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Registration

Registering for this year’s River Symposium allows us to run things much more smoothly upon your arrival. It is free and only takes a minute.

If you plan to join remotely via Zoom, please check back for the online schedules for Friday and Saturday for links to individual sessions.

Keynote Speaker

Charles Cravotta, III, Ph.D., P.G.

Dr. Cravotta is an internationally recognized scientist with more than 40 years of professional experience, mostly as a research hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, until December 30, 2023. He established Cravotta Geochemical Consulting LLC (“CGC”) for continued involvement with colleagues, students, and watershed groups. He received his B.A. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia (1979) and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Geochemistry and Mineralogy from the Pennsylvania State University (1986, 1996). Dr. Cravotta’s research integrates field, laboratory, and computer modeling methods to understand factors affecting water quality, especially that in highly disturbed or engineered environments, such as mine-impacted watersheds and water-treatment systems for remediation of acid mine drainage (AMD). He has provided mentorship and research guidance to more than 45 graduate and undergraduate students as external student adviser, adjunct faculty member, or advisory board member. He has also provided research support and guidance to local watershed groups and regional organizations involved in the restoration of watersheds impacted by AMD.

Dr. Cravotta will deliver the symposium’s plenary address entitled “Abandoned Mine Discharge, the Susquehanna River, and the Chesapeake Bay” on Friday, Nov. 8, from 7:30 -8:00 p.m. in Room 272 (The Forum).

People standing around an academic poster, one presenting and several listening.

Indigenous Wisdom and Knowledge

To achieve solutions to complex environmental sustainability problems requires we adopt a “two-eyed seeing” approach to understanding, whereby indigenous knowledge wisdom and understanding is combined with scientific observations and interpretations. Native Americans have lived in the Susquehanna and Chesapeake region for tens of thousands of year and in the past 200 years have witnessed catastrophic changes to our lands and waterways. Their voices are an integral part of every symposium.

Honorary Opening Speaker
Friday, Nov. 8, 7:10-7:30 pm, ELC Forum (Rm. 272)

Betty Lyons (Gaeñ hia uh)

Snipe Clan of the Onondaga Nation, Haudenosaunee Confederacy

President and Executive Director of American Indian Law Center and Alliance in New York City, Ms. Lyons is also a widely-known environmental educator and representative of indigenous peoples to the United Nations. It as become a tradition to begin each river symposium by centering ourselves around Native American wisdom that teach us about the interconnectedness with all living beings, and help us focus on values like respect, humility, courage, and community. These teachings enrich our sense of being and purpose. They broaden out thinking and help chart our course as we continue the hard work of bringing healing to communities and landscapes struggling to recover from centuries of natural resource extraction and land use changes.

Morning Plenary Speakers

Saturday, Nov. 9, 2025 – 9 to 10am in the ELC Forum (Rm. 272)

A panel or breakout discussions with these speakers will be held afterwards from 10 – 11am in the ELC Forum (Rm. 272)

Anna Killius

Executive Director

Chesapeake Bay Commission

Director Killius will be co-presenting a plenary address entitled “The Next Generation of Watershed Restoration: 
Planning for 2025 and Beyond” on Saturday, Nov. 9, from 9:00 -9:30 p.m. in the ELC Forum (Room 272).

Jill Whitcomb

Acting Deputy secretary
Office of water programs

PA Department of Environmental Protection

Deputy Secretary Whitcomb will be co-presenting a plenary address entitled “The Next Generation of Watershed Restoration: 
Planning for 2025 and Beyond” on Saturday, Nov. 9, from 9:00 -9:30 p.m. in the ELC Forum (Room 272).

Kathy Boomer

Scientific Program Director

Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research

Dr. Boomer will be presenting a plenary address entitled “Exploring Two-Eyed Seeing to Support Green Sustainability” on Saturday, Nov. 9, from 9:30 -10:00 p.m. in the ELC Forum (Room 272).

Afternoon Plenary Speakers

Saturday, Nov. 9, 2025 – 1 to 2 pm in the ELC Forum (Rm. 272)

A panel or breakout discussions with these speakers will be held afterwards from 10 – 11am in the ELC Forum (Rm. 272)

Brian Cooper

PROJECT MANAGER, ABANDONED MINE RECLAMATION PROGRAM

Trout Unlimited (TU)

Brian will deliver a plenary address entitled “Two Birds, One Stone: AMD Treatment Restores Fisheries While Reducing Chesapeake Bay Sediment” on Saturday, Nov. 9, from 1:30 -2:00 p.m. in the ELC Forum (Room 272).

Bobby Hughes

Executive Director

Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR)

Bobby will provided an overview of EPCAMR’s ongoing efforts to restore abandoned mine lands and polluted watersheds across eastern Pennsylvania on Saturday, Nov. 9, from 1:30 -2:00 p.m. in the ELC Forum (Room 272).

Last Year’s Program with Abstracts

A PDF copy of the 2023 River Symposium Program with Abstracts is now available for download. Complete with schedule of events and abstracts for all oral presentations and poster presentations, it also has embedded Zoom links, enabling you to go directly from the PDF viewer to the Zoom session associated with a particular talk or breakout discussion.

The Program with Abstracts is 94 pages in length.

Schedule

7:00-7:05 pm – Welcome

7:05-7:10 pm – Opening remarks

7:10-7:30 pm – Indigenous perpective

7:30-8:00 pm – Keynote address

8:00-10:00 pm – Poster session and exhibits

9:00-10:00 pm – Evening Social

9:45-10:00pm – Student poster awards

9:00-10:00 am – Plenary Addresses

10:00 am – 11:30 pm – Breakout Discussions

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Oral Presentation Sessions

12:00-1:00 pm – Lunch

1:00-2:00 pm – Plenary addresses with audience participation

2:00 – 3:00 pm – Breakout discussions

3:00-4:00 pm – Oral presentations

4:00-4:15 pm – Reflection and looking ahead

4:15-4:30 pm – Announce student oral presentation awards

Coming Together to Inspire Change

This symposium draws together people from all walks of life who share a common interest in rivers, watersheds, communities, and the connections therein. It also offers a time and a place where the public can interact with academics, professionals, and regulators, all working toward the same goal – ensuring our watersheds remain healthy for generations to come.

This year’s event will highlight and promote collaborative partnerships that focus on remediating polluted discharge emanating from abandoned coal mines across Pennsylvania and improving the health and resilience of the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay.

2023 Keynote speakers Jeff Janvrin, Sid Hill, and Betty Lyons with portion of the students and faculty who presented posters at last year’s River Symposium.

Commitment to Care

Bucknell is preparing to host this year’s symposium as an in-person event so that all individuals onsite — attendees, speakers, staff, vendors, and venue personnel — remain safe and comfortable. Creating a safe, worry-free symposium experience is our top priority.

We are monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and following the guidance of our partners at Geisinger Medical Center, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Center for Disease Control.

Find up-to-date information on COVID and events on our campus on the Bucknell COVID-19 Information website. Should conditions change, we are prepared to offer the symposium entirely online (virtual) like we have previously.

Getting Here

Please feel free to use the helpful links below to plan your trip to the River Symposium

Testimonials

“This is a terrific event! It’s great to see the students present their posters on Friday night and attend the talks and breakout sessions on Saturday. I made a lot of contacts too.” (member of the public)

“I get a lot out of the plenary talks, breakout discussions, oral presentations, and conversations over lunch. I learned so much and plan to come back next year.” (undergraduate student)

“I really appreciate the friendly and welcoming atmosphere of this symposium. It’s a great networking event too. The evening social during Friday’s poster session and the lunch and refreshments during the exhibits are a very nice touch.” (member of local conservancy)

“I really appreciate the friendly and welcoming atmosphere of this symposium. It’s a great networking event too. The evening social during Friday’s poster session and the lunch and refreshments during the exhibits are a very nice touch.“I like how this symposium tries to weave together art, religion, science, economics and policy. I hope Bucknell continues it for many years to come. (local citizen)

1,674

Research
Posters

853

Authors

397

Oral Presentations

The annual River Symposium is an educational community outreach event sponsored by the Bucknell Center for Sustainability & the Environment, the Susquehanna River Heartland Coalition for Environmental Studies, and the Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center at Penn State University.

For more information, please contact Dr. Benjamin Hayes, (brh010@bucknell.edu). Director of the Watershed Sciences and Engineering Program or Sean Reese (spr016@bucknell.edu). Research Scientist at the Bucknell Center for Sustainability & the Environment at