Join us for our May 2025 monthly club meeting featuring George Pess!

Background

George works for  NOAA Fisheries as a Watershed Program Manager and has been in the fisheries science and management field since 1989. His primary research interest during that time has been the examination of natural and land-use effects on salmon habitat and production.

George has conducted research on historic and current land use impacts on salmon habitat and production, the influence of wood in forested stream channels, the development of a wood recruitment model to determine the relative influence of forestry activities, what role watershed analysis plays in ecosystem management, and how landscape characteristics and land use affect salmon abundance and distribution.

George has a B.A. in Economics and Environmental Science (Bowdoin College 1987), an M.S. in Forest Science (Yale University 1992), and a Ph.D. in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (University of Washington, 2009).

Current Research

George’s main current research projects include:

• Ecosystem response to the removal of the Elwha River dams.
• Long-term, watershed-scale response of salmon populations and associated habitats to stream and watershed restorative actions, and how life history strategies, genetics, and associated habitats influence salmon and steelhead recovery.