The International Society for River Science (ISRS) will hold the 7th International Symposium on River Science at the University of California, Davis on October 6-9, 2025. We invite you to attend!

The first river symposium was held in 1979 in Norway, and rivers conferences have continued through the decades since, across the globe. Recent conferences have been held in La Crosse, Wisconsin (2015), Hamilton, New Zealand (2017), and Vienna, Austria (2019). This will be the first time ISRS will be held in California; it’s an opportunity you won’t want to miss!

Who is ISRS?

ISRS is a global society that exists to foster and develop scholarship in disciplines that contribute to knowledge and wise stewardship of rivers and streams. The society has an international reputation as scientists who are a reliable and independent source of information and advice on river science and related environmental issues. Read more about ISRS and river-related publications in their official journal, River Research and Applications.

What will the Symposium include?

The ISRS Program Committee has developed an exciting program of  talks and posters, together with field trips and social time throughout the event. Over 4 days (Oct 6-9), the symposium will include 3 keynote addresses, 12 special sessions, and additional contributed sessions with over 150 oral presentations, and a poster session with over 40 presentations. The ISRS conference offers a full day  opportunity to participate in one of 7 local field trips followed by an evening symposium dinner.  Full registration for the symposium includes lunch each day with coffee breaks, a field trip ticket, and a banquet dinner ticket.  Early bird registration closes August 15, so be sure to register early!

Why should you attend?

ISRS is an international organization that only occasionally hosts their annual conference in the US and that has never been to the west coast or California. This is an opportunity to not only gather with local colleagues, but to mingle with researchers on the national and international level. Additionally, this symposium will provide the first opportunity for ISRS to meet since 2019, and for river scientists and supporters to reconnect and share ideas and experiences. In bringing together researchers and practitioners from across the world, the Symposium provides a unique platform for fostering collaboration with experts from diverse sectors, including academia, agencies, indigenous communities, industry, and non-governmental organizations. This fosters a multidisciplinary approach to addressing complex water management challenges, promoting holistic and innovative solutions that a single entity might not achieve alone.

What to Expect at the Symposium

The Symposium will focus on many kinds of  reconnecting, restoring and revitalizing: rivers and their landscapes, rivers and floodplains, people and rivers, scientists and practitioners, students and their society, upstream and downstream, and rivers and habitats. The symposium will incorporate research from across ecology, geomorphology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, social sciences, first nations science, environmental engineering, river management and policy. 

The symposium will be framed around three broad themes: 

Theme 1: Reconnecting: Rivers as integrated biophysical systems 

Rivers are complex biophysical systems, set within a broader landscape context. The connections within rivers, and those between rivers and their broader landscape play an integral role in the character and functioning of river systems. Recognizing rivers as networks that are connected longitudinally, laterally, vertically and temporally, this theme will explore the broad range of interactions and connections that occur within river systems. 

Special sessions include: Science for a changing Klamath River following the world’s largest dam removal; Advances in Floodplain Science and Implications for Riverscape Resilience; Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions in Riverine Landscape Across Multiple Scales; Advances in Bar-built Estuary Research: physiochemical, ecological and management perspectives.

Theme 2: Restoring: River management for biodiversity outcomes 

Significant investment is undertaken worldwide to rehabilitate and restore river ecosystems to support and enhance biodiversity. Focus is on reinstating natural processes, habitats and species interactions to reverse environmental degradation and foster resilient ecosystems. This theme will explore advances in restoration science from a broad range of social and biophysical research disciplines as well as practitioners, managers and policy makers. 

Special sessions include: Advancing Environmental Flow Management: Holistic Approaches for Sustaining Aquatic Ecosystems; Restoring and revitalizing large alluvial rivers and their floodplains to support biodiversity and multiple goals; Nature Based Solutions in River Restoration; Healthy Rivers & Landscapes.

Theme 3: Revitalising: Relationships between people and rivers 

There is an important and complex relationship between humans and freshwater ecosystems. From the reliance of human societies on water as a resource to the deeply spiritual connections with water places, people and rivers are inextricably interlinked. As a consequence, the management of river systems is more than a biophysical activity. This theme will explore the connections between people and rivers, delve into the policy and social sciences that are an increasingly important component of river management. 

Special sessions include: Revitalizing Community and Landscape by connecting rivers, people, and science through field experiences; Data to Decision: Who governs ecological monitoring of the river commons?; Rivers as Classrooms: blending experiential education into river restoration science and project monitoring; Floodplains Forward: Aligning the ecologies and economies of large river valleys.

How can you get involved?

To celebrate the first gathering since Vienna in 2019 and the first ever in California, we are inviting partners and supporters to help ISRS share our river science and passion with colleagues and organizations across the globe. We have a range of sponsorship packages available, so please get in touch with the conference organizers to discuss your collaboration.

If you have any questions, please contact isrs.symposium7@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you in October at the University of California, Davis!

And don’t forget to register! The next symposium will probably require a passport, so consider attending while it’s right here at UC Davis.

The ISRS 2025 Organizing Committee

Sarah Yarnell, UC Davis, California
Fiona Dyer, University of Canberra, Australia
Martin Thoms, University of New England, Australia
Melissa Parsons, University of New England, Australia