Sessions at the 44th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference
2027 Concurrent Sessions
9:00am - 5:00pm
Concurrent sessions will take place on April 29 and 30, 2027 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.
Concurrent Sessions are usually 3 hours and 15 minutes and should not exceed six speakers. Ideally, sessions will have a variety of speakers (e.g., agency personnel, restoration practitioner, policy maker, recovery planner, tribal / community representative, fisheries biologist, academic, etc.). SRF encourages gender balance and participation of people from diverse backgrounds. SRF has an Open Call for Abstracts, so all potential presenters will need to formally submit an abstract in order to be considered as a presenter. The First Call for Abstracts will open in September 2026. SRF will forward abstracts to potential session or workshop coordinators promptly.
Innovations in Process-based Restoration
Session Coordinators: Damion Ciotti, Karen Pope, USFW; Kate Lundquist, Occidental Arts & Ecology Center; and Carrie Monahan, Mooretown Rancheria
State of Salmonids (SOS) III
Session Coordinators: Darren Mierau and Patrick Samuel, Cal Trout
The Klamath River After Dam Removal: Learning Lessons and Making Progress
Session Coordinators: Bob Pagliuco, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist, NOAA Fisheries Restoration Center; and Mike Belchik Sr. Water Policy Analyst, Yurok Tribe
The Pulse of Native Fish in California
Session Coordinator: Freddy Otte, City of San Luis Obispo
Accelerating Southern Steelhead Recovery through Large Barrier Removal
Session Coordinator: Wendy Katagi, McMillen Corporation
Surviving Summer: How Salmonids Thrive in California’s Dry Season
Session Coordinators: Monty Schmitt and Nick Murphy, The Nature Conservancy; and David Dralle, PhD, U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
From Models to Decisions: Population Modeling in Salmonid Conservation
Session Coordinator: Matt Drenner, PhD, Stillwater Sciences
Turning the Tide: Restoring California’s Estuaries
Session Coordinator: Matt McKechnie, Stillwater Sciences
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Habitat and Life Cycle Monitoring to Inform Restoration Goals and Population Recover
Session Coordinators: Walter Heady and Ellory Loughridge, The Nature Conservancy
This session will dive deep into the world of monitoring and how it is used to study salmonid population trends, life history diversity and expression, and the outcomes and efficacy of habitat restoration projects to inform how we can best design restoration and manage salmon populations as we move toward the ultimate goal of recovery.
Liabilities, Not Assets: Aging Dams and the Case for Removal in California
Session Coordinator: Charlie Schneider, Cal Trout