PNAMP Coordination Staff

Although I truly enjoyed my years in fisheries research, I consider serving as lead staff for PNAMP a real privilege. I am amazed by the willingness of monitoring practitioners across the Pacific Northwest to collaborate and am delighted to support these efforts. Collaboration across jurisdictions is hard – there is no doubt about that – but the results are oh, so worth the work! Prior to serving as the PNAMP Coordinator, I conducted research at the USGS Columbia River Research Laboratory - with an emphasis on native fishes of the Columbia River basin. When I am not helping PNAMP partners, I might be found supporting collaboration in my community, volunteering at my son's school, or gardening.

Contact Jen Bayer: jbayer@usgs.gov

After earning a masters degree from the University of Oregon, I moved to the Columbia River Gorge to start my career with the USGS. For ten years I worked on various research projects ranging from telemetry studies of juvenile salmonid survival through hydroelectric dams to developing a framework for prioritizing zebra and quagga mussel monitoring in the Columbia River Basin. In 2011 I joined the PNAMP coordination staff where I’ve enjoyed working with monitoring practitioners to figure out ways to better share and utilize habitat monitoring information. When not at work I love riding my many bikes, growing as much of my own food as I can, and experiencing new cultures and cuisine.

Contact Amy Puls: apuls@usgs.gov

I came to PNAMP from US Forest Service, where I worked as the Field Team Leader for the PIBO-EM monitoring program for 3+ years. My background includes graduate studies at Utah State University, where I conducted an analysis of temperature models. I have also assisted with investigations into the relationship between abundance of fish within habitat types using remote sensed data. I have done field work on large rivers and small streams classifying habitat and collecting data. I have dug holes, measured streams, collected rocks, survived beaches, floated rivers, measured fish and climbed mountains in some of the most beautiful and remote places in the Upper Columbia, the Upper Missouri River and a when I was extremely lucky in the Southwest. With PNAMP I have taking on some of the Monitoring Methods support work as well as ongoing project work specifically focused on stream habitat. When not at work I can be found in the same places I work; the rivers and mountains.

Contact Becca Scully: rscully@usgs.gov

Originally hailing from the prairies of Nebraska, I moved to Oregon in 2003 and became absolutely smitten with the Pacific Northwest. After graduating from Oregon State University, I worked for 6 years for various agencies as a biologist; primarily studying salmon and freshwater fish, but also listed seabirds in the Oregon Coast Range, and salt marsh monitoring in New York City. I enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, cooking, art, and am currently attempting to turn my black thumb into a green thumb. I am excited to be part of the PNAMP team and look forward to working with you.

Contact Meg Dethloff: mdethloff@usgs.gov

I grew up in Tampa, Florida, swimming and fishing in lakes and rivers that nowadays are teeming with alligators. After earning my B.A. in Zoology from Univ. of South Florida, I attended the Biological Field Station at Flathead Lake, MT where I fell in love with mountains, snow and seasons, vowing never to return to Florida. I spent years in Colorado where I learned to Telemark ski, became a technical writer-editor for a software designer and for a hard-rock mining engineering consultancy, and then owned a computer consulting business for 11 years. I sold my business to return to school at the University of Maine, Orono, where I earned my M.Sc. in Wildlife Ecology in 2015, studying the effects of managed forest habitats on the federally threatened Canada lynx and their preferred prey, snowshoe hares, in the north Maine woods. My thesis allowed me to work with modeling wildlife-habitat and predator-prey relationships. I come to Washington from Steamboat Springs, CO where I was a biologist for the US Forest Service. I am excited to be in the great Pacific Northwest, where I can apply my diverse background in data management, teaching, IT skills, and ecology to PNAMP’s mission.

Contact Sheryn Olson: sherynolson@usgs.gov

I grew up in a small town on the Colorado Front Range where I developed my passion for environmental management, outdoor activities (hiking, running, biking, etc.), and all Colorado sports teams. I attended the University of Colorado, Boulder (Go Buffs!) as an undergrad earning a B.A. in Environmental Studies. After 25 years in the Centennial State, I moved away from my beloved sports teams to the beautiful Pacific Northwest in the pursuit of a graduate degree from Portland State University as a member of the Strecker Aquatic Ecology lab. My research focused on the introduction and establishment of aquatic invasive species with a focus on the invasion of the New Zealand mud snail in lakes, rivers, and estuaries. I received an M.S. in Environmental Science and Management from Portland State University in the spring of 2016, and am currently working on publishing a couple academic papers and re-re-re-reading Harry Potter in my free time. I am excited to be a member of the PNAMP team and look forward to meeting and working with all of you.

Contact Sam Cimino: scimino@usgs.gov