Workshops — Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Quick Content Links
Morning Sessions: 8 AM to Noon
Microsoft Excel for Fisheries Professionals
Instructor: Jack Van Deventer
Email: [email protected]
Time: 8 am – Noon
Capacity: 45
Cost per Registrant: $20
Prerequisites: General understanding of Excel basics: formulas, cell references, etc. Registrants will receive an information packet via email address provided prior to the workshop. Individual laptops are not required but can be brought to follow along.
Description:
Fisheries data sets are complex and cumulative, and reporting demands are constantly changing. The good news is that Microsoft Excel is enormously powerful, and Microsoft is adding impressive functionality each year. How can you leverage Excel’s power to (1) save valuable time and (2) expand your research findings? That’s what this workshop is all about. We’ll review fundamentals of Excel, show how to overcome common challenges in fisheries analytics, and provide exposure for advanced techniques. The goal of the workshop is to increase your productivity by mastering Excel.
Innovasea Acoustic Telemetry
Instructors: Innovasea staff – TBA
Email: [email protected]
Time: 8 am – Noon
Capacity: 50
Cost: Free
Prerequisites: None
Description:
This workshop is intended to educate researchers on how to effectively use Innovasea acoustic telemetry technology in a wide array of applications to gain a deeper understanding of aquatic animal behavior. Along with describing how acoustic telemetry works, Innovasea experts will guide participants through the basics of study design, range testing, and deployment, and how to use Fathom software for data management and visualization. Finally, an update on the latest innovations from Innovasea will be featured including our advanced NexTrak system and R1 receiver.
Science communication with Policymakers, Peers, and the Public
Instructors: Steve Lochmann and Aaron Bunch
Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
Time: 8 am – Noon
Capacity: 30
Cost: $40 per registrant
Prerequisites: None
Description:
Communicating science is central to presentations at scientific meetings, but equally important when engaging with the public or in the policy arena. Communication of science is a skill that improves with practice but can also be improved by implementing advice informed by theory. For example, a PowerPoint presentation for a scientific meeting can quickly be improved by adopting best practices. Engaging with the public is a different type of communication that requires different considerations and practices. We will offer suggestions for communication to inform policymakers, engage with the public, and convey research results to peers. This workshop will identify common presenter challenges, including poor planning, unclear messaging, and misuses of PowerPoint. This workshop will outline useful practices for development and delivery of compelling presentations. The goal is for participants to improve the likelihood that audiences will receive, remember, and use their findings.
Continuous Stream Temperature Monitoring
Instructor: David Young and Matt Troia
Email: [email protected]
Time: 8 am – Noon
Capacity: 20
Cost: $25 per registrant – professional and student
Prerequisites: Registrants bring own laptop
Description:
Stream temperature influences species physiology, behavior, distribution, and community structure and as a leading indicator of global warming is a pertinent variable to understand how freshwater ecosystems in the Southeastern United States will be affected by climate change. This workshop aims to introduce continuous stream temperature monitoring methods with the goal of providing attendees essential knowledge to start or refine monitoring efforts. Practicing experts will share best practices, data processing workflows, and case studies through a combination of lecture and hands on experience. This workshop will be conducted in an inclusive and collaborative manner that raises awareness for the needs of stream temperature monitoring and brings scientists and resource managers together to enrich knowledge and foster a community of practice. Focal topics are:
• Study design: considerations for meeting your research and management goals.
• Data collection methods: best practices for sensor deployment maintenance and data retrieval.
• Data processing: hands on practice in data entry, cleaning, exploratory analysis and visualization, and storage using the program R.
• Information transfer: Data dissemination/ open-source sharing/ other resources
Afternoon Sessions: 1 PM – 5 PM
Introduction to Social Science for Fisheries Management
Instructors: Kathryn Jewell and Cristina Watkins
Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
Time: 1 pm – 5 pm
Capacity: 40
Cost: Free
Prerequisites: None
Description:
This workshop will instruct fisheries professionals on uses for social science research in fisheries management, common social science methods, how to use social science data in their work, and provide a forum for discussing social science issues they may be facing.
All-Day Workshops: 8 AM – 5 PM
Plain, Simple, and Concise Writing
Instructors: Steve McMullin
Email: [email protected]
Time: Full Day (8:30 am – 4:30 pm)
Capacity: 30
Cost: $75 Professional/$25 Students
Prerequisites: Bring your laptop with a document
Description:
Learn how to write your thesis, dissertation, manuscript, annual report, or any other document using 25-30% fewer words without losing critical content. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll have many opportunities to practice what you learn and also to apply what you learn to your own writing.
Introductory GIS for Fisheries Biologists using Open-Source QGIS
Instructors: Clint Morgeson and Drew White
Email: [email protected]
Time: Full Day (8 am – 5 pm)
Capacity: 30
Cost: $75 Professional/$20 Students
Prerequisites: Participants will need to provide their own laptop computer and come to class with QGIS already installed on the machine. Download instructions will be provided to registrants prior to the course.
Description:
This course will be an introduction to using spatial data in a geographic information system platform. QGIS is a free and open-source GIS application supported by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) that runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OSX, and Android. Capabilities consist of core functions, external applications integration, and plugins, which are similar to R packages.
The course will consist of short lectures focused on concepts combined with self-guided exercises applying those concepts to a final map product. Participants will learn basic cartographic techniques and how to locate and read metadata, use existing datasets, create new datasets by digitizing spatial data and incorporating field-collected data, join tables to spatial data, measure and summarize metrics, and carry out other useful GIS operations for fisheries biologists. The concepts and techniques learned in this course are applicable to fisheries professionals for their own work.
Breaking Barriers in Uncertainties; What does the Future of Aquatic Connectivity Look Like?
Instructors: Shawna Fix and Kat Hoenke
Time: Full Day (8 am – 5 pm)
Email: [email protected]
Capacity: 60
Cost: Free
Prerequisites: None
Description:
Aquatic habitat fragmentation has long been identified as a fisheries conservation issue in the Southeast United States due to the high prevalence of dams and road-stream crossings. As we are now over halfway through the funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), there have been many questions about how the momentum of aquatic connectivity work will be maintained, especially in the Southeast. This workshop will provide discussion on what the future of aquatic connectivity work in the Southeast may look like.
Getting Hired or Finding Graduate Schools Workshop
Instructors: Amanda Rosenberger and Kevin Dockendorf
Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
Time: Full Day (8 am – 5 pm)
Capacity: 40
Cost: Free
Prerequisites: Bring hard copies of resume or cover letters for review.
Description:
We will cover multiple topics relevant to students that are seeking to make employment connections, structure their job-seeking materials, and the right fit for a career in fisheries and aquatic sciences. Included in this workshop are hints and skill building for introductions and networking; review of CV, resumes and cover letters; different kinds of job in the field, preparing for the interview; and what skills employers are looking for in fisheries graduates. We will use the whole day for the workshop to provide ample time for discussion, personal review of resumes, and role-playing interviews.
Hatchery Science and Research
Instructors: Sierra Benfield, Matthew Bodenhamer, David Deaton, Peter Lamb, Scott Loftis, Adam Moticak
Email: [email protected]
Time: Full Day (8 am – 5 pm)
Capacity: 25
Cost per Registrant: $40 students and professionals (cost includes travel and lunch expenses)
Prerequisites: None
Description:
Participants will visit a state-owned fish hatchery near Asheville and learn propagation techniques, facility infrastructure, and stocking program considerations related to fish production. Participants will also tour a conservation aquaculture facility that propagates threatened and endangered species including Roanoke Logperch, Spotfin Chub, Wavy-rayed Lampmussel, and Magnificent Ramshorn. Finally, participants will visit a habitat restoration project critical for a Muskellunge restoration program that utilizes hatchery fish. Students will take away from this workshop a working knowledge of the resources, constraints, benefits, and processes for rearing and utilizing propagated fish.