2025 RISCC Management Symposium

Bethany Bradley (UMass Amherst) welcomes participants to the 2025 symposium of the RISCC Management network.

Dr. Catherine Jarnevich (USGS Fort Collins Science Center) presents a big picture overview on proactive management and a co-produced tool to inform early detection and control.

Co-production Session 1

Moderated by Matt Fertakos (UMass Amherst), the first presentation session featured the following speakers:

• Dr. Peter Clark (UVM), and Rick Morrill (Northern Forest Conservation Services) "Operationalizing and co-producing assisted migration in the northern forest region"

• Dr. Scotty Yang (Virginia Tech) and Kaloyan Ivanov (Virginia Museum of Natural History) “Fire Ant Wars, Virginia’s Expanding Front, and Lessons for the Future”

Contributed Talks Session 1

Moderated by Shikha Singh (JLW CISMA), the first panel session featured the following speakers:

• Ella McDonald (University of Maine), "Ash protection collaboration across Wabanakik: Evaluating outreach to promote brown ash caretaking"

• Kristopher Williams (Capital Region PRISM), "A quick and close look at the spiny water flea, a planktonic crustacean, and water lettuce in warming waters"

• Diana Albuja (Penn State), "Surveying shrub infestations in Northeastern deciduous forests"

• Mackenzie DiGasparro (Invasive Species Centre), "Incorporating climate change into invasive species initiatives in Ontario"

• Dillon Mulhern (Kennebec Estuary Land Trust) & Kat O'Connor (Maine Coast Heritage Trust), “Listen to the beetles: Lessons in adaptive Galerucella beetle rearing”

Special Update: Community Action Award!

Presented by Aly Putnam (UMass Amherst), and accepted by Penny Rund on behalf of:

• Jackson Audubon Society (Jackson, MI) for passion and leadership in improving the community of support for invasive species action in a changing climate

Day 1 Closing Remarks

Presented by Aly Putnam (UMass Amherst)

Contributed Talks Session 2

Moderated by Hallie Harriman (Virginia Tech), the second contributed talks session featured the following speakers:

• Deah Lieurance (Penn State), “Climate smart adaptive biosecurity to manage introduction pathways and protected areas”

• Emma van der Heide (Penn State), “Wasted effort: Increasing input does not improve management outcomes for two invasive thistles”

• Justin Hubbard (University of Toronto Scarborough), “Modeling propagule pressure and survival of aquatic species in trade under current and future conditions”

• Hyunwoo Lee (Virginia Tech), “Game theoretical models with discrete decisions for reducing Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) in Minnesota”

Communications and Terminology Panel

Moderated by Emily Posteraro (Invasive Species Centre), this panel discussion featured the following speakers:

• Dr. Emily Fusco (NE CASC), "The emerging invasive species and climate change lexicon"

• Emily Inoue (Vermont Agency of Ag, Food and Markets), "Enhancing invasive species messaging: A collaborative case study from Vermont"

• Dr. Rachel Reeb (Indiana University of Pennsylvania Research Institute), "Lost in translation: The need for updating messaging strategies on invasive species"

Contributed Talks Session 3

Moderated by Matt Fertakos (UMass Amherst), the third and final presentation session featured the following speakers:

• Grace Gutierrez (UMass Amherst), “How low should we go? Reviewing seed collection strategies for climate-smart restoration”

• Shriya Natarajan (Wilton High School!), “EradicateIt: Join us in the fight against invasive species”

• Mar Wiltz (University of Vermont), “From drizzle to deluge: Unraveling climate change's role in post-Japanese knotweed restoration”

• Dr. Amanda Suzzi-Simmons (Penn State), “Scanning the Horizon: Identifying climate-drive range-shifting forest pests in the Northeast USA”