NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program Conference 2026
About this Event
An interconnected network is a resilient network. This year’s NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program Conference will explore how collaboration can help move the 2025-2035 Action Agenda forward by turning shared priorities into action. Through panel discussions, poster presentations, and interactive workshops, the conference will bring practitioners, researchers, managers, community leaders, and decision-makers together to exchange ideas, learn from existing partnerships, and identify new opportunities for coordinated work across the Estuary.
Want to connect? Join our LinkedIn group, where you can connect with other conference participants before, during, and after the conference, as well as share relevant news, upcoming events, and open job postings. We will also post updates as the conference date gets closer. You are encouraged to continue the conversations we start at the conference on this platform and use it as a networking resource.
Agenda details and more: Check https://hudsonriver.org/article/2026-hep-annual-conference/ for more details about the conference!
Agenda, subject to change
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:30 AM
Check-in and Poster Session Preview
Info: Check in and pick up conference materials, starting at 9:00 AM, and explore posters before the welcoming remarks begin at 9:30 AM.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Welcome Remarks
🕑: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Opening Keynote
Host: Amanda Lefton, Commissioner of the NYSDEC
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Morning Plenary | Comprehensive Restoration Plan Progress Through Partnerships
Host: Katrina Angarone, NJDEP
Info: The Hudson-Raritan Estuary Comprehensive Restoration Plan provides a shared vision and set of priorities for habitat conservation and restoration across the Estuary. Presenters will discuss the status of habitat restoration in the Estuary as well as challenges, opportunities, and the value of partnerships in achieving progress. Moderated by Brett Branco, Brooklyn College, CUNY; CUNY Graduate Center; Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay.
🕑: 11:15 AM - 11:25 AM
Break
🕑: 11:25 AM - 12:10 PM
Poster Session + Networking
Info: In line with this year’s theme, “Shared Work, Lasting Impact: Cultivating Effective Partnerships,” the conference’s poster session will highlight research, planning, and/or implementation projects that focus on how partnerships and collaborative action can help us move the NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program’s 2025-2035 Action Agenda forward while intentionally strengthening existing partnerships and building new ones. Posters will also explore how we view collaboration as a central lens to influence policy, strengthen ecological resilience, and inspire estuary-wide transformative change.
🕑: 12:10 PM - 01:00 PM
Lunch + Young Professionals Networking Lunch
Info: During lunch, students and young professionals are invited to join a special networking session. Connect with peers and explore resources and early career opportunities while you eat lunch!
🕑: 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Session 1A | Fostering Cross-Sectoral Partnerships to Impact Estuary Health
Host: Kevin Dahms, Biohabitats
Info: In this workshop, guest speakers and attendees will discuss ways to foster successful collaborative cross-sectoral projects, such as those among academia, government, nonprofits, community, and the private sector. Attendees will share insights and resources critical to building and sustaining work that advances our network’s shared goals and engage in small and large group discussions about collaborating with cross-sectoral partners. Moderated by Rupu Gupta, Hudson River Foundation.
🕑: 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Session 1B | Strengthening Your Toolbox
Info: This session will feature rapid presentations on tools to understand and monitor environmental stressors, identify research and restoration opportunities, and support decision-making in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary. Participants will have the opportunity to demonstrate the tools and speak directly with presenters. Moderated by Terry Doss, Meadowlands Research & Restoration Institute. |
Acoustic Recording Units: Mike Turso, Meadowlands Research & Restoration Institute |
CERAP and NJResTOrs: Rick Lathrop, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey |
Flood Advisory System: Philip Orton, Stevens Institute of Technology |
MyCoast New Jersey: Devon Haines, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection |
MyCoast New York: Catherine Prunella, New York Sea Grant, Cornell University |
Riverkeeper's Water Quality Portal: Shannon Roback, Riverkeeper
🕑: 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
1C | Community-Led Conservation and Stewardship for Flood Prone Public Spaces
Host: Paul Lozito, NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate Change and EJ
Info: Successful conservation and restoration efforts require ongoing stewardship. This is especially true for smaller neighborhood-oriented parks and public spaces where persistent flooding poses challenges. This panel conversation will highlight successful partnerships from across the Estuary, with a focus on how community land trusts and other partnerships are addressing the on-going stewardship needs of buyout properties and other frequently flooded parklands. Moderated by Kandyce Perry, NJDEP.
🕑: 02:30 PM - 02:40 PM
Break
🕑: 02:40 PM - 04:10 PM
Session 2A | Adaptive Management: A Coastal Restoration Game
Host: Terri Carta, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy
Info: This interactive workshop simulates real-world adaptive management challenges and best practices for coastal restoration projects. Inspired by the ESSA ADAPT Card Game and tailored to the NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program Action Agenda, teams of workshop participants will be challenged to work together to manage a coastal restoration site through multiple project phases. Representing diverse perspectives and skillsets, players will work toward short- and long-range restoration and management goals. By the end, players will gain insight into the necessary decision-making, teamwork, and flexibility required to make coastal restoration projects more resilient.
🕑: 02:40 PM - 04:10 PM
2B | Sites to Watersheds: Partnerships for Water Quality and Flood Resilience
Host: Kimberly DiGiovanni, Mill River Watershed Association
Info: Explore how small pilots or site-scale projects can lay the foundation for transformative water quality and flood resilience initiatives. Panelists will share how projects have grown over time from site-scale demonstrations to municipal and watershed-scale efforts through strong partnerships, watershed planning, regulatory programs such as LTCPs and MS4s, and phased capital investments, delivering broader benefits for water quality, habitat, public access, and community resilience.
🕑: 02:40 PM - 04:10 PM
2C | Sustaining Environmental Arts
Host: Tecumseh Ceaser, Artist
Info: This panel conversation will feature artists and organizations who have hosted environmentally focused artist-in-residence programs as they share their experiences and advice on how to build and sustain similar programs in this space. Moderated by Moe Yousuf, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
🕑: 04:10 PM - 04:20 PM
Break
🕑: 04:20 PM - 05:00 PM
Keynote and Closing Remarks | Fish Stories: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Host: Shannon White, U.S. Geological Survey
Info: Our closing keynote panel brings together perspectives on striped bass, sturgeon, and American eels—highlighting what these iconic species can tell us about the Hudson River and how partnerships can make a difference in understanding these species and the Estuary.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00 to USD 55.00
