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The pond at the restoration site on Jolly Giant Creek
In the fall of 1993 I entered Humboldt State University (HSU) as a Fisheries Major with a Water Resource Policy minor. I enjoyed many of the courses taught by the fisheries faculty, who make up the renowned Fisheries Department at HSU. Of particular interest was FISH 430 Ecology of Freshwater Fishes taught by my advisor Dr. Terry Roeloffs. This included a semester long, group project on a local second order stream of our choice, requiring a comprehensive ecosystem analysis and habitat manipulation. My group chose Strawberry Creek, which flows through several uplifted beach terraces before it joins the Pacific Ocean at Clam Beach. Our habitat manipulation focused on the role of water velocity in determining the holding stations of the resident coastal cutthroat trout. This was accomplished by comparing the direct observation results from snorkeling dives in three similar, adjacent runs: the first run was lacking in any velocity cover, the second run (our experimental unit) consisted of velocity cover only in the form of three prefabricated milk crate/nylon mesh velocity barriers, and the third run consisted of natural velocity cover on the form of woody debris. Precise fish locations and behavior was recorded and water velocity measurements were taken at these positions over a period of four weeks. Through our results we were able to determine that water velocity plays a crucial role in determining the holding stations of coastal cutthroat trout, a relationship which can be characterized by the maximization of the water velocity gradient (holding in a low velocity area next to a high velocity current), which in turn maximizes the energy profit potential of that particular holding station.
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Snorkeling in Strawberry Creek
During my career at HSU, I volunteered extensively with youth-at-risk directing an outdoor adventure program, held various positions at the campus volunteer clearinghouse, served on the board of directors of a pesticide reform organization, and helped to incorporate service learning throughout HSU’s curriculum. I paid for school by spending my summers working as a river guide in California, Oregon, and Idaho rafting some of the most challenging and pristine wilderness rivers in the west. In the spring of 1999 I graduated with a BS in Fisheries and a minor in Water Resource Policy. My hard work paid off upon graduation when I received the top academic honors for the College of Natural Resources and Sciences, an award for excellence in community service, and the Michael G. Scott Award for the “outstanding senior fisheries student”.
After graduation from HSU I spent a year travelling the Pacific Rim and a field season working for the Yurok Tribe as a fisheries biologist on the Klamath River. I was fortunate enough to be one of only two fish and wildlife students nationally to receive a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship in 2000, which has allowed my to pursue an advanced Fisheries at the University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. For my graduate work I am conducting research in collaboration with the yurok Tribe on thermal refugia use by adult chinook in the Klamath River Basin. My advisor is the wise and ever-entertaining Dr. Robert Wissmar. My overall career goal is to promote the restoration and wise management of river ecosystems through scientific research, education, and advocacy in the most effective manner possible, so that human and non-human communities may enjoy the benefits of healthy river ecosystems.
