WALPA’s 39th Annual Conference in Bellingham, WA<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nOctober 7-9, 2026<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n“Celebrating Lake Heroes: Critters and Champions”<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nFour Points Hotel & Conference Center<\/span><\/h4>\nBellingham, WA<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\nThe Washington State Lake Protection Association (WALPA) is planning for our next conference at the Four Points Hotel & Conference Center <\/a><\/span>in Bellingham, Washington on Wednesday through Friday October 7-9, 2026. This year\u2019s theme is \u201cCelebrating Lake Heroes: Critters and Champions\u201d but presentations from a variety of other topics are also welcome.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n\u200bCome learn about the heroes that shape our work, from the critters and creatures in every level of the food web within our lakes, to the researchers and lake managers that keep asking questions and teach us how to protect and restore our lakes. This year\u2019s conference will have something for all lake lovers!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\u200b\u200bSCHEDULE\u200b<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n- \n
Wednesday (half day) – learning sessions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Wednesday evening\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Social event with poster presentations on research by students and others<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Live and silent auctions to raise funds for student scholarships<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Thursday (full day) – learning sessions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Friday morning – algae identification workshop by Dr. Robin A. Matthews at Western Washington University.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\nLEARNING SESSIONS<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"NLA2022_Lake_Padden_1_edited_edited.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/41051a_cee744d72f1b43a7a1dab180bd78ea79~mv2.jpg\/v1\/crop\/x_164,y_0,w_1993,h_1532\/fill\/w_251,h_192,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto\/NLA2022_Lake_Padden_1_edited_edited.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nLearning sessions include, but are not limited to:\u200b<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Harmful algal bloom (HAB) research<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Exciting new lake management technologies<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Student research<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Climate change and adaptive management<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Nutrient pollution\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Aquatic invasive species<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Algae and aquatic plant management<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Fish ecology<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Urban lakes<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Volunteer monitoring and citizen science<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Conservation of lake ecosystems<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
\nSUBMIT AN ABSTRACT BY July 15, 2026<\/h6>\n
The lake community wants to hear from you! Share your latest project or research by submitting an abstract for the conference. Abstracts may be submitted for oral presentations and posters. Submit your abstract to WALPA HERE<\/a><\/span>. You will be asked for a title, author(s) and a brief description (250 word limit) of your presentation or poster. This year we will also offer an option for lightning talks – these are short presentations designed to pique the interest of the audience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":11259,"featured_media":34103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[11],"tags":[4,176,40,3041,7,13,9,8574],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58772,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771\/revisions\/58772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
“Celebrating Lake Heroes: Critters and Champions”<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nFour Points Hotel & Conference Center<\/span><\/h4>\nBellingham, WA<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\nThe Washington State Lake Protection Association (WALPA) is planning for our next conference at the Four Points Hotel & Conference Center <\/a><\/span>in Bellingham, Washington on Wednesday through Friday October 7-9, 2026. This year\u2019s theme is \u201cCelebrating Lake Heroes: Critters and Champions\u201d but presentations from a variety of other topics are also welcome.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n\u200bCome learn about the heroes that shape our work, from the critters and creatures in every level of the food web within our lakes, to the researchers and lake managers that keep asking questions and teach us how to protect and restore our lakes. This year\u2019s conference will have something for all lake lovers!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\u200b\u200bSCHEDULE\u200b<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n- \n
Wednesday (half day) – learning sessions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Wednesday evening\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Social event with poster presentations on research by students and others<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Live and silent auctions to raise funds for student scholarships<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Thursday (full day) – learning sessions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Friday morning – algae identification workshop by Dr. Robin A. Matthews at Western Washington University.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\nLEARNING SESSIONS<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nLearning sessions include, but are not limited to:\u200b<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Harmful algal bloom (HAB) research<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Exciting new lake management technologies<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Student research<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Climate change and adaptive management<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Nutrient pollution\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Aquatic invasive species<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Algae and aquatic plant management<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Fish ecology<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Urban lakes<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Volunteer monitoring and citizen science<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Conservation of lake ecosystems<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
\nSUBMIT AN ABSTRACT BY July 15, 2026<\/h6>\n
The lake community wants to hear from you! Share your latest project or research by submitting an abstract for the conference. Abstracts may be submitted for oral presentations and posters. Submit your abstract to WALPA HERE<\/a><\/span>. You will be asked for a title, author(s) and a brief description (250 word limit) of your presentation or poster. This year we will also offer an option for lightning talks – these are short presentations designed to pique the interest of the audience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":11259,"featured_media":34103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[11],"tags":[4,176,40,3041,7,13,9,8574],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58772,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771\/revisions\/58772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bellingham, WA<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\nThe Washington State Lake Protection Association (WALPA) is planning for our next conference at the Four Points Hotel & Conference Center <\/a><\/span>in Bellingham, Washington on Wednesday through Friday October 7-9, 2026. This year\u2019s theme is \u201cCelebrating Lake Heroes: Critters and Champions\u201d but presentations from a variety of other topics are also welcome.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n\u200bCome learn about the heroes that shape our work, from the critters and creatures in every level of the food web within our lakes, to the researchers and lake managers that keep asking questions and teach us how to protect and restore our lakes. This year\u2019s conference will have something for all lake lovers!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\u200b\u200bSCHEDULE\u200b<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n- \n
Wednesday (half day) – learning sessions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Wednesday evening\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Social event with poster presentations on research by students and others<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Live and silent auctions to raise funds for student scholarships<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Thursday (full day) – learning sessions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Friday morning – algae identification workshop by Dr. Robin A. Matthews at Western Washington University.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\nLEARNING SESSIONS<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nLearning sessions include, but are not limited to:\u200b<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Harmful algal bloom (HAB) research<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Exciting new lake management technologies<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Student research<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Climate change and adaptive management<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Nutrient pollution\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Aquatic invasive species<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Algae and aquatic plant management<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Fish ecology<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Urban lakes<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Volunteer monitoring and citizen science<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Conservation of lake ecosystems<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
\nSUBMIT AN ABSTRACT BY July 15, 2026<\/h6>\n
The lake community wants to hear from you! Share your latest project or research by submitting an abstract for the conference. Abstracts may be submitted for oral presentations and posters. Submit your abstract to WALPA HERE<\/a><\/span>. You will be asked for a title, author(s) and a brief description (250 word limit) of your presentation or poster. This year we will also offer an option for lightning talks – these are short presentations designed to pique the interest of the audience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":11259,"featured_media":34103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[11],"tags":[4,176,40,3041,7,13,9,8574],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58772,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771\/revisions\/58772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The Washington State Lake Protection Association (WALPA) is planning for our next conference at the Four Points Hotel & Conference Center <\/a><\/span>in Bellingham, Washington on Wednesday through Friday October 7-9, 2026. This year\u2019s theme is \u201cCelebrating Lake Heroes: Critters and Champions\u201d but presentations from a variety of other topics are also welcome.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n \u200bCome learn about the heroes that shape our work, from the critters and creatures in every level of the food web within our lakes, to the researchers and lake managers that keep asking questions and teach us how to protect and restore our lakes. This year\u2019s conference will have something for all lake lovers!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Wednesday (half day) – learning sessions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Wednesday evening\u00a0<\/p>\n Social event with poster presentations on research by students and others<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Live and silent auctions to raise funds for student scholarships<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n Thursday (full day) – learning sessions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Friday morning – algae identification workshop by Dr. Robin A. Matthews at Western Washington University.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n Learning sessions include, but are not limited to:\u200b<\/p>\n Harmful algal bloom (HAB) research<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Exciting new lake management technologies<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Student research<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Climate change and adaptive management<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Nutrient pollution\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Aquatic invasive species<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Algae and aquatic plant management<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Fish ecology<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Urban lakes<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Volunteer monitoring and citizen science<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Conservation of lake ecosystems<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n The lake community wants to hear from you! Share your latest project or research by submitting an abstract for the conference. Abstracts may be submitted for oral presentations and posters. Submit your abstract to WALPA HERE<\/a><\/span>. You will be asked for a title, author(s) and a brief description (250 word limit) of your presentation or poster. This year we will also offer an option for lightning talks – these are short presentations designed to pique the interest of the audience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":11259,"featured_media":34103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[11],"tags":[4,176,40,3041,7,13,9,8574],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58772,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58771\/revisions\/58772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u200b\u200bSCHEDULE\u200b<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
LEARNING SESSIONS<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT BY July 15, 2026<\/h6>\n