Hello everyone!

My name is Ian Barnes. I am currently working as a Water Resources Specialist for Spokane County Public Works, based out of Spokane, WA.  I currently help manage a 600 acre wetland restoration project and educational facility for our wastewater utility here in Spokane, and have been on the project for approximately 3 years. 

I first became involved with SER when I presented at the North American Conference in Vancouver, BC in 2024. I am anticipating to complete my CERPIT application in April of 2026 and hopefully be a full CERP in 2027 or so. 

I have worked in the natural resources field since the beginning of 2020, and spent the first 2 years of my career working in invasive fish species management on the Columbia river and it's tributaries. I've been doing wetland restoration since 2023. I spend a lot of time (attempting to) managing reed canarygrass, and typically do 2 large restoration plantings each year. I am looking forward to connecting with more emerging professionals in SER, specifically in the northwestern region of America.

My research and restoration interests are low tech, process-based restoration, UAV monitoring and remotely sensed vegetative data, native plant propagation, PFAS and 6PPD-Q cleanup, youth education, and stakeholder engagement in collaborative restoration projects.