Effective Estuary Restoration Symposium

Effective Estuary Restoration Virtual Workshop Series

Exploring the design, methods, and monitoring of estuary restoration along the U.S. West Coast in the context of a changing climate.

May 6, 2025, 9:00AM – 12:00PM, virtual format

Monitoring guides, data hubs, collaborative platforms

Register HERE!

This workshop will explore tools available to restoration practitioners. Presentations and discussion will cover estuary restoration monitoring guidance, compiled data available online for planning restoration, and collaborative platforms to share information, methods, and best practices for effective estuary restoration. Case studies from throughout the U.S. West Coast will illustrate the practical use of these tools. Participants will also be surveyed to inform development of additional online resources needed by estuary restoration practitioners. There is no cost to register.

Featured speakers

Download agenda HERE.

Jason Nuckols, The Nature Conservancy
Jason Nuckols works in Estuary and Freshwater systems across Oregon. Since 2004, Jason has helped lead The Nature Conservancy’s Oregon freshwater and coastal programs in creating and implementing effective strategies for conservation of in-stream, floodplain, wetland, and estuarine habitats. The position requires close cooperation and leadership with numerous partners and communities. Jason is a husband, father and son that loves all things outdoors especially being on the water.

Kate Sherman, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
Kate Sherman is currently the Habitat Project Manager at Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission based in Portland, Oregon. She specializes in compiling, managing, and analyzing marine and coastal spatial data. With over 15 years of experience, she has led numerous spatial analysis projects, encompassing stakeholder outreach and interviews, fieldwork, literature reviews, data compilation and standardization, data analysis, report writing, and cartography.

Melissa Ide, NERRS Centralized Data Management Office
Melissa Ide is the Deputy Director of the NERRS Centralized Data Management Office (CDMO), which is housed by the University of South Carolina’s Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences. The CDMO supports the NERRS System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) and is responsible for developing and maintaining data collection and QAQC protocols, providing metadata, ingestion and archival of the data, data dissemination and usage tacking, and training and technical support services.

Todd Zackey, The Tulalip Tribes
Todd Zackey is the Marine and Nearshore Program Manager for the Tulalip Tribes Natural Resources Department and has been working for the Tribes for 17 years. He manages the research and monitoring efforts for the department in the marine and estuary areas of the Tribes usual and accustomed area and is responsible for mapping, monitoring, assessing, and protecting the Tribes’ nearshore and marine resources on and off the Tulalip Reservation.

Alice Yeates, South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
Alice Yeates has been the Stewardship Coordinator at the South Slough Reserve since 2019, where she strives to take care of the lands and waters under Reserve stewardship. Alice received a B.Sc. in Ecology and Conservation Biology from Griffith University and went on to complete her Ph.D. at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. In her role as Stewardship Coordinator Alice values co-stewardship and working with the Tribes to plan and implement restoration projects, manage upland habitats, and promote endangered and culturally important species.

Isa Woo, U.S. Geological Survey
Isa Woo is a biologist with USGS Western Ecological Research Center with over 20 years of experience designing, developing, and implementing science-based wetland restoration assessments for Federal, Tribal, State, and local agencies. Her research interests include assessing restoration performance and benefits to wildlife, benthic invertebrate prey availability and bioenergetics of estuarine habitat types soil carbon storage in restoring wetlands, juvenile salmonid invertebrate prey dynamics, ecosystem services, and food webs for native fishes and birds.

Nick Da Silva, California Department of Parks and Recreations
Nick Da Silva is a Senior Environmental Scientist with the Natural Resources Division of the California Department of Parks and Recreation (CA State Parks). With more than a decade of experience in coastal and marine resource management, Nick leads the CA State Parks Oceanographic Research Program and oversees a statewide initiative to identify, inventory, and assess estuarine natural resources across the California State Parks System.

Kevin O’Connor, Central Coast Wetlands Group, Moss Laniding Marine Labs
Kevin O’Connor is an ecologist specializing in wetland restoration, monitoring and assessment, and is the Program Director for Central Coast Wetlands Group (CCWG). He received his Bachelors degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz in 2004 and his Masters degree in Biology from San Diego State University in 2007 where he investigated the effects of kelp forest disturbance on kelp associated fishes on Santa Catalina Island. Kevin joined CCWG in December 2007 and is currently involved with wetland and upland restoration in the Moro Cojo Slough, the development and implementation of a estuary MPA monitoring program, and participation with the California Wetlands Monitoring Workgroup.

March 4, 2025 Symposium

Blue Carbon and Fish Habitat Restoration

View Symposium Presentations Here

View the March 4th, 2025 Symposium Agenda: Effective Estuary Restoration Virtual Symposium Agenda – Blue Carbon

This was the second of PMEP’s symposiums exploring the state of knowlege of blue carbon in estuary restoration through presenations including:

Knowlege of Blue Carbon sequestration
Monitoring tools and datasets for blue carbon fuctions
Restoration case studies

March 12th, 2024 Symposium

View Symposium Presentations Here

View the March 12, 2024 Symposium Agenda: Effective Estuary Restoration Virtual Symposium Agenda

This was the first of PMEP’s symposiums exploring a wide range of pressing topics in estuary restoration including:

Design considerations and restoration methods
Climate change and estuary restoration
Monitoring estuary restoration
Documenting estuary restoration

Hosted by the Pacific Marine & Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership (PMEP) with generaous support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service