WRA is a proud sponsor of the California Society for Ecological Restoration (SERCAL) Conference on April 13-15, 2023 in Davis, California. This year’s theme is “Cultivating Connections” and is co-chaired by WRA Senior Restoration Ecologist Ashley Zavagno, CERP, CE. In addition, you can find our team members throughout the week hosting a field trip and presenting in a variety of session talks.

Thursday, April 13

Patricia Valcarcel, CWB, WRA’s Regulatory Program Director, will co-lead a field trip with Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP) of the Department of Water Resources Lookout Slough Tidal Habitat Restoration and Flood Improvement Project site in Solano County. More information here (spaces are limited and available only for registered conference attendees).

Friday, April 14

Ingrid Morken, PLA, CERP, SITES AP and Russell Prange, PLA, two of WRA’s Senior Landscape Architects will co-present “Invitation to the Shoreline: Ecological Restoration and Public Access” in the Living Shorelines session from 10:30am-12:15pm.

Patricia Valcarcel, CWB, WRA’s Regulatory Program Director, will co-present with EIP in a presentation titled “Giant gartersnake historical habitat design and conservation measures at Lookout Slough, a multi-benefit restoration project” in the Restoring Floodplains: Lookout Slough session from 1:30-2:45pm.

Katie Smith, PhD, WRA Wildlife Biologist, will present “A collaborative approach to develop restoration guidelines for the salt marsh harvest mouse” in the Bridging Intentions and Outcomes in Species Restoration and Management session from 3:10-4:45pm.

Saturday, April 15

Andrew Smith, PE, WRA Senior Restoration Engineer, will present “Opportunities in Ecological Restoration – Helping Humans and the Ecosystem” in the Uplifting Urban Ecosystems session from 10:15am-12:00pm.

Jason Mills, Senior Restoration Contractor for WRA Landscape Restoration, will present “Prescribed fire for Medusa Head (Elymus caput-medusae) control and impacts to species composition in an invaded California Grassland” in the Managing Invasives: Tools in the Toolbox session from 10:15am-12:00pm.

Geoff Smick, WRA’s President & CEO and SERCAL’s Treasurer and Board of Directors will co-present with the California Department of Parks and Recreation. The presentation is titled “Cutting the Green Tape: Benefits and Outcomes of the Restoration Management Permit Program – A Case Study from Malakoff Diggins State Park” in the Thinking Outside Box: New Approaches to Current Challenges session from 1:30-3:00pm.

Sundaran Gillespie, GISP, WRA GIS Analyst, will present “Determining Revegetation Success – Comparing Multispectral UAV Analysis to Traditional Field Transect Data Collection” in the Thinking Outside Box: New Approaches to Current Challenges session from 3:30-5:05pm.

Details of the meeting program are available on the SERCAL conference website.

Please stop by our exhibitor table to say hello to our team and enter to win a raffle prize!