MSRA Webinar Series - Closing the Monitoring-to-Decision Gap: Translating Pooled Monitoring Science into Actionable Tools feat. Seth Theuerkauf
MSRA is excited to continue our series of webinars featuring leading industry researchers and partners, as we strive to offer opportunities for discussion and promote advancement of the stream restoration science. Visit our website and social media channels for upcoming webinars.
Continuing Education Credits will be offered for the MSRA Webinar Series!
We hope you will join us:
When: Wednesday, December 2, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Where: GoToWebinar
Following your registration, and prior to the event, you will receive a webinar link from GoToWebinar on the morning of the webinar which will give you access to the webinar.
Will you be attending?
Register Today! Registration will Close at 3pm the Day Before the Webinar.
EVENT DETAILS:
Cost: Free for members, $10 for non-members
Presentation Abstract:
Over the past decade, the Chesapeake Bay Trust's (the Trust's) Pooled Monitoring Initiative's Restoration Research Program (PMI-RRP) has pooled funding and expertise to address priority questions identified by regulators, practitioners, and scientists. The program has produced more than 60 peer-reviewed studies on stream restoration, stormwater best management practice (BMP) performance, pollutants of emerging concern, restoration tradeoffs, and monitoring and data optimization. Yet translating this growing body of science into information that can readily inform management remains a challenge: findings are dispersed across standalone studies, decision-makers need clear takeaways rather than thousands of pages of source material, and results are not always organized around the decision points that drive restoration planning, permitting, funding, and implementation.
In 2025, the Trust engaged Thriving Coasts Consulting, LLC to synthesize a decade of PMI-RRP research into decision-ready resources for practitioners, regulators, funders, and local governments. The effort began with stakeholder needs research, including interviews and a survey, which indicated a strong preference for short fact sheets and for findings tied directly to planning, permitting, funding, and monitoring decisions. Based on these recommendations, research findings were then extracted using a documented, reproducible AI-assisted synthesis workflow, verified by subject-matter experts, and peer reviewed by the original PMI-RRP researchers. The resulting product suite includes five science synthesis briefing documents organized around management implications, interactive web two-pagers, a social media toolkit, and a learning session package. Focus groups in May 2026 with practitioners, MS4 program managers, state agency leads, county environmental directors, and consulting engineers from Maryland, DC, and Virginia confirmed the products fill a real science-translation gap and identified immediate use cases.
This presentation will introduce the Pooled Monitoring model, share key findings and lessons from the synthesis and stakeholder engagement, and discuss a networked approach for moving monitoring science beyond publication and into restoration practice. Learn more about PMI-RRP and the science synthesis findings at https://cbtrust.org/grants/pooled-monitoring-initiatives-restoration-research-award-program/.
Presenter's Bio:
Seth Theuerkauf, Ph.D., is the Founder and Lead Consultant of Thriving Coasts Consulting, LLC, an Arlington, Virginia-based practice that helps organizations address coastal and environmental challenges through science-based, collaborative solutions. A marine conservation scientist with more than 19 years of experience, his work spans coastal resilience, habitat restoration, ecosystem services, and science-informed decision-making. He leads the CBT Pooled Monitoring science synthesis project, translating a decade of restoration research into decision-ready resources for practitioners, regulators, and local governments. He previously held roles with BOEM, NOAA, and The Nature Conservancy, and is originally from Gloucester, Virginia.
