There have been fourteen biennial International Conferences on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET) since its origin in 1999. The most recent conference was in May of 2025 in Denver, Colorado and was a combination of in person and virtual.  This pooled fund will support the next conference in 2027 that will be in-person in Portland, Oregon cohosted by the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Washington State Department of Transportation with support from the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.   The conference will be organized by the University of California Davis Road Ecology Center.  There will be a virtual conference option available.

ICOET continues to serve as an invaluable conduit for transportation and ecology professionals to share applicable research and best practices, and to transfer knowledge between experienced practitioners and future leaders.

The ICOET program includes podium presentations, posters on current research, panels, workshops, field trips, and exhibits on topics of interest to researchers, biologists, engineers, planners, project managers, administrators, and policy makers. The folks that regularly attend ICOET represent thousands of professionals that work for government, Tribal, academic, non-governmental and private industry from the United States and other countries. The 2025 conference in Denver had 644 total participants with 513 in person and another 131 virtual participants.  There were 16 countries and 44 U.S. states in attendance.

This new pooled fund will supersede the previous pooled fund (TPF 5-527) that will be completed June 30, 2025.

Provide one ICOET Conference in 2027 for communication, technology transfer and information sharing among transportation professionals on ecology issues and transportation. The ICOET Conference will be in Portland, Oregon cohosted by the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Washington State Department of Transportation with support from the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.  The conference will be organized by the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis.  There will also be a hybrid component to the conference that folks can attend virtually.

Building on the 2025 ICOET Conference this 15th biennial conference in 2027 will:

• Bring experts around the world to exchange knowledge & best practices on the interrelationship of ecology & transportation.

• The sharing of ideas through presentations, panel discussion, breaks, lunches, receptions, and field trips.

• Expand the shared knowledge and learn about the cutting edge of science on the topic of ecology and transportation.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will serve as the lead state to carry out this pooled fund. The Road Ecology Center at UC Davis will organize the ICOET conference for 2027. The ICOET Steering Committee and FHWA will be assisting WSDOT and the  Road Ecology Center in support of the ICOET Conference.

Project Team:

Contract Manager: Jon Peterson, WSDOT Research & Library Services, peterjn@wsdot.wa.gov, (360) 705-7499

Technical Lead: Jeff Dreier, WSDOT Fish & Wildlife Program Manager, drierj@wsdot.wa.gov, (360) 705-7254

Each pooled fund partner agency will have one representative on the Pooled Fund Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and as such will be a partner in TAC conference calls. The TAC conference calls will serve to update the partners on the planning activities for the ICOET conference and to collect feedback for the conference planners. The anticipated start date for the pooled fund is December 31, 2025, and the estimated completion date is December 31, 2027.

There is no suggested minimum commitment, however a commitment of $2,500 will allow for 1 free in person registration and a commitment of $1,500 will allow for 1 free virtual registration.   For example, if a partner agency contributes $3,000 that would qualify for a combination of 1 in person registration or 2 virtual registrations.   Partners may include government agencies, private sector entities and international partners.

The minimum funding required to support this pooled fund is $20,000 from all the partners.