We're hiring, our next big restoration project, volunteer opportunities and more...
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Steigerwald Reconnection Project wins People’s Choice Award
Please join us in celebrating our stellar Steigerwald Reconnection Project engineering partners: Wolf Water Resources, Cornforth Consultants, and KPFF! They were recognized by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Oregon with the People’s Choice Award for their outstanding work on the Steigerwald Reconnection Project. The Steigerwald Reconnection Project was the largest habitat restoration project in the history of the lower Columbia River, and it couldn’t have been done without these partners. Congratulations!
Congrats, Jenny!
Please join us in congratulating Jenny Dezso on her promotion to Principal Restoration Ecologist. Jenny manages numerous habitat restoration projects throughout the lower Columbia River, including phase 2 of the Horsetail Creek Restoration Project in the Columbia River Gorge and another large, complex project along Multnomah Channel. In addition to floodplain restoration project management, she provides monitoring, site assessment, and stakeholder engagement support on many additional restoration projects, focusing most recently on a suite of projects along the East Fork Lewis River. Jenny is keenly interested in weaving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into our restoration programming and has been instrumental in our organization’s DEI work. She is currently pursuing a Fisheries Management Graduate Certificate from Oregon State University.
Congrats, Doug!
Please join us in congratulating Doug Kreuzer on his promotion to Principal Restoration Ecologist. Doug leads the largest Estuary Partnership planting project in the lower river – establishing 250 acres of native plants, amounting to over 510,000 plants, at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, with a planting budget exceeding $2 million. Doug is also leading the restoration of a new site: Campen Creek at Mable Kerr Park. Campen Creek is a tributary to Gibbons Creek, an essential waterway in the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
Dr. Sarah Kidd promoted to Senior Scientist and Manager of Estuary Monitoring Research
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Sarah Kidd on her promotion to Manager of Estuary Monitoring and Research. Dr. Kidd leads the monitoring team at the Estuary Partnership – a team of four full-time scientists and technicians responsible for the Ecosystem Monitoring Program (EMP), Action Effectiveness Monitoring and Research (AEMR) Programs. Dr. Kidd also directs the Estuary Partnership's research program related to the carbon and methane flux of wetlands in the Columbia River estuary and serves as the primary project manager for the Estuary Partnership's Columbia County Water Quality Monitoring Program.
Dr. Kidd has worked with funders and program researchers to integrate Tableau into EMP and AEMR Programs to make data more widely accessible to restoration practitioners in the Columbia River estuary. Dr. Kidd has conducted wetland ecological and restoration effectiveness research in the Columbia River estuary since 2008 and has earned both a M.S. and Ph.D. from Portland State University.
Welcome Andi, Research Scientist
Please join us in welcoming Andi Anderson Hurzler to the Estuary Partnership team. Andi joined our staff in January as a Research Scientist with the monitoring program. She holds a master's in science of Environmental Science Management and a Graduate Certificate of Hydrology from Portland State University. Andi also earned a Wetlands Delineation Certificate from Portland State University’s Environmental Professionals Program and GIS and UAS Certificates from Portland Community College.
Gratitude for Alex Apelis
We are so thankful for our time with Alex Apelis, Field Technician. Alex, a veteran of the US Marine Corps, was paired with the Estuary Partnership through the VetsWork AmeriCorps program of the Mt. Adams Institute and funded by NOAA.
As a Field Technician, Alex worked alongside Indigenous elders, ecologists, and educators to gain valuable skills associated with restoration projects, wetland management, planting site preparation, plant survival, drone monitoring, Pacific Northwest native plant and animal identification, stormwater improvements, and environmental education.
Our next BIG restoration project: Lower East Fork Floodplain Reclamation Project
While we were working on the Steigerwald Reconnection Project at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge – the largest habitat restoration project in the history of the lower Columbia River – we were simultaneously collaborating with partners to develop the next big restoration project. So, without further delay, let us introduce you to the East Fork Lewis River.
The East Fork Lewis River is located in Southwest Washington. It is an undammed river that is essential to the recovery of wild salmon and steelhead.
The proposed reclamation project spans three river miles – from Daybreak Regional Park to an area known as the Ridgefield Pits (pictured above). It is upstream of the town of La Center.
Habitat loss resulting from the former Ridgefield Pits gravel mining operation and other impacts threatens the abundance of salmon and steelhead and puts homes, Daybreak Regional Park, a Clark County road maintenance yard, power poles, and an active gravel mining operation at serious risk of flooding and erosion.
Volunteer opportunity: build a rain garden in a box
Looking for a unique volunteer opportunity? Join us for a Grattix box construction day at the Port of Vancouver! Grattix boxes are industrial sized, above ground rain gardens. They improve water quality by filtering stormwater through soil, rock, and plants before it enters the Columbia River. This low-tech green technology is widely used at the Port of Vancouver, and we are making more to give away to other industrial facilities throughout the lower Columbia River. Training, tools, equipment, and lunch provided.
Volunteer planting events are family-friendly, and teenagers aged 15 and older can volunteer without an adult (additional waiver required). We provide all the tools, equipment, warm beverages, and training.
You’re invited: Columbia River Estuary Conference May 16-18
We’re thrilled to announce the return of the Columbia River Estuary Conference (CREC) May 16-18, 2023, in Astoria. The theme of CREC 2023 is reconnection. CREC 2023 will be a space to reconnect with each other to catch up, discuss our work and results, and seek out new ideas and collaborative opportunities.
Calling all students! CLEARING Magazine wants to feature your art
Our partners at the Clean Rivers Coalition are joining forces with CLEARING Magazine, a Journal of Environmental Education in the Cascadia Bioregion, for the Honoring Our Rivers Anthology. Send your students’ drawings, poetry, essays, or stories focused on rivers and watersheds by April 28, 2023.
We are seeking a Financial Accounting Coordinator to join our Administrative Team! This position offers a great opportunity for a professional with experience in bookkeeping, accounting, and process improvement to work in a collaborative, equitable, and inclusive team environment. Deadline extended: Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on February 22, 2023.
We are seeking a Principal Restoration Ecologist to join our Science Team! This position offers a great opportunity for a lover of nature, rivers, and floodplain wetlands to help us restore habitat in the lower Columbia River. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on February 22, 2023.
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