Dr. Parsa Saffarinia is a new postdoc in the #BerkeleyFreshwater labs, and will be co-advised by Stephanie and Albert. Parsa was an undergraduate at Cal and we’re thrilled to welcome him back and to have a chance to work together on longfin smelt dynamics together with our research partner, Dr. Jim Hobbs, at CDFW!
Lab News
Low-flows restrict Coho salmon smolt migration
A new paper from our research group, led by graduate student Brian Kastl, was recently published in Ecosphere, Migration in drought: Receding streams contract the seaward migration window of endangered salmon. The study explores how the migration of juvenile coho salmon from tributaries in the Russian River in springtime is affected by streamflow and temperature. We found that low seasonal streamflow and warm temperatures associated with drought resulted in an earlier and contracted migration of coho salmon smolts from the system. The research suggests that protecting environmental flows by limiting surface water diversions and reducing groundwater withdrawals could help expand the outmigration window for coho salmon smolts and mitigate the effects of drought in this system and in other salmon-bearing streams projected to experience more severe droughts under climate change.
The study was also covered in a story in the San Francisco Chronicle, “California drought poses more obstacles to young Russian River coho salmon.
Introducing Dr. Hana Moidu!
Hana Moidu defended her dissertation today (!) on: “Never the same river twice: On the causes and consequences of intermittent stream drying across space and time”. Hana was the first co-advised student in our growing #BerkeleyFreshwater multi-lab! Here she is with her proud PIs.
Carlson Lab hosts ESPM Seminar speaker, Dr. Cleo Wölfle Hazard, for his seminar on “Queer Trans River Sciences: Field Notes on Politics and Practice”
Cannabis agriculture at risk from wildfire
Wildfires are an increasing threat to people’s lives, property and livelihoods, especially in rural California communities. Cannabis, one of California’s most lucrative commercial crops, may be at a higher risk of loss from wildfire because it is mostly confined to being grown in rural areas, according to our new article led by Chris Dillis and published in Ecosphere. Check out the paper and UC press release!
Fun day of science and re-connecting at the #BerkeleyFreshwater fall retreat
Our #BerkeleyFreshwater team came together today for our fall retreat, which included a mix of life updates, science, visioning, and re-connecting after the summer field season. A highlight was learning from biologists with the East Bay Regional Park District about monitoring aquatic habitats in the 74 #EastBayRegionalParks. Fun & important conversations with a great group!
It’s a wrap!
Thrilled to wrap up our first experiment of the MacLIFE International Laboratories effort, led by Dr. Charlotte Evangelista together with collaborators Mat Buoro from INRAE and Albert Ruhi and Kyle Leathers from the #BerkeleyFreshwater group. We used the experimental stream system at SNARL and manipulated flows to explore how early snowmelt influences insect emergence and top-down control by brown trout.
Denise’s keynote @ 2022 Interagency Ecological Program Workshop
Postdoc researcher Denise Colombano gave a keynote talk at the 2022 Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) Workshop, titled “Strength in numbers: advancing estuarine ecology through data synthesis and collaboration”. She discussed successful research team culture, and provided insights from others through interview clips. Her talk was voted People’s Choice for Best Presentation—watch it on Youtube!
Melissa passed her quals!
Melissa von Mayrhauser, Ph.D. student (now candidate!) in the Ruhi and Grantham labs, just passed her Ph.D. qualifying exam! Her prospectus is titled Changing Flows, Ecosystems, and Perceptions on the Los Angeles and Santa Clara Rivers, and we are really excited about all the cool research on urban stream ecosystem restoration that’s underway. Congratulations, Melissa!
Why and where do streams go dry?
PhD candidate Hana Moidu explores this question in her article on California WaterBlog and a recent paper published in Water Resources Research! And an amazing graphical summary of her study is provided here:
