**Note - For every course we have implemented live stream remote attendance options for those who prefer a no-contact alternative to in-person attendance.  You will need a computer and an internet connection.  We will follow the maximum in-person meeting size as per health authorities and if recommended we will only offer remote attendance.

If conditions permit, you are welcome to attend the course in-person, we likely will have between 5 to 10 in-person attendee's in a large room to provide safe spacing.  We also wipe every surface down and provide hand washing and disinfectant wipes as a courtesy.  If you would like more information or have any questions, please contact us via email or phone 425 270 3274.

This dynamic, hands-on workshop gives attendees an understanding of effective ways to deal with difficult situations and people. Participants will get extensive practice with skills that can be applied immediately. The overall goal of the course is for attendees to come away with an understanding of principles and techniques for maintaining a professional demeanor while managing conflicts, as well as knowledge of strategies that help keep a conflict from getting in the way of productivity.

This workshop is a companion course with our Facilitation and Collaborative Negotiations courses. What distinguishes this course is its focus on the use of interest-based bargaining techniques, made famous in the book Getting to Yes, for unraveling conflict into cooperation.

A combination of discussions, exercises, lectures, and mock disputes makes this workshop interactive, fun, and productive. 

Additional Discounts for registering related courses: There is an additional $50 discount when registering for either Collaborative Negotiation Skills for Environmental Professionals OR Facilitation Skills for Environmental Professionals when they are offered in the same week. The two registrations must be made at the same time to get the discount. There is an additional $100 discount when registering for all three classes when they are offered the same week. Registration for all three classes must be made at the same time. 

You may register online or by calling the Northwest Environmental Training Center at 425-270-3274.

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.

This workshop provides an applied overview of the California Environmental Quality Act, with an emphasis on the process and technical requirements of an environmental impact assessment. The course will begin with a brief background on environmental impact assessment in the U.S. and of CEQA's regulatory context, followed by an overview of various approaches used in scoping and preparing environmental impact assessments under CEQA. Students will examine the documents required under CEQA and the roles of key players involved. Students will also determine the adequacy of CEQA documents as they relate to environmental settings, impact assessment, mitigation development, significance thresholds, and data sources. Lastly, the course will include a discussion of the documents and processes for projects regulated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

After completing this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand and participate in CEQA evaluations
- Integrate CEQA environmental review into project approval processes
- Explain the environmental impact assessment requirements of CEQA
- Effectively review and comment on CEQA documents
- Identify and work with the various players in resolving CEQA issues

Registration: (*reduced tuition is available to employees of Native American tribes, government agencies, and nonprofits; students; and NAEP members). If you are having trouble registering online, please call Northwest Environmental Training Center at 425-270-3274, ext 103.

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.

This course is designed to help environmental professionals develop and improve specific communication skills that will more effectively deliver regulatory, and/or scientific, technical information and ideas.

Effective and professional communication and public presentation skills are critical to the success of today’s environmental professionals, in every field. Each professional is expected to deliver clear information, but in order to be truly effective, he or she must also tell a story that engages and informs the audience by imparting a powerful message that compels them to take action and initiate change.

Through a team-based, interactive, accelerated learning format, each participant will develop his or her own personal communication and storytelling style by weaving themed, technical content with an intentional message. In combining these important skills, each participant will learn how to present a story that delivers the most powerful and compelling information that will engage and resonate with their audience.

Each session is geared to the interests and instructional needs of the participants and the group as a whole. The course work applies the most current ideas in effective oral communication techniques, with individual and group practice sessions reinforcing the skills presented.

Participants will receive a pre-course packet with an introduction to accelerated learning philosophy and methods, a course outline and references to familiarize them with the course content. In order to customize the course to the needs of participants, each participant will be asked to answer a short survey that will allow the instructor to tailor the course material to be uniquely relevant to the individuals, organizations and groups represented in the class.

What Participants will learn 

 Designing and delivering environmental information platforms

 Identifying your unique presentation voice and presentation style

 Communicating more effectively to a wide variety of audiences

 Crafting stories and messages that get heard

Managing public speaking fears and phobias

Utilizing media and the newest presentation software

*Reduced tuition is available to employees of Native American tribes, government agencies, nonprofits, students and NAEP members.

You may register online or by calling the Northwest Environmental Training Center at (425) 270-3274. Online registration is strongly encouraged.

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.

Restoration/mitigation programs should address all aspects of a site’s ecosystem, rather than simply enhancing a particular species or group of species. With this in mind, course material is designed to introduce a complete approach. Topics covered include restoration/mitigation planning; research needs; regulatory and permit coordination; early considerations of unanticipated effects, bioengineering, best management practices (BMPs), cost estimation, maintenance of the mitigation, provisions to be taken during all phase of the implementation to ensure success, and how to quantify success in terms of area and ecological function.

After completing this course, participants will be able to:
• Determine Regulatory Considerations for the planned restoration
• Understand Restoration / Mitigation Planning needs
• Determine suitable Site Conditions and Research Needs
• Understand Needs for Planting Plans
• Determine the Best Monitoring Methodologies
• Anticipate Maintenance Issues

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.

This course provides an overview of the vapor intrusion exposure pathway including its scientific foundation, regulatory framework, and the technical aspects of investigating and remediating contaminated vapor sites. The class will cover topics such as: screening sites for potential vapor intrusion concerns, conducting field investigations, sampling techniques, data analyses, exposure point calculations, the Johnson and Ettinger predictive model, vapor intrusion risk assessment, vapor intrusion mitigation, and remediation. Participants will work through practical problems and typical site scenarios based on case studies of established vapor intrusion sites. This course provides a comprehensive introduction for those new to the field, and will also provide insights, data analysis techniques, and the latest research for more advanced participants.

This 3-day hands-on class introduces participants to the environmental applications of ESRI's ArcGIS 10 software. The course will build upon a discussion of general concepts and vocabulary to form a comprehensive overview of ArcGIS PRO’s functions and uses in the environmental field. Each participant will have their own computer workstation to create, edit, display and analyze real world environmental data during numerous hands-on exercises. On the third day, participants will have an opportunity to expand their skills by applying their knowledge to more complex and in-depth projects.

After completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply a conceptual overview of GIS and spatial analysis to environmental data
• Understand and utilize the fundamental capabilities of ArcGIS
• Conduct overlay analysis
• Create intersects, buffers, unions and clips using the Geoprocessing Wizard
• Measure spatial relationships between layers of geographic data
• Perform complex relational database queries
• Generate presentation-quality maps

Prerequisites: Basic understanding of computer operations.

*reduced tuition is available to employees of Native American tribes, government agencies, and nonprofits; students; and NAEP, NEBC, NWAEP members 

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.

Electrofishing is an effective way to sample freshwater fish populations. However, it may cause injury or mortality to the fish if done incorrectly. Proper balance between efficient sampling and causing minimal harm is achieved through the knowledge of electrofishing principles and use of proper techniques.

This course combines classroom lecture with field demonstration/participation exercises to give attendees the knowledge and basic experience they will need to safely and effectively electrofish. It includes one day of classroom lecture with a field day during which the concepts discussed in class will be demonstrated and practiced by attendees. The class will visit a stream/river/creek and each attendee will operate the equipment under the guidance of the instructor.

The day of field exercises provides attendees with real-world experience applying the concepts discussed in the classroom. The combination of classroom lecture, field demonstration, and participation exercises gives attendees the knowledge and basic experience they will need to safely and effectively electrofish.

This three-day course is intended to meet the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) training requirements for electrofishing field staff. The NMFS guidance and training requirements document may be downloaded here.

Reduced tuition is available to employees of Native American tribes, government agencies, and nonprofits, students, and AFS and NAEP members. 

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.

You may register via the registration button above or by calling the Northwest Environmental Training Center at (425) 270-3274.

 

This introductory course provides participants with a strong foundation of aquatic toxicology and how these concepts are applied to managing pollutants in aquatic environments. The course covers terminology, common test designs, and endpoints such as lethality and endocrine disruption. Important legacy and emerging pollutants of concern such as heavy metals, organic pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and nanoparticles will also be presented. Fate and transport as it relates to bioavailability and pollutant partitioning in aquatic environments will be discussed. Water Quality criteria from the Clean Water Act with an emphasis on, and examples of, site specific criteria for metals using hardness correction, water effects ratio (WER), and the biotic ligand model (BLM) are also included.

After completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply toxicology principles to environmental issues.
• Understand how aquatic organisms are exposed to toxic chemicals.
• Identify factors affecting toxicity.
• Understand similarities and differences between the toxicity of metals and organic chemicals.
• Understand modes of action of toxic chemicals, types of effects from the molecular to the ecosystem level, and detoxification processes.
• Assess toxicity in terms of LC50 and EC50, and develop dose-response curves.
• Identify the advantages and disadvantages of various toxicity testing methods.
• Understand the scientific basis for and limitations of water quality standards.

*Reduced tuition is available for Native American tribes, government employees, nonprofits, students and AFS, NAEP, NEBC, TAEP members.

You may register online or by calling the Northwest Environmental Training Center at (425) 270-3274. Online registration is strongly encouraged.

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.

Electrofishing is an effective way to sample freshwater fish populations. However, electrofishing may cause fish injury or mortality. Proper balance between efficient sampling and minimal harm is achieved through the knowledge of electrofishing principles and proper use of the techniques and equipment available.

This two-day course will cover the principles and practices for boat electrofishing through one classroom days and one field day during which the concepts discussed in class will be demonstrated and practiced by attendees. The class will be taken on an electrofishing equipped craft, and each person will have the opportunity to practice using the boat-based electrofishing system.

This field day exercise provides attendees with real-world experience applying the concepts discussed in the classroom. The combination of classroom lecture, field demonstration, and participation exercises gives attendees the knowledge and basic experience they will need to safely and effectively electrofish.

The NMFS guidance and training requirements document may be downloaded here.

You may register online or by calling the Northwest Environmental Training Center at 425-270-3274.

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any non-refundable travel arrangements.

Reduced tuition is available for Native American tribes, government employees, nonprofits, students and AFS, NAEP, NEBC, TAEP members.

This two-day course provides a core program of theory, discussion and practice designed to develop attendees' basic and more advanced facilitation skills.

Facilitation skills are used to form productive teams, plan programs, and to implement controversial projects. Trained facilitators help groups communicate productively, constructively manage diverse points of view, and create concrete actions as a result of meetings. It is also a personally satisfying experience when you, as the meeting facilitator, bring out the best in the people in a meeting and can help a team improve its performance.
 

After reviewing basic facilitation skills such as how to set up a meeting for success (writing objectives, sharing agendas, etc.), the instructor will introduce and provide opportunity to practice techniques for facilitating groups with specific goals. For example, certain methods are utilized when answers need to be generated, and others are used to facilitate groups that need to make decisions. In addition, time will be allocated to practice techniques to handle difficult behaviors.

A study by Microsoft® pointed to worthless meetings as a major time waster in America. Respondents in their survey spend 5.6 hours each week in meetings and 71 percent of these people think those meetings “...aren’t productive.” Good meetings don't just happen. 

Leaders with outstanding facilitation skills are key to turning this wasted time into meetings that produce results.

This course is intended for anyone who wants to increase their personal effectiveness and have greater influence over the work they do in groups.

Additional Discounts for registering related courses: There is an additional $50 discount when registering for either Collaborative Negotiation Skills for Environmental Professionals OR Conflict Resolution Skills for Environmental Professionals when they are offered in the same week. The two registrations must be made at the same time to get the discount. There is an additional $100 discount when registering for all three classes when they are offered the same week. Registration for all three classes must be made at the same time. 

*Reduced tuition is available for Native American tribes, government employees, nonprofits, students and AFS, NAEP, NEBC, TAEP members.

You may register online or by calling the Northwest Environmental Training Center at (425) 270-3274. Online registration is strongly encouraged.

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.