Agenda: Northeast Region Brook Trout – Stream Temperature Modeling Workshop, April 7-8, 2015
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, NE Regional Office,
300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, MA
The objectives of the workshop are to:
1) Bring together, in a facilitated workshop format, researchers in USGS and with other institutions that have been developing eastern brook trout models and assessments to more effectively share data resources and to assure that shared data resources is being fully reconciled among researchers;
2) Develop a document or documents that provide guidance to the management community on application of models and assessments and their interpretation;
3) Investigate the use of a shared database for information relevant to eastern brook trout research that would act as a clearing house for both natural resource managers and researchers;
4) Investigate and suggest steps that would make regional temperature data available for researchers and managers, including information and models being developed for assessment of brook trout as well as temperature data being developed and consolidated for other purposes;
5) Begin a process that would provide guidance for developing models and assessments for other species or groups of species that would take advantage of the research community’s shared experience regarding brook trout research.
Tuesday, April 7
8:00-8:30 am Welcome – Scott Schwenk, Science Coordinator, North Atlantic LCC
Overview and Purpose – Rachel Muir, USGS
Introductions
8:30-10:00 am – Session I: Brook Trout Modeling: 15 minute overview talks to stimulate breakout group
- Than Hitt, USGS: Forecasting environmental change
- Ben Letcher, USGS / Conte Lab.: Understanding population demographic/genetic risks
- Ty Wagner, USGS / Penn State Co-op Unit: Linking transboundary brook trout modeling with regional and local management needs
- Todd Petty, West Virginia U.: Multi-scale assessment of brook trout habitat quality and climate vulnerability in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
- Jason Coombs, UMass: EBTJV range-wide status assessment
- Tim King, USGS: Combining niche and mechanistic predictive models for brook trout
10:00-10:30 am – Break (possible poster viewing session)
10:30 am -12:00 pm – Session II: Stream Temperature Modeling: 20 minute overview talks to stimulate breakout group
- Dan Hocking, USGS: Modeling stream temperature and trout populations in time and space
- Ty Wagner, USGS / Penn State Co-op Unit: A regional neural network ensemble for predicting mean daily river water temperature
- Jeff Cole, USGS: Statistical and probability based temperature modeling
- Jana Stewart, USGS: Great Lakes basin stream temperature modeling; NorEasT
12:00-1:00 pm – Lunch (on-site)
1:00-4:30 pm Session III – Brook trout and stream temperature breakout sessions
4:30-5:00 pm Session IV – Report out from breakout sessions
6:00 pm – Informal off-site group dinner
Wednesday April 8
8:30-9:30 am – Management perspectives to inform discussions on meeting objectives
- Mark Hudy and Steve Perry, perspectives from the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (15 min.)
- Gerry Szal, Mass DEP – a state perspective (15 min.)
- Toby Stover, EPA Region 1 – an EPA perspective
9:30-11:45 am – Facilitated discussion on breakout sessions, action items, task leads, next steps to achieve:
- Obj 2 – Document(s) that provide guidance to the management community on application of models and assessments and their interpretation
- Obj 3 - Shared database for information relevant to eastern brook trout research that would act as a clearing house for both natural resource managers and researchers
- Obj 4 – Make regional temperature data available for researchers and managers
- Obj 5 – Process that would provide guidance for developing models and assessments for other species or groups of species
- Monitoring data needed to reduce modeling uncertainty
11:45 am - 12:00 pm – Next Steps and Meeting Wrap-up
12:00 pm – Meeting adjourned
