Category: Biologists

Image Analyst I

B.S. Natural Resource Conservation

 

West Sacramento, California

Andrew has experience performing freshwater fisheries assessments using common capture techniques, age/growth sampling, diet composition, water quality sampling, and laboratory analysis. He was a fisheries observer in the North Atlantic on both scallop and groundfish commercial fishing vessels, as well as an observer for marine mammals. His training allowed him to observe on vessels that fished using several gear types, including dredge, mid-water/bottom trawl, gillnet, rod and reel, and longline. He spent over 300 days at sea collecting extensive biological data pertaining to targeted catch, bycatch, environmental factors, as well as fishing effort and behavior. He is currently working to develop robust code to help automatically detect, enumerate, and classify organisms from images in order to automate processes and efficiently produce quantitative metrics from fisheries surveys.

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Data Stewardship Manager
B.S. Environmental Science; M. Natural Resources – Wildlife Management
Phone: (916) 250-2065

 

West Sacramento, California

Bobbie Flores is Program Administrator for the California field office in West Sacramento. Bobbie is instrumental in organizing data management, workflows, and training for the California staff. She has experience providing field monitoring for fish and wildlife for various resource agencies, private science firms and non-profits and often leads field and lab-oriented experimental efforts. She has broad and growing experience conducting monitoring to assess risks for species of management concern and their habitat. This includes construction monitoring for special-status fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, and invertebrates on the American, Yuba, Merced, and Stanislaus rivers, as well as within the California State Park Carnegie SVRA. She has performed spawning, stranding, and snorkel surveys for steelhead/rainbow trout and Chinook Salmon on the American and Stanislaus rivers. She has also performed vernal pool surveys for special-status species.

Selected Publications

 

Flores, B. 2024. Hallwood Floodplain and Side Channel Restoration Project – Salmonid Redd Surveys on the Yuba River 2014-2023 ver 1. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/c63dfd5cf905769434bfc75faa05bb9e

 

 

Flores, B. 2024. Pre- and Post- construction snorkel surveys at the project and reach stretches, Yuba River, CA, 2014 through 2024 ver 3. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/d4d6cc89479bd9343f77186b99a54c8c

 

 

Ehlo, C., and Flores, B. 2024. Monitoring O. mykiss Life Stages on the Stanislaus River ver 4. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/219bfe77080a80b845e718228d3c00a4

 

 

Flores, B., K. Ross, A. Veary, J. Wiesenfeld, and Merz, J. 2024. Enhancing ecological assessments through continuous monitoring: a case study on zooplankton and fish dynamics. Presented to American Fisheries Society Cal-Neva Annual Conference. AFS.

 

 

Flores, B. A. Craig, C. Dean, M. Ferrell., R. Mager, J. Merz. 2024. No Net Habitat Loss – Quantifying Fish Response to Levee Setback Projects. Presented to Interagency Ecological Program Annual Workshop. Sacramento, CA.

 

 

Flores, B., W. Thorpe, K. Ross, L. Cordner, R. Mager, and Merz, J. 2023. Priming the Pump: Meins Landing Managed Food Web Experiment. Presented to American Fisheries Society Cal-Neva Annual Conference. AFS.

 

 

Flores, B., and Merz, J. 2022. Video sampling allows better sampling design for less effort. Scientific poster presented to American Fisheries Society Cal-Neva Annual Conference. AFS.

 

 

Merz, J., K. Sellheim, J. Sweeney, B. Flores, and Y. Karpenko. 2021. Water quality, fish community, and eDNA monitoring during the 2021 drought. Technical memorandum to the Sacramento Water Forum. Sacramento, CA.

 

 

Flores, B., Merz, J. and Kenney, I. 2019. Evaluating Camera-Captured Morphometric Data for an Imperiled Fish with a Flume Experiment. Scientific poster presented to American Fisheries Society & The Wildlife Society 2019 Joint Annual Conference. AFS.

 

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Fisheries Biologist II
M.S. Ecology, B.S. Environmental Science
Phone: (530) 240-6437

 

Issaquah, Washington

Ericka is an aquatic ecologist with approximately 15 years of experience working on a diverse set of research projects that span project management of endangered amphibian recovery and disease ecology, native freshwater mussel habitat modeling, anadromous fish food web structure assessment, and stormwater mitigation decision science. She also has experience with space use modeling for desert tortoises, wildfire risk modeling, and vulnerability mapping. She has extensive experience collecting biological, habitat, and water quality data in both urban and wilderness settings. Her technical skills include database development and management, GIS spatial analysis and cartography, and R coding and statistical analysis.

Selected Publications

 

Hegeman, E. E., and P. S. Levin. 2023. Using human health disparities and salmon health to guide spatial prioritization of green stormwater infrastructure. Landscape and Urban Planning 240:104905

 

Knapp, R. A., M. B. Joseph, T. C. Smith,E. E. Hegeman, V. T. Vredenburg, J. E. E. Jr, D. M. Boiano, A. J. Jani, and C. J. Briggs. 2022. Effectiveness of antifungal treatments during chytridiomycosis epizootics in populations of an endangered frog. PeerJ 10:e12712.

 

Farnsworth, M. L., B. G. Dickson, L. J. Zachmann,E. E. Hegeman, A. R. Cangelosi, T. G. Jackson Jr, and A. F. Scheib. 2015. Short-term space-use patterns of translocated MojaveDeserttortoise in southern California. PloS one10(9):e0134250.

 

Hegeman, E. E., B. G. Dickson, and L. J. Zachmann. 2014. Probabilistic models of fire occurrence across National Park Service units within the Mojave Desert Network, USA. Landscape Ecology 29(9):1587–1600

 

Hegeman, E. E., S. W. Miller, and K. E. Mock. 2014. Modeling freshwater mussel distribution in relation to biotic and abiotic habitat variables at multiple spatial scales. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 71(10):1483–1497.

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R&D Field Biologist

B.S. Biology

Phone: (209) 353-2282

 

Ripon, California

Ethan has five years of experience collecting physical and biological data in California streams and rivers. In the field, Ethan works to collect physical data using various techniques including video monitoring, spawning surveys, fyke trapping, beach seining, PIT tagging, and invertebrate sampling. He has experience with fish handling, identification, and tagging, along with data QA/QC and entry. In the lab, he helps maintain lab equipment and identify macroinvertebrates. Ethan also assists in the fabrication and testing of sampling equipment.

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Fisheries Biologist

B.S. Marine Sciences. M.M.A. Marine & Environmental Affairs

 

Issaquah, Washington

Francesca has experience conducting, analyzing and reporting on habitat restoration, marine subtidal and intertidal ecological monitoring, and vulnerable or endangered species-specific surveys and habitat assessments. She is a trained AAUS scientific SCUBA diver and used this training to record long-term ecological data of invertebrate, algae, and fish species’ distribution and abundance, using a variety of survey techniques. Much of her past work involved marine tidal surveys, species identification, water quality monitoring, microscopic larvae identification, boat and scientific instrument deployment and operation, and eelgrass habitat restoration and monitoring. Francesca’s Master’s involved a vast literature review of global fisheries to identify metrics and indicators from implemented fishery area-based management tools that resulted in positive biodiversity outcomes for ecosystems. Francesca enjoys being out in the field, using R and Excel to answer ecological questions, and applying an environmental policy lens.

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GIS Analyst

M.Sc. Wetland Geography

 

Issaquah, Washington

Ian is a GIS Analyst with a wide range of expertise using geospatial technologies to monitor riverine and wetland environments. Ian has experience using multi-type remote sensing to classify flood waters in synergy with digital elevation models (DEMs) to derive flood water depth maps. His previous experience also includes using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to monitor the changes of morphological features in wetland environments. Ian has experience using ecological modeling to evaluate the response of invasive carp species to various control methods. His field experience ranges from work collecting data points with high precision GPS to the removal of invasive vegetation as a restoration technician.

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Fisheries Biologist II
B.S. Marine Biology; M.S. Animal Biology
Phone: (916) 250-1570

 

West Sacramento, California

Jamie has over a decade of experience monitoring and analyzing fish populations in the California Central Valley and Delta. Her expertise includes leading field staff in data collection using snorkel surveys, spawning surveys, mark-recapture studies, and water quality monitoring. Jamie’s technical skills encompass fish and invertebrate identification, radio telemetry tracking, electrofishing for special-status salmonids, and isotopic microchemistry analysis. She excels in data visualization and analysis, as well as generating clear, detailed reports. Jamie’s recent research focuses on salmonid habitat restoration effectiveness, flow management impacts, and using microchemistry to explore White Sturgeon life history, resulting in several peer-reviewed publications.

Selected publications

 

Sweeney, J.K. and K. Sellheim. 2025. Chinook Salmon fall 2024 aerial photograph spawning survey. Lower American River, California. Technical Memorandum. Prepared for the Sacramento Water Forum.

 

Sweeney, J.K., K. Sellheim, and J.E. Merz. 2024. Lower American River monitoring: 2024 steelhead spawning and stranding surveys annual report. Central Valley Project, American River California. Mid-Pacific Region. Prepared for U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

 

Sweeney, J.K., Willmes, M., Sellheim, K., Lewis, L.S., Hobbs, J.A., Fangue, N.A. and Merz, J.E., 2020. Ontogenetic patterns in the calcification and element incorporation in fin rays of age-0 White Sturgeon. Environmental Biology of Fishes 103(11): 1401-1418.

 

Blankenship, S. M., A. Scherer, C. Dean, K. Sellheim, J.K. Sweeney, and J. Merz. 2024. Applying parentage methods to detect gravel augmentation effects on juvenile Chinook Salmon recruitment rates. River Research and Applications 40(5):791-808 https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4264.

 

Sellheim, K., A. Scherer, R. Brown, J. Anderson, J.K. Sweeney, and J. Merz. 2025. Restored seasonally inundated habitat supports juvenile salmonid rearing and growth in two California Central Valley streams. North American Journal of Fisheries Management p.vqae003 https://doi.org/10.1093/najfmt/vqae003.

 

Sellheim K, J.K. Sweeney, and J.E. Merz. 2022. Increasing objectivity associated with anadromous fish redd identification using a discriminant function analysis. Frontiers in Environmental Science 10:1–15 10.3389/fenvs.2022.1085941.

 

Sellheim K., M. Willmes. L.S. Lewis, J.K. Sweeney, J.E. Merz, and J.A. Hobbs. 2022. Diversity in habitat use by White Sturgeon revealed using fin ray geochemistry. Frontiers in Marine Science 9:1–18 10.3389/fmars.2022.859038.

 

Sellheim, K. L., R. A. Brown, J. T. Anderson, M. Vaghti, J. C. Wiesenfeld, P. A. Colombano, J. K. Sweeney, and J. E. Merz. 2019. Merced River ranch and Henderson Park restoration projects on the Merced River, California. Final report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 

Sweeney, J., K. Sellheim, and J. Merz. 2017. Lower American River Monitoring: 2017 Steelhead spawning and stranding surveys annual report. Central Valley Project, American River California. Mid – Pacific Region. Report to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

 

Anderson, J., J. Sweeney, T. Hinkelman, K. Horvath and J. Merz. 2016. Juvenile salmonid outmigration monitoring at Caswell Memorial State Park in the Stanislaus River, California. Annual Report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Comprehensive Assessment and Monitoring Program.

 

Sellheim, K., M. Beakes, J. Merz, and J. Sweeney. 2016. Mokelumne River salmonid spawning and rearing habitat potential: analysis of coarse sediment and floodplain extent. Report to the East Bay Municipal Utility District.

 

Sellheim, K., J. Merz, D. Stroud, and J. Sweeney. 2016. Lower American River monitoring: 2016 steelhead spawning and stranding surveys Annual Report. Central Valley Project, American River California. Mid – Pacific Region. Report to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

 

Sellheim, K., J. Merz, P. Haverkamp, and J. Sweeney. 2015. Lower American River Monitoring: 2015 steelhead spawning and stranding surveys annual report. Central Valley Project, American River California. Mid – Pacific Region. Report to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

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Selected Publications

 

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Fisheries Biologist

B.S. Wildlife and Fisheries Management, Minor Biology; M.S. Natural Resources with a Concentration in Fisheries

Phone: (888) 224-1221

 

Portland, Oregon

Jason Shaffer is a fisheries biologist with nearly a decade of experience conducting a variety of research and monitoring projects. At Cramer Fish Sciences, he manages a study examining the use of potential habitat breaks for delimiting the upstream extent of fish habitats, which will influence forested landscapes throughout Washington state. Jason brings expertise in both conventional fisheries sampling techniques including snorkeling, downstream migrant trapping, seining, gillnetting, spawning surveys. His breadth of expertise also encompasses using cutting-edge technology like electrofishing, SONAR, acoustic telemetry, eDNA, and artificial intelligence. He is skilled in sampling theory, statistical modeling in both frequentist and Bayesian frameworks, data visualization, and geographic information systems.

Selected Publications

 

Shaffer, J.T., A.P. Kinziger, E.P. Bjorkstedt, and A. Buchheister. 2024. Comparison of environmental DNA and underwater visual count surveys for detecting juvenile Coho Salmon in small rivers. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 44(2):449–462.

 

Kinziger, A.P., Bjorkstedt, E.P., Buchheister, A., Henderson, M., Bandy, G., Herman, B., Shaffer, J.T. 2023. Standardizing environmental DNA methodologies for coho salmon.  https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/research-innovation-system-information/documents/final-reports/5-task-3697-final-report-a11y.pdf

R&D Fabrication Manager

B.S. Environmental Management and Protection, Natural Resource Planning

Phone: (209) 353-2234

 

Ripon, California

Kyle works to collect, analyze, and enter physical and biological data, monitor restoration construction activities, assist in the fabrication of sampling equipment, and contribute to technical reports. He has extensive experience in fish identification, monitoring, sampling, handling, tagging, and tracking techniques in California’s freshwater systems. Kyle is also well versed in working with construction companies during restoration projects, including assisting in permit compliance, habitat rehabilitation efforts, and wildlife monitoring.

Selected publications

 

Anderson, J. T., G. Schumer, P. J. Anders, K. Horvath, and J. E. Merz. 2018. Confirmed observation: a North American green sturgeon Acipenser medirostris recorded in the Stanislaus River, California. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 9(2):624-630.

 

Anderson, J., J. Sweeney, T. Hinkelman, K. Horvath and J. Merz. 2016. Juvenile salmonid outmigration monitoring at Caswell Memorial State Park in the Stanislaus River, California. Annual Report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Comprehensive Assessment and Monitoring Program.

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Fisheries Biologist II

M.S. Biology

 

West Sacramento, California

Lis is a fish biologist with eight years of experience working in a diverse array of ecosystems. While she has primarily worked with salmonids in Washington and Alaska, she also has experience working with native fishes in southern Utah, sea turtles in Texas, and black bears in Yosemite, to name a few. She has developed protocols for sampling efforts related to fish passage and trapping efficiency, including spawning surveys and fish collection efforts. She has experience with a large number of sampling and monitoring techniques, including seining, electrofishing, downstream and upstream migrant trapping, carcass and redd surveys, gill netting, radio, acoustic, and PIT tag technology, macroinvertebrate sampling, stream morphology assessments. She has also worked extensively with threatened and endangered species.

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Fisheries Biologist

B.S. Biology; M.S. Natural Resource and Ecology Management

 

West Sacramento, California

Maeghen is a fisheries biologist with experience in both freshwater and estuarine fish research including abundance estimation, occupancy relationships, mark-and-recapture, and life history studies. She recently served as an inshore fisheries biologist for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources – Marine Resources Research Institute where she conducted long-term population monitoring of freshwater and estuarine finfish, sharks, turtles, and marine mammals. She has diverse field survey experience including snorkel, eDNA, radio-telemetry tracking, electrofishing, seine net, trammel net, gill net, longline, drumline, and trawl gears. She is an experienced boat operator in rivers, deltas, bays, and nearshore waters. Additionally, she is experienced in laboratory techniques including otolith, fin-ray, microplastics, and histological sample processing and staging. Maeghen also has experience managing and analyzing fisheries abundance, occupancy, life history, and hierarchical data using RStudio, SAS, and JAGS programs. During her graduate career, she developed protocols and led research on Prairie Chub abundance and life history relationships in the Red River basin of Texas and Oklahoma.

Selected Publications

Steffensmeier, Z. D., S. K. Brewer, M. M. Wedgeworth, T. A. Starks, A. W. Rodger, E. Nguyen, and J. S. Perkin. In press. Conservation at the Nexus of Niches: Multidimensional Niche Modelling to Improve Management of Prairie Chub (Machrybopsis australis). North American Journal of Fisheries Management.

 

Steffensmeier, Z. D., M. M. Wedgeworth, L. Yancy, N. Santee, S. K. Brewer, and J. S. Perkin. 2022. Paradigm versus paradox on the prairie: testing competing stream fish movement frameworks using an imperiled Great Plains minnow. Movement ecology 10(1):1-18.

 

Wedgeworth, M. M., R. Mollenhauer, and S. K. Brewer. In press. Variation in Prairie Chub hatch relationships across wet and dry years in the upper Red River basin. North American Journal of Fisheries Management.

 

Steffensmeier, Z.D., M.M. Wedgeworth, L. Yancy, N. Santee, S. K. Brewer, and J. S. Perkin. 2022. Paradigm versus paradox on the prairie: testing competing stream fish movement frameworks using an imperiled Great Plains minnow. Movement ecology 10:1-18.

 

Mollenhauer, R., S. K. Brewer, J. S. Perkin, D. Swedberg, M. M. Wedgeworth, and Z. D. Steffensmeier. 2021. Connectivity and flow regime direct conservation priorities for pelagophil fishes. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 31: 3215-3227.

 

Wedgeworth, M. M., 2021. “Variation in Abundance and Hatch Date of Prairie Chub Machrybopsis australis in the upper Red River Basin.” Thesis dissertation. Oklahoma State University.

 

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R&D Field Biologist

B.S. Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

Phone: (888) 224-1221

 

West Sacramento, California

Matthew has experience working in both marine and freshwater fisheries in California with governmental and private agencies. In the field, Matthew works to collect physical and biological data using various techniques including beach seining, fyke trapping, macroinvertebrate sampling, and snorkeling. He has experience with fish handling and identification along with data entry and QA/QC.

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Fisheries Biologist
B.S. Aquatic & Fisheries Sciences
Phone: (206) 960-4008

 

Issaquah, Washington

Melinda has experience in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska collecting and analyzing fisheries and aquatic habitat data. Prior to joining CFS, Melinda evaluated sockeye mortality in Alaska and the effects of restoration on juvenile salmon densities as part of NOAA’s Strait of Juan de Fuca Intensively Monitored Watershed project. Melinda helps to collect data for habitat assessments and restoration monitoring programs by performing bathymetric, habitat, wood, and riparian surveys. She is skilled in boat and beach seining, eDNA sampling, and collecting physical samples from salmon (otoliths, gastric lavage). At CFS, Melinda conducts literature reviews, helps collect, QA/QC, and summarize field data in maps and figures, and assists with technical reports.

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GIS Analyst
B.S. Wildlife Resources
Phone: (888) 224-1221

 

Boise, Idaho

Michael is a GIS Analyst with experience in spatial analysis model development, small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) operations, and salmonid monitoring. Michael has experience gathering and compiling spatial and remote sensing data from multiple sources and conducting GIS analysis to support watershed assessments, restoration effectiveness monitoring, low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) designs, conservation planning, and habitat assessments. He is skilled in creating GIS databases and maps of study areas and analytical results. Michael has experience collecting and compiling both GIS and ecological data in the field. He has summarized, tabulated, and written survey reports. He is a licensed sUAS pilot and has experience piloting missions over the Pacific Northwest’s forests, mountains, rivers, and streams to produce orthomosaic imagery and digital elevation models. He has conducted salmonid carcass and redd surveys, rotary screw trapping, PIT tagging, electrofishing, weir operation, mammalian surveys, and avian surveys. Michael is skilled in the esophageal implantation of acoustic tags and monitoring the migration of O. mykiss and O. tshawytscha using telemetry equipment. Michael previously served as a fisheries technician for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game where he installed and operated a rotary screw trap and several weirs to monitor remote populations of O. mykiss and O. tshawytscha in the Red River and Crooked River. Michael draws from his experience to leverage spatial data for novel approaches to river restoration and assessment.

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Fisheries Biologist II
B.S. Environmental Science & Management; M.S. Ecology
Phone: (888) 224-1221

 

West Sacramento, California

Mollie is a fisheries biologist with extensive experience in fish monitoring and surveying across the Central Valley and northern California, including PIT tagging, backpack electrofishing, and installation and operation of rotary screw traps, fyke traps, and PIT tag antenna arrays. In addition, she has experience in macroinvertebrate and zooplankton collection in freshwater rivers and streams throughout California and collecting field data from rafts and other inflatables. Mollie recently served as the lead field biologist to monitor fish utilization of floodplains in the Central Valley as well as collection of zooplankton and water samples from reservoirs and rivers in the Lake Shasta area of California. Additionally, she oversaw the laboratory processing and analysis of juvenile Chinook Salmon and stomach contents identification for determination of diet and growth in different habitats throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and Estuary. Mollie has experience with numerous technical laboratory methods, including fish tissue dissection, macroinvertebrate identification, and tissue preparation for isotopic analysis. Throughout her fisheries career, Mollie has led backpack electrofishing surveys, rotary screw trapping, beach seining, fyke trapping, gillnetting, and macroinvertebrate and zooplankton collection throughout California. She is an expert at identifying California’s diverse freshwater fishes, as well as being as experienced boat operator in lakes, rivers, and deltas. Mollie also has extensive experience in analyzing fisheries diet and growth data and using linear models to explore migration cues.

Selected Publications

 

Ogaz, M.H, Rypel, A. L., Moyle, P. B., Lusardi, R. A, and Jeffres, C.A. Should they stay or should they go: Do behavioral cues enable native fishes to exit a California floodplain? [Manuscript submitted for publication].

 

Sturrock, A.M., Ogaz, M.H., Neal, K., Corline, N.J., Peek, R., Myers, D., Schluep, S., Levinson, M., Johnson, R.C., and Jeffres, C.A. 2022. Floodplain trophic subsidies in a modified river network: Managed foodscapes of the future? [Manuscript submitted for publication].

 

Ogaz, M.H., Moyle, P.B., Lusardi, R.A., and Rypel, A.L. 2020. Habitat Utilization and Outmigration Dynamics of Fishes on a Restored Floodplain in California’s Central Valley [Unpublished master’s thesis]. University of California, Davis.

 

Jeffres, C.A., Holmes, E., Ogaz, M.H., Saron, G., Tilcok, M, Montgomery, J., and Katz, J. 2017. Fish Food on Floodplain Farm Fields: Report of the 2017 Pilot Year Investigations.

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Fisheries Biologist II

M.S. Fisheries and Aquatic Science

 

Boise, Idaho

Nicole Farless is a stream ecologist with experience in flow regime analysis, aquatic habitat surveys, fish community sampling, and two-dimensional hydraulic modeling. Nicole has years of experience studying the impacts of hydropeaking on downstream communities and habitat. Her work focuses on mitigating the impacts to fish and macroinvertebrate communities through improving available habitat, water quality, sediment regime, and flow connectivity. She has experience measuring discharge, bathymetry, and water surface elevation using global positioning system (GPS) equipment and geographic information systems (GIS) to plot and analyze the data. She also has experience conducting gravel augmentations to improve stream habitat and tracking substrate movement using passive integrative transponder (PIT) tags. Nicole received her M.S. in Fisheries and Aquatic Science from Oklahoma State University. For her thesis, she determined the thermal tolerance of fishes occupying spring-fed and non-spring fed stream systems and developed flow ecology relationships for fish species associated with various trophic and reproductive guilds.

Selected Publications and Reports

 

Starnes V., N. Farless, R. O’Hearn. 2023. Niangua River System Water Quality Alterations. Missouri Department of Conservation. Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Project F-55-R-5; F21AF02257.

 

Farless N. and V. Starnes. 2022. Niangua River System Flow Fluctuations. Missouri Department of Conservation. Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Project F-55-R-5; F21AF02257.

 

Farless N. and B. Landwer. 2020. Lower Osage River Habitat and Fish Community Evaluation. Missouri Department of Conservation. Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Project; F11AF00170.

 

Farless N., E. Baebler, B. Landwer, D. Lobb. 2018. Evaluation of Habitat for Mussels and Their Fish Hosts in the Lower Osage River. Missouri Department of Conservation. Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Project; F11AC01144.

 

Worthington T., A. Echelle, J. Perkin, R. Mollenhauer, N. Farless, J. Dyer, and S. Brewer. 2018. The Emblematic Minnows of the North American Great Plains: A Synthesis of Threats and Conservation Opportunities. Fish and Fisheries 19:271–307.

 

Farless N., and S. Brewer. 2017. Thermal Tolerances of Fishes Occupying Groundwater and Surface-Water Dominated Streams. Freshwater Science 36:866–876.

 

Worthington T., S. Brewer, N. Farless, T. Grabowski, M. Gregory. 2014. Interacting Effects of Discharge and Channel Morphology on Transport of Semibuoyant Fish Eggs in Large, Altered River Systems. PLoS ONE 9:1–9.

 

Worthington T., S. Brewer, N. Farless. 2013. Spatial and Temporal Variation in Efficiency of the Moore Egg Collector. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 33:1113–1118.

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Fisheries Biologist II

B.S. Enviornmental Sciences; M.S. Hydrologic Sciences

 

 

West Sacramento, California

Pete is a fisheries biologist with extensive experience in habitat restoration and fish passage effectiveness monitoring in California and the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, he has used beach seines, trawls, gill nets, fyke traps, rotary screw traps, snorkel surveys, carcass and redd surveys, electrofishing (backpack and boat), and telemetry (PIT, radio, and acoustic) to monitor the abundance, habitat use, and movement of native and non-native fish species in both California and British Columbia. Additionally, Pete has analyzed physical habitat using data collected from depth and velocity, pebble count, and core sampling surveys, hydraulic models, topographic and bathymetric surveys (e.g., RTK GPS, total station, echo sounder), and remote sensing. He has also helped design and fabricate patented sampling equipment and has conducted environmental monitoring for a variety of instream construction projects. Before joining Cramer Fish Sciences, Pete was a Registered Professional Biologist in British Columbia where he designed, led, and managed telemetry-based field studies of salmonids and White Sturgeon using PIT, radio, and acoustic telemetry technology. In graduate school, Pete developed and validated juvenile salmonid habitat suitability models of the lower Yuba River and evaluated how rearing habitat evolved along the river over time.

Selected Publications

 

Moniz, P. J., and D. Ramos-Espinoza. 2023. Bulkley River Sockeye Salmon Telemetry Project Data Summary – 2022. Prepared for Wet’suwet’en, Smithers, British Columbia.

 

Buchanan, J., A. Hébert, P. J. Moniz, D. Ramos-Espinoza, and A. Putt. 2023. BRGMON-9 Seton River Habitat and Fish Monitoring Implementation Year 10 (2022). Prepared for Splitrock Environmental, Lillooet, British Columbia, and BC Hydro, Burnaby, British Columbia.

 

Cook, K. V., P. J. Moniz, and D. Ramos-Espinoza. 2023. Site C Fishway Effectiveness Monitoring Program (Mon-13) & Trap and Haul Fish Release Location Monitoring Program (Mon-14). Construction Year 8 (2022). Prepared for BC Hydro, Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

Hébert, A., P. J. Moniz, D. Ramos-Espinoza, and K. V. Cook. 2023. Lajoie Dam Improvement Project (GM-0246): Effects Assessment of the 2022 Drawdown of Downton Reservoir. Fisheries Act Authorization 22-HPAC-00271. Prepared for Splitrock Environmental, Lillooet, British Columbia, and BC Hydro, Burnaby, British Columbia.

 

Moniz, P. J., K. V. Cook, and D. Ramos-Espinoza. 2022. Site C Fishway Effectiveness Monitoring Program (Mon-13) & Trap and Haul Fish Release Location Monitoring Program (Mon-14). Construction Year 7 (2021). Prepared for BC Hydro, Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

Buchanan, J., A. Hébert, P. J. Moniz, D. Ramos-Espinoza, C. White, P. Freeman, and A. Putt. 2022. BRGMON-9 Seton River Habitat and Fish Monitoring Implementation Year 9 (2021). Prepared for Splitrock Environmental, Lillooet, British Columbia, and BC Hydro, Burnaby, British Columbia.

 

Moniz, P. J., and G. B. Pasternack. 2021. Chinook salmon rearing habitat–discharge relationships change as a result of morphodynamic processes. River Research and Applications 37(10):1386-1399.

 

Cook, K. V., P. J. Moniz, A. Putt, and D. Ramos-Espinoza. 2021. Site C Fishway Effectiveness Monitoring Program (Mon-13). Construction Year 6 (2020). Prepared for BC Hydro, Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

Hébert, A., P. J. Moniz, D. Ramos-Espinoza, J. Buchanan, C. White, and A. Putt. 2021. BRGMON-9 Seton River Habitat and Fish Monitoring Implementation Year 8 (2020). Prepared for Splitrock Environmental, Lillooet, British Columbia, and BC Hydro, Burnaby, British Columbia.

 

Moniz, P. J., G. B. Pasternack, D. A. Massa, L. W. Stearman, and P. M. Bratovich. 2020. Do rearing salmonids predictably occupy physical microhabitat? Journal of Ecohydraulics 5(2):132-150.

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Fisheries Biologist
B. S. Biology, Wildlife and Fisheries Science
Phone: (425) 275-9397

 

Issaquah, Washington

Pryclynn has extensive field experience performing habitat assessments and assessing restoration across Washington and Oregon. She is skilled in a variety of protocols (AEM, CHaMP, and USFS Level II), and survey techniques, including habitat and bathymetry mapping using an RTK GPS, snorkel surveys, macroinvertebrate collection, and longitudinal profile surveys. She also has experience in writing technical reports, SEPA and NEPA Environmental Impact Statements, and Habitat Conservation Plans. At CFS, Pryclynn contributes to multiple projects by performing literature reviews, data collection, QA/QC, data analysis, and mapping in GIS.

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