We are offering a great line up of Continuing Education courses and workshops!
Registration for all Saturday classes is now closed. Onsite registration will be available Saturday, August 15th at the Hilton Portland for Sunday classes only. For questions, contact bpike@fisheries.org
Workshop registration is separate; see individual links below for each workshop registration. Special workshops are not part of the AFS continuing education program.
All CE courses are scheduled for August 16 – August 17, 2015. If you would like to print the Continuing Education registration form, click here to download (PDF)
WORKSHOPS
Special Workshop: Biologically-Based Design and Evaluation Initiative for Hydropower No registration required.
When: Sunday, August 16, 2015 2-4pm PST Where: Hilton Hotel Downtown, Council Suite (921 SW Sixth Avenue)
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has identified potential for a near-doubling of hydropower capacity through construction of new projects and infrastructure upgrades in existing, non-powered dams. In practice, however, there will be limitations to meeting hydropower expansion targets, including environmental regulations and mitigation requirements. In fact, the need to alleviate, mitigate, or otherwise minimize adverse environmental impacts of hydropower is the main challenge currently facing hydropower expansion. The DOE’s Biologically-Based Design and Evaluation (BioDE) Initiative — a collaborative effort of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) — has been designed to address this broad challenge. This initiative will promote biologically-based design, operation, and evaluation of hydro-turbines through state-of-the-art turbine design and evaluation tools aimed to create to greater efficiency during the hydropower regulation process. Moreover, the BioDE Initiative will provide clearer and more definitive predictions of impacts to fish than are presently available by incorporating laboratory and field derived response thresholds to various turbine-related stressors (e.g., blade strike, rapid decompression, shear forces). This discussion will be led by PNNL and ORNL scientists and will provide a current and future prospectus of the BioDE Initiative with the intent of gathering feedback from attendees.
Contact:
- Alison Colotelo, M.Sc. [email protected]; 509-371-7248; Research Scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Dr. Brenda Pracheil, Ph.D. [email protected]; 865-241-5622; Aquatic Ecologist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Special Workshop: Beaver Restoration Workshop Register here
When: Friday, August 21, 2015 8am-12pm PST Where: Portland State University
The Portland State University, Environmental Professional Program, is excited to announce an additional Beaver Restoration Workshop on Friday, August 21st, that will be held in conjunction with the American Fisheries Society National Meeting the week of August 17th in Portland, Oregon. Join us for an intensive half-day (8:00 — 12:00) symposium to hear about the new state-of-the-science “Beaver Restoration Guidebook”. We will provide an overview of current beaver science and management, along with assessment tools for determining how, where, and when to use beaver in stream restoration. Course #EPP 726-007 register here.
Instructors include:
- Michael M. Pollock, Ph.D., Ecosystems Analyst, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
- Chris Jordan, Ph.D., Mathematical Ecologist, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
- Janine Castro, Ph.D., Geomorphologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service
- Gregory Lewallen, Research Assistant, Portland State University
Special Workshop: – Helping Fisheries in Developing Countries: A Crash Course on Fisheries Improvement Projects Workshop Full; contact Clevel Steward with questions
When: Sunday 16, 2015 9-4 PST Where: Hilton Hotel Downtown Forum Suite (921 SW Sixth Avenue)
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Ecologists Without Borders (EcoWB), and Sustainable Fisheries Foundation (SFF) are sponsoring a one-day workshop at the downtown Portland Hilton Hotel on Sunday, August 16, 2017 to educate and train AFS members who want to volunteer their time and expertise to help fisheries in developing countries obtain MSC certification. MSC uses Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs) to help non-certified fisheries identify and take the steps necessary to become MSC certified. This one-day informational and training workshop will be led by MSC’s Director of Developing World Fisheries, Dr. Oluyemisi Oloruntuyi, assisted by MSC, EcoWB and SFF fisheries professionals. There is room for 20 participants on a first come, first serve basis; cost = $25, which includes lunch and workshop materials. To obtain additional information and to register, contact Cleve Steward at [email protected] or (206) 719-1260.
CONTINUING ED COURSES
NEW!
A Brief and Gentle Introduction to Program MARK for Fisheries Biologists
Saturday, August 15, 2015, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Jim Peterson, USGS Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Oregon State University; [email protected], Kimberly Millers, Oregon State University
The goal of this introductory short course is to familiarize fishery biologists (professionals and students) with the most widely used closed and open population capture-recapture estimators for fish population parameters using program MARK (available for free download). Participants will be provided with an overview of the general concepts and assumptions and example datasets for running analyses with program MARK. These hands-on examples will be used to illustrate basic concepts in estimation. Participants are required to bring laptops to the course and download MARK and the example data sets from the course website (https://sites.google.com/site/caprecapafs2015/home) prior to the workshop.
Student member: $107
Student non-member: $132
Young professional member: $132
Member: $161Non-member: $246
NEW!
Analyzing Fish Diets and Tissue to Assess Trophic Status
Saturday, August 15, 2015, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Jim Garvey, Southern Illinois University, [email protected]; Marybeth Brey, Southern Illinois University, [email protected]
Fishes occupy multiple trophic levels, with their management and conservation depending on knowledge of feeding behavior, energy intake, and ultimately, growth, survival and reproduction. This workshop will explore the relative pros and cons of collecting data spanning short-term (e.g., diet contents, foraging experiments) and long-term (e.g., tissue samples, elemental composition) approaches to trophic ecology. Data from these collection techniques will be analyzed using a variety of statistical approaches including parametric and non-parametric hypothesis testing, Bayesian modeling, multivariate statistics, and ordination. Participants will leave the workshop with a grasp of techniques including gut collection, experimental design, bioenergetics, stable isotope analysis, understanding how to tackle resulting complex, and multivariate data to understand the trophic relationships of fishes. A rudimentary understanding of statistical packages such as R, SAS, and PRIMER would be helpful but not required.
*Participants are required to bring laptops to the course.
Student member: $107
Student non-member: $132
Young professional member: $132
Member: $161
Non-member: $246
NEW!
Bayesian I: Introduction to Bayesian Inference Using Gibbs Sampling (BUGS) for Fish Biologists
Saturday, August 15, 2015, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Dan Rawding, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; [email protected]
This beginner-level course will provide a brief overview of Bayesian statistics as well as an introduction to application of BUGS language for Bayesian inference. Participants will learn to estimate parameters from a sample of statistical distributions available in BUGS as well as conduct regression analysis using salmon datasets. No previous experience with BUGS software or Bayesian statistics is required. A basic knowledge of statistical methods including regression models is required. An understanding of capture‐mark-recapture models is desirable.
*Participants are required to bring laptops with open-source Bayesian software installed prior to the workshop.
Student member: $107
Student non-member: $132
Young professional member: $132
Member: $161
Non-member: $246
NEW!
Bayesian II: Intermediate Bayesian Inference Using Gibbs Sampling (BUGS) for Fish Biologists
Sunday, August 16, 2015, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Dan Rawding, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; [email protected]
In this intermediate-level course, participants will learn to use BUGS language to conduct more advanced analyses, such as random effects/hierarchical models, assessing convergence and the sensitivity of the prior as well as model selection and checking. Previous experience with BUGS software, Bayesian statistics, and generalized linear models is required. An understanding of capture‐mark-recapture models is desirable.
*Participants are required to bring laptops with open-source Bayesian software installed prior to the workshop
Student member: $107
Student non-member: $132
Young professional member: $132
Member: $161
Non-member: $246
*Members can register for Bayesian I & II as a package at a discounted price:
Student member: $164
Young professional member: $222
Members: $272
Beginning/Intermediate GIS for Fisheries Scientists
Saturday, August 15, 2015, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Nick Sievert, University of Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; [email protected]; Jacob Schwoerer, University of Missouri; [email protected]
This course will provide an overview of beginning/intermediate GIS skills for fisheries biologists using ArcGIS, including use of existing data, creating your own data, and review of fundamental concepts for GIS.
Student member: $134
Student non-member: $166
Young professional member: $166
Member: $236
Non-member: $321
NEW!
Decision Support Tools for Adaptive Management
Saturday, August 15, 2015, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Elise Irwin, USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Auburn University; [email protected]
This course will be an overview of the principles of adaptive management and decision support tools to assist with the framework. The course will be a combination of lecture and hands-on exercises with some commonly used software. Decision tools will range from simple linear programming on graph paper to Bayesian belief networks. Participants will also be introduced to decision making tools for setting up monitoring programs that are needed for effective adaptive management programs.
*Participants are required to bring laptops with open-source Netica software and Excel installed prior to the workshop.
Student member: $140
Student non-member: $165
Young professional member: $165
Member: $207
Non-member: $292
NEW FIELD WORKSHOP!
Large Wood, Partnerships, and Lessons Learned
Saturday, August 15, 2015, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Bruce Zoellick, Bureau of Land Management; [email protected]; Greg Wanner, Forest Service, [email protected]; Jeff Uebel, Forest Service, [email protected]
Through site visits to areas of the Salmon River as well as Still Creek, participants will be able to visually see the effects of long-term restoration over multiple flow events. As a result, they will be able to identify appropriate large wood designs that are effective in meeting aquatic habitat restoration objectives. Participants will have the opportunity to see the development of restoration designs spanning 20 years. Learning from experienced aquatic specialists, they will be able to describe what projects have worked and what did not meet the desired outcomes and why.
Student member: $175
Student non-member: $200
Young professional member: $200
Member: $225
Non-member: $310
NEW! Age and Growth Analyses with R
Sunday, August 16, 2015, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Dr. Derek H. Ogle, Northland College; [email protected]
This one-day course is for fisheries professionals interested in expanding their R skills to include analysis of age and growth data. Through a sequence of demonstrations and hands-on application exercises, participants will use R to construct appropriate metrics and graphics for comparing precision (APE, CV) and bias (age agreement table, tests of symmetry, and age-bias plots) between two sets of estimated ages, construct and apply an age-length key to estimate ages of individual fish from their lengths, summarize mean length-at-age with a von Bertalanffy growth model, and statistically compare von Bertalanffy growth model parameters between two or more groups of fish. Participants should be familiar with the fundamentals of R, including basic applications.
*Participants are required to bring laptops with R software pre-installed.
R for Windows can be downloaded for free at http://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/
R for Mac can be downloaded for free at http://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/
Student member: $140
Student non-member: $165
Young professional member: $165
Member: $207
Non-member: $292
FREE! Leadership at All Levels in AFS
Sunday, August 16, 2015, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Steve McMullin, Virginia Tech University, [email protected]
This workshop is designed for new and emerging leaders in AFS. It addresses the need for new and emerging leaders to better understand how AFS functions, the roles of unit leaders in AFS, and how to be an effective leader in an all-volunteer organization such as AFS.
Registration Deadline: Please register by Friday, June 26, 2015 online at http://2015.fisheries.org/events/workshops-and-continuing-education/ to help prevent class cancellations due to low enrollment. Note: registration prices may increase after June 26, 2015 for classes not cancelled by this date.
AFS Cancellation & Refund Policy: AFS reserves the right to cancel any course. A full refund will be issued only if the CE course or workshop is cancelled by AFS or by the instructor. AFS staff will notify all registrants of class cancellations. Questions? Contact Beverly Pike at [email protected].