ORAL PRESENTER CO-AUTHORS: Suneeti Jog and Jason Bried, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign TITLE: Development of a rapid assessment method for Illinois wetlands ABSTRACT: Wetland assessment and estimating wetland condition in the state of Illinois is currently based on the intensive vegetation-based Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA). While reliable, this method's use is limited by cost, time, and expertise required and may not be needed in all scenarios. These limitations can be mitigated in a three-level approach towards wetland assessment; this approach uses Level 3 tools, including FQA, only if more broad Level 1 and 2 tools suggest further investigation is necessary. In Illinois, a Level 2 “rapid assessment method” (RAM) currently does not exist. We propose a RAM for Illinois (IL-RAM) that can be used statewide and for all wetland types and conditions. We selected fourteen metrics across four focus areas (landscape, substrate, hydrology, and biotic communities) for the tool, and we requested feedback from wetland experts throughout Illinois. We then validated the tool by testing it at 63 wetlands throughout the state that previously had been assessed using FQA for Illinois Department of Transportation projects. Linear correlations between FQA metrics and IL-RAM scores indicate the IL-RAM’s success in estimating wetland condition among various communities and levels of degradation. BIO: Rohini Vembar (she/her) is pursuing her master’s degree in natural resources & environmental sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Previously, she received her bachelor’s degree from the Ohio State University and worked as an Environmental Scientist at Stantec.