Greetings fellow Western Division AFS members. I am honored by the nomination for Vice President and truly appreciate this opportunity.
By way of background, I had what I consider the good fortune of being raised on a 20-acre farm in the dairy country of western New York State. The headwaters of the Cattaraugus Creek, a tributary to Lake Erie, bordered the back of my parent's property. Through my teenage years, I spent much of my time on the banks of this stream, using trout fishing as an excuse to witness the wonders of the natural world, and developing the passion that would lead me into a profession and through my career. It was this passion that guided me through an undergraduate degree in biology at the State University of New York, College at Brockport (1983), where I was involved with fishery research on Lake Ontario and its tributaries. This was followed by eight years as a research assistant for Cornell University where I participated in evaluating mitigation techniques for Adirondack Mountain fish communities and ecosystems impacted by acid deposition. My master's work at the University of Wyoming (1993) applied Geographic Information System technology to analyzing potential impacts of global warming on Rocky Mountain salmonid distributions.
My
tenure in the beautiful State of Utah began as a fishery biologist in the southeastern
part of the state in 1993. Within a year, however, opportunity presented itself
through a seniority-based agency restructuring and I was working as a native
aquatic species biologist along the heavily populated Wasatch Front. In this
position, I gained experience with sensitive aquatic species and the issues
surrounding their conservation and recovery. I accepted my current position
as Senior Staff Fisheries Biologist for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District
in 1998. At this time, my professional focus is on developing collaborative
approaches to the conservation and recovery of native species while considering
and incorporating the needs of an increasing human population.
I joined the American Fisheries Society in 1984 and have held membership in
the New York, Colorado/Wyoming, and Bonneville Chapters. While a graduate student,
I served as Secretary and Vice President of the University of Wyoming Student
subunit. In 1997, I was presented with a citation for the most significant paper
in the 'Transactions of the American Fisheries Society' for a publication resulting
from my graduate work. I served on the Bonneville Chapter Executive Committee
for four years, and as President in 2000. I organized the plenary session and
served as Program Committee Chair for the Bonneville Chapter annual meeting
in 1999, and have been recognized with two merit awards from the Chapter. I
served as chair of the Endangered Species Committee for the parent society in
2001 and continue on that committee as vice-chair this year. I have organized
and moderated sessions at Chapter and Division meetings and presented papers
at Chapter, Division, and parent society meetings. Perhaps my most satisfying
achievement as an AFS member, however, came at last year's annual meeting in
Phoenix when I arrived victorious at the Spawning Run finish line - an encouraging
event for one trudging through the sobering realities of middle-life.
The Western Division is composed of remarkable professionals that provide a representation of the diversity within our profession. As members of AFS, we have the "responsibility to serve and manage aquatic resources for the benefit of those resources and of the public . . . (Standard for Professional Conduct, Adopted by the Governing Board, August 1997)." Our aquatic resources have been hammered, in no small part due to past mistakes of our own profession. Many of the threats to our aquatic resources are common throughout the west, and beyond. I would encourage the Division to focus the expertise of our membership in areas where we, as professionals, have influence and opportunity to improve the degraded condition of our aquatic resources. In areas where our membership's influence is limited, I would encourage the Division to collaborate with those entities that have influence, such that aquatic resources are given due consideration and opportunities for their enhancement can be pursued.
Recent Division EXCOMs have made great strides toward improving communication between the Chapters and the Division. As a member of the EXCOM, I would continue to pursue mechanisms to facilitate communication within the Division, and also seek opportunities to open lines of communication with outside parties to promote the Division as an information resource, and our membership as leaders in the protection of our aquatic resources.