Fish Passage 2012

The 2012 National Conference on Engineering & Ecohydrology for Fish Passage (Fish Passage 2012) promises to be an important national forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange findings and experiences on fish passage issues.

Fish Passage 2012 will be of interest to researchers, educators, practitioners, funders, and regulators who have an interest in advancements in technical fishways, nature-like fishways, stream restoration and stabilization, dam removal, road ecology, and the myriad of funding, safety, climate change, and other social issues surrounding connectivity projects.

This is a three-day conference with concurrent sessions in engineering, biology, and management and social issues. The conference will also feature plenary talks, professional networking opportunities, and a poster session.

Fish Passage 2012 follows the successful Fish Passage 2011 conference held at UMass Amherst in June 2011. Information about Fish Passage 2011 can be found here.

Keynote Speaker for the 2012 Conference:

Rebecca Wodder - Senior Advisor to The Secretary of the Interior

Rebecca Wodder From 1995 to 2011, Ms. Wodder served as president of American Rivers, directing the strategic, programmatic and financial operations of this national nonprofit conservation organization. During her tenure at American Rivers, she led efforts to help dozens of communities restore the health of their rivers through innovative conservation measures such as the creation of river trails, the removal of obsolete and dangerous dams, and the implementation of green infrastructure solutions to safeguard clean water.

In 2010, she was recognized as one of the Top 25 Outstanding Conservationists by Outdoor Life Magazine, and was named Woman of the Year by the American Sportfishing Association in 1998. Ms. Wodder is currently serving as senior advisor to The Secretary of the Interior working primarily on conservation issues and the "America’s Great Outdoors" initiative.

Featured Speaker for the 2012 Conference:

Paul Greenberg - Author of Four Fish

Paul Greenberg is the James Beard award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller and Notable Book Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food. A regular contributor to the New York Times' Opinion Page, Magazine, Dining section, and Book Review, Greenberg lectures widely on seafood and ocean sustainability. More information available on the Program page!

Plenary Speaker(s) for the 2012 Conference:

Art Popper
Arthur Popper Prof. Arthur N. Popper is co-Director of the Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing and Professor in the Department of Biology at The University of Maryland. Dr. Popper’s research includes understanding basic structure and function of the auditory system in fishes and other vertebrates. He has applied his research on fish bioacoustics to examine the behavioral and physiological effects of human-generated (anthropogenic) sound on fish. Over the past several years, his research group has investigated the effects on fish of seismic air-guns, sonar, increased background levels, and sounds associated with barging of fish.

Most recently, his lab has been completing the first quantified studies of the effects on fishes of the very high intensity sounds produced during pile driving.

Panelists for Climate Change and Fish Passage

Paul Anderson
Paul Anderson currently works for the USDA Forest Service as a Staff Engineer in the Washington Office. He has worked in Forest Service Roads and Planning related assignments for the last 35 years. Paul has been involved in Aquatic Passage issues for the last 15 years. He is involved in writing Aquatic Passage and watershed restoration policy and direction for the USDA Forest Service.
Paul Jacobson
Dr. Jacobson currently manages EPRI’s Waterpower Program, which encompasses conventional hydropower as well as marine and hydrokinetic technologies. His professional work over the past 25 years has focused on environmental assessment in aquatic ecosystems. Dr. Jacobson’s specialty is design, analysis, and interpretation of monitoring and assessment programs to support environmental decision-making.
Keith Nislow
Dr. Nislow conducts research on the relationship between land use, aquatic habitat, and the distribution, abundance of fish and aquatic invertebrates. Specializing in establishing explicit, mechanistic links between environmental variation with the behavior, growth, and survival of stream salmonid fishes, Dr. Nislow is particularly interested in using basic science to assist restoration, conservation, and management.
Richard Palmer
Richard Palmer is the Department Head and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His primary areas of interest are in the impacts of climate change on water resources, drought planning, real-time water resource management, and the application of decision support to civil engineering management problems. He is the Principal Investigator of the new North East Climate Science Center, funded by the Department of Interior, which is a five year project to evaluate the impacts of climate change.