IEP Stakeholders News

The 2026 Annual IEP Workshop will be held March 16-18, 2026 at the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) building (715 P Street, Sacramento, CA 95814).

An Open Call for Abstracts will be coming soon in mid-August! So, gather your colleagues together and get your ideas flowing for presentations and posters.

The workshop will be a free, hybrid event held in the CNRA Auditorium (~290 in-person attendees). Oral presentations will be livestreamed over Zoom for virtual attendees.

Workshop registration will open in early February 2026.

How to Receive Workshop Updates

This announcement is being shared widely across multiple listservs and contact groups. To receive future announcements about the 2026 Annual IEP Workshop, make sure to subscribe to the IEP Workshop listserv.

Visit the subscription page on the IEP website to sign up for the workshop listserv and any other listservs of interest.

Please share this announcement widely with colleagues, peers, managers, staff, and others who may be interested in presenting or attending the workshop.

More information on the 2026 workshop will be posted soon on the Annual IEP Workshop page.

Questions

Contact workshop organizers Adam Nanninga (Adam_Nanninga@fws.gov) and Christine Joab (iep@wildlife.ca.gov).

Note: This initial email is being sent to multiple IEP listservs and Contact Groups, so apologies for cross postings. Please subscribe to the IEP workshop listserv for future updates.

Greetings IEP Community members,

Our next quarterly IEP PWT Chairs & Stakeholder Group meeting is Wednesday, August 13, 2025 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• August 13 Meeting Agenda (PDF)

The meeting will be hybrid (in-person + MS Teams) and held at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife office (1010 Riverside Parkway, West Sacramento) in the Garibaldi Conference Room.

If coming in person, send an email to iep@wildlife.ca.gov so we can provide your name to the front desk. Guest WiFi is not available inside the building, so please bring your phone to hotspot, if needed.

If you'd like to share/present an item at the next quarterly meeting (November 12, 2025), or would like to request a topic for a future meeting, send us an email at iep@wildlife.ca.gov.

The Delta Independent Science Board, which provides scientific oversight of programs that support adaptive management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, is hosting a two-day symposium at the UC Davis, Putah Creek Lodge on emerging climate science research from September 16-17, 2025. Through presentations, panel discussions, and a breakout group activity, the symposium will explore the current climate projections for the Delta, related uncertainties, and how the current state of climate science is being integrated into decision-making in the Delta. The symposium will help identify information gaps that should be incorporated into existing decision support models and assess how current management approaches align with the latest research in the field.

Attendance is free. Register to attend in person or virtually. Registration is optional, but encouraged to help with planning.

For more about the symposium, please refer to the prospectus (PDF) and save-the-date flyer (PDF).

Questions? Email disb@deltacouncil.ca.gov

Please share this announcement and information with others who may be interested!

The California Department of Water Resources is hosting an inaugural Water Resources Science Symposium on September 23, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the California Natural Resources Agency Auditorium (715 P Street, Sacramento, CA 95814). The purpose of the symposium is to share knowledge and foster collaboration across the water resources community.

This year's theme, "Science Drives Our Decision-Making", will highlight key decisions informed by scientific research, tools and partnerships, and explore emerging topics and challenges in water management.

The event is free to attend, but registration will be required. Information on how to register and additional session details will be available soon. In the meantime, questions can be directed to WRS.Symposium@water.ca.gov.

Please share this Save the Date flyer (PDF) with others who may be interested.

Greetings IEP Community members,

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has asked us to share information on the FY 2025 Notice Of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (Section 6) Traditional Conservation Grants. The NOFO is now open.

NOFO Closing Date: States must submit application packages by 11:59 p.m. EDT, Friday, September 19, 2025 through GrantSolutions.

Objective

The principal objective of CESCF's Traditional Conservation grants is to support the development and implementation of the State's program to conserve and recovery threatened and endangered species under FWS jurisdiction and that are covered by the State's ESA Cooperative Agreement with the FWS.
Eligible activities include introduction of species within historic range, surveys, propagation, research, habitat restoration, public education and outreach. Proposed activities must be identified as recovery actions in a FWS recovery plan, identified in a FWS 5-year review, or identified in another FWS document.

Monitoring of candidate, certain at-risk, and recently recovered species is also eligible. Candidate, eligible unlisted, or recently recovered species must also be covered by the State's ESA Cooperative Agreement with the FWS.

The NOFO is located on the Grants.Gov website.

The eligible State agencies in Region 8 have already been notified. These agencies are the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, Nevada Department of Wildlife, and Nevada Division of Forestry. State agency partners should reach out to appropriate state agency staff in developing eligible projects.

Resources

Various resources were provided to assist applicants in developing their proposal.

• Project Narrative and Guidance template (WORD)
• Budget Narrative and Requirements specific to CESCF (Section 6) grants (PDF)
• NOFO Content (PDF)
• FY 2025 eligible unlisted species list (PDF)

Questions on the NOFO can be directed to:

Karen "Kitti" Jensen (Grant Specialist/Senior)
Fish & Wildlife Biologist
Endangered Species Grants
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-2606
Sacramento, CA 95825
(916) 404-2947

Greetings IEP Community members,

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has kindly requested we share their 2025 San Francisco Bay Estuary Conservation Fund Request for Proposals. Full proposals are due September 22, 2025 by 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

The SF Bay Fund will provide approximately $500,000.00 in 2025. The grant award range is $10,000 to $500,000 and there is no requirement for matching contributions.

Please review the Request for Proposals flyer (PDF) for more information on the geographic focus, program priorities, eligibility, application information, funding availability, evaluation criteria, application assistance and information on how to apply.

Please note the following:

• Projects should conserve, protect, restore, and otherwise benefit the San Francisco Bay estuary environment including, but not limited to fish and wildlife, and the habitats upon which they depend, such as the water, land, and air resources of the estuary and its tributary watersheds located in, adjacent to, or affecting the estuary.
• NFWF funds and matching contributions may not be used to support ongoing efforts to comply with legal requirements, including permit conditions, mitigation and settlement agreements. However, grant funds may be used to support projects that enhance or improve upon legally-mandated baseline compliance efforts.
• Priorities include, but are not limited to, projects that benefit Steelhead trout.
• Eligible applicants include non-profit 501(c) organizations, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, Indian tribes, educational institutions, businesses, and international organizations.
• The fund area excludes the legal Delta but includes Suisun Marsh and all of the Bay area.

They don't typically get many proposals and the RFP is "invite only" so please distribute this announcement and RFP flyer (PDF) to others who may be interested in doing eligible work!

Invitation to Participate: Planning the 2026 IEP Workshop Program and Events

The 2026 IEP Workshop planning kick-off meeting will be held virtually Tuesday, July 1, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. via MS Teams. (See Teams link below).

We need volunteers to help us plan the workshop program and activities. We also need volunteers to moderate sessions, organize a training event, run the poster session, host the mentor luncheon, manage the early career awards program, coordinate workshop volunteers, organize an art display, and craft fun and relaxing after-hours social events.

Are you interested in helping us? If so, come join us!

The Workshop Organizing Chair (Adam Nanninga, USFWS) will discuss the planning process and expectations, roles and responsibilities, timelines, and then we’ll dive into brainstorming ideas.

Interested in attending? Send an RSVP email to iep@wildlife.ca.gov and adam_nanninga@fws.gov.
Interested in attending but cannot make the kick-off meeting? Don’t worry, you can still participate!
Send us an RSVP email asking to add you to the participant list.

Mark your Calendar!
Microsoft Teams - 2026 IEP Workshop Kick-off Planning Meeting
7/1/2025 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 280 277 594 941 8
Passcode: hp7eR2at
Dial in by phone: +1 916-535-0984,,507530076#
Phone conference ID: 507 530 076#

Who can participate?

• IEP member agencies, IEP partner organizations (including students from partnering academic institutions), and IEP stakeholders.
• Early career staff are encouraged to participate with approval of their supervisor.
• Career staff are also encouraged to participate.

What is the time investment to participate?

• There are 11 scheduled meetings between July and January focused on developing the program and events.
• This is an active work group with planning deadlines. We need participants to bring ideas and a can-do spirit!
• We also need volunteers to chair activities within the workshop. Consider being a session moderator or chair an event task.

Background materials:

• 2026 Workshop Planning Calendar (PDF)
• Workshop Principles (PDF)
• Workshop Planning Committee Roles & Responsibilities (PDF)

Please share this invitation with others!

This announcement is being shared widely, so apologies for the cross postings!

Greetings IEP Members,

It was requested that we share the announcement below with members. Feel free to share with others who may be interested.

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7th International Symposium on River Science

The International Society for River Science will be holding the 7th International Symposium on River Science at the University of California, Davis, from October 6-10, 2025 hosted by the Center for Watershed Sciences. Registration will be open in June.

This is the first opportunity for the global ISRS community to meet since 2019, and for river scientists and practitioners to reconnect and share ideas and experiences. The symposium provides a unique platform for bringing together researchers and practitioners from across the world, and to foster collaboration, sharing ideas, and experiences that can advance the field of river science and management.

The Symposium will focus will on themes that incorporate research from across ecology, geomorphology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, social sciences, first nations science, environmental engineering, river management and policy.

Special Session Outlines:

• Session 1 – Advances in Floodplain Science and Implications for Riverscape Resilience
• Session 2 – Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions in Riverine Landscape Across Multiple Scales
• Session 3 – Restoring and revitalizing large alluvial rivers and their floodplains to support biodiversity and multiple goals
• Session 4 – Data to Decision: Who governs ecological monitoring of the river commons?
• Session 5 – Revitalizing Community and Landscape by connecting rivers, people, and science through field experiences
• Session 6 – Rivers as Classrooms: blending experiential education into river restoration science and project monitoring
• Session 7 – Advancing Environmental Flow Management: Holistic Approaches for Sustaining Aquatic Ecosystems
• Session 8 – Science for a changing Klamath River following the world’s largest dam removal
• Session 9 – Floodplains Forward: Aligning the ecologies and economies of large river valleys
• Session 10 – Nature Based Solutions in River Restoration
• Session 11 – Healthy Rivers & Landscapes
• Session 12 – Advances in Bar-built Estuary Research: physiochemical, ecological and management perspectives

Visit the ISRS website for more information.

IEP Datasets

In the past few months, two new IEP datasets have been added to the Environmental Data Initiative, and one existing IEP dataset has been updated. See below for more information on these datasets.

• May 2025, the Fall Midwater Trawl Survey recently published their data package "Interagency Ecological Program: Fish catch and associated water quality for the Fall Midwater Trawl Survey, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 1967-2024".
• April 2025, the Fish Restoration Program recently uploaded the 5th revision of their data package "Fish Restoration Program Tidal Wetland Restoration Monitoring in Upper San Francisco Estuary 2015-ongoing".
• March 2025, the UC Davis Suisun Marsh Fish Study recently published their data package "UC Davis Suisun Marsh Fish Study, CA, 1980-2024".

Last Call for Issue 2 Newsletter Articles

Article submission deadline for Volume 44, Issue 2 of the IEP Newsletter is June 15, 2025.

The editor for this issue is Virginia Afentoulis (CDFW). Send submission materials and any questions to iep@wildlife.ca.gov.

Visit the IEP Publication Guidelines page for resources, such as:

• IEP Publication Policy
• Quick Guide for Creating Web Accessible Documents
• Guide to Authors: Preparing and submitting your article for publication in the IEP Newsletter
• Photo Use Agreement for submitting photos, drawings, artwork to be included in the newsletter

Greetings IEP Community members,

The Delta Science Program has asked us to share their announcement on a Call for 2025 Delta Synthesis Working Group Ideas and Participants (PDF). Please share with others who may be interested.

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Call for 2025 Delta Synthesis Working Group Ideas and Participants

The Delta Science Program is partnering with the National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis (NCEAS) for a third time to convene a working group in the fall of 2025. In preparation, we are seeking input on priority topics for which existing and publicly available data can be leveraged to inform critical Bay-Delta management needs. If you have an idea for a synthesis topic or are interested in gaining data science or synthesis skills, we want to hear from you! Ideas can be submitted by anyone, regardless of their ability to participate in the group. Likewise, topic submissions are not a prerequisite for participation, as we are also seeking participants eager to build their capacity in synthesis science. See the full announcement (PDF) for more information.

Questions? Visit our Delta Science Program-NCEAS partnership web page and email us at synthesis@deltacouncil.ca.gov to learn more.

Why it matters

Ecological synthesis is a critical component of ecosystem-based management and informed decision-making. NCEAS’s emphasis on open science principles and techniques promotes transparency and data sharing through reproducible data, software, and workflows. The need for increased capacity, dedicated time, and coordinated synthesis is recognized and included as an action in the Delta Science Plan (PDF), Science Action Agenda (PDF), and Interagency Ecological Program Science Strategy (PDF).

Synthesis 101

Synthesis involves integrating existing data and information in new analyses to address new scientific questions. The Delta Science Program leads and coordinates syntheses on key scientific issues important to the management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. These collaborative efforts aim to update the state of scientific knowledge, guide adaptive management, and identify science needs and data gaps. Visit our science synthesis web page to learn about current and past efforts on topics like mercury, Delta smelt, and more.