IEP Stakeholders News

Greetings IEP stakeholders,

We hope that you had an opportunity to watch the 2022 IEP Workshop. If you missed the workshop, the recordings will be posted online once we complete post processing. The recordings will be available until June 30, 2022. For the IEP Workshop Statistics R Micro-Training courses - that material is hosted on Jereme Gaeta's Statistics Micro-Training GitHub page. 

For those who did attend the workshop, don't forget to take part in voting for your 3 favorite early career posters and your 3 favorite overall best presentations, which also includes all posters. This is a great way for the IEP community to recognize the high quality of workshop contributions. Complete the IEP 2022 Workshop Ballot Form before 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 25. Winners announced on Monday, March 28 on the IEP Annual Workshop page.

We'd also like to hear from those who attended the workshop - what did you like, what did you not like, and what would you like to see more of in future workshops. Complete the 2022 Workshop Feedback Form by April 1.

Thanks,

IEP Program Support Team

Greetings IEP Stakeholders,

The 2022 IEP Workshop is one week away. The event will be a virtual and free Zoom Webinar on March 22 through March 24. There is no registration required to attend the general workshop.

Mentor Luncheon - Registration Open!
A Mentor Luncheon will be held March 23 from noon to 1:00 p.m. The luncheon is for early career scientists and provides them a great opportunity to meet and talk with career scientists. This year we have seven career professionals that have volunteered to be mentors. The luncheon will be hosted as a Zoom Meeting and mentors will be in breakout rooms eating their lunch waiting to speak with mentees. Registration is required to participate. This virtual luncheon is meant to be an informal and stress-free environment, where mentees can freely move from room to room to speak with different mentors. If interested in participating, fill out the Registration Form no later than March 18 and remember to check out the Mentor Bios (PDF)!

Workshop Program and Links
The Annual Workshop page on the IEP website has been updated and includes the Workshop Program (PDF), the Talk Abstract Booklet (PDF), the Poster Abstract Booklet (PDF) and workshop agenda with Zoom links. These links are also provided in the Workshop Program. The Poster Discussion Forum, which houses the IEP Workshop posters, will go live on the workshop page the week of March 14. Check out the posters prior to the workshop. This year we have not only traditional posters but have interactive StoryMap formats too. The Evening Poster Session will be held on Monday, March 22 and Tuesday, March 23 from 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. The link to attend is on the website and included in the program. Presenting poster authors will be assigned breakout rooms and attendees can move from room to room to speak with poster authors.

We look forward to seeing you there!

IEP Program Support Team

Greetings IEP Community Members,

We still have slots available in the Lightning Talks and Poetry Slam session of the 2022 IEP Annual Workshop!

If you have research findings you’d like to share or if you are looking for an outlet to express your thoughts and feelings on the estuary and its amazing residents that call it ‘home’, consider participating. Reservations for presentations will be accepted up to March 15!

LIGHTNING TALKS are those that deliver a succinct and vibrant message within 4 minutes using a few important graphics. Lightning Talks should have no more than five PowerPoint slides or other figures (if used) and should focus on boiling down findings to their core concepts. This session is designed to be a safe space for early career scientists and others to practice their presentation skills – but all are welcome to participate!

POETRY SLAM is an “open mike’ format for presentations of a more creative type. With the virtual format, the possibilities are endless. It can be an individual or group presentation. It can be a live performance or a pre-recorded video of you and others (inside or outside) reciting, singing, strumming, or drumming your thoughts. We leave the specifics up to you. Be creative and share your voice! Your slam should not be more than 3-4 minutes long. Let us know if you’d like to reserve a slot, but depending on time and availability, we’ll take last minute volunteers until it is time to end the session. Show up and SLAM!

Email Steve Culberson to communicate your intent to participate if you have not already. We anticipate this to be a lively, dynamic, and informative session, delivering distilled and important information in effective, impactful, and digestible short presentations.

Best,
Steve Culberson, IEP Lead Scientist
Steve.Culberson@deltacouncil.ca.gov

Happy Friday, IEP Stakeholders:

This announcement is to let you know that we've just updated information on the Home page of the IEP website. IEP Lead Scientist, Steve Culberson, updates the featured section on surveys, publications, and data sets on a monthly basis. Plus, we regularly update information on breaking news and upcoming IEP meetings. Also, we just updated the IEP Journal Publications page to highlight some recent IEP journal articles:

• Simulated Fishing to Untangle Catchability and Availability in Fish Abundance Monitoring by Vanessa Tobias
• Examining Retention-at-Length of Pelagic Fishes Caught in the Fall Midwater Trawl Survey by Lara Mitchell and Randall Baxter

Do you have information on a project, meeting, or journal publication that you'd like to share on the IEP website? Send an email to iep@wildlife.ca.gov.

Greetings IEP Stakeholders,

The draft 2022-2026 Science Action Agenda (SAA) (PDF) is here! This draft was collaboratively developed by and for the Delta science community and facilitated by the Delta Science Program. The SAA provides a framework to address persistent, emerging, and forthcoming scientific uncertainties and management needs. We truly appreciate the engagement we’ve received in developing the draft SAA from the [collaborative group].

The Delta Science Program invites members of the [collaborative group] to review and comment on the draft SAA. Please provide your input to the Delta Science Program by 5:00 PM on January 21, 2022, by email to SAA@deltacouncil.ca.gov or by mail to 715 P Street, 15-300 Sacramento, CA 95814.

The Delta Science Program will consider feedback from the review period when revising the final SAA, which is anticipated by Spring 2022.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Eva Bush (She/Her/Hers)
Senior Environmental Scientist
Delta Stewardship Council
Delta Science Program

715 P Street, 15-300
Sacramento, CA 95814

Greetings IEP stakeholders,

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy has now opened the registration for their Fourth, Biennial Delta Invasive Species Symposium, which will be held as a virtual Zoom event on December 15, 2021. You must register to attend the event. Register through Zoom, or on the DIISC website, where the agenda and other details will be posted in advance of the Symposium.

About the Symposium

The Symposium is a forum for Delta managers, researchers, and decision-makers to meet, share and synthesize information, and communicate best practices and lessons learned. This year’s Symposium will focus on early detection and rapid response (EDRR) to invasive species. The virtual event will take place on December 15, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. through 2:30 p.m.

The Symposium will highlight EDRR lessons learned, current EDRR efforts across the Delta and beyond, and future challenges and solutions for EDRR work. The Symposium will consist of invited talks, a panel discussion, and an opportunity for participants to provide feedback on the draft Delta EDRR Framework being developed by the Delta Interagency Invasive Species Coordination (DIISC) Team. The Delta Interagency Invasive Species Coordination (DIISC) Team plans and facilitates the Symposium.

Greetings IEP PWT Chairs & Stakeholders,

Our next IEP Project Work Team Chair & Stakeholder meeting is coming up on Wednesday, November 10, 2021. If you have an item you would like to present or discuss at the meeting, or have a specific item or topic that you would like more information to be presented on, please send your request to iep@wildlife.ca.gov no later than Wednesday, October 20.

The meeting will be hosted via MS Teams from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. If you do not have the meeting appointment on your calendar, send an email request to iep@wildlife.ca.gov to be added to the appointment.

If you have any questions let me know.

Kind regards,
Christine Joab
IEP Program Facilitator
Christine.Joab@wildlife.ca.gov

Dear IEP stakeholders,

Do you have data or research you are looking to share with the Delta community? Or perhaps an opinion letter or essay? Consider submitting to the IEP Newsletter! The Newsletter is a triannual product of the Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) that publishes perspectives on our Program and community, reviews, data reports, research articles, and research notes. The Newsletter is a forum for resource managers, scientists, and the public to learn about recent important programmatic and scientific topics from across the San Francisco Estuary. Articles in the IEP newsletter are intended for rapid communication and are not peer reviewed.

The deadline to submit articles for the 2021 Summer/Fall issue of the IEP Newsletter is October 15. 
Please send your contributions for the Summer/Fall issue to Geoff Steinhart (Geoffrey_Steinhart@fws.gov).

Additional Resources:

• See the Guide to Authors (PDF) on the IEP Publication Guidelines web page.
• Read the latest newsletters (Winter, Volume 40, Issue 1 and Spring, Volume 40 Issue 2) located on the IEP Newsletter web page.
• Subscribe to the IEP Newsletter listserv and other IEP listservs by visiting our IEP subscription web page.
• Visit the IEP website for additional news and information on IEP activities and upcoming meetings.

Dear California Delta Science Stakeholder:

As the Lead Scientist for Interagency Ecological Program, I am requesting your participation in a survey about your experience with the Delta science enterprise, which is broadly defined as “the collection of science programs and activities that exist to serve managers and stakeholders in a regional system.” With collaboration from the Delta Science Program, the survey is being conducted by research team consisting of the University of California-Davis, University of Colorado-Denver, and University of Arizona. Your responses to this survey are extremely important to understand how to link science and policy more effectively. The results will support strategic planning for Delta science and policy, including ongoing discussions about changing science governance.

The survey has been approved by the UC Davis Institutional Review Board, which governs human subjects protocols. Whether or not you choose to participate, or answer any question, or stop participating in the survey, there will be no penalty to you or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Your responses to the survey and interview questions will not include information that identifies you.

If you have any questions, please contact Principal Investigator Professor Mark Lubell, UC Davis, mnlubell@ucdavis.edu.

You can access the survey at the following link: Interagency Ecological Program Science Enterprise Survey

Cheers,

Steven Culberson, PhD
Lead Scientist / Program Manager III
Interagency Ecological Program (IEP)

715 P Street, 15-300
Sacramento, CA 95814

Greetings IEP Stakeholders:

Are you interested in learning more about sturgeon? Consider joining the IEP Sturgeon Project Work Team (PWT). As a member, you'll receive notifications on upcoming PWT meetings, webinars and information on North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society (NASPS) activities. Contact the Sturgeon PWT Chair, Alicia Seesholtz, to join the IEP Sturgeon PWT.

Here is the latest information from the Sturgeon PWT Chair on some upcoming NASPS activities e.g., the annual meeting, webinar and recent sturgeon articles and papers.

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NASPS 2021 annual meeting
The NASPS governing board has made the decision to host another virtual meeting for 2021. The 2021 virtual meeting is planned for the week of October 25th, with specific days and times to be determined as planning progresses. Stay informed by visiting our North American Sturgeon & Paddlefish Society website.

Abstract submission is now open and abstracts need to be submitted by Friday, July 16, 2021.

Registration: Registration will open in the coming months on the NASPS website and there will be a fee to register for the 2021 meeting:

• $20 for members
• $100 for non-members
• Free for student members
• $25 for student non-members

Funds from registration will be used to support the costs of hosting the 2021 virtual meeting and the 2022 in-person meeting. The 2022 meeting is being planned for October 2022 in Folsom,CA.

NASPS webinar
NASPS will be hosting a webinar in June on early life stage recruitment bottlenecks. There will be 3 presentations followed by a Q&A session. Presentations will highlight research focused on bottlenecks during larval dispersal for a few different sturgeon species. The webinar is free to attend and more details will be circulated via the Sturgeon PWT in the coming weeks.

Sturgeon in the news
Read about current Atlantic sturgeon recovery efforts in the Delaware River Estuary 'E-ZPass for fish.' What tracking sturgeon can tell us about this fragile species - and Delaware Bay

Read about a rare shortnose sturgeon that was caught in the Potomac! Anglers hook rare sturgeon in the Potomac

Recent sturgeon papers
Dittman DE and MA Chalupnicki. 2021. Summer diet of juvenile lake sturgeon reintroduced into the Genesee and St. Regis Rivers. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, online early.

Genz J and RN Hicks. 2021. Response in growth, scute development, and whole ion body composition of Acipenser fulvescens reared in water of differing chemistries. Animals 11:1419

Hilton, EJ and PE McGrath. 2021. Its raining sturgeons: a likely occurrence of avian predation or scavenging of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus, Mitchell 1815) (PDF). Bannisteria 55:N7-12.

Kahn, J.E., J.C. Watterson, C.H. Hager, N. Mathies, and K.J. Hartman. 2021. Calculating adult sex ratios from observed breeding sex ratios for wide-ranging, intermittently breeding species. Ecosphere 12(5):e03504.

Pendleton, R. and R. Adams. 2021. Long-term trends in juvenile Atlantic sturgeon abundance may signal recovery in the Hudson River, NY, USA. North American Journal of Fisheries Management.

Plough LV, AJ Bunch, BB Lee, CL Fitzgerald, CP Stence, and B Richardson. 2021. Development and testing of an environmental DNA (eDNA) assay for endangered Atlantic sturgeon to assess its potential as a monitoring and management tool. Environmental DNA, online early.

Scribner, KT and JF Kenefsky. 2021. Molecular sexing of lake sturgeon. Journal of Great Lakes Research, online early.