Bucknell to Host 21st Annual River Symposium Nov. 6-7

Bucknell University will host its 21st annual River Symposium, "Currents of Change: Rivers, Landscapes & Life — Past, Present & Future," Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6 and 7, in the Elaine Langone Center (ELC). It annually brings together scientists, educators, students, resource managers and community members to explore the health and resilience of rivers and watersheds.

"The gathering is annually an educational community outreach event that brings together people with interests in rivers, watersheds and the communities connected to them,” says symposium chair Benjamin Hayes, program director, Watershed Sciences & Engineering, The Ecology Center. "The event provides an opportunity for members of the public to interact with academics, professionals and regulators working to understand and protect watershed health." 

Participants from the 2025 River Symposium. Photo provided by the River Symposium

This year's symposium will be held in partnership with the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Master Naturalist program, whose 2026 theme is "Where Waters Meet: Conserving Pennsylvania's Natural Heritage." The partnership will expand opportunities for participants to share research, experiences and perspectives related to Pennsylvania's waterways and natural resources.

The symposium's keynote speaker will be Bucknell alumnus John (Jack) Schmidt '72, a fluvial geomorphologist and the Janet Quinney Lawson Chair in Colorado River Studies at Utah State University, where he directs the Center for Colorado River Studies. Schmidt's research has focused for nearly four decades on rivers of the American West, including the relationships among river processes, dams and reservoirs, ecosystem health, restoration and water management. He also previously served as chief of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center.

Schmidt will deliver the symposium’s plenary address, entitled "The Colorado River," at 6:15 p.m. Friday Nov. 6, in the ELC's Forum (Room 272).

Friday's opening program will include a brief tribute to the life and work of former Pennsylvania state Sen. Franklin L. Kury, who served as honorary River Symposium chair in 2016 and championed the protection of Pennsylvania's waters and rivers. Research posters, exhibits and an evening social will follow from 7 to 9 p.m.

Saturday's programming will begin with plenary presentations in the ELC's Forum. From 9:15 to 9:45 a.m., Bucknell Professor Emeritus R. Craig Kochel, geology, will discuss geomorphic inheritance and landscape memory of the Susquehanna, followed by a presentation on aquatic ecology from 9:45 to 10:15 a.m. by Rick Spear, aquatic biologist supervisor with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. From 10:15 to 10:45 a.m., Jack Hill, natural resources specialist with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, will explore fish passage and connectivity, including a new fish passage project on the Susquehanna River at Shamokin Dam near Shikellamy State Park. A panel discussion, "Rivers, Landscapes, and Life," featuring Kochel, Spear and Schmidt, will follow from 11 to 11:30 a.m.  

The afternoon will feature concurrent oral presentation sessions and student awards.

The symposium is organized by the Watershed Sciences and Engineering Program at The Ecology Center, with additional sponsorship from the Susquehanna River Heartland Coalition for Environmental Studies and the Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center at Penn State University.

For more information about the symposium, including the schedule and abstract submission information, visit the River Symposium website.