Dr. Yoichiro Kanno (Principal Investigator; Associate Professor)
Yoichiro has been at Colorado State University since 2017. His research focuses on stream fish population and community ecology, global change ecology, quantitative ecology and conservation genetics. He was born and grew up in Tokyo, Japan, and received BA in law from Meiji University, Tokyo, a Master of Environmental Studies degree from Dalhousie University, Canada, and a Ph.D. degree from University of Connecticut.
Bijoya Paul (Ph.D. student)
Bijoya was born and grew up in Bangladesh where people love to eat fish with rice in their major meal every day traditionally. She received both BSc (Hons) and MSc in Fisheries from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has since been teaching at the same academy, Department of Fisheries, University of Dhaka, for six years. Since Spring 2022, she has been pursuing her Ph.D. degree at CSU’s Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. Her research interests include fish population dynamics, quantitative ecology, and modeling of freshwater fishes. She is particularly interested in incorporating life history of fishes and population dynamics into fisheries management strategies in a changing ecosystem.
Email: bijoya.paul@colostate.edu
Samuel Lewis (PhD candidate) – co-advised by Dr. Jonathan Salerno (Human Dimensions of Natural Resources)
Samuel is pursuing a PhD degree in fisheries, wildlife, and conservation biology, generating interdisciplinary research that blends fisheries management and human dimension research on water issues of the Arid West. He is studying the inter-specific competition of invasive Mosquitofish and native plains fish to understand when and where they coexist theory to inform native fish conservation. He will also be researching the individual and institutional decision-making dynamics among water users and managers in the eastern plains of Colorado, interviewing water users and mangers to find a balance between conservation and consumption. Samuel received a Bachelor’s of Science in Aquatic Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and has since gained valuable insight on the water quality issues of Colorado through his work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Email: samuel.lewis@colostate.edu
Taylor Stack (Fisheries Research Associate) – co-advised by Dr. Chris Myrick
Taylor joined Colorado State University in 2022 and graduated with a master’s degree in December 2024. He continues to work in the Kanno Lab as a research associate, focusing on enhancing native trout recovery strategies. His research explores factors influencing trout population connectivity, the impacts of wildfires on trout populations, and the optimization of barrier designs to exclude nonnative species from native trout reclamation areas. Prior to his time at CSU, Taylor earned bachelor’s degree in Wildlife & Conservation Biology and Biochemistry from Western Colorado University in 2021.
Email: taylor.stack@colostate.edu
Noël Clark (MS student) – co-advisee with Dr. Caitlin Wells
Noël grew up on the coast of Northern California where she fell in love with rocky tidepools and winding trails; this led her to pursue a B.S. in Marine Science with a minor in Statistics at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and then to CSU for her MS on native fish conservation. Broadly, she is interested in collaborative fisheries management on species at the confluence of cultural, economic, and environmental issues. Her current research is focused on using whole genome sequencing to better understand the evolutionary history and native diversity of Colorado River cutthroat trout. Outside of research, Noël loves spending time trail running, mountain biking, climbing, and learning to fly fish!
Email: noel.clark@colostate.edu
Website: https://noelmclark.wixsite.com/site
Sean Ingram (MS student)
Sean is a Colorado native, pursuing a master’s in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at CSU. He is interested in large-scale population ecology, particularly as it applies to native species conservation. His current research is focused on climate change impacts on native brook trout populations across the eastern United States. Sean graduated with a B.S. in Conservation Biology from CSU in 2021 before spending time with the Aquatic Research section of Colorado Parks and Wildlife. He is an avid musician who also enjoys skiing, fly-fishing, and hiking with his dog Odie in his free time.
Email: sean.ingram@colostate.edu
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Helen Acosta (MS student)
Helen was born and raised in Southern California where she spent most of her time enjoying the beach and fishing with her family. She moved to Northern California to pursue her B.S. in Marine Biology at Cal Poly Humboldt. After graduating, she worked in various technician positions with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service in support of native salmon and trout conservation. Her research interests involve applying trophic dynamics and bioenergetics modeling to enhance native fish restoration efforts in the future. Helen’s current research is focused on fish population and stream food web responses to experimental nutrient addition to a river ecosystem. During her downtime, she enjoys going on hikes, reading, and swimming.
Email: helen.acosta@colostate.edu
Alex Brown (Undergraduate student)
Alex is a Colorado Native attributing to her love of freshwater fisheries. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology with a concentration in Fisheries and Aquatic Ecosystems and a minor in Global Environmental Sustainability. Her research focuses on identifying growth patterns of mottled sculpin in a regulated river to characterize their life history. Alex serves as the President of the Colorado State University Student Sub-Unit of the American Fisheries Society in the 2024-2025 academic year. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, skiing, and spending time with family and friends.
Email: alexandra.brown@colostate.edu
Lab Alumni:
Taylor Stack (MS 2024)
- Thesis: Riverscape features and isolation-by-distance shape spatial genetic structure of brook trout in a Colorado headwater stream network.
- Current position: Fisheries Research Associate, Colorado State University
Mickey Means-Brous (MS 2024)
- Thesis: Beaver, fire, fish: Geomorphic influences on salmonid recolonization in a Colorado post-fire environment.
- Current position: Fluvial Geomorphologist, Wolf Water Resources
Nitsa Platis (MS 2023)
- Thesis: Seasonal trophic niche dynamics of mottled sculpin and juvenile brown trout in a regulated Rocky Mountain river.
- Current position:
Xinyi “Lucy” Lu (Post-doc 2023)
- Project: Brook trout population responses to climate variation across the Southeast USA.
- Current position: Assistant Professor, Utah State University
George Valentine (MS 2023)
- Thesis: Spatial asynchrony and cross-scale climate interactions in populations of a coldwater stream fish.
- Current position: Aquatic Ecologist, US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
Samuel Lewis (MS 2022)
- Thesis: An experimental test of intra- and inter-specific competition between invasive western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) and native plains topminnow (Fundulus sciadicus).
- Current position: PhD candidate, Colorado State University
Audrey Harris (MS 2021)
- Thesis: Genetic analysis reveals bidirectional fish movement across the Continental Divide via an interbasin water transfer.
- Current position: Fisheries Research Geneticist, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
Kevin Fitzgerald (BS 2020)
- UG project: Daily otolith increment analysis of white-spotted charr and masu salmon in northern Japan.
- Current position: Fish Biologist, US Forest Service Tongass National Forest
Seoghyun Kim (PhD 2019)
- Dissertation: Intraspecific variation in reproductive ecology and success of a keystone stream fish, bluehead chub.
- Current position: Assistant Professor, Kangwon National University, South Korea
Kasey Pregler (PhD 2019)
- Dissertation: Using population ecology to advance stream community assembly.
- Current position: Assistant Unit Leader, New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (New Mexico State University)
Daniel Hanks (Post-doc 2017)
- Project: Population analysis of self-sustaining trout in North Carolina streams: current dynamics and future monitoring strategies
- Current position: Aquatic Ecologist, Weyerhaeuser Company
Seth Mycko (MS 2017)
- Thesis: Abundance modeling and movement of smallmouth bass in a regulated section of the Broad River, SC.
- Current position: District Fisheries Biologist, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission