Attend an Event
Register today! Statewide Watershed Conference
November 7-8, 2021
Plus live webinars Nov. 10 and 11
Watershed Connections:
Adaptability, Resiliency, and Innovation
Featured conference image is a photo courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Program.
Registration is open for the combined hybrid (in-person/virtual) Statewide Conference for Watershed Organizations on November 7-8, 2021 at the Wyndham Gardens Hotel and Conference Center in State College, PA.
Full conference tickets are only $120, single day tickets are $65. Virtual tickets are $30.
JUST ADDED: Discounted conference registration, ($80) PLUS a 2022 Annual Membership for your watershed organization ($50). For $130 you can attend the entire conference and join or renew your organization’s Membership. For more information about membership click HERE
If you need financial assistance to attend, please contact Tali MacArthur at tmacarthur@pecpa.org for scholarship information and an application.
POWR will issue full refunds until October 27, so don’t hesitate to register today!
Wondering what we have planned? Check out the Draft Program at a Glance
For a pdf, version click HERE (Subject to change)
Purchase your tickets HERE.
COVID-19 related health and safety policies and procedures will include masking, social distance requirements, proof of vaccination, and/or other precautions.
Conference Schedule:
The conference will begin with the Opening Plenary, at 1 PM Sunday November 7. It will be an interactive “story telling” workshop presented by Dr. Bethany Wiggin, Founding Director, Penn Program in Environmental Humanities and Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The workshop will also include an opportunity for attendees to share their stories of ‘adaptability, resilience, and innovation” over the past two years.
After a short networking break, there will be concurrent breakout sessions in four tracks: Organizational Capacity; Aquatic Science, Monitoring and Data Use; Watershed Restoration Strategies and Partnerships; and Watershed Policy, Planning, and Strategies. Concurrent tracks led by subject matter experts will offer an opportunity to attend presentations that best fit your organization’s needs and objectives for enhanced water resource protection, restoration, and outreach efforts. Please join us Sunday evening for a dinner reception and a screening of an award-winning short film.
Monday, November 8 will begin with breakfast roundtables at 7:15 AM, followed by an opening session featuring our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Michael Mann. Concurrent sessions will then continue until about 3:30 PM, with a break for lunch. The conference will conclude with a brief gathering and wrap-up activity.
New this year, three live one-hour webinars will be hosted by POWR at 12 noon and 7 PM (note change in start time) on November 10 and at 6 PM on November 11. Mark your calendars and join us to learn about topics such as engaging diverse and under-represented populations in urban environments, evaluating AMD stream restoration in SW PA, and ecological and human influences on nitrogen in our streams. Access to the webinars is exclusive to conference registrants- those who attend in person and those who attend virtually. They will not be recorded.
Virtual audiences will have live access to the opening plenary, keynote presentation, and the three webinars.
Hotel Accommodations:
A block of rooms has been reserved until October 6 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel at a special rate of $109. To guarantee availability at that rate, please make your reservations as early as possible. Please make your hotel reservation by calling 814-466-2255 and providing the code POWR. You have until 4 PM the day before your arrival to cancel your room reservation, if necessary.
POWR thanks these Sponsors:
Reception and Luncheon Sponsor: Pennsylvania American Water
Watershed Leader: PA Environment Digest
Watershed Advocate: Appalachian Region Independent Power Producers Association (ARIPPA), ARM Group LLC, BEG Group LLC, Chesapeake Legal Alliance, Ernst Conservation Seeds, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Ecotone Ecological Restoration
Carbon Offset/Sustainability: American Dairy Association North East
Nonprofit Friend: American Rivers, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, Stroud Water Research Center, Trout Unlimited, Middle Susquehanna RIVERKEEPER, and Lower Susquehanna RIVERKEEPER
We would also like to thank our supporters: The Pennsylvania Departments of Conservation and Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, the Campbell Foundation, and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds.
Sponsorship opportunities are still available: Learn more about the levels and benefits of sponsorship.
You also can still access many of the presentations from POWR’s 2019 conference
Webinar September 8: Water Quality Testing Tools for Watershed Groups by Water Rangers
Join the Organization for Watersheds and Rivers as we host staff from Water Rangers for an educational and informative on Wednesday September 8 at 6 PM.
Water Rangers has designed beautifully integrated water testing experiences using tools that are easy-to-use and accessible. Their custom water quality test kits, an open-data platform to manage data, and specially designed resources make it easy for any citizen science/watershed organization-led water quality monitoring volunteers collect data, manage results, understand their local water body, and if needed, take action.
Whether your group is just thinking about embarking on a water quality testing project or you are looking for new ways to collect, store, share, and understand your data, this webinar is for you. These tools can be used in streams, rivers, and lakes as simple educational tools or to collect baseline data and evaluate change over time.
When people engage in testing efforts, they also learn about their local waterways and feel more motivated to take action to protect them . Now more than ever, we need people to get involved with environmental stewardship, and testing is a great way to encourage this! Water Rangers tools make it fun, easy, engaging, and meaningful.
Join us and learn more. This event is free but registration is required to obtain the Zoom link to join.
Please contact Tali MacArthur at tmacarthur@pecpa.org with questions.
Webinar: Meaningful Engagement in Local Climate Action Planning
POWR hosted Heidi Kunka, Energy Program Specialist from the PADEP for a webinar on PADEP’s Local Climate Action Program.
Missed it? You can still view Heidi’s presentation to learn about the LCAP and how to recruit your municipality to the program.
For more information about the PA DEP Local Climate Action Program click HERE
Featured Training: Meaningful Engagement in Local Government Decision Making for Community Watershed Organizations
Thank you for all your interest!
POWR will be following up on this training topic with additional webinars on some of the topics introduced in this series. Please check this site soon for more details.
POWR’s Regional Workshops
POWR has wrapped up Regional Workshops for 2020. Thank you for joining us!
Presentations
POWR’s Lunch and Learn Webinars
About once a month, POWR hosts a webinar from 12-1 PM on a topic of interest to CWOs. To date these have included presentations on geology, volunteer management, water quality reports, the stream redesignation process, river histories, conservation tools, POWR’s insurance program, and more.
In January, POWR will follow up on the very popular geology webinar with a true focus on stream hydrology and geomorphology. Join us as we host Dr. Benjamin Hayes of Bucknell University to learn why the geomorphic and hydrological processes and features of your stream should be considered when creating a restoration plan. Check back soon and watch your email for more details.
Missed one of our webinars? Watch the recording on POWR’s YouTube channel. Videos are “unlisted,” so please click on the titles below to access the recorded webinar.
