Continuing Education and Training

Upcoming workshops

The American Fisheries Society has a long and reputable history of promoting and enhancing the technical, professional, and administrative knowledge and skills of its members. In this spirit, the Cal-Neva AFS Continuing Education program is committed to the development of meaningful and timely continuing education opportunities that facilitate the collaboration and further development of our chapter members. The Cal-Neva AFS Continuing Education program is designed for students and professionals who seek to enhance and broaden their knowledge and skills necessary to meet the demands of fisheries management. Courses cover the scientific, technical, regulatory, and public policy knowledge related to fisheries management and environmental decision making. The program aims to provide the necessary courses to analyze, assess, and manage a wide variety of fisheries issues from general topics to specific applications.

In order to accomplish this goal, chapter members are encouraged to get involved. Please contact the Continuing Education Chair, Cynthia LeDoux Bloom, with your course ideas and together we can create a successful and thriving program.

2024 Workshops, offered Tuesday, April 9, 2024:

  • Fantasy Floodplains Full Day Field Tour
    8AM-4:30pm,  $95 lunch included.Participants will visit several floodplain restoration sites along the Sacramento River including Nur Pon Open Space and Anderson River Park. Participants will learn about the planning, implementation, and monitoring of these floodplain restoration projects.
  • 30 Years Post Cantara Revisited Full Day Field Tour
    8AM-4:30pm, $95 lunch included.In 1991, a Southern Pacific Railroad chemical tank car fell off the track known as the Cantara Loop into the upper Sacramento River near Mt. Shasta spilling 19,000 gallons of the herbicide metam sodium impacting 45 miles downstream and into Lake Shasta eliminating life. Learn about the recovery processes from millions of dead fishes, amphibians, aquatic invertebrates, and riparian corridors to the $38 million settlement, restoration, land acquisition and protection, research and public education lead by the Cantara Trustee Council.
  • Drones in Fisheries: Applications and Implementation Classroom/Field Components
    10am-4pm, $60 lunch included.

    Unoccupied Ariel Vehicles (UAVs) provide a new perspective on the surrounding environment and gives us the ability to adapt to changes in that environment. Whether you are looking for a new fishing spot along a unknown bank, checking the hiking trail up ahead for any damage or changes after a heavy storm, or planning a restoration effort and need high quality imagery of the site, UAVs are a tool to get the job done effectively! In this continuing education course, participants will learn the fundamentals of UAVs and how they can be used to help you achieve your goals! After the “classroom” portion of the course, you will get hands on experience with planning and running UAV missions (weather permitting). If the weather doesn’t allow us to go outside, we will continue the “classroom” portion of the course with more in depth post-processing education and other ideas of what you can do with your imagery once a mission is completed.

  • Chart your Career Journey Workshop – Dr. Ramona Swenson, Environmental Science Associates
    1pm-4pm at Red Lion Inn, $60.Discover how to plan and navigate your career, whether you’re early in your career journey or seeking a mid-career adjustment. Connect to your values, discover your natural strengths and tendencies, take stock of your skills and experiences, and learn how to increase your capacity and expand your network. This workshop will focus on developing the tools and mindset to support ongoing evolution in your career.
  • NOAA Fish Habitat Assessment and Simulation Tool – Dr. Peter Dudley, NOAA, SWFSC, Santa Cruz
    1pm-4pm at Red Lion Inn, $60.When planning projects that could impact aquatic habitats either positively or negatively, an assessment of those impacts on native fauna, including fish, is generally required by regulatory agencies. To aid in the assessment of habitat alteration effects on fish, we have developed the Fish Habitat Assessment and Simulation Tool (FHAST). FHAST is a spatially explicit agent-based model which allows users to simulate the effects of habitat alteration on an anadromous fish species of interest and account for numerous ecological processes. Our training course will cover the theory of FHAST, the basics of running FHAST simulations with provided scenario inputs, alerting those inputs, designing unique FHAST runs from scratch, and troubleshooting common issues. Participants will be asked to bring a laptop and download some files before the workshop.

    Register Now using Whova

2023 WORKSHOPS:

  • Southern California Fishes Beach Seine
    Description: Join the Cabrillo Marine Museum scientists on a planned monitoring beach seine and identify south of Pt. Conception fish species.
    Location: Cabrillo Marine Museum
              
  • Salt Marsh Restoration Site Tour
    Description: Join the Cabrillo Marine Museum scientists on a walking tour of the salt marsh restoration projects and learn about the planning, implementation, and monitoring processes.
    Location: Cabrillo Marine Museum
              
  • Gyotaku Fish Printing
    Description: Participate in a hands on class to press rice paper onto a fish covered with ink or paint.
    Location: Cabrillo Marine Museum
    Lead: Bruce Keoke
                     

    PAST WORKSHOPS:

    • Southern California Fishes Beach Seine: February 28, 2023 Long Beach, California
    • Salt Marsh Restoration Site Tour: February 28, 2023 Long Beach, California
    • Gyotaku Fish Printing: February 28, 2023 Long Beach, California
    • American River Salmonid Restoration Sites Tour: May 24, 2022 at the Cal-Neva Annual Meeting.
    • 2nd Annual Cal-Neva AFS Native Fishes Workshop: Pinot & Pikeminnow:  August 5-6, 2019, Russian River, California.
    • Tidewater Goby Management & Ecology Workshop: September 21-23, 2018, Clem Miller Environmental Education Center, Point Reyes. Download the workshop flyer, schedule, and other information here.
    • 1st Annual Cal-Neva AFS Native Fish Workshop: September 7-8, 2018, Camp Richardson, South Lake Tahoe. Download the Native Fishes Workshop Flyer.