Effective Estuary Restoration Symposium
Effective Estuary Restoration Virtual Symposium Series
Exploring the design, methods, and monitoring of estuary restoration along the U.S. West Coast in the context of a changing climate.
March 4 2025, 9:30AM – 12:30PM, virtual format
Blue Carbon and Fish Habitat Restoration
Register HERE!
This symposium will explore what we know about Blue Carbon sequestration and fish habitat restoration along the U.S. West Coast. Speakers will discuss techniques, methods, benefits, and caveats relevant to restoration practitioners as they consider how best to incorporate blue carbon sequestration into their work. We will share case studies of fish habitat restoration projects that have successfully employed many of these techniques. We will share late-breaking tools currently in development to help restoration practitioners design more effective carbon storage and evaluate their success. There is no cost to register.
download agenda HERE.
March 4 Symposium featured speakers
Dr. Melissa Ward, Windward Sciences
Dr. Melissa Ward investigates blue carbon globally, with an emphasis on the research and management of coastal habitats along the U.S. west coast. She currently works as a scientist with Windward Sciences, along with Silvestrum Climate Associates, where she works on a number of projects to restore coastal habitats and quantify the associated climate mitigation benefits. She also sits on numerous state and federal boards to advise on inclusion of blue carbon ecosystems into greenhouse gas reduction targets and resilience goals.
Dr. Christopher Janousek, Oregon State University
Dr. Christopher Janousek is an Assistant Research Professor at Oregon State University where he conducts work on tidal wetland ecology, restoration, and blue carbon. He received degrees from UC Santa Cruz and UC San Diego and was a post-doc at UC Davis and the US Environmental Protection Agency. His research ranges from studies of plant and algal ecology to groundwater and sediment dynamics to sea-level rise and soil carbon stocks. In addition to his research in estuaries, he teaches phycology and estuarine ecology. He’s also co-coordinator of the Pacific Northwest Blue Carbon Working Group. When not doing science, he can often be found with family, hiking or backpacking, gardening, or pursuing digital and film photography.
Laura Brophy, Institute for Applied Ecology
Laura Brophy directs the Estuary Technical Group at the Institute for Applied Ecology, a nonprofit in Corvallis, Oregon and serves as Courtesy Faculty for Oregon State University’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. She develops and delivers robust science to support estuary restoration and conservation by coastal communities. Over the past 25 years, Laura has led field studies in nearly all of Oregon’s major estuaries, including effectiveness monitoring at the state’s largest tidal wetland restoration projects. Building on these projects with collaborative teams across the U.S. Pacific Northwest and West Coast, she and her colleagues have made exciting discoveries about tidal wetland characteristics and functions, which have led to her central role in producing improved maps of estuary habitats and improved quantification of tidal wetland functions like carbon sequestration and fish habitat. Laura currently collaborates with many state, Tribal, regional and national entities to apply these new methods and insights across the U.S. and internationally, helping to improve estuarine resource management and climate change adaptation planning.
Dr. John Rybczyk, Western Washington University
Dr. John Rybczyk is a professor at Western Washington University. He is an applied ecologist who uses an integrated field and modeling approach to study the effects of climate change, in general, and rising sea-levels specifically, on coastal systems. He is especially interested in modeling the non-linear feedbacks that allow coastal wetlands to maintain a dynamic equilibrium with sea-level. He uses those models to predict the resiliency of estuarine systems to rising water levels and to guide the course of restoration and mitigation efforts. This work has led to recent efforts to quantify rates of carbon sequestration and calculate carbon budgets for coastal wetlands in the Pacific Northwest.
Dr. Colin Jones, Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
Dr. Colin Jones is the Habitat Assessment & Monitoring Program Manager at Tillamook Estuaries Partnership. He works with restoration staff at TEP and with external partners to assess habitat restoration needs and evaluate project effectiveness. Through Colin and the monitoring team, TEP serves as a local technical expert, providing monitoring support for partners throughout Tillamook County watersheds. Colin received his B.A. in Chemistry from Willamette University and his Ph.D. in Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. His Ph.D research involved marine biogeochemistry and assessing how past climate conditions were recorded in marine microfossils. After completing his Ph.D., Colin moved back to the mountains and coast of his native Pacific Northwest and joined the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership as part of the Habitat Assessment and Monitoring team in 2021.
Adrian Laufer, Sea & Shore Solutions
Adrian Laufer is a coastal & marine policy and management practitioner with a zest for collaboration and innovation. She has a demonstrated history of working with researchers and practitioners to address the complex problems that affect coastal and marine environments. As the CEO of Sea & Shore Solutions, she contributes applied skills in policy analysis, community engagement and outreach, social science research, geographic information systems (GIS), and group facilitation. She approaches projects with a systems-based lens, with a keen interest in the intersections between the natural environment, society, and governance.
Monique Fountain, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
Ms. Monique Fountain is the Director of the Tidal Wetland Program at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, located along the edge of Monterey Bay, California. The Tidal Wetland Program brings science to coastal decision makers using a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach that has regularly engaged over 100 stakeholders since 2004. Over the last ten years the Program’s focus has included fundraising, designing, permitting, and implementing several large-scale restoration projects in Elkhorn Slough.
These virtual symposia bring together experts in the field of estuary restoration along the U.S. West Coast to explore effective estuary restoration topics. The symposiums are designed to support estuary restoration practitioners and will include opportunities to share techniques, ask questions, and build a community of practice. Generous funding provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Save the Date for the May 6 2025 Symposium
The May 6 2025 symposium will explore:
- Monitoring protocols and guidance;
- Data hubs; and
- Collaborative platforms for restoration practitioners.
FOR NOTICES OF UPCOMING SYMPOSIUMS, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER HERE!
2024 Symposium
March 12, 2024
View 2024 Symposium Presentations Here
View the March 12, 2025 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
