Students
Current Graduate Students |
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Joseph Anderson (PhD) |
Joe Anderson is investigating the process of salmon colonization on a local Washington river where the construction of fish passage facilities have permitted coho and Chinook salmon to access habitat they had been denied for over 100 years. His M.S. thesis work described the movements of adult coho salmon in the new habitat (Anderson and Quinn 2007), as well as the distribution of juvenile coho in relation to adult spawning sites (Anderson et al. 2008). Currently, his dissertation research employs molecular genetics to evaluate the individual and population-level reproductive success of both coho and Chinook salmon during colonization.
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Johnny Armstrong (MS) |
Jonny is researching how landscape heterogeneity affects foodwebs. He works in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, where salmon spawn in high densities, releasing marine-derived nutrients into freshwater ecosystems and creating ephemeral periods of resource superabundance for consumers. He is studying how heterogeneity in water temperature mediates the extent to which stream-dwelling fishes can exploit this resource pulse, integrating in situ experiments, observational data, thermal mapping, and simulation models. |
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Morgan Bond (PhD) |
Morgan is interested in the life history diversity of fishes in the Chignik Lakes watershed on the Alaska Peninsula. His particular focus is the population structure and habitat use of Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) within the Chignik Lakes drainage, as well as the consequences for salmonids rearing in the large and unique Chignik lagoon. Prior to entering the University of Washington, he received his M.S. from the University of California at Santa Cruz and worked at the National Marine Fisheries Service laboratory there on the ecology of coho salmon and steelhead trout at the southern end of their range in North America. |
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Thomas Buehrens (MS) |
Thomas is studying the ecology of rainbow and cutthroat trout in the Cedar River, Washington. Fish populations in this river were segregated in 1901, when a diversion dam was built, preventing migratory fish from accessing the upper watershed. Trout populations living in the river upstream of the dam were forced to adopt resident life histories and were isolated from below-dam populations of trout and anadromous Pacific salmon. In 2003, modification of the dam restored passage for migrating fish, and allowed coho and Chinook salmon to spawn above the dam. It is unknown how resident trout will respond to this restoration action. Trout may be negatively impacted through increased competition as juvenile salmon densities increase, or positively impacted through increased habitat connectivity and access to new foraging opportunities. Thomas is investigating the effects of restored habitat connectivity and colonizing salmon on coastal cutthroat and rainbow trout. His methodology employs Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags to study the growth, movement, and survival of trout, molecular genetics to distinguish between trout species and hybrids, and stable isotope chemistry to relate growth and movement of individual trout with potential forage resources. |
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Joshua Chamberlin (MS) |
Josh is studying the phenomenon of resident behavior in Puget Sound Chinook salmon. These fish, locally known as blackmouth, spend all or a large portion of their marine lives within the inland waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia. This migration pattern is an alternative to the better-known pattern of migration to the coastal ocean for rearing. It is uncertain what factors affect the tendency of salmon to display one or other of these alternatives, and whether there are in fact two patterns or a continuum of migration behavior patterns. Josh is taking two approaches to investigate this phenomenon: 1) examination of coded wire tagging records to test the hypotheses that hatchery location and the size and date of smolt releases affect the proportion of salmon that are residents, and 2) assessment of the movements of individual Chinook salmon released in 2008 from the Hoodsport Hatchery, Hood Canal using a network of self-contained ultrasonic receivers. |
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Fred Goetz (PhD) |
Fred received his M.S. from Oregon State University where he studied the ecology of bull trout and since then he has worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a fish biologist studying the movements of salmon and trout in Puget Sound. In his professional work, Fred has evaluated fish passage and habitat conditions at several Corps dams and navigation projects including in the Green River, White/Puyallup Rivers, the Ballard Locks, and the Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit, and Nooksack Rivers. At the Locks Fred helped design and evaluate a fish passage system for protection of migrating salmon smolts. In development of the system, he tested and evaluated three behavioral guidance techniques (low-frequency sound, strobe lights, and slowing the fill rate of the lock) to keep smolts from becoming entrained in the filling system for the locks. Strobe lights and slowing the fill rate were found to be effective in reducing entrainment and these techniques are now part of the smolt passage system. As part of this work at the Locks, Fred helped develop a long-term monitoring plan for the Lake Washington system by including PIT-tag monitors in flumes that are designed to pass smolts from freshwater to Shilshole Bay. Juvenile Chinook and coho salmon have been tagged in various Lake Washington tributaries and monitored with the readers since 2000. As part of an assessment of dredging projects in Puget Sound rivers, Fred has been monitoring bull trout behavior and habitat use in estuary and nearshore areas in northeast Puget Sound since 2002. This work is the first research to study the anadromous life history type of bull trout. This research is being used in recovery planning for ESA-listed Puget Sound bull trout. His dissertation project is a multi-species investigation of salmonid movements using ultrasonic telemetry. Working in cooperation with a large number of investigators from various agencies (e.g., NOAA-Fisheries, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Seattle City Light, Nisqually Tribal Fisheries Office) he has been tagging steelhead, anadromous cutthroat trout and bull trout, and coho and Chinook salmon. These species range from those thought to invariably migrate to the Pacific ocean for feeding (steelhead), to species that may reside in Puget Sound or migrate to the coast (coho and Chinook salmon) and those thought to invariably remain within Puget Sound, near their natal rivers (cutthroat and bull trout). The telemetry study should provide insights into the basic biology of these species and also facilitate conservation efforts.
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Troy Jaecks (MS) |
Iliamna Lake, the largest lake in Alaska, supports phenotypically diverse populations of Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma). One population, in the Iliamna River, has exhibited a recurring pattern of numerical dominance by a strong year-class. A distinct size mode declined in abundance and increased in body size over time, followed by a large burst of recruitment. This pattern is unexpected in an iteroparous, generally long lived fish such as Dolly Varden in a riverine habitat. The sport fishery is regulated for catch and release, and surrounding critical habitats are intact so some density-dependent process is suggested but little is known of their migration patterns and ecology. Dolly Varden in this oligotrophic river grow rapidly to large size due in part to an energetic subsidy from the eggs (in fall) and fry (in spring) of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) each year. Otolith microchemistry and stable isotope analyses are in progress and may offer insight into the movements and trophic ecology of this population. Specifically, are the fish anadromous, how much of their annual energy budget comes from salmon, and what processes cause the recruitment variation? |
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Neala Kendall (PhD) |
For her master's thesis, Neala Kendall quantified fishery selection by a gillnet fishery on age and size at maturity of sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska. She examined selection from 1946-2007 at two scales, the Nushagak District (Kendall et al. in review), and individual spawning populations within the Wood River system that differ in age and size at maturity (Kendall and Quinn in press). She has extended this project for her PhD and is investigating potential life history evolution resulting from this fishery selection. She is also examining life history differences among spawning populations, including smolt size and age and size at maturity. Finally, she will also conduct a retrospective analysis of mortality from the Japanese high seas fishery on Bristol Bay sockeye salmon.
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George Pess (PhD) |
George has worked in the fisheries science and management field since 1989. His primary research interest during that time has been the examination of natural and land-use effects on salmon habitat and production. George has conducted research on historic and current land use impacts on salmon habitat and production, the influence of wood in forested stream channels, the development of a wood recruitment model to determine the relative influence of forestry activities, what role watershed analysis plays in ecosystem management, and how landscape characteristics and land use affect salmon abundance and distribution. George has a B.A. in Economics and Environmental Science (Bowdoin College 1987) and a M.S. in Forest Science (Yale University 1992). George's dissertation topic examines differences in salmonid recolonization patterns and processes associated with population and aquatic habitat dynamics in three different case histories. His first project is conducted in the Wood River system, in Bristol Bay, Alaska, where salmon species that are numerically sub-dominant (pink, chum, and Chinook salmon) provide insights into the process of straying and colonization in contrast to the numerically dominant species, sockeye salmon. George investigated the correlations between the occurrence of non-dominant salmon, habitat characteristics, and competition with locally dominant sockeye salmon, using four decades of data on salmon presence and abundance, and habitat survey data. In streams meeting the fundamental requirements for salmon reproduction, as evidenced by the presence of sockeye salmon, we found a range of occurrence of the other species, from non-existent to episodic to nearly perennial. The frequency of occurrence and abundance of non-dominant species increased with watershed drainage area and stream depth and, to a lesser extent, decreased with sockeye salmon density. Conversely, sockeye salmon densities decreased with watershed drainage area and stream depth. In addition, habitat partitioning between spawning sockeye and pink salmon was evident at the reach scale within one stream in which they were both found. Pink salmon tended to occupy habitats lower within the drainage network than sockeye salmon even though the species spawned during the same period. We concluded that increasing watershed area results in larger stream habitat area and a greater number of deeper and wider habitat types, thus allowing for the sympatric occurrence and persistence of other salmon species besides sockeye. His second project concerned the population dynamics and environmental conditions that are critical to the re-colonization and self-sustainability of animal populations. He examined the relative importance of source populations, newly opened habitat characteristics, and associated environmental conditions to determine when colonizing pink salmon spawning populations became self-sustaining after a long-term migration blockage (Hell’s Gate) was removed in the Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada. He used pink salmon spawning data from 1947 to 1987 in 66 streams to define populations, population growth rates, and the level of dispersers to newly opened habitats. He also used geographic and stream flow information to quantify the distance from source populations, the amount of newly opened habitat, and whether stream flow conditions impeded fish passage at Hell’s Gate. Population dynamics models fit to observed data indicated that the combination of an initially large source population, high intrinsic growth rates linked to favorable climate-driven conditions, a constant supply of dispersers, and large amounts of newly available habitat resulted in the development of self-sustaining Fraser River pink salmon populations upstream of the historic barrier. Self-sustaining populations were developed within years of barrier removal and have continued to help expand the overall population of Fraser River pink salmon. However, not all locations had the same productivity and the magnitude of exchange among them is partly mediated by river conditions that permit or impede passage. Re-colonized abundance levels were reduced in the re-opened habitats and population spatial structure shifted relative to historic estimates. His third project dealt with the role of juveniles in the process of re-colonization of the Cedar River, Washington by coho salmon. Specifically, he used passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags to study the movement, growth and survival of individual coho salmon in Rock Creek, the main tributary of the Cedar River that is being re-colonized by coho salmon after modification of Landsburg Dam in 2003 to permit passage. He found that Rock Creek went from a trout dominated system to a coho dominated system with three years of the first tagging effort. Juvenile coho densities increased by an order of magnitude from 0.04/m2 to 0.4/m2. Survivorship was predominantly correlated to annual variation and biological condition, while factors such as habitat quality, and competition had secondary effects. Recent publications include the following:
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Pamela Woods |
Pamela is pursuing a dual doctoral degree between the University of Washington and the University of Iceland. This is the first such dual degree that the University of Washington has allowed with an external university. As part of a European Research Training Network, FishACE, she began her dissertation in January 2008 by studying evolutionary patterns of divergence in Arctic char populations, and how these relate to local ecological conditions of lakes across Iceland. Her supervisors are Skúli Skúlason (Hólar University College, Iceland), Siggi Snorrason (University of Iceland), and Thomas Quinn (University of Washington). She will continue with a comparison of Icelandic freshwater food webs and those at field sites in Alaska, another high-latitude region that is geologically older and more biologically diverse. These projects will aid natural resource management by yielding an understanding for how environmental issues, such as global climate change or exploitation, may affect the ecology of freshwater systems.
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Graduate Students SupervisedMaster of Science degrees
Doctor of Philosophy degrees
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