Research projects
I do research in basic and applied freshwater ecology. My
current research focus is Pacific salmon conservation, with specific
interests in consequences of life history variation, mechanisms of
population regulation, predator/prey
interactions,
and using mercury and other chemical tracers to study food webs and
fish bioenergetics. My research program is facilitated by ongoing
support from NOAA/NMFS through the Cooperative Institute for Marine
Ecosystems and Climate (CIMEC).Current and ongoing:
Trinity River brown trout predation on juvenile salmon (with Hoopa Tribal Fisheries; graduate student Justin Alvarez)
Population models to identify critical habitats and life histories for California coastal coho salmon (with CA DFW; graduate student Gabe Scheer)
Performance of juvenile coho salmon in constructed off-channel ponds in the Klamath River watershed (with Mid Klamath Watershed Council and Karuk Tribe; graduate student Michelle Krall)
Migration timing and survival as a function of rearing location for juvenile coho salmon from the Shasta and Scott Rivers (with CA DFW, graduate student Molly Gorman)
Marine survival of coho salmon from California coastal streams (graduate student Sean Cochran)
Completed:
Movement, survival, and growth of juvenile coho salmon in Klamath River tributaries (graduate student Shari Anderson, NOAA Advanced Study Program)Evaluating habitat-specific Chinook salmon production in the Shasta River (with NOAA PRD and CA F&G; graduate student Meiling Roddam)
Early emigration of juvenile coho salmon in Freshwater Creek, California (with Seth Ricker, CA DFW and graduate student Jennifer Hauer).
Effects of New Zealand mudsnails on food webs in salmon rearing habitat in Redwood National Park (with Adam Sepulveda, USGS)
Identifying ecological drivers of mercury and trace element accumulation in stream food webs (post-doc work with Celia Chen, Keith Nislow, and Carol Folt)
Linking density-dependent survival and growth of juvenile Atlantic salmon to their predators and prey (PhD work with Keith Nislow and Carol Folt)
Does fish predation on milfoil weevils prevent effective biological control of Eurasian watermilfoil? (MS work with Raymond Newman)