Register now for WALPA’s 34th annual conference – now online!
WALPA recently made a hard decision to move our 34th annual conference to an online Zoom webinar format on October 20-22nd, 2021. We will save the trip to Richland for autumn 2022! Nonetheless, we have planned a full slate of workshops, plenary speaker, technical sessions, and posters that you can access from the comfort and safety of your own home. We are also planning a breakout room social for late Thursday afternoon to allow time for catching up with friends, networking, and spirited discussions! Our theme, It Takes a Village, was chosen to highlight the collaborative nature of our efforts to understand, protect, and restore our lakes in the Pacific Northwest.
Pilot project surveys the use of lakes and waterfront parks
by Avery Shinneman, Associate Teaching Professor, UW-Bothell
How many people travel to public waterfront parks to picnic on a typical sunny Saturday? Do more people who visit parks with fishing piers use them for fishing or swimming? Would more people visit waterfront parks if they had better evening lighting or more accessible bathrooms?
Answers to questions like these are surprisingly hard to come by. As visits to public recreation areas have increased during COVID-era limitations on indoor activities, as well as during the summer heat waves, it’s increasingly important to understand both the accessibility of lakes and waterfront parks and their uses.
Summer news from the Board
Joan Hardy, Board Secretary, WALPA
The WALPA Board’s summer meetings have focused on planning for the annual conference coming up on October 20-22, which just moved online (see related story). With the theme: It Takes a Village to Understand, Protect, and Restore Lakes, conference registration has begun, and over 20 abstracts have been submitted. Special thanks to our sponsors: CD3 Systems, Herrera, and YSI at the Gold level, and EutroPHIX as a Silver-level sponsor.
Dear Dr. Waterline:
I keep hearing people talk about pee in our lake. I have kept a close watch on the lake for years and have never seen anyone pee in the lake. How is so much pee getting in our lakes and what can we do to stop it?
WALPA to boost social media presence
With the growing popularity of social media, the WALPA communications team plans to emphasize our presence on multiple platforms in the coming months. The platforms WALPA currently uses to share resources and news include our website, Waterline, Facebook, and YouTube. We will expand this list by adding Twitter and LinkedIn to make our content more accessible and reach a broader community. All platforms will provide information about Washington lakes and WALPA events and news. Look for links to these new channels on the WALPA website soon.
WALPA scholarship awards recognize student research efforts
by Mark Sytsma, WALPA Scholarship Committee
WALPA received many high-quality applications for our three student scholarships in 2021 and the Scholarship Committee had a hard time choosing the winning applicants. In fact, the struggle was so difficult that the WALPA Board decided to make a special award this year.
