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Alabama Water Institute

DevCon 2025 Highlights CIROH’s National Role in Transforming Water Prediction

BURLINGTON, Vt. – More than 225 researchers, students and practitioners gathered at the University of Vermont for the 2025 CIROH Developers Conference (DevCon), underscoring CIROH’s role as a national hub for next-generation water prediction and decision support.

A large group of conference attendees stands outdoors, facing the camera for a group photo on a paved plaza surrounded by grass and trees.

Spanning four days and more than 40 hours of workshops, the event showcased a mix of applied science, machine learning, social science and operational expertise. These themes were brought together through CIROH’s mission to accelerate research-to-operations (R2O) and improve water resilience across North America.

Strong Operational Partnerships

Keynote speakers from NOAA’s National Ocean Service, NIDIS, NASA’s Western Water Applications Office and the USGS Water Mission Area peppered the conference, reflecting CIROH’s integration with federal agencies. These partnerships support mission-driven science and help ensure research is transitioned into operational tools that serve the public.

“When I talk to folks who are in communities that have been affected—and it’s folks with no scientific background—they hear about the work that [CIROH] is doing … working with Vermonters here and setting up monitoring programs to give them real-time information that can make a real difference in preparedness, saving homes and saving lives,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said. “That’s incredibly important, needed and we must maintain our commitment to that resilience. So, I just want to express the gratitude I have on behalf of Vermonters.”

Watch Sen. Welch’s full presentation here.

Senator Peter Welch speaks at a wooden podium with the University of Vermont logo, addressing an audience during a keynote session.
Ed Clark speaks at a wooden podium with the University of Vermont logo, addressing an audience during a keynote session.
Steve Burian gesturing a double thumbs-up while speaking at a wooden podium with the University of Vermont logo.
Participants from around the country, including Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., presented bold ideas and sparked critical discussions around CIROH’s role in boosting actionable water intelligence.

A Hands-On Experience

DevCon’s flexible format allowed attendees to craft a custom curriculum by choosing from five thematic tracks:

  • Machine learning in hydrology
  • Flood inundation mapping
  • Community NextGen
  • Hydroinformatics and data science
  • Social science and communication

Led by expert facilitators, these interactive workshops focused on practical skills, real-world applications and open-source tools.

A classroom filled with conference attendees engaging with a presenter-led workshop.
A large conference hall, with numerous conference attendees sitting around several round tables.
A close-up photo of four conference attendees in different postures, engaged by an off-camera presenter.
A man speaking at a wooden podium with the University of Vermont logo, addressing an off-camera audience.
A woman speaking at a wooden podium with the University of Vermont logo, addressing an off-camera audience.
An audience member using their phone to take a photo of a presentation, with other attendees blurred in the background.
DevCon featured a variety of workshops and seminars anchored on audience engagement and hands-on learning.

“As a fresh graduate and early career professional, DevCon helped me to contextualize my role in the broader hydrological science community and R2O scheme,” said Quinn Lee, staff scientist with CIROH. “It was really special to be surrounded by like-minded people who love science and research and to make connections with people who I hope to be working with for years to come.”

Research in Motion: Ideas, Collaboration and Community

At DevCon 2025, research is an active process. From keynotes to workshops to the dynamic poster sessions, CIROH’s research themes came to life through hands-on engagement, interdisciplinary dialogue and iterative problem-solving.

Poster sessions, in particular, served as a lively venue for exchange, where participants traded insights and sparked new collaborations.

Many conference attendees standing during a poster session, with posters and people in the background, several groups engaged in discussion and people gesturing to posters.
Three research posters and centered on a pair of attendees locked in discussion.
A group of five people chatting in a circle with poster presentations going on behind them.
Poster sessions were well attended and created a space for research to serve as a catalyst for dialogue.

Student Engagement and Early Career Recognition

CIROH’s commitment to workforce development was visible throughout the event, with students presenting research, showcasing posters and receiving prestigious awards. This year, CIROH introduced two new awards designed to celebrate rising talent and practical innovation in water research:

  • Student Developer Award: Savalan Naser Neisary
  • Early Career Paper Award: Reihaneh Zarrabi for her machine learning research on channel geometry published in Water Resources Research

To read our Q&A with Neisary and learn more information about this year’sstudent and early career awards, click here.

Savalan Naser Neisary, center, holds his Student Developer Award certificate while standing with Steve Burian, left, and Sagy Cohen, right.
Reihaneh Zarrabi, center, holds her Early Career Paper Award certificate while standing with Steve Burian, left, and Sagy Cohen, right.
Savalan Naser Neisary was presented with the Student Developer Award, and Reihaneh Zarrabi was presented with the Early Career Paper Award.

Fostering Community

Beyond the informative sessions, DevCon nurtured a strong sense of community. Dedicated networking events were best exemplified by this year’s field trip to Lake Champlain, where participants boarded University of Vermont’s research and teaching vessel Marcelle Melosira to learn about UVM CIROH’s research into harmful algal blooms and discuss Vermont’s on-going efforts to address water quality concerns.

A double rainbow cast above wide-open water, with land and green vegetation visible on the horizon and a series of flags in the foreground.
A group of six people in lifejackets on a boat, with open water visible behind them.
A candid photo of four people holding coffees and engaged in discussion in the midground, with people blurred in the foreground.
Pairs of conference attendees sitting at tables with laptops open and notebooks out participating in conversations.
A wide shot that shows the scope of the conference complex outside, capturing a water tower in the background, buildings, flags and landscaping in the midground, and people standing around in the foreground.
With dedicated networking events, like the field trip to Lake Champlain, lunchtimes and session breaks, community-building was a key theme that ran throughout this year’s DevCon.

“This year, we added more networking opportunities in response to requests from the community. This included an evening networking event and open meeting time sessions,” said Sagy Cohen, CIROH deputy director. “The networking event was undoubtedly a moment we will all remember for a long time, specifically the double rainbow.”

Looking Ahead

As CIROH continues to bridge disciplines, institutions and sectors, DevCon will remain a vital space for advancing the science and practice of water prediction. The relationships forged, tools refined and ideas exchanged in Burlington will continue to boost the delivery of actionable water intelligence—fueling innovation, informing decisions and helping communities better prepare.

Learn more about DevCon by clicking here.

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