Chase has worked across diverse U.S. systems, from Tennessee streams to the Desert Southwest and California’s Central Valley, including the mainstem Sacramento River, tributaries such as the Stanislaus River, and the Delta. He focuses on monitoring of endangered species including Chinook Salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Razorback Sucker, and Bonytail. At Cramer Fish Sciences, his work includes Chinook survival studies in the Upper Sacramento River, floodplain utilization by juvenile salmon at the Mokelumne River-Delta junction, and entrainment studies at Delta export facilities. He is particularly interested in the key factors limiting the recovery of Chinook Salmon and Central Valley Steelhead, including the impacts of nonnative predators, environmental cues influencing life history diversity in Rainbow Trout and steelhead, and stressors affecting key demographic rates in salmonids. Chase’s expertise spans the full research cycle, from study design and field sampling to analysis and reporting. He uses diverse tools including electrofishing, telemetry, PIT scanners, and R programming for data analysis and visualization, applying both established and emerging technologies to advance fisheries science and management.

Selected Publications 

Ehlo, C.E., L.H. Elliot, B.D. Healy, C.C. Phillis, and M.C. Runge. 2026. Balancing water storage and Chinook salmon conservation under uncertainty: How decision analysis can inform fall flow management below Shasta Dam [Manuscript in Preparation]. Cramer Fish Sciences.

Ehlo, C.E., W.J. Goldsmith, B.R. Kesner, and P.C. Marsh. 2019. Size-specific fate and survival of june sucker Chasmistes liorus mictus in Utah Lake, Utah. Western Northern American Naturalist 79(1):110-123.

Ehlo, C.E., M.J. Saltzgiver, T.E. Dowling, P.C. Marsh, and B.R. Kesner. 2017. Use of molecular techniques to confirm nonnative fish predation on razorback sucker larvae in Lake Mohave, Arizona and Nevada 146(2):201-205.

Massure, W.A., C.A. Ehlo, B.R. Kesner, and P.C. Marsh. 2015. Positive phototaxis in larval bonytail. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 6(2):425-429.

Ehlo, C.E. and J.B. Layzer. 2014. Population demographics and life history of the round hickornut (Obovaria subrotunda) in the Duck River, Tennessee. The American Midland Naturalist 171(1):1-15.