7:00-8:00AM Registration and Breakfast

• Centennial Ballroom

8:00-8:30AM Biofest 2026 Welcome

• Stehekin Ballroom

8:30-8:35AM Break

Section: Putting your biosolids where your mouth is

• Stehekin Ballroom
• Moderator: Valerie Ward and Katie Webb

8:35-8:55AM Discussing Disgust

• Dr. Sally Brown, University of Washington

9:00-9:20AM Oak Harbor Banana Tree

• Cory Prusha, Oak Harbor Clean Water Facility

9:20-9:35AM Break

9:35-10:35AM Keynote: Return Home

• Stehekin Ballroom
• Jake Miler, Return Home
• Moderated by Dr. Sally Brown

10:35-10:50AM Break

Section: Operator Hour

• Stehekin Ballroom
• Moderator: Deidre Bartlett and Ava Heathman

10:50-11:10AM A Tale from the Other Side: Regulatory Reflections from the Sunshine State

• Landon Reigelman, King County

11:15-11:35AM Better Together: When Biosolids Meet Water Treatment Residuals

• Will Hausa & Dan Eberhardt, City of Tacoma

11:40-11:55AM When 120,000 Pounds Went Wrong: Lessons from a Biosolids Loading Incident

• Mike Gates, Clean Water Services

11:55AM-1:00PM Lunch & Ambassador Recognition

• Lunch provided outside on the Terrace, above the Campbell’s Lobby

Section: 5 Senses – Smells like, Tastes Like, Looks Like…

• Stehekin Ballroom
• Moderator: Landon Reigelman and Asmita Bhandari

1:00-1:20PM Kennewick, Washington: Utilizing Solar-Thermal Pasteurization to Produce a Sustainable, Marketable Class A Biosolids Product

• Ted Merrell, Merrell Bros, Inc.

1:25-1:40PM Evaluating Soil Health and Carbon Dynamics under Dryland Wheat-Pea Rotations with Biosolids-Based Compost Application

• Ava E. Heathman, Washington State University

1:45-2:00PM Nine Years Later: How Biosolids Still Shape Soil Microbial Communities and Impact Soil Health in Dryland Cropping Systems

• Asmita Bhandari, Washington State University

2:05-2:35PM Farmer Panel: Nuts & Bolts

• Facilitator: Brian Campbell | Panelists: Will Bowdish, Kurt Carstens, Ryan Thode, and David Godley

2:35-2:50PM Break

2:50-3:20PM Ask an Expert

• Stehekin Ballroom

3:20-3:30PM Break

Section: Research

• Stehekin Ballroom
• Moderator: Jori Nelson and Xueu Zhou

3:30-3:50PM Long-Term Biosolids Research at WSU: What We’ve Learned and Where We’re Going

• Deirdre Griffin LaHue, PhD, Washington State University

3:55-4:15PM Nutrient Circularity and Public Health

• Katie Webb, University of Washington

4:20-4:40PM Long-Term Accumulation of Microplastics in Soils due to Land-Application of Biosolids

• Markus Flury, PhD, Washington State University

5:15PM BIOFEST FUN RUN

• Meet across the street from the Campbell’s Lobby

6:30PM BIOFEST BANQUET

• Centennial Ballroom

7:45PM “Unless something goes terribly wrong” Film Screening

• Stehekin Ballroom

 

7:30-8:30AM Breakfast

• Centennial Ballroom

Section: Nuts & Bolts

• Stehekin Ballroom
• Moderator: MacLeod Pappidas and Sachin Khaniya

8:30-8:50AM Micronized Calcium Carbonate Pilot leads to Pleasant Surprises in Biosolids Production

• Chris Maher, Clean Water Services, OR

8:55-9:15AM Polymer Fundamentals

• Ed Fritz, Jacobs

9:20-9:40AM SOLAR Dryer: the Good, the bad, and the Ugly!

• Ken Windram, Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board

9:45-10:05AM Pima’s Plural Purposes for PONDUS

• Adam Parmenter, HDR, Inc.

10:10-10:30AM Beyond the Burn: Evaluating Sustainable Alternatives to Biosolids Incineration

• Brian Walker & Corrin Hamburg, City of Anacortes

10:30-10:45AM Break (Check out if needed)

Section: Nuts & Bolts, cont.

• Stehekin Ballroom
• Moderator: MacLeod Pappidas and Sachin Khaniya

10:45-11:15AM From paper to the plant… Does it realy get the phosphorus out? Real life stories about struvite removal.

• Deidre Bartlett, Epcor, Ben Nydegger, City of Boise, & Dan Freedman, Metro Water Recovery

11:15-11:25AM Break

Section: Sticking Around: PFAS, the forever topic

• Stehekin Ballroom
• Moderator: Valerie Ward and Katie Webb

11:25-11:40AM National Collaborative PFAS Project Update

• Dr. Ian Pepper, University of Arizona

11:45AM-12:05PM Biosolids and Public Health

• Holly Davies, DOH & Shirlee Tan, King County

12:10-12:30PM Biosolids PFAS Sampling Law Update from Ecology

• Emily Kijowski and Eddie Simons, Washington State Dept. of Ecology

12:30-1:30PM Lunch

• Lunch provided outside on the Terrace, above the Campbell’s Lobby

Section: Workshop

• Stehekin Ballroom
• Moderator: Dr. Sally Brown

1:30-2:45PM Workshop | Know the Answer Before You Ask the Question

• Manon Fisher, Brown and Caldwell

2:45PM Adjourn