SBN invites you to join us for our upcoming symposium being held on March 20, 2024. The day-long conference, titled "Achieving Climate Resilience Through Water," will convene business-owners, professionals, and other interested parties that work in the green stormwater infrastructure field and other issues relating to water management, quality, equity, and climate resilience. Attendees will learn how to more effectively implement and manage stormwater management practices (SMPs), as well as identify new approaches to green stormwater infrastructure, how water management impacts our waterways and drinking water, gain a deeper knowledge of the regulatory frameworks that support nature-based solutions and the financing and funding mechanisms that exist to advance the industry forward. Our symposium will be held on March 20, 2024 at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia's Old City neighborhood.

The symposium will be opened by Pinar Balci, Ph.D, former Assistant Commissioner of the Environmental Planning and Analysis at the NYCDEP with an opening plenary titled: “Meeting Urban Stormwater Resiliency and Water Quality Challenges via Cross-Sectoral Collaborations," and will include 12 sessions across three tracks: Green Stormwater Management: New Approaches, Operations & Maintenance; Stormwater & Climate Resilience Regulations & Policies; and Funding and Financing Opportunities for Water Infrastructure & Community Greening. In addition to these core tracks, SBN and its Steering Committee has considered proposals that present cutting edge developments and innovations in water management technologies and practices, as well as those that incorporate an integrated water systems approach to climate resilience.

Find the session titles, descriptions, and speakers here: https://www.sbnphiladelphia.org/gsi/2024-achieving-climate-resilience-through-water-symposium-sessions-topics/.

See below for the Symposium's full agenda!

When: Wednesday, March 20, 9AM-4PM (Registration opens at 8AM)

Where: Science History Institute, 315 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Tickets:

• SBN & GSI Partners Members: $130
• Non-Profits & Government Employees: $100
• General Admission: $165

For information about student tickets, contact Alex Cupo, GSI Partners Manager, at alex(at)philadelphia(dot)org. Lead support is provided by the William Penn Foundation.

Thank you to our Event Sponsors!

Platinum

Bronze

Agenda

Registration

8:00 - 9:10 AM

Welcome

9:15-9:20 AM

Opening Plenary

9:20 - 10:20 AM

"Meeting Urban Stormwater Resiliency and Water Quality Challenges via Cross-Sectoral Collaborations"

Pinar Balci, PhD, NYC Water Lead & Deputy East Water Lead, WSP
Marc Cammarata, Deputy Water Commissioner, PWD
Biswarup Guha, MS PE CPM, Research Scientist, NJ DEP 

Sessions (Block One)

10:30 - 12:20 PM

Track One: Green Stormwater Management: New Approaches, Operations & Maintenance

"Leveraging Ecological Restoration for Green Stormwater Management"

Tyler Charles, PE, Associate, JMT

"Municipal Stormwater Retrofits: The unique planning, design, construction, budgeting and maintenance challenges"

Rob Woodman, PE, CPESC, NGICP, LEED Green Associate, Director, Engineering & Green Stormwater Infrastructure, Ferguson

Track Two: Stormwater & Climate Resilience Regulatory Frameworks & Policies

"The Checkbox is Square One: Leveraging Creativity and Site Synergies to Move Beyond Regulatory Frameworks"

José Almiñana PLA, FASLA, SITES AP, LEED AP, Principal, Andropogon Associates
Jason Curtis, PLA, LFA, SITES AP, LEED AP, Senior Associate, Andropogon Associates

"Radnor Township’s Green Infrastructure Approach to Water Quality and Flood Reduction"

Michele Adams, PE, LEED AP, Founder, Meliora Design
Marc Henderson, PE, Project Manager, Senior Water Resources Engineer, Meliora Design
Michael Busch, EIT, Civil and Water Resources Engineer, Meliora Design 

Track Three: Funding and Financing Opportunities for Water Infrastructure & Community Greening

"Owner Engagement and Funding – Lessons from 10 years of GCCW Participation"

Dennis Shelly, PE, Founder & Managing Member, PEER Environmental

Lyle Winklerprins, Environmental Engineer, PEER Environmental

Maurice Sampson II, Eastern Pennsylvania Director, Clean Water Action

"Introducing Stormwater Management to Philadelphia C-PACE"

Carla Windt, PE, CFM, LEED AP ND, Engineering Supervisor, Philadelphia Water Department

Matthew Stern, Senior Director, Commercial Programs, Philadelphia Energy Authority

Lunch

12:30 - 1:30 PM

Sessions (Block Two)

1:40 - 3:45 PM

Track One: Green Stormwater Management: New Approaches, Operations & Maintenance

"Circular Soils: Waste-Based Materials for Green Infrastructure Soils"

Ed Confair, PE, PLA, CPRP, Vice President and Principal of Landscape & Resiliency, E&LP
Megan Schmidt, Project Engineer, E&LP
Rebecca Popowsky, Research Associate, OLIN Labs
Rebecca Davies, Co-Founder, Remark Glass

"Stormwater Utility: A Mechanism for Funding Green Stormwater Infrastructure Projects in Your Community"

Dana Patterson, Director of Marketing & Communications, Princeton Hydro
Elizabeth Treadway, Senior Vice President, WSP

Track Two: Stormwater & Climate Resilience Regulatory Frameworks & Policies

"Hydrating the Learning Landscape"

Sara Pevaroff Schuh, RLA, ASLA,  Principal, SALT Design Studio
Le (Cindy) Xu, RLA, LEED BC+D AP, Landscape Architect, SALT Design Studio
James Gallagher, EIT, Senior Engineer, Rodriguez Consulting
Emma Melvin, Green Infrastructure Program Manager, The School District of Philadelphia

"Tapping into Community Knowledge and Building Trust: Strategies to Bring Equity to Stormwater Management, Resilience, and Adaptation Efforts"

Campbell Simmons, Resilient Communities & Policy Associate, River Network

Track Three: Funding and Financing Opportunities for Water Infrastructure & Community Greening

"Inter-municipal Collaboration for Stormwater Management: Case Studies Across Pennsylvania"

Emerson O’Donnell, Program Manager, WaterNow Alliance
Beth Uhler, Pennsylvania Director, Center for Watershed Protection
Jennifer Cotting, Director, University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center
Lisa Werder-Brown, Executive Director, Watersheds of South Pittsburgh

"Navigating Green Infrastructure Maintenance with Capitalized Establishment Costs"

Emerson O’Donnell, Program Manager, WaterNow Alliance
Peter Hill, Senior Policy Advisor, Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC)
Caleb Stratton, Assistant Business Administrator, City of Hoboken, NJ

Closing

3:50 - 4:00 PM

Closing Remarks by Shandor Szalay

Urban Stormwater Innovation Lead, Arcadis & Senior Advisor at The Water Center at Penn