Protecting Salmon From Tire Wear Toxicants: 6PPDQ Workshop 2026

This is a two-day event that everyone is welcome to join one or both days of. Please ensure you add a ticket to your cart for each day of the workshop that you plan to attend!

Register before January 7th to be considered for travel subsidies. Individuals associated with a First Nation, community group, and/or non-profit organization who are travelling from outside of Nanaimo may be considered for support made available by the Pacific Salmon Foundation.

Join researchers, First Nations representatives, stewardship organizations, engineers, and representatives of municipal and regional governments for a two-day interactive workshop focused on understanding and addressing tire wear toxicants—especially 6PPD-quinone (6PPDQ)—in roadway runoff and urban stormwaters in the Pacific Northwest. This event brings together leading experts and on-the-ground practitioners to share the latest science, community perspectives, and practical solutions for reducing contaminant impacts on salmon, trout, and aquatic ecosystems.

Over the course of the workshop, attendees will gain insight into current research, explore watershed-level challenges and collaborative opportunities, and learn from those successfully implementing green stormwater infrastructure. Sessions will highlight new findings on 6PPDQ, reflections from watershed stewards on barriers and priorities, and innovations in monitoring approaches and mitigation. Researchers will present recent findings at dedicated interactive poster sessions each day.

Day 2 will also feature an interactive breakout session, designed to facilitate participant interactions, a deeper understanding, build connections, and identify shared priorities and actionable next steps. These breakout groups will support cross-sector collaboration and help translate workshop insights into meaningful strategies for research, monitoring, and on-the-ground implementation.

Whether you are a researcher, environmental professional, community steward, or decision-maker, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to connect, learn, and contribute to the collective effort to address tire wear toxicants and protect freshwater ecosystems across the region.

The event will run from approximately 9:00am to 4:00pm each day and be hosted at the Coast Bastion Hotel in Nanaimo, BC. Room location and parking information will be sent prior to the event if you are signed up via EventBrite.

The event is free to attend, but we ask that you RSVP to ensure that we can prepare accordingly to accommodate those attending.

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Host or Publisher British Columbia Conservation Foundation & Vancouver Island University