Workshops

We are excited to offer a variety of workshops, facilitated roundtables, and panel discussions throughout the conference in addition to the concurrent session presentations! Please note that, while available at no additional charge, workshops require pre-registration to help organizers with their planning and some may have limited capacity at the organizers request. Registration links are available below each workshop title.

Note that those workshops with an asterisk (*) after their title will be taught in a room that allows, but does not require, computer laptops use by attendees. Power will be provided, but internet bandwidth is limited so workshop leaders will contact you if they require you to load software or practice datasets before the session. It is recommended that you fully charge your laptop before the session as a precaution.


Spatial Stream Network Analysis Using R and SSN2*

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Water quality monitoring data collected on stream and river networks often has the characteristic that sites near each resemble each in water quality. Spatial stream network modeling uses that similarity, or spatial autocorrelation, to predict water quality at unsampled locations. This workshop will use the R package SSN2 for doing exploratory spatial data analysis of water quality monitoring data, building spatial stream network models, and predicting water quality. Participants will gain experience writing R code to accomplish those three steps and interpret the results. Participants will learn how non-spatial linear models are affected by spatial autocorrelation, understand how the directionality and branching of stream network is incorporated into a spatial stream network model, and diagnose the fit and performance of such models. This workshop will focus on the statistical analysis of spatial stream network models but will briefly cover the GIS steps to build a spatial stream network object.

Presenters
Michael Dumelle, U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment
Michael McManus


Evaluate the reliability and relevance of water-quality data for use in environmental assessments: Criteria for Reporting and Evaluating Exposure Data (CREED)*

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A key component of human and ecological health assessments is the monitoring of chemicals in the environment to determine potential exposure. When exposure data are used in an assessment, users first need to evaluate whether those data are fit for their specific intended purpose. To do this, it is important to evaluate both the reliability (data quality) and the relevance (suitability for the intended purpose) of the exposure dataset(s). Criteria for Reporting and Evaluating Exposure Data (CREED) were developed by an international group of academic, government, and private-sector scientists as an actionable framework of best practices for assessors, generators, and managers of exposure data. This workshop will present CREED, demonstrate its application using case studies and a free Excel tool, and discuss practical challenges and solutions in real-world applications. Attendees will gain an understanding of the principles behind CREED, and how to apply CREED for specific research and regulatory purposes.

Presenters
Lisa Nowell, U.S. Geological Survey (Emeritus), Sacramento, CA
Graham Merrington, wca environment, Ltd, Faringdon, Oxfordshire, UK
Dennis Helsel, Practical Stats LLC, Castle Rock, CO
Michelle Hladik, U.S. Geological Survey, Sacramento, CA
Charles Peck, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
Adam Ryan, International Zinc Association, Duham, NC


dataRetrieval: Discover and Obtain Water Data from USGS and WQP services in R (or Python!)*

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Interested in taking your water research to the next level by using a scripting language? In this workshop, we’ll introduce the “dataRetrieval” R package to show how to get water data into your R environment. “dataRetrieval” can be used to get data from USGS and Water Quality Portal (WQP) web services. We’ll walk through examples getting the data we know we want, and finding the data we know we need. There will be simple examples to show techniques to plot and map the data using standard R libraries. Data that can be accessed from dataRetrieval include discrete water quality data (from WQP), continuous water quality sensor data (from the USGS), and a host of other relevant hydrologic data. All dataRetrieval R code has equivalent Python code that will be available as well.

Presenters
Laura DeCicco, USGS
Lee Stanish, USGS


Creating Efficient and Reproducible Water Quality Analysis Workflows Using Shareable R Code*

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This hands-on workshop showcases how to integrate several R Packages developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other fundamental packages to create efficient and reproducible workflows that support water quality programs and research – for example performing Clean Water Act Assessments, watershed analyses, and building statistical models. It also incorporates secondary use of publicly available water quality data from the Water Quality Portal (WQP) and other web services and libraries for easy ingestion of additional hydrologic, climatic and remote sensing data. To start, participants will learn how to use EPA’s Tools for Automated Data Analysis (TADA) R Package to retrieve, wrangle, harmonize, quality check, visualize and analyze WQP data. Then it will cover approaches for hydrology and watershed (e.g., Assessment Unit level) analysis and visualization – including use of the StreamCatTools, nhdplusTools and hydroloom R libraries, as well as fundamental geospatial packages such as sf, terra, leaflet and tmap.

Presenters
Cristina Mullin, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Marc Weber, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Hillary Marler, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ryan Hill, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Michel Dumelle, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Kenny Wong, ORISE Participant at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency


Actionable Data with Shiny Dashboards*

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The Shiny R package is over ten years old and is a popular tool to create immersive, web-based content. Although many water quality scientists and professionals have experience with R, expertise in dashboards is uncommon. This workshop will introduce the fundamentals of building Shiny dashboards in R using real-world examples with hands-on coding exercises. The benefits of developing Shiny dashboards and their potential applications to improve research, monitoring, and management will be discussed. Special attention will be on the merits of open source software for creating reproducible and transparent dashboard workflows, including addressing common IT hurdles. Attendees are strongly encouraged to bring their own laptops and datasets for use in the workshop exercises. Anyone interested in learning how to expand existing R skills for dashboard development will benefit from this workshop. This includes student, early career, and advanced professionals from any employment sector and field of expertise.

Presenters
Marcus Beck, Tampa Bay Estuary Program
Erik Leppo, Tetra Tech
Kateri Salk, Tetra Tech


Introduction to building data pipelines in R using the ‘targets’ package*

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The growing size of datasets, expanding complexity of analyses, and trend towards more interdisciplinary teams make it increasingly difficult for water science practitioners to publish fully reproducible research. Basic scripting techniques lack the efficiency and scalability required for large collaborative efforts, especially when synthesizing data across disciplines or sources. This workshop will introduce participants to ‘targets’, a powerful R package for building reproducible and modular data pipelines with linked upstream and downstream components, resulting in code re-running only as necessary. Termed “dependency tracking”, this technique gives researchers confidence that changes are consistently incorporated into final results. Through hands-on exercises, participants will learn how to convert scripts into a robust pipeline, ensuring any changes are seamlessly integrated and faithfully propagated. In addition, participants will be exposed to best practices for organizing and documenting analyses, writing custom R functions, working collaboratively in a coding project, and existing pipelines showcasing reproducible water research.

Presenters
Lindsay Platt, Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI)
Elise Hinman, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Mary Lofton, Virginia Tech


Free Data & Tools for Characterizing Your Watershed*

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This workshop aims to increase confidence in navigating free on-line tools to help with watershed planning efforts. When developing a watershed plan, there are two main categories of planning to consider: technical elements and community engagement. Part one emphasizes the community aspect of watershed planning. We will introduce two tools: EJSCREEN and Social Indicators Data Management and Analysis (SIDMA). Participants will have the opportunity to develop a survey through SIDMA to better characterize community interests and explore EJSCREEN’s environmental and demographic indicators.

Water quality data plays an important role in characterizing a watershed and setting water quality goals. Part two will lead participants through hands-on exercises to download local water quality data using How’s My Waterway (HMW), the Water Quality Exchange (WQX), the Assessment and Total Maximum Daily Load Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS), and use. EPA’s Pollutant Load Estimation Tool (PLET) to estimate of pollutant loads and load reductions.

Presenters
Cyd Curtis, US EPA
Adrienne Donaghue, US EPA


Bioassessment nuts and bolts: How to make decisions considering natural variability and uncertainty

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Bioassessment is a prevalent approach for assessing attainment of aquatic life use under the Clean Water Act.  Yet, many bioassessment tools currently used were developed over 15 years ago.  This workshop will review existing bioassessment theory and new analytical tools available for development and interpretation of bioindicators. It will serve as a solid introduction to bioindicator and biocriteria development for those unfamiliar or new to the concepts, as well as a review of novel considerations and approaches for setting thresholds.

Topics include:

-Development (or recalibration) of a bioindicator: multimetric indices (MMI) and observed/expected models

-Establishment of bioassessment thresholds

-Characterization of uncertainty around bioassessment thresholds (such as I/E test)

-Approaches and tools for making decisions when data lies within a statistically valid zone of uncertainty (e.g., Use of alternative models)

-Statistical approaches and tools for determining significant improvement or degredation at an individual site using bioindicators (eg. how to distinguish if change is due to anthropogenic activities or natural variation)   

Workshop format will encourage active discussion and exercises.

Presenters
Lou Reynolds, USEPA Region 3 Laboratory and Applied Sciences Division Field Service Branch
Leah Ettema, USEPA Region 3 Water Division Standards and TMDL Section
Mike Paul – USEPA OW-OST-HECD-EHPB
Greg Pond, USEPA R3 LSASD FSB
Karen Blocksom, USEPA ORD-CPHEA-PESD-FEB


Algae and Cyanobacteria – Identification and Monitoring 101

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Do you want to start working with algae or cyanobacteria but don’t have much of a background in them? This workshop will provide you with a basic introduction to identifying common freshwater algae and cyanobacteria, with a focus on observations in the field. We will examine methods for monitoring algae and cyanobacteria in a variety of aquatic habitats for different purposes including beach monitoring and water quality assessment. We will also review how algae monitoring data has been used in Wisconsin. The workshop will be presented by Gina LaLiberte, who has worked on algae for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for 25 years.

Presenter
Gina LaLiberte, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources


Exploration and Graphics for RivEr Trends (EGRET): Introduction and Tutorial*

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Exploration and Graphics for RivEr Trends (EGRET) is an R-package for the analysis of long-term changes in water quality and streamflow and includes the water-quality method Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS). This workshop will walk through examples on how to set up, explore, and analyze water quality data. Background information will be presented on the basic WRTDS modeling method, as well as more advanced bootstrapping methods for assessing uncertainty and confidence. Aside from the WRTDS model, EGRET functions can be used to explore a wide variety of water quality data. The EGRET package has been downloaded over 68,000 times and has been cited in over 200 journal articles – come learn how it can help in your water quality investigations.

Presenters
Laura DeCicco, USGS
Jennifer Murphy, USGS
Matthew Diebel, USGS


Identification of Aquatic Plants of the Great Lakes Region

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This workshop will teach participants how to identify the submersed and floating-leaved aquatic plants of the Great Lakes region. Emphasis will be on features of aquatic plants that are important for identification, and a select group of species that are common throughout the region will be covered in more detail using photographs and laminated teaching specimens.

Presenter
Paul Skawinski, University of Wisconsin – Extension Lakes