The following are past conferences (reverse chronological order) that have been posted on this site. Hyperlinks have been removed.
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10th International Riversymposium and Environmental Flows Conference
September 3-6, 2007
Brisbane, Australia
http://www.riversymposium.com/
Held in partnership with The Nature Conservancy the symposium will be held in Brisbane from 3 - 6 September 2007. This year's symposium will focus on the emerging field of river management and Environmental Flows. The program will feature presentations on innovative practices and case studies from all over the world and a wide range of perspectives on managing river flows for people and ecosystem health. A key feature of the symposium is the presentation of the prestigious International and National Thiess Riverprizes for excellence in river management. This year the international prize is valued at AUD$300,000 and the national prize at AUD$100,000.

Riversymposium is part of Riverfestival, Brisbane's best-loved community and environmental festival celebrating our waterways and culture by focusing on the city's signature natural landmark, the Brisbane River. The festival is 10 days of celebration at the start of spring offering a rich and diverse program including music, visual arts, film, forums, education projects, dining, culture, large-scale free outdoor events and recreation. Delegates are encouraged to attend the many Riverfestival highlights.

Restoring River Fisheries (Online course)
August 20 - December 14, 2007
Hosted by Humboldt State University -- California Cooperative Fish Research Unit
This course is intended for upperlevel undergraduate and graduate students interested in river fishes and approaches to restoring populations that have declined. The course covers the status of important anadromous fishes in the Pacific Northwest, reasons for their current status, and perspectives on river restoration. Ecological principles relevant to restoring declining populations of river fishes are stressed. Topics covered range from techniques for assessing watershed condition, to components of conservation hatcheries and the role of harvest in restoration.

Geomorphology and Sediment Transport in Channel Design (Part II)
August 20-24, 2007
Logan, Utah
http://uwrl.usu.edu/streamrestoration/
The course involves formal lectures, computer-based exercises, and field excursions. The course emphasizes instruction in the conceptual foundation and principles as well as use of computer tools in restoration design. The focus of Part II is on hydraulics, sediment transport, and channel design. The 4 days are spent in lecture, computer exercises in HECRAS 1-d flow modeling and their application to channel design. We also consider when to design a channel based on threshold channel assumptions and when to consider sediment mass conservation in design. Students work on a design that is applied to the Provo River Restoration Project. We'll also go to the field and look at some of the relevant restoration projects.

Announcing a week-long shortcourse and field training:
GEOMORPHIC AND ECOLOGICAL FUNDAMENTALS FOR RIVER AND STREAM RESTORATION
August 13-17, 2007
Sagehen Creek Field Station, Truckee, California
www.esice.org/geomorph.htm

Why take this course?
River restoration has become big business in the US, with well over $17b spent on over 50 thousand projects since 1990. Despite strong public support and the magnitude of the investment, the field has not advanced as quickly as one might expect, because learning through post-project evaluation is rare, and insights from current research are often not effectively incorporated in planning and design. Not surprisingly, many restoration projects are ecologically ineffective or have washed out, although the extent of failure is hidden by the lack of post project evaluation. River restoration can be more effective when it is designed with an understanding of processes and the larger context, when it benefits from systematic learning from previous built projects, and when it is based on predictive connections between objectives and actions.

This shortcourse emphasizes sustainable river restoration through:
- understanding geomorphic and ecological processes in rivers
- watershed-scale and longer-time scale context
- incorporating insights from recent research in fluvial geomorphology and ecology
- developing predictive connections between objectives and actions
- analyses of effectiveness of built restoration projects
- strategies to restore (where possible) physical and ecological processes in rivers
- setting goals in the context of a continuum from urban-to-wilderness settings
- developing restoration strategies and innovative management approaches based on understanding of underlying causes of channel or ecosystem change, rather than prescriptive approaches
- knowing when to intervene and when the river can ‘heal itself’ without meddling

The course balances lecture with field observation and discussion. The course consists of organized lectures, backed by lecture notes, a reference text on measurement and analysis methods in fluvial geomorphology, spreadsheets, and other relevant reading, field trips, exercises, and discussions. The course includes several field trips to rivers and streams in the Lake Tahoe Basin, the nearby Sierra Nevada range, and Truckee River with their spectacular mountain scenery, diverse fluvial environments, and range of human impacts (and their often very visible consequences). The course includes workshops on geomorphic river restoration problems faced by participants, who briefly present the problem for discussion by instructors and colleagues in a workshop format, for discussion and ideas on analytical approaches and resources. The overall content of the course will be similar to the successful offerings of previous years, with adaptations to the new environment that will be updated on the website and in course information as it develops.

Pre-course training in geomorphic field methods: Beginning this year, we are pleased to offer an optional three-day training in field measurement techniques 9-11 August (the Thursday-Friday-Saturday immediately preceding the shortcourse). This field training is suitable for participants whose experience in geomorphic field measurements is limited and who would like to strengthen their background and skill set. The training covers principles of surveying, field surveys of channel geometry using traditional level and rod, total station theodolite, and hand-held GPS units. The training will include an introduction to use of survey-grade GPS and ground-based lidar, and possibly, field instruction in their use. The training will include mapping of sedimentary facies and other stream features, bed material sampling through pebble counts and demonstration of bulk subsurface sampling and its attendant issues, measurement of surface flow and shallow groundwater, and mapping riparian vegetation and techniques for using riparian vegetation features to infer flood history and channel change. The training will rely heavily on the methods presented in Tools in Fluvial Geomorphology (John Wiley & Sons 2003), and while interdisciplinary in context, will focus on geomorphic field methods.

The course instructors:
Peter Wilcock, Johns Hopkins University: sediment transport, river mechanics
Matt Kondolf, University of California Berkeley: fluvial geomorphology, post-project appraisals
Mary Power, University of California at Berkeley: aquatic ecology, food webs
Jack Schmidt, Utah State University: fluvial geomorphology, managing large western rivers
Mitch Swanson, Swanson Hydrology/Geomorphology: Trout and Blackwood Creek restorations
Scott McBain, McBain & Trush: hydraulic engineering, geomorphology, Trinity River restoration
Chad Gourley, Otis Bay LLC: Truckee River restoration
Mark Tompkins, University of California Berkeley: civil engineer, environmental planning
Shannah Anderson, University of California Berkeley: post-project appraisals

Who should take this course?
The course is ideal for anyone responsible for managing and restoring rivers and streams, including those who have previously taken shortcourses in the field, as this course offers insights and approaches unlike those typically taken in many restoration projects today. Practitioners and agency staff responsible for reviewing restoration proposals will benefit from the high caliber of instruction and direct link to current research. This course is a good choice for those seeking an understanding of process-based river restoration in contrast to the form-based projects commonly implemented. And this course is unique in offering the opportunity to learn from such an extensive and growing data set of post-project appraisals of restoration projects, and to learn how to conduct effective post-project monitoring. The number of participants is limited to 26 to provide many opportunities for one-on-one instruction.

Course details:
The course fee of $1,950 includes tuition, continuing education credits through UC Riverside Extension, field trip transportation, and course materials, including printed copies of lecture notes, CD with PDF files of additional papers and spreadsheets, and a copy of the reference work Tools in Fluvial Geomorphology. The course fee also includes three meals per day for five days, beginning Sunday dinner through Friday lunch, 12-17 August. Participants can make their own lodging arrangements among a choice of hotels in Truckee (about 10 mi south of Sagehen) or can take advantage of comfortable, very inexpensive dormitory accommodations at the research station. The field training is $1200 if taken alone, $1050 if taken in conjunction with the shortcourse.

Other Related Shortcourses:
Most of the material presented in the 5-day shortcourse is presented by some of the same instructors in two comparable shortcourses, offered in Logan, Utah July 16-20, 2007 (http://uwrl.usu.edu/streamrestoration/) and Baltimore, Maryland June 4-8, 2007 (http://www.palmerlab.umd.edu/). An advanced 4-day course in sediment transport calculations and channel design is offered in Logan, Utah, August 20-24, 2007 (http://uwrl.usu.edu/streamrestoration/).

Presented by UC Riverside Extension, Eastern Sierra Institute for Collaborative Education, and Sagehen Field Station.

See www.esice.org/geomorph.htm for course details and enrollment materials. For information about the course itself, please contact restoration_shortcourse@yahoo.com.

Stream Restoration Principles (Part I)
July 16-20, 2007 (see PART II, August 20-24, above)
Logan, Utah
http://uwrl.usu.edu/streamrestoration/
The course involves formal lectures, computer-based exercises, and field excursions. The course emphasizes instruction in the conceptual foundation and principles as well as use of computer tools in restoration design. Part I covers environmental river management and restoration, emphasizing principles of fluvial geomorphology and their applications. Taught by leading researchers and practitioners in the field, the course incorporates current research findings and innovative management approaches. The course emphasizes understanding and measurement of geomorphic processes, linkages to ecological processes, basic sediment transport relations and transport rate estimates, as well as geomorphological field techniques and interpretation of maps and aerial photographs, effects of human activities on geomorphic processes and channel form, and development of management and restoration strategies based upon an understanding of the underlying cause of channel change in rivers, rather than prescriptive approaches.

Ecological and Geomorphic Principles in Stream Restoration
June 4-8, 2007
Baltimore, MD
http://www.palmerlab.umd.edu/

The North American Benthological Society Annual Meeting
June 3-7, 2007
Columbia, South Carolina
http://www.benthos.org/Meeting/
The North American Benthological Society (NABS) is an international scientific organization whose purpose is to promote better understanding of the biotic communities of lake and stream bottoms and their role in aquatic ecosystems, by providing media and disseminating new investigation results, new interpretations, and other benthological information to aquatic biologists and to the scientific community at large.

25th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference
March 7-10, 2007
Santa Rosa, California
http://www.calsalmon.org/conference/2007/2007conference.htm
The Salmonid Restoration Federation will hold the 25th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference at the Wells Fargo Arts Center in Santa Rosa, California, March 7-10, 2007. The conference includes full-day workshops on dam removal and FERC relicensing, fish passage barrier removal tools, estuary restoration, and an urban creek restoration workshop and tour. Field tours include visits to sustainable grazing sites in southern Sonoma and western Marin counties, Sonoma vineyards with salmon friendly agricultural practices, restoration and ecologically-sustainable water projects in Dutchbill Creek watershed, steelhead habitat restoration projects on Upper Sonoma Creek, bioengineering and in-stream restoration projects, and roads and up-slope restoration sites in western Sonoma.

2007 Northwest River Restoration Design Symposium
February 6-8, 2007
Skamania Lodge, Washington
http://www.rrnw.org/skamania2007/
This conference focuses on stream restoration questions of concern to project planners, designers, engineers, biologists, regulators, land managers or owners, and community stewards throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The 4th Annual Berkeley River Restoration Symposium
December 9, 2006
Berkeley, California
Graduate students enrolled in the University of California at Berkeley's Restoration of Rivers and Streams course (LA 227) present the results of their original research.

CALFED Science Conference
Oct 23-25, 2006
Sacramento, California
http://science.calwater.ca.gov/conferences/sciconf_index.shtml
The Biennial CALFED Science Conference is a forum for presenting scientific information and ideas relevant to the CALFED Bay-Delta Program’s goals and objectives in the California Bay-Delta, its watershed, and the adjacent coastal ocean.

Half Day short course: Sediment Transport in Natural Streams
October 2, 2006
Charlotte, North Carolina
At the 2006 North Carolina Stream Restoration Institute Conference
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/extension/wqg/sri/2006conference/index.html

Half Day Workshop: Assessing Stream Restoration Success: Developing Sustainable Ecological and Physical Systems
September 27, 2006
Missoula, Montana
At the Center for Riverine Science and Stream Re-naturalization 2006 Conference
http://www.umt.edu/rivercenter/

Half Day Workshop: Stream Restoration Research at the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED)
September 26, 2006
Minneapolis, Minnesota
At the 14th National Nonpoint Source Monitoring Workshop, Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://www2.ctic.purdue.edu/NPSWorkshop/NPSWorkshop.html

Restoracion de Rios
September 19-21, 2006
Madrid, Spain

Geomorphic and Ecological Fundamentals for River and Stream Restoration
August 9-14, 2006
Lake Tahoe, California
http://www.esice.org/geomorph.htm

This shortcourse emphasizes sustainable river restoration through:
• understanding geomorphic and ecological processes in rivers
• watershed-scale and longer-time scale context
• incorporating insights from recent research in fluvial geomorphology and ecology
• developing predictive connections between objectives and actions
• analyses of effectiveness of built restoration projects
• strategies to restore (where possible) physical and ecological processes in rivers
• setting goals in the context of a continuum from urban-to-wilderness settings
• developing restoration strategies and innovative management approaches based on understanding of underlying causes of channel or ecosystem change, rather than prescriptive approaches
• knowing when to intervene and when the river can ‘heal itself’ without our meddling