PRRSUM is excited to host the following workshops associated with the 2024 Upper Midwest Stream Restoration Symposium. Regular conference registration is required for short course registration.
Large Wood Workshop
Sunday, 2pm to 5pm, $100
This workshop will review basic design considerations for the use of large wood in stream and river restoration. Topics covered will include project performance criteria development, geomorphic siting, longevity, material acquisition, materials, force accounting, countermeasures, risk, designer liability, recreational boater safety, and construction safety for wood projects. This workshop is an abbreviated version of a longer workshop provided for USFS staff. This workshop will be conducted by Marty Melchior, a Technical Principal at Interfluve.
Marty Melchior, Technical Principal at Interfluve
Mr. Melchior has over 30 years of professional experience in river restoration, including natural channel design, salmonid and warmwater fish habitat restoration, dam removal, fluvial geomorphology, biotic assessment, and watershed management and is one of Inter-Fluve’s senior restoration scientists, having completed over 400 river restoration projects in 25 states. Marty is an instructor for river restoration curriculum classes at the U of MN, U of WI and Harvard University, and has instructed for USFS engineered large wood restoration classes for the past 12 years.
Beaver Workshop
Wednesday, 1pm to 4pm, $100
This workshop will review fundamental aspects of beaver impacts on streams and stream ecosystems. This workshop will be conducted by Emily Fairfax, an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota.
Emily Fairfax, Assistant Professor
Emily Fairfax is an Assistant Professor of Geography specializing in ecohydrology. Fairfax is also an affiliate faculty member at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory.
Fairfax uses a combination of remote sensing, modeling, and field work to understand how beaver ecosystem engineering can create drought and fire-resistant patches in the landscape under a changing climate. Her research has been featured in National Geographic, BBC, NPR, PBS, Scientific American, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times, amongst others.
Fairfax teaches courses in data visualization, environmental data analysis, hydrology, and geomorphology.
When Fairfax says she can talk about beavers all day, she’s not kidding.
SAFL Tour
Sunday, 1pm to 2pm, $20
Wednesday 12:30 to 1:30pm, $20
(Free for those registered for other workshops)
This is a tour of the world renowned Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory. Attendees will see multiple levels of the hydraulics laboratory.