EPA convened a 2010 symposium to develop a roadmap for the design and application of multi-media, multi-scale, and multi-disciplinary models to support the protection and restoration of large aquatic ecosystems. The symposium was designed to:

• Facilitate a discussion of common multi-media, multi-scale and multi-disciplinary challenges facing development and application of integrated models for large aquatic ecosystems.
• Provide a forum for coordination, discussion, and exchange of information across disciplines, including ecologists and other natural scientists, environmental engineers, economists, and social scientists.
• Help ensure that model development is aligned with policy design, management, and decision-making needs of large aquatic ecosystems.
• Identify successful model development practices that may be widely shared and applied.
• Identify areas requiring further research and analysis, especially those with cross-media implications.

Below is the final report from this symposium. Participation in the symposium was open to participants from within and outside EPA who are interested or involved in development and use of environmental models for large aquatic ecosystems. The 130 symposium participants represented EPA, NOAA, USGS, USACE, universities and consulting.

Note: Development of the symposium report was led by SCG, Inc., under contract to EPA. (Some individual EPA experts contributed specific discussions on topics for which they had scientific expertise about current EPA practice). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of EPA and should not be construed as implying EPA consent or endorsement.

• Report from Symposium on Integrated Modeling Analysis to Support the Management and Restoration of Large Aquatic Ecosystems 2010 (pdf) (1.92 MB, January 2010)