There have been nine biennial International Conferences on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET) since its origin in 1999. The most recent conference was in Salt Lake City in May of 2017 co-hosted by the Utah & Wyoming Departments of Transportation with support from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and other sponsors. This pooled fund will support the next conference in 2019. 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, 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 hundreds of professionals that work for government, Tribal, academic, non-governmental and private industry from the United States and more than 20 countries. The program booklet from ICOET 2017 is available here: http://www.icoet.net/ICOET_2017/documents/ICOET2017_ProgramBooklet_REV_20170502_Web.pdf

Provide one ICOET Conference in 2019 for communication, technology transfer and information sharing among transportation professionals on ecology issues and transportation. The ICOET Conference for 2019 will be September 22-26 in Sacramento, California hosted by the California Department of Transportation with support from FHWA. Building on the 2017 ICOET Conference this 10th biennial conference in 2019 will: • Bring experts around the world to exchange knowledge & best practices on the interrelationship of ecology & transportation; • The sharing of ideas through presentations, panel discussions, 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 Davis Road Ecology Center at the University of California at Davis will organize the ICOET conference in 2019 and potentially future conferences. The ICOET Steering Committee and FHWA will be assisting WSDOT and the Davis 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: Paul Wagner, WSDOT Biology Program Manager, wagnerp@wsdot.wa.gov, (360) 705-7406

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 July 31, 2019 and the estimated completion date would be December 31, 2020. The minimum funding contribution is $5,000 from each partner. Each partner contribution will allow two free conference registration fees to the 2019 ICOET conference and an invitation for one representative on the Technical Advisory Committee. Partners may include government agencies, private sector entities and international partners. The minimum funding required to support this pooled fund is $25,000.