Monday Short Courses for 2026
Overview
• When: Morning and full-day short courses start at 8am and afternoon courses at 1pm (unless otherwise noted)
• Where: In-Person at Skamania Lodge, 1131 SW Skamania Lodge Way, Stevenson, Washington 98648 USA
• Cost: $450 Full Day (unless otherwise noted) and $225 Half Day
• Meals: Lunch will be provided for all registrants between 12–1pm
Registration
• Short Course registration will be available via the 2026 RRNW Symposium Registration Portal:
• Member Registration: opens Monday, November 3, 2025 – learn more about RRNW membership at Become a Member
• General Registration: opens Monday, November 17, 2025
• Email registrar@rrnw.org to join the waitlist for any sold out short course
FULL DAY SHORT COURSES
Introduction to Ecohydraulics
Full Day
Instructors: Joseph Merz, PhD and Rocko Brown, PhD, PE
Description:
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:
• Introduction and history of ecohydraulics
• How aquatic organism use lotic systems
• Human influences on aquatic systems
• Characterizing water flow and aquatic habitats
• Habitat suitability
• Habitat suitability modeling
• Case study 1 – Kings River – Incorporating Populations
• Case study 2 – Advanced Topics
Target audience and recommended prerequisites:
We intend this course for new employees and journey level professionals seeking an introduction or refresher on ecohydraulics.
Joseph E. Merz, PhD 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, PhD, PE 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.
It Probably Won’t Fail – Introduction to a Probabilistic Steep Channel Design Method
SOLD OUT
Full Day
Instructors: Andre Zimmermann, PhD, PGeo and Annie Dufficy, LG
Description:
Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (NHC) has developed a tool for a process-based methodology to design steep channels rooted in over ten years of research and implementation. In natural systems, steep streams (gradients >3%) dissipate energy through step-pool and cascade morphologies that enhance bed roughness, promote bed stability, and support fish passage. However, restoration practitioners have historically lacked a rigorous, experimentally grounded framework for designing these features. This course will introduce participants to steep stream fundamentals and how designers can use NHC’s steep channel design methodology and its accompanying design tool. The tool will be applied to some example design scenarios.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer:
• Describe geomorphic characteristics and processes of ‘steep streams’
• Compare definitions of channel stability
• Steep channel design tool:
– Identify tool inputs and outputs
– Describe differences in the tool’s two design methods
– Explain the implications of selecting a ‘target probability of instability’
– Compare design tool outputs to the range of experimental data
– Learn how to apply professional judgement to accommodate site constraints/goals
• Learn how to implement the tool for construction ready designs
• Apply the steep channel design tool to test case
• Explain the role of the ‘stream channel designer’
Material to be covered:
MORNING
• Steep channels and role of the designer
• Background on channel stability
• Introduction to tool
– Inputs and outputs
– 2 workflows – when and why
– Interpretation and Limitations
AFTERNOON
• Breakout Groups – Tool Application
• Implementation: drawings and construction
• Case Studies
• Summary and Discussion
Target audience and recommended prerequisites:
• Engineers and geomorphologists – Recommended minimum 5 years of channel design experience
• Experience designing or reviewing designs for ‘stable’ channels
Recommended pre-symposium reading and/or web site:
To be provided closer to start date of workshop (mid-late December 2025)
Equipment required:
Laptop, software download
Instructor Bios:
Dr. André Zimmermann is a Principal and Senior Fluvial Geomorphologist with Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (NHC) Ltd. Over the past 16 years, André has been working alongside engineers to put his PhD research on the stability of steep streams into practice. Recent successful projects include nature-like fishways, channel grade control, and habitat improvement on steep streams. André is the technical lead for a WSDOT project, which documents and provides design tools associated with NHC’s steep stream design approach. André is also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia, where he collaborates with students on wide range of applied research projects.
Annie Dufficy is a Senior Geoscientist at Northwest Hydraulic Consultants with a focus on fluvial geomorphology and hydrometrics. Through her work at NHC and in prior research roles, she has led assessments on more than 100 streams across the watershed spectrum, from highly urban creeks up to the glacial source. On design projects, she provides engineers with the geomorphic context they need for successful habitat restoration, scour protection and fish passage designs, while at the river-scale provides practitioners with meaningful assessments of hydrogeomorphic hazards, sediment transport, and scour. Her fascination with steep streams originated in her master’s work, quantifying the hydraulics and hydrology of steep proglacial streams in British Columbia. This passion developed in her work at NHC, where she has worked with a team of steep stream specialists to help develop a methodology and process-based understanding for step pool/cascade designs in the absence of an existing widespread method. She is currently managing NHC's development of a steep channel design tool for WSDOT and author of the accompanying methodology report.
Education: BS Geology, 2015, Indiana University; MS Physical Geography, Fluvial Geomorphology & Hydrology, 2019, University of British Columbia.
Specialties: Steep channel processes, river restoration, hydrogeomorphic hazards
Drone Data for River Restoration: From Collection to Classification
SOLD OUT
Full Day
Instructor: Sarah Null, PhD and Curtis Gray, PhD
Description:
How do you accurately monitor the effectiveness of a river restoration project years after completion? How can you efficiently quantify vegetation colonization, assess bank stability, or track subtle changes in channel morphology across vast or inaccessible reaches? What tools are available to move beyond qualitative observation and harness the power of high-resolution, multi-dimensional data?
Drones (UAV/UAS) have fundamentally transformed our ability to answer these critical questions and revolutionized data collection for environmental restoration. This intensive one-day workshop provides restoration professionals with the practical workflow required to utilize drone-based remote sensing, moving beyond basic mapping to analysis. We will focus on the complete pipeline: from strategic flight planning and ground control for geospatial accuracy, through the creation of high-resolution photogrammetric products like orthomosaics and Digital Surface Models (DSMs), to classification modeling and change detection.
Participants will gain the technical framework necessary to collect and analyze data from visible, thermal, and multispectral sensors, enabling sophisticated applications such as:
• Modeling riparian vegetation health and extent using spectral indices (e.g., NDVI).
• Analyzing fine-scale change detection and classification modeling for morphologic and ecological assessment.
• Applying drone data to restoration goals within river systems (with brief examples of applicability to wildlife, forest, and rangeland contexts).
While this workshop will cover the safety and planning fundamentals essential for legally compliant data acquisition, the core focus remains firmly on applied data processing and analysis. Participants should have prior GIS/Remote Sensing experience (or take free online courses prior to the short course) and will leave with an understanding of how to manage and interpret drone products to rigorously monitor and adapt river systems.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer:
1. Gain a basic understanding of the ways that drones have been and can be used for environmental restoration and natural resources management.
2. Develop drone data collection and analysis skills and competency needed by professionals in the field.
3. Learn and apply new skills by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting drone data for natural resources applications.
Material to be covered:
• Drone flight planning and ground control
• Photogrammetry (creating orthomosaics and digital surface models (DSMs)
• Change detection
• Classification modeling
• Applying drone data to assess river restoration goals
Target audience and recommended prerequisites:
Previous GIS/Remote Sensing experience is required to engage fully with the analysis portions of this course. Drone flying experience is helpful, but not required. This workshop does not prepare students for the FAA Part 107 license or provide basic drone flight instruction. Interested and motivated students can gain the prerequisite skills by completing the following FREE Esri online courses: Getting Started with GIS, Getting Started with Data Management, and Getting Started with Mapping and Visualization (optional)
Recommended pre-symposium reading and/or web site:
https://usu.box.com/s/gimtobt9mog37vnyfga400x1mh4mee7b
Equipment required:
Participants should bring their own laptops with software and files pre-loaded
Does the course include a field component?
Yes: 1 hour in the field
List any clothing or specialized equipment students will need to provide:
Weather permitting, we’ll go outside to collect drone data with mission planning software. We will be outside for about 1 hour so bring clothing to stay warm and comfortable. We’ll cancel the field component if the weather is rainy or excessively windy.
Instructor Bios:
Dr. Sarah Null uses her background in water resources systems analysis and physical geography to monitor and mathematically model processes and interactions of built and natural water resources systems. Systems analysis, mathematical modeling and field studies are the methods she uses to improve understanding of systems and explore promising solutions to problems. Her main research interests are:
• Systems modeling to quantify water supply and aquatic habitat tradeoffs.
• Monitoring and modeling managed environmental water for maximum environmental benefit.
• Predicting climate change effects on hydrology, water quality, and aquatic habitat to anticipate change and identify promising adaptation strategies.
Dr. Null has a bachelor's degree in Economics from University of California in Los Angeles, and master's and doctorate degrees in Geography from University of California in Davis. Prior to coming to Utah State University, she worked as a postdoctoral scholar at UC Davis' Center for Watershed Sciences.
Dr. Curtis Gray uses his background in forest ecology, remote sensing, and quantitative analysis to study the long-term dynamics and management of forest resources. He employs geospatial modeling and quantitative methods to investigate ecological processes, particularly focusing on the interaction of disturbance agents (like fire, insects, and disease) in conifer forests across extensive spatial areas. His main research interests are:
• Studying disturbance ecology in high-elevation systems, especially the Great Basin bristlecone pine.
• Modeling the influence of climate variability on the frequency and severity of ecological disturbances.
Dr. Gray holds a Ph.D. in Forest Ecology from Utah State University, where his doctoral work focused on climate variability and disturbances in bristlecone pine sky islands. He also holds a Master's in Geography with a specialization in Remote Sensing/GIS from San Diego State University, and a Bachelor's from UCSB. Previously, he served as an ecologist for California State Parks and a GIS consultant for CalFIRE and the U.S. Forest Service.
HALF DAY SHORT COURSES
Speaking of Science — Delivering Inspired Presentations
Half Day: Morning
Instructor: Janine Castro, PhD, RG
We are offering a Part I online on Friday, January 23 from 1:00–4:00pm 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 2.
Description:
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. Scientists and engineers should not be condemned to dry, monotonous, and uninspired presentations -- science is not boring!
Improve your public speaking skills, feel less nervous, and begin to 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.
This is a two-part course which provides ample opportunity for those speaking at the Symposium to update their talks leaving plenty of time to practice and polish. Offering the course in two parts also allows time for other participants to develop future presentations following Part I, and then implement the draft presentation using newly acquired skills.
• Part I – Friday, January 23 from 1:00–4:00pm PST via Zoom
• Part II – Monday, February 2 from 9:00am–12:00pm PST at Skamania Lodge
• Participation in both parts of the course is required.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer:
If you would like to improve your public speaking and science communication skills, please join me for two separate 3-hour sessions (total of 6 hours) on making presentations interesting and effective, while also reducing your stress and allowing you to enjoy the experience. The first half of the course will be virtual, followed by a 3-hour in-person session at the RRNW Symposium.
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.
Material to be covered:
- PLAN (months to weeks in advance)
RESEARCH topic, audience, venue, organization, SIZE, LENGTH
MESSAGE – the single narrative
Plan BEFORE PowerPoint - DESIGN (months to weeks in advance)
Write an OUTLINE
Title – short and memorable
Main points
Opening Sentence
Final Sentence
Prepare your audiovisuals – clarify, simplify, distill - PRACTICE (weeks to days in advance)
Memorize your visuals, message, opening sentence, final sentence
Practice out load – to an audience if possible - PREPARE (days to hours in advance)
STOP working on audiovisuals
Sleep and hydrate
Wear something that is ‘quiet’ and comfortable
Tour the room – lights, sound, computer, timer, pointers, remote - DELIVER
Audio & Visual – no name tag, no keys in your pocket, no clicking pens
Voice
Tone and volume – the verbal strobe light
Inflection – avoid monotone
Pace – slow down
Pauses – the dramatic effect
BODY LANGUAGE and eye contact
Props – books, cups, glasses, example materials
Stories
Questions - EVALUATE
Target audience and recommended prerequisites:
Everyone…especially if you will be speaking at RRNW or any other conference or gathering.
Dr. Janine Castro provides national and international training on stream restoration, river science, geomorphology, and public speaking for scientists. She is co-founder and Technical Director of Portland State University’s River Restoration Professional Certificate Program and is a member of the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program’s Expert Regional Technical Group, which reviews ecosystem restoration actions in the floodplain of the lower Columbia River and estuary. Janine recently retired from Federal service where she worked as a geomorphologist and supervisory scientist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service for 24 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 co-founder of Science Talk.
Education: BS Geology and BA Geography, 1991, CSU Chico; MS Interdisciplinary Studies, Environmental Geomorphology, 1993, CSU Chico; PhD Geosciences, 1997, Oregon State University, Corvallis.
Specialties: Aquatic Habitat Restoration, Geomorphology, Science Communication
Intro to Riparian Revegetation, Plant Management Strategies, and Lessons Learned along the Way
SOLD OUT
Half Day: Afternoon
Instructors: John Goetz III and Anil Devnani
Description:
The techniques implemented by practitioners managing restoration projects vary in costs, level of effort, practicality and effectiveness. Additionally, individual practitioners can, at times, differ in their methods of project monitoring and the associated performance metrics or success criteria. The complexity of the practitioner’s job is compounded by agency or landowner goals and objects, restoration project duration, amount of funding and funding agency desires, paperwork demands due to state, federal and local regulations, changing public and practitioner perceptions surrounding herbicide usage and availability of qualified contractors and consultants.
Drawing on over 20 years of combined experience, this short course will detail the impetus for project implementation, techniques applied, lessons learned, and the associated monitoring data and performance metrics from riparian restoration projects conducted in Western Oregon. Using our techniques of partnering with local agencies to coordinate an extended period of site preparation, conduct an intensive project evaluation at the planning stage, establish relatively high diversity and density native plant communities as well as learning to accept and anticipate disturbance the restoration and recovery of riparian forests are exhibiting positive trends of plant community diversity, wildlife habitat and water quality despite the pressures and challenges associated with managing projects in urban and rural watersheds.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer:
We will cover common terminology used in natural resources management and offer interactive opportunities to develop and review vegetation management plans. Course attendees will walk away with a greater understanding of the level of complexity involved with vegetation management on interdisciplinary project delivery teams.
Material to be covered:
Common terminology, site preparation techniques, soils, disturbance, plant community management, monitoring data considerations, lessons learned, plant species selection, circular connections in natural resources management.
Target audience and recommended prerequisites:
Anyone interested in expanding their knowledge and understanding of the complexities and interdependencies of biology, hydrology and geology.
Recommended pre-symposium reading and/or websites:
The Rapid Riparian Revegetation Approach - Guillozet et al. 2014
Instructor Bios:
John Richard Goetz III holds a BS in Forestry and an MS in Plant Pathology from Washington State University. Mr. Goetz has worked in the field of natural resources management, including wildland fire response, timber harvesting, applied research, and stream and wetland restoration since 2001. Currently, John is a member of the Research and Innovation Department and manages stream and wetland restoration projects for water quality permit compliance at Clean Water Services as a Water Resources Analyst. Interesting fact: During my mycological studies in graduate school I discovered a novel species of Penicillium that has since been named after me as Penicillium goetzii.
Anil Devnani brings over 25 years of expertise in the planning and execution of ecological restoration, habitat enhancement, and revegetation initiatives. A Michigan native, he holds a degree in Natural Resource Management from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment. Since relocating to Portland in 1999, Anil has contributed to a range of environmental efforts, beginning with his service as an AmeriCorps member supporting Clark Public Utilities’ habitat restoration program. He later joined Friends of Trees, a nonprofit organization, where he led the natural area restoration program. Following a brief sabbatical to attend culinary school and immerse himself in Portland’s vibrant restaurant scene, Anil joined Clean Water Services—a public utility serving Washington County, Oregon—where he currently collaborates with local, regional, state, and federal partners to design and implement revegetation projects that support watershed health and ecological resilience.
Show, Don't Tell: Using Stop-Motion to Animate Your Work
Half Day: Afternoon
Instructor: Emily Fairfax, PhD
Description:
They say “seeing is believing”, and sometimes it’s easier to show people what you do and why it matters rather than try to describe it in words. But how do you compress a multiyear project or a research study into a bite-sized, entertaining visual? With stop-motion animation, of course! In this course you will learn the fundamental theories of how to make an impactful and informative micro-story of your work, then we will learn how to animate those stories using stop-motion animation (and actually do the animation work in class!). By the end of the session you will have a social media-ready video to share with your friends, colleagues, or the world at large.
Course objective and anticipated skill transfer:
Teach participants to communicate their work in a short and engaging format that is well suited for social media and presentation distribution. This is important for connecting with non-academic and non-technical audiences. Participants will learn theories of storytelling and science communication as well as how to actually stage and record stop-motion animation.
Material to be covered:
• Why should we spend time animating research / science / management?
• How do you compress your work into bite-sized pieces?
• How do you record and edit stop-motion animation?
Target audience and recommended prerequisites:
All are welcome.
Recommended pre-symposium reading and/or web site:
Beavers and Wildfire: a stop-motion story by Emily Fairfax (video)
Equipment required:
Phone, tablet, or laptop that can take photos
Course Timeline:
1pm: class begins
1–2pm: story boarding, science communication, and creating a narrative
2–3pm: recording the stop motion animation
3–3:30pm: editing the stop motion
3:30-4pm: sharing the stop motions and next steps for improvement and refinement
Instructor Bio:
Dr. Emily Fairfax is an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota and an affiliate faculty member at the Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory. Dr. Fairfax double majored in Chemistry and Physics as an undergraduate at Carleton College, then went on to earn a PhD in Geological Sciences with an emphasis in Hydrologic Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder. She uses a combination of remote sensing, modeling, and field work to understand how beaver ecosystem engineering can create drought and fire-resistant patches in the landscape under a changing climate. Her research has been featured internationally in National Geographic, the New York Times, the LA Times, PBS, NPR, BBC, and others. When Dr. Fairfax says she can talk about beavers all day, she’s not kidding.