Research Interests

Ecology and conservation of anadromous and resident salmonids; stream ecology; watershed restoration

The general goal of my research is to lend science support to promote or restore sustainability of freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and their resident, native fishes. The theme running through previous research in Oregon, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Florida has been an evaluation of factors affecting habitat capacity and the response of fish to human disturbance. In Oregon, I examined logging effects on behavior and growth of cutthroat trout, particularly as it affected interactions between stream habitat structure and prey availability. In Maryland and Pennsylvania, I explored mechanisms underlying the drifting behavior of stream invertebrates that constitute an important prey source for trout, and I and my students experimentally evaluated effects of interactions between native and exotic trout. In an experimentally restored section of the Kissimmee River in Florida, I have been documenting floodplain exchange of macroinvertebrates and evaluating its consequences as prey for fish. With a graduate student, Matt Giles, we monitored floodplain habitat use by centrarchids using radiotelemetry. Research still on-going in the Caloosahatchee Estuary of Florida’s southwest coast is aimed at evaluating and refining a habitat suitability index model developed for spotted seatrout, to enable prediction of seatrout response to schedules of freshwater release. The research program I am developing in the coastal watersheds of northern California is centered around the ecology and conservation of anadromous salmonids and exploring salmonid-habitat relationships at varying spatial and temporal scales. Through large- and small-scale field experiments and modeling efforts, I am interested in assessing movement and population response of salmonids to changes in habitat suitability induced by land use activities. I am also interested in developing and evaluating watershed restoration strategies that are in line with natural stream processes.