19th from 9am-12pm PST. This will allow those who are presenting at RRNW time to incorporate the information from this great workshop into their presentations. Part 2 will be in person on Monday February 5.
Scientists and engineers should not be condemned to dry, monotonous, and uninspired presentations, because science is not boring. River restoration is one of the most exciting and dynamic fields of science and it is up to us to reflect our enthusiasm and passion in every talk we give and every message we deliver. Improve your public speaking skills, feel less nervous, and actually enjoy getting up in front of a crowd. Become a river restoration champion! Join me to learn a few simple techniques to dramatically improve your delivery and your impact. You will leave the workshop armed with useful skills to develop and deliver inspired presentations and to improve your everyday communication. Whether you are a seasoned speaker or a relative novice, this course is for you.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer: If you would like to improve your public speaking and science communication skills, please join me for a half-day session on making your presentation interesting and effective, while also reducing your stress and actually enjoying the experience. Participants will leave the workshop with a greater skill set, including a comprehensive checklist and personal coaching, to develop and deliver presentations, which is directly transferrable to our everyday communication. The workshop is highly interactive and builds on the collective experience of the audience and the instructor.
Target audience and recommended prerequisites: Everyone…especially if you will be speaking at RRNW or any other scientific conference.
Instructor Bio: Janine Castro is the Project Leader for the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Columbia River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (CRFWCO) in Vancouver, Washington. It is the mission of the CRFWCO to assist in determining the status of imperiled natural fish stocks, to evaluate management measures for recovery and assist in the recovery of these stocks, and to prevent future ESA listings. As the Project Leader, Janine provides leadership to a highly diverse technical staff that address a wide variety of fisheries issues, including: (1) fish passage and aquatic habitat restoration, (2) bull trout recovery and lamprey conservation, (3) marking and tagging of nearly 40 million hatchery fish annually to support tribal, recreational, and commercial mark-selective fisheries, (4) mark-recapture studies of wild fish to determine occupancy, distribution, abundance, trends, and population growth rates, and (5) providing analytical support to project design, evaluation, and information management.
Janine provides national and international training on stream restoration, river science, and public speaking for scientists. She has worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service for 20+ years and spent the preceding 10 years working for the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Janine is one of the five founding members of River Restoration Northwest and the Technical Director for the PSU River Restoration Professional Certificate Program.
Indigenizing Restoration
Half Day: Afternoon
Instructors: Serina Fast Horse and Toby Query
How can we realign our projects and ourselves to form better relationships with the land and its First Peoples? What are examples of projects that acknowledge this history of the land, its peoples, and include not just ecological restoration but cultural and spiritual restoration?
In this workshop, we will have a dialogue about the history of native peoples and white supremacy in the northwest and how it intersects with ecological restoration. We will be using the example of the Shwah Kuk wetland enhancement project which includes ITECK (Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge) as well as Western methods. We will compare ITECK approaches and western approaches and look for common ground, including themes of healing through reciprocity, respect, and relationships. We will share learnings and challenges faced in our project when creating a co-created and co-managed project between the urban native community (including Portland State University’s Indigenous Nations Studies program) and the City of Portland, that will support your future projects with a wider and more inclusive spirit.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer: The objective to show the importance of partnering with Indigenous community members in a respectful manner and steps that can be taken to foster relationships. You will learn how projects can meld ITECK and western knowledge systems.
Material to be covered: General history of native people in the US. ITECK and western knowledge systems that are applied to land stewardship.
Target audience and recommended prerequisites: Anyone interested in partnering with Indigenous people in a land stewardship project.
Recommended pre-symposium reading and/or websites: The Confluence Project; Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer; Original Instructions by Melissa K. Nelson; “On the role of traditional ecological knowledge as a collaborative concept: a philosophical study” by Kyle Whyte
Instructor Bios: Serina Fast Horse (Lakota & Blackfeet) is an emerging leader in the Indigenous community of Portland. She is the program coordinator for the Institute for Tribal Government at Portland State University and the co-chair for the Native American Community Advisory Council. She is also the owner of Kimimela Consulting, whose mission is to cultivate synergies between Indigenous land stewards and various agencies and organizations, especially around land-based restoration projects. She is driven by her passion to embrace Indigenous knowledge and empower Indigenous voices to help create a holistic path to healing our ecological and social communities for our future generations.
Toby Query is a father, husband, and ecologist. As part of the City of Portland’s Revegetation Program since 1999, he stewards natural areas for all Portlanders. He most values his teachings from the ITECK project where he sees the possibilities of land and community healing through collaboration and co-management with Indigenous peoples. He founded the discussion group Portland Ecologists Unite! which created spaces to learn, discuss, and connect over current ecological issues. He is a certified Senior Ecologist from the Ecological Society of America. Besides plants, he loves to learn about slugs, worms, and fungi.