The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has announced that their 2016 Delaware Wetland Conference, with the theme “Educate, Connect, Protect.”, will take place on February 3rd and 4th at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington.
“ Wetlands play an important role in Delaware’s environment by improving water quality, providing habitat for fish and wildlife, and protecting our communities from flooding ,” said DNREC Secretary David Small, who will kick-off the conference by welcoming attendees from throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region.
“ DNREC recognizes the Delaware Wetlands Conference as an extraordinary forum for wetlands professionals to connect and share their knowledge, ideas, and innovative projects that will not only improve our practices and policies but will continue to advance wetland conservation.”
DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program and the Coastal Training Program organized the conference that also features two keynote speakers who will highlight wetland research as it relates to global and local issues.
On February 3rd, Elizabeth Schuster, one of the first environmental economists hired by The Nature Conservancy, will discuss her work on the economic importance of wetland and coastal restoration.
On February 4th, Dr. William Mitsch will speak on wetland science and where he sees it heading on a global scale.
New to the 2016 conference are two workshops focusing on communicating science. On February 3rd, the first workshop, “Communicating Climate Change”, will be presented by Melanie Reding and Sarah Nuss of the Jacques Cousteau and Chesapeake Bay Virginia National Estuarine Research Reserves.
Steve Raabe of OpinionWorks, Amy Jacobs of The Nature Conservancy and Erin McLaughlin of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources will present the second workshop on February 4th – “Reaching Your Audience: Accelerating Wetlands Restoration in the Chesapeake and Beyond.”
This workshop introduces social marketing and uses local survey results to demonstrate how social marketing can be used to increase interest and participation in wetland restoration projects.
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