Hey lake folks! If you haven’t already registered for WALPA’s Annual Conference slated for October 19-21, 2022 in Richland, please do! Our theme for this year is Adaptive Management to Prepare for the Future: The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be!
Starting on October 19, Wednesday’s workshops will include a demonstration of invasive species in lake habitats and remote sensing equipment for monitoring lake conditions.
One of the components of effective adaptive management is a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, so Thursday morning’s session will be dedicated to the work of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. It will include a conversation about the membership survey (see related article this issue), a look inside our organization, and recommendations about how we can improve WALPA. Discussions on this topic could range from how to include members from all parts of the lake management community to how we can introduce new members to our organization.
For these conversations, we will be joined by Jerod Grant from Culture Connecting. Jerod has more than ten years of experience in higher education and worked as the Director of Diversity and Equity at Everett Community College for six years. While there, Jerod served on the Washington State Multicultural Student Services Directors Council that created equity-based initiatives for 34 community and technical colleges. Jerod has a BA from Eastern Washington University and is currently pursuing his MSW at the University of Washington. Jerod has partnered with K-12 schools, colleges/universities, non-profits, governments, and corporate organizations to facilitate workshops and discussions on race, identity, equity, and toxic masculinity.
After the morning session, Thursday afternoon will include presentations, student posters and some social time.
The conference will take place at the Holiday Inn Richland on the River. Learn more and register here: https://www.walpa.org/annual-conference/, where you’ll also find opportunities to sponsor the conference and donate to our scholarship fund! Book your rooms by September 28 to get the special conference rate!
Please join us so that we can build a better future for our lakes and our organization.
