Note: Current AFS members will receive voting instructions via email around March 20.
BACKGROUND
Born and raised in the heart of the South, where the biological diversity and rich stories told by nature are unparalleled, I spent my childhood, like most of us, outside. Days were spent fishing the creeks, hunting the woods, and just soaking up small town rural Tennessee life where childhood dreams were unlimited, but opportunities were. I learned to appreciate the connections to friends and our time spent outdoors. I remember riding bikes with fishing pole in hand to sit by a pond on a hot day or waking up in the woods having fallen asleep nestled in an oak tree waiting for the white tail deer to walk by.
Entering high school, the rhythm of life changed, and I was pulled in a different direction that led to a scholarship and music major in college. Yes, I was going to return home to that small Tennessee town and become a band director leading the school back to its glory years. However, an unexpected, yet serendipitous twist led me to marine biology. I remember the conversation with my advisor as though it was yesterday, “What do you mean I have to take a biology class? I’m a musician!” Well that first intro to biology course in college brought back long-recessed memories of the outside world and its wonders. So, I took another, and another, and then I was approached by a faculty member about doing a summer session at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab off the coast of Mobile, Alabama. I guess you can say, that summer sealed my fate of ever becoming a band director.
My experiences over those couple of semesters motivated me to change a degree course and pursue and earn BS and MS degrees in the biological sciences from Jacksonville State University and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of South Florida. I started a small environmental consulting firm in August 2000 to help survive on the paltry salaries paid to graduate students at that time. I would spend weekends performing wetland delineations, Endangered Species Act surveys for gopher tortoises Gopherus polyphemus, Florida scrub jays Aphelocoma coerulescens, and Florida manatee Trichechus manatus latirostris, and diving surveys for marine invertebrates. These were for clients looking to build housing and commercial properties. It was fun, lucrative, and I got to be outdoors! I finished my PhD in 2005 and proceeded to continue the consulting work until 2013, when we sold the firm. During that time, I served on numerous boards for nonprofits with the Trash Mountain Project (www.trashmountain.com) being the most rewarding. I was able to design and build aquaculture and hydroponic grow systems for families living in trash dump communities with systems designed to feed over 300 kids per day.
I accepted a position with the Spokane Tribe of Indians in 2013 and moved my family to the Pacific Northwest. My intention was to just work as a fisheries biologist and enjoy some downtime from management decisions. Intentions are often capricious and theoretical and can change from one interaction to another. Outcomes are consistent and real, sometimes they steer us away and sometimes they bring us right where we are supposed to be. I took over the fisheries manager position for the Spokane Tribe a few months after starting work and built the program from a staff of 5 working in obscurity to over 22 individuals that are recognized throughout the region. The program is responsible for the preservation, protection, and enhancement of tribal fishery resources with three core objectives: (1) Protect the existing fishery, (2) Create a white sturgeon fishery, and (3) return Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. to their historical range in the blocked area of the Columbia River to healthy and harvestable populations.
My current role as Fisheries Director has afforded me the opportunity to develop skills beyond field work. I have been developing and managing million-dollar budgets for the past 13 years, building teams and growing a staff with focused programmatic goals, and organizing the chaos that comes along with it. This experience will benefit the AFS Executive Committee in addressing the challenges of maintaining memberships and adding to our financial support (i.e., partnerships and sponsorships) and juggling the budgetary constraints that will happen. Additionally, my work has led me to interact with stakeholders at all levels. Representing my organization’s interests at local, regional, federal, and international levels. This has prepared me for the responsibilities of serving on the AFS Executive Committee through the development and recommendation of policy and key legislative changes to diverse groups of stakeholders.
AFS INVOLVEMENT
I have been a lifetime member of AFS for as long as I can remember. I brought my family to their first Annual Meeting in Portland and watched as my children were awed by everything, especially the vendors with their “cool stuff.” The Society was open and welcoming to them as if they were already members and they spent hours helping make caddis fly jewelry. However, the 152nd Annual Meeting in Spokane, Washington, was both the most memorable and stressful for me to date. I had spent the better part of 18 months prior planning and coordinating the release of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha into the Spokane River with participation from five tribes, AFS, and numerous nongovernmental organizations. This fish release, accomplished with the help of AFS members, was the first time in 110 years that salmon swam in the Spokane River. Additionally, I was involved in meeting planning and local coordination from transportation issues and field trips to integrating the Spokane Tribe into the meeting theme and symposia.
Mentorship plays an important role in one’s ability to communicate and continue learning. The Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology program has played an important role in my mentorship development. I have participated in reviewing candidates for placement and having hosted numerous students over the years that have gone on to seek a professional career in fisheries or a related field, some of which now work for the Spokane Tribe of Indians. My experience with AFS governance (Governing Board and Management Committee) is minimal, but we all must start somewhere. I have worked with national and local chapters, been involved with meeting planning for the AFS Washington–British Columbia Chapter, Spokane, and the Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. I regularly attend the Fish Culture Section meetings at AFS and standalone Section meetings. Having previously served on nonprofit boards, owning and operating a private consulting firm, and directing a growing fisheries program has helped my development as a leader and honed my skills that would benefit AFS Executive Committee. My analytical skills in breaking down problems, identifying root causes, and developing solutions along with the attention to detail needed to understand and represent multiple viewpoints, managing large budgets, and the ability to relate complex fisheries information to non-scientist are some of the most beneficial.
VISION
The American Fisheries Society is well represented locally, nationally, and internationally. The Society is one of the strongest professional societies in existence today. The ability to connect and network with dedicated professionals creates opportunities for collaboration, idea sharing and friendship building. I am truly grateful for these opportunities.
Our world is ever changing, and our Society must be willing to adapt to those changes and enlist the help of our membership to protect our resources. That is our strength as a society; the unique attributes and talents that we all possess and devote to AFS make us stronger and our voice louder when the need arises.
I envision a society where we support our members with opportunities to enhance critical thinking skills, develop leaders through effective communication and professional development, and facilitate the continued push for diversification. The majority of my career has been spent as a private consultant focusing on environmental issues brought about by societal needs and impacts. Throughout the past 12 years, I have focused on preserving, protecting, and enhancing tribal resources for the Spokane Tribe of Indians. Through both experiences I have seen firsthand the role AFS can play in facilitating and nurturing a career in fisheries, especially for a demographic that often struggles to participate due to cultural and societal differences. The past few years have taught me an important lesson about history and being open to new ideas and concepts. The Society has been proactive about engaging with Native American and First Nations fisheries programs and staff in recent years. We should increase this effort and highlight the incredible work being completed by these organizations and focus on the incorporation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge along with western science.
As mentioned earlier, the Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program has offered the opportunity to mentor, engage, and inspire the future of AFS and I envision its continued success and growth to help reach individuals that might not otherwise have the opportunity to see if they have a passion for a career in fisheries. The Hutton Program offers every member of the Society an opportunity to get involved with local students and increasing awareness and involvement for this program should be a societal goal. A successful Hutton program accomplishes three things: (1) It provides mentorship opportunities for our members to share their passion for fisheries, (2) it ensures the future and growth of our society by inspiring future fisheries biologists, and (3) it encourages and promotes diversity and inclusion. All three of these benefit AFS.
The key to continued growth of AFS is diversification. Diversification of membership, as well as diversification of continuing education and professional development opportunities, will play an important role for our Society’s future. The Society recently hosted an AFS Professional Development Programs workshop that I participated in with a focus on continuing education and professional development opportunities for our members. What does the future of continuing education and professional development look like for the Society? There are tremendous opportunities for field courses and hands-on training each year that we should encourage our members to participate in. However, what happens when our members start transitioning from fieldwork to more administrative duties? How do they make that transition? The central theme here again is diversification. We should develop learning pathways for all levels of membership with offerings from how to safely operate electrofishing equipment and scientific communications for nonscientists, to how to become an effective leader within your organization. There are many changes that come with career progression and the Society should be prepared to support our members as these changes occur.
Finally, continuing to implement our initiatives and collaborating towards a cohesive vision of AFS through communication, professional development, and diversification, will empower the Society to grow in size and recognition as a voice for our resources. I am honored to be considered by the membership for this important endeavor and appreciate your consideration as a candidate for the AFS Office of Second Vice President.
