Newswise — Laura Rose Day, executive director of the Penobscot River Restoration Trust in Maine, will deliver the keynote address at Union College's annual Mohawk Watershed Symposium Friday, March 21 at College Park Hall.

The Penobscot River Restoration Trust is a non-profit organization that works to create sustainable native sea-run fisheries on the Penobscot River. In 2008, the Penobscot River Restoration Project was awarded a Cooperative Conservation Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

This is the sixth year Union has hosted the daylong symposium, which will feature dozens of presentations on topics including flooding, water quality, watershed management, climate change and water rights.

More than 150 participants are expected, including scientists, engineers and other professionals, and students. The conference is open to registered participants.

The Mohawk River watershed is a unique and distinctive drainage basin that originates in the valley between the western Adirondacks and the Tug Hill Plateau. It flows 140 miles to the east, where it joins the Hudson River.

Other speakers include U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, who will talk on "sustainable infrastructure on the Mohawk,” including the need for innovation and investment in programs, polices and projects that improve the environment and promote communities."

For more on the speakers and the conference, click here.

The conference is sponsored by the Union College Geology Department and organized by John Garver, geology professor, and Jaclyn Cockburn, a former Union professor now at the University of Guelph , Ontario.