College of Forestry

We are excited to learn from early-career researchers affiliated with OSU at the annual Confluence* Symposium!

Registration to attend is FREE and may be done in advance or in person on the day of the event. 

WHEN: Friday, April 11th, 2025
WHERE: Peavy Hall on Oregon State University's Corvallis Campus.

*Confluence was previously named the WFGRS-RAFWE Joint Symposium, standing for Western Forestry Graduate Research Symposium - Research Advances in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Ecology.

Schedule 

Visit this link to view the full Confluence Event Schedule!

Plenary speakers

Dr. Lori Daniels - morning speaker

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Dr. Lori Daniels is the inaugural Koerner Chair of the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC-Vancouver. She also directs the Tree Ring Lab at UBC. Lori investigates the impacts of natural and human disturbances and climate change on forests. With her research team, she has on-going projects on wildfires, forest dynamics, and social-ecological resilience to climate change across British Columbia. Her enduring partnerships with local, provincial, and national governments, environmental organizations, forest management companies, community forests, and First Nations ensure her scientific advances are translated to active conservation, restoration and management.
Talk title: "Coexisting with Wildfire: Learning from the Past to Adapt for the Future"
April 11 at 9am in Richardson Hall 107
 

Dr. Debbie Colbert - afternoon speaker

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Dr. Colbert was appointed Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife director in May 2024 and is the first woman to ever be appointed to the permanent ODFW Director position in the agency’s long history. She has served Oregon for more than two decades, working with diverse groups on natural resource issues, advancing landscape level conservation, and supporting resilience of Oregon’s wildlife, communities, and natural and working lands. Debbie earned a B.S. in Biology, M.S. in Oceanography, and Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Oceanography. She was selected as a 2022 National Conservation Leadership Fellow. In her free time, her passion for conservation is energized by outdoor adventures with family and friends, whether on the water, in the woods, or on the beach.

Talk title: “Bridging Science, Policy, and People”
April 11 at 3:30pm in Richardson Hall 107

Workshops

Offering unique opportunities to exchange ideas, reflect on work, and connect with colleagues, Confluence workshops are free to attend and will have food provided. Please use this link to register for specific workshop(s) you'd like to attend.

Workshop #1: Land Tenure, Power, and Justice in Natural Resource Management

This 90-minute interactive workshop invites Confluence attendees to explore the connection between land tenure, power, and justice in natural resource management. Participants will apply these concepts to create a conceptual map to situate a contemporary natural resource conflict. By the end of the session, attendees will gain new insights into how these forces continue to shape the landscapes we see and the stakeholders we engage with.
Wednesday, April 9 from 2-4pm at Richardson Hall 107
 

Workshop #2: Passing the Torch: Navigating Early Career Mentorship

Learn from a panel of faculty and researchers who span the spectrum of early to late career, all with extensive mentorship experience, about what it means to be a mentor and how to best support mentees. The format will be ~25 minutes of guided questions for the panelists, ~25 minutes of dialogue with the audience, and ~10 minutes of creating ‘mentorship statements.’
Thursday, April 10 from 2-3pm at Richardson Hall 107
 

Workshop #3: Resource Roundup (no registration necessary)

Join us for a passive, interactive workshop where attendees can contribute and learn from each other at their own pace throughout the conference. This workshop focuses on building a collaborative list of practical tools in areas like data visualization, teaching/mentorship, professional product development, time management, and campus/community resources. As a result of this workshop, all Confluence attendees will receive a comprehensive document containing all these tools to use throughout their careers. To participate, please stop by the Resource Roundup table at any time during the conference.
Friday, April 11 during the conference on the first floor of Richardson Hall

Auction

We have an amazing lineup of items and experiences ready for your bidding via silent and live auctions. The live auction and evening mixer begins on April 11 at 4:30pm. Some of our exciting auction items include: the famous (or infamous, depending on how seasick you get) Heppell fishing trip (Dramamine, not included), two photography prints from the wonderful Freshwaters Illustrated, guitar lessons from Seth White (impress your colleagues at the next bonfire by whipping out your guitar and playing the first 3 chords of “Wagon Wheel”). Come prepared to outbid your colleagues!

Submit an Abstract

In order to present at the symposium, abstract submissions must be completed online by the end of the day on Friday February 28th 2025.

If you have any questions, please reach out to wfgrs@oregonstate.edu.