IEP Stakeholders News

SacPAS Workshop
October 30, 2026 | 9:00–3:30

2800 Cottage Way
Sacramento, CA
(in-person & online)

• SacPas Workshop Registration Form
• SacPAS Workshop Flyer (PDF)

Questions? Please contact: Lisa Elliott (lelliott@usbr.gov) & Jennifer Gosselin (gosselin@uw.edu)

Workshop Goals and Objectives*

• Provide stakeholders greater awareness of SacPAS tools available
• Receive requests for new tools to be developed
• Refine tools with better understanding of needs

* Full agenda available in mid-October 2026

SacPAS (Central Valley Prediction and Assessment of Salmon)
Providing data and analytical tools for science-based decision making and management of regulated rivers and fishes

Please share the announcement and flyer with others who may be interested!

Greetings IEP Community members,

The Cultured and Supplementation of Smelt (CASS) Steering Committee has released their annual memo to request proposals for the use of cultured Delta Smelt originating from the U.C. Davis Fish Conservation & Culture Laboratory from the 2027 year-class. Review the memo to learn more about the proposal submittal process.

The deadline to submit fish request proposals to the CASS is October 9. Requests must be submitted to Nora De Cuir (Kearns & West) at ndecuir@kearnswest.com. All requests should follow the template included in the memo and provide all the requested information. The memo in Word format has also been included below for ease of access to the template.

• 2027 year-class Cultured Delta Smelt Request Memo (PDF)
• 2027 year-class Cultured Delta Smelt Request Memo (WORD) version to access the template

Additionally, the CASS will hold an information session for researchers to ask questions of CASS agency members. The meeting is anticipated to be held in early September with more information to follow shortly.

Share this announcement with others who may be interested.

Greetings IEP Community Members,

Below is a list of newly published or updated IEP datasets and recently published papers from IEP partners.

If you have something you'd like to share with the IEP community, please contact us at iep@wildlife.ca.gov.

IEP Datasets

Listed below are three recently published or updated IEP datasets on EDI from IEP Program Elements.

• IEP Program Element 062 – The Quantitative Analysis of Stomach Contents and Body Weight for Pelagic Fishes (aka The Diet and Condition Study)
  • This group recently published their new Delta smelt diet dataset on EDI.
    • Burdi, C.E., N.K. Ugbah, S.B. Slater, T.L. Bippus, D. Anaya, M.W. Johnson, and J.A. Jimenez. 2026. Interagency Ecological Program: Delta Smelt Diet Data collected in the San Francisco Estuary ver 1. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/20501215a5c73b1260ad847f266ced6e (Accessed 2026-06-09)
• IEP Program Element 077 – Upper Estuary Zooplankton Sampling (aka Zooplankton Study)
  • This group recently published their new zooplankton dataset on EDI.
    • Shaw, C.T. 2026. Interagency Ecological Program Zooplankton Study ver 14. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/3678dfea5b965f8ef408f58803fbb11b (Accessed 2026-06-11).
• IEP Program Element 353 – The Fish Facilities Monitoring Project
  • They recently updated their Fish Facilities Salvage Data, San Francisco, California 1993-2025 on EDI.
    • Afentoulis, V., G. Aasen, W. Griffiths, T. Celeste, T.D. Malinich, S. Siddiqui, and L. Damon. 2026. Fish Facilities Salvage Data, San Francisco, California, 1993-2025 ver 9. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f1da5e94135634b7f601be6379dda133 (Accessed 2026-06-11).

Publications

Listed below are three recently published papers from the U.S. Geological Survey highlighting some of their activities in the Bay-Delta.

• Designs for Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
  • This is a preprint article available on the Earth and Space Science Open Archive.
    • Keith Bouma-Gregson, Lisa V Lucas, Andrea Jaegge, et al. Designs for Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California. ESS Open Archive. 05 December 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.176495220.03206867/v1
• An Integrated Sensor Network and Data Driven Approach to Satellite Remote Sensing of Dissolved Organic Matter
  • This is an open access article.
    • Avouris, D. M., Hestir, E. L., Fleck, J., Hansen, J. A., & Bergamaschi, B. A. (2025). An integrated sensor network and data driven approach to satellite remote sensing of dissolved organic matter. Earth and Space Science, 12, e2024EA004048. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EA004048
• Estimating Biogeochemical Rates Using a Computationally Efficient Lagrangian Approach
  • This is an open access article.
    • Gross, E., Holleman, R., Kimmerer, W. et al. Estimating Biogeochemical Rates Using a Computationally Efficient Lagrangian Approach. Estuaries and Coasts 47, 1435–1455 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-024-01381-4

Greetings IEP Community Members,

Registration for the 2026 IEP Annual Workshop opens Monday, February 2, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. The workshop is a hybrid, free event that will be held March 16-18, 2026 in the auditorium of the California Natural Resources Agency building. Participants can attend in person or virtually.

Registration

Registration, program, and abstract booklet can be found on the 2026 IEP Annual Workshop page.

• Use the "In-Person Registration (EventBrite)" button for in person attendance.
• Use the "Remote-Only Registration (Zoom)" button for remote attendance.

Volunteers Needed

• We need volunteers to assist as microphone runners and timekeepers in the auditorium.
• Shifts are half-day, and volunteers get to sit in the auditorium and hear the presentations.
• Volunteers are automatically registered to attend in person for their day(s) of service. 

Sign up now! Volunteer Registration Form

Judges Needed

We need volunteer judges to evaluate early career candidates for best presentation and poster.

• In-person attendees can register inside the EventBrite platform.
• Remote attendees should contact Ted Flynn (Ted.Flynn@water.ca.gov).

After Hours Event

• After Hours Event (PDF) - Climbing and bragging while dining

Questions?

Visit the 2026 IEP Annual Workshop page for more information:

• Area Guide (PDF) - info on transit, parking, food
• Workshop Program Overview (PDF) - basic overview of the sessions
• Workshop FAQ (PDF) - answers to all your questions
• Contact us at iep@wildlife.ca.gov

Note: This announcement is being shared on multiple email listservs, so you may receive multiple announcements.

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!

Greetings IEP Stakeholders,

At the August 14 IEP Stakeholder meeting, Dr. Rosemary Hartman (DWR), IEP Synthesis Lead, presented an overview on the new Food Web Synthesis effort. A Food Web Synthesis Proposal has been developed and is now available for review.

• Food Web Synthesis Proposal (pdf)

Please direct your questions, comments, or interest in participating on the Food Web Synthesis Team to Rosemary.Hartman@water.ca.gov.

Kind regards,
IEP Program Support

Greetings IEP Stakeholders,

Please see the announcements below on the IEP Workshop, an upcoming Delta Stewardship Council Science for Communities workshop, a call for IEP newsletter articles, and a save the date reminder for our next stakeholder meeting. Please share this announcement with others as appropriate.

2024 IEP Workshop: Feedback and 2025 Planning

The IEP Annual Workshop was held on April 23-25, 2024 at the California Natural Resources Agency headquarters building. A remote Data Training Course was provided a week earlier on April 18. Both events were well attended. We had 280 in-person registrants and 311 remote attendees for the 3-day workshop and ~80 remote attendees for the Data Training Course.

If you attended the 3-day workshop (in-person or remote), we would like to solicit your feedback, which will help us when planning the 2025 workshop. Please take a few moments and complete the online feedback form. If you'd like to participate in planning the 2025 workshop, send us an email at iep@wildlife.ca.gov. Planning will begin in the fall of 2024.

• 2024 IEP Workshop Feedback Form

2024 IEP Workshop: Early Career Award Winners

Each year at the Annual Workshop, we highlight the work of early career scientists and use a volunteer panel of senior researchers and scientists within the IEP community to judge their submitted posters and talks. 

While the judges noted this year's exceptional across-the-board excellence, the following presentations were found to be most outstanding.

The winners for this year's Best Poster are:

• First Place: Taryn Mitoma, UC Davis “2023 pilot experimental gillnet survey to inform an enhanced large fish study design”
• Second Place (tie): Kat Cone, USGS “This or SPATT? Designing a cyanotoxin monitoring program in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (PDF)”
• Second Place (tie): Brian Alper, UC Davis “Developing batch tagging techniques for cultured Delta Smelt (PDF)”

And the winners for Best Presentation are:

• First Place: Jackelyn Lang, UC Davis “An assessment of 6PPD-quinone acute and sublethal toxicity on San Francisco Bay Delta species of conservation concern”
• Second Place: Louise Cominassi, UC Davis “Sublethal exposures to the insecticides bifenthrin and fipronil impact the stress response and behavior of juvenile Chinook salmon”
• Third Place: Nicholas Hudson, UC Davis “Quantifying the stress response of an endangered fish species to support population supplementation”

Congratulations to the winners, all the early career presenters, and every IEP attendee for making our workshop such a welcoming environment for IEP scientists of all stripes to hone their skills.

IEP Workshop: Poster Forum and Workshop Recordings

Don’t forget to visit the online Poster Forum, where you can view available posters. Recordings from the April 18 Data Training Course and the 3-day IEP Workshop will be available soon and shared on the CDFW YouTube site under the IEP Playlist.

See you next year!
IEP Workshop Planning Committee

Delta Stewardship Council's Science for Communities Workshop

Greetings IEP Stakeholders,

Please see the announcements below concerning several items of interest.

2024 IEP Annual Workshop

The 2024 IEP Annual Workshop will be April 23-25, 2024. The workshop is a hybrid event with the in-person event held in the auditorium of the California Natural Resources Agency Headquarters building. Registration to attend in-person will be closing April 8, so don't forget to reserve your in-person tickets today. Visit our EventBrite registration page.

For remote attendees, make sure to register on the Zoom 2024 IEP Workshop registration page. The remote registration page will remain open until the end of the workshop. Visit the IEP Annual Workshop web page for more information.

2024 Bay Delta Science Conference - Save the Date

Delta Stewardship Council and U.S. Geological Survey are pleased to announce that the 12th Biennial Bay-Delta Science Conference will be held in person at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento, CA September 30 - October 2, 2024.
 
The theme will be “Cultivating Connections for a Dynamically Changing Environment”. Just as cultivation can nurture the development of a sapling into a tree and the growth of many trees into a resilient forest, connection and cultivation will magnify our positive impact as practitioners, inhabitants, and stewards of the Bay-Delta facing the multiple challenges inherent in rapid change. Embracing connections across ways of knowing, disciplines, and geographies will be the key to fruitful adaptation.
 
A call for abstracts for oral and poster presentations will be released soon, with registration opening shortly after.

Delta Science Program's Call for Proposals: 2025 Delta Research Awards

The Delta Science Program, in partnership with California Sea Grant, has released its call for proposals for the 2025 Research Awards.

With $6 million available for research funding, the Delta Science Program is looking for projects integrated with natural resource managers, community groups, or Tribes and directly addressing the priority science actions identified in the 2022-2026 Science Action Agenda. Proposals with a substantial social science component will be eligible for additional points during the review process.

Letters of Intent are due May 14, 2024. Full proposals are due August 26, 2024.

Visit the solicitation web page for application instructions and more information about the Delta Science Program’s research awards.

Greetings PWT Chair & Stakeholder Group,

At the August 9, 2023 meeting, Steve Culberson and Stephanie Fong presented an item on the schedule and format for future PWT Chair & Stakeholder Group meetings. Attendees requested a survey be sent to solicit input from Group members regarding future meetings.

Please complete the PWT Chair & Stakeholder Questionnaire by October 20, 2023. Results will be discussed at November 8, 2023 meeting.

Questions regarding the questionnaire can be directed to Steve Culberson at Steve.Culberson@deltacouncil.ca.gov.

Kind regards,
IEP Program Support
iep@wildlife.ca.gov

2023 IEP Workshop Registration Links Now Posted!

The registration links for the 2023 Annual IEP Workshop are now posted to the Annual IEP Workshop web page. We are using Eventbrite for the in-person registration platform and Zoom for the remote registration. Registration for in-person attendance will open on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. The Zoom registration for virtual attendance is now open.

For the in-person attendance, it is one ticket per person. On the Eventbrite page, please only register for the day(s) in which you plan to attend in-person. Also, we are looking for people to volunteer to be a guest judge for the Early Career Oral Presentation & Poster Award. This award is given to the student and/or early career scientist who has the best oral presentation and poster. If you are interested in being a judge, please reserve a ticket and we will contact you with more information on how to participate.

For the remote attendance, the link will work for all three days of the workshop. Do not share your Zoom registration link with others as it is unique for each registrant. Remote users will be able to post questions to presenters through the Question-and-Answer feature during the workshop. If a presenter does not have time to answer your question, the questions will be provided to speakers after the workshop. It will be up to the discretion of the speakers to reach out to participants via email to respond to any unanswered questions.

Early Career Luncheon

Also, if you are a student and/or early career scientist and you'll be attending the workshop on Tuesday, sign up to sit and have lunch with a career scientist to discuss career opportunities, pathways and experiences. Our mentor volunteers have experience working in state and federal agencies, academic institutions, and consulting firms. It is a free lunch being sponsored by the State Water Contractors. Seating is limited and registration is required. Visit the Annual IEP Workshop web page for the registration link.

IEP Training Courses

Finally, don't forget to sign up for one of the two IEP training courses! These classes will be held on Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the CNRA Building. Visit the Annual IEP Workshop web page for the registration link.

Kind regards,

IEP Program Support Unit