The Project Award Committee’s purpose is to develop and maintain a process and criteria for the solicitation for award nominations and project evaluations.  The Committee is responsible for reviewing the nominations and selecting an awardee for each conference. The group meets about once a month to accomplish these tasks, typically starting about 6-8 months in advance of the conference until an awardee is selected, typically about 3 months before the conference. Once an awardee is selected, notified, and has accepted the award, the Committee chair arranges for award plaques for the Project Award and for the Career Achievement Award to be made.

For more information on the award, including how to nominate projects for future awards, how a winning project is selected, and information on past winners, visit https://fishpassage.umass.edu/distinguished-project-award.

Past Awardees:

• 2020 – LIFEDrawaPL – Active Protection of Water-Crowfoots Habitats and Restoration of Wildlife Corridor in the River Drawa Basin in Poland, presented to: Aleksandra Stodulna (RDEP – Regional Director of Environment Protection in Szczecin); Beata Gąsiorowska; Małgorzata Ćwiklińska; Aneta Radecka; Mariola Wróbel (PhD, West Pomeranian University of Technology); Artur Furdyna (external water ecology consultant); Mariusz Raczyński (PhD RDEP Szczecin); Wojciech Wójcik (external IT service); Paweł Bilski (Steering Committee – PhD, Director of Drawieński National Park); Piotr Dębowski (Steering Committee – PhD prof. Institute of Inland Fisheries- migratory fish expert); Robert Czerniawski (PhD Steering Committee – prof. Szczecin University); Józef Jeleński (Steering Committee- Eng. expert of riverbed morphology restoration)
• 2018 – Fish Passage Research and Development at Low-head Barriers in South-east Asia, presented to: Dr. Lee Baumgartner (Charles Sturt University); Dr. Craig Boys (Port Stephens Fisheries Institute); Prof. Chris Barlow (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research); Dr. Joanne Miller (Charles Sturt University); Khampheng Homsombath (Living Aquatic Resources Research Centre); Douangkham Singhanouvong (Living Aquatic Resources Research Centre); Dr. Wayne Robinson (Charles Sturt University); Garry Thorncraft (National University of Laos); Dr. Oudom Phonekhampheng (National University of Laos); Thonglom Phommavong (National University of Laos); Phousone Vorsane (National University of Laos); Tim Marsden (Australasian Fish Passage Services); Dr. Nathan Ning (Charles Sturt University); Dr. Ivor Stuart (Kingfisher Research); Jarrod McPherson (Charles Sturt University); Brett Kelly (AWMA Solutions); Dr. Brett Pflugrath (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory); Thavone Phommavong (Pak Peung Village)
• 2017 – Soda Springs Dam Fish Passage, North Umpqua River, Oregon USA, presented to: Rich Grost, Scott Schevenius, Eric Hansen, Tim Hemstreet, Mark Sturtevant, Steve Albertelli, Monte Garrett, and the North Umpqua Hydropower Project Crew (PacificCorp); Clint Smith (MWH Americas); Dirk Pedersen (Stillwater Sciences); George Gilmour (Meridian Environmental); Resource Coordination Committee (BLM, ODEQ, ODFW, OWRD, NMFS, USFS, USFWS)
• 2016 — Habitat Restoration for Diadromous Fish in the River Mondego, presented to: Pedro Raposo de Almeida (Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Department of Biology, School of Sciences and Technology, University of Évora, Portugal); Isabel Domingos (Foundation of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisboa, Portugal); Luís Simão (Mora Freshwater Aquarium, Parque Ecológico do Gameiro, Mora, Portugal); Maria Felisbina Quadrado (Portuguese Environmental Agency, Amadora, Portugal); Gonçalo Carrasqueira (Forest and Nature Conservation Institute, Lisboa, Portugal); Yorgos Stratoudakis (Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute (IPMA), Lisboa, Portugal); Nuno Portal (EDP, Gestão da Produção de Energia, S.A., Porto, Portugal); Cristina Rosa (Diretorate General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services (DGRM), Lisboa, Portugal); Fernando Lopes (Sea Lamprey Brotherhood, Penacova, Portugal); Fernanda Veiga (City Council of Penacova, Penacova, Portugal); Mário Magalhães Maia, City Council of Vila Nova de Poiares, Vila Nova de Poiares, Portugal); João Pardal (City Council of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal)
• 2015 — Salto de San Fernando: Problems and Solutions, presented to: GEA-ecohydraulics (ETSIIAA Palencia), SSF S.L. (Town Hall and private associates), Duero Basin Authority (CHD-Water Public Domain Control Service), State Fisheries Section (Salamanca), Fishermen Associations (Peña de la Cruz de Béjar)
• 2014 — Acushnet River Fish Passage Restoration, presented to: NOAA Restoration Center, EA Engineering, Science and Technology, Inc., US Fish and Wildlife Service, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, Buzzards Bay Coalition, US Geological Survey, The New Bedford Harbor Trustee Council, and the Town of Acushnet.
• 2013 — Development and Application of the Uniform Acceleration Bypass Weir for Downstream Passage at Dams and Water Intakes, presented to: Alex Haro, Theodore Castro-Santos, and John Noreika (Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory, U. S. Geological Survey); George Hecker and Steve Amaral (Alden Research Laboratory); Robert Stira (Firstlight Power Resources); and Lynn Reese (U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District)

Contact:

Please contact Jon Mann, the chair of the Project Award Task Committee, at Jonathon.Mann@wildlife.ca.gov.

Committee Members:

The committee has recently included Jon Mann, Ted Castro-Santos, Marcin Whitman, Denis Ruttenberg, Bob Gubernick, Andy Peters, Mike Garello, Matthew Gordos, and Peter Christensen.  Kevin Mulligan has also provided invaluable support.