Staff located at the Gold River Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory
James M. Harrington, CDFW Water Quality Biologist, Project Leader
Jim is a Staff Environmental Scientist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) located at the Water Pollution Control Laboratory (WPCL) in Gold River. Jim received his B.S. degree in Fisheries and M.S. degree in Watershed Management from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. He has worked for CDFW since 1987 and for CDFW’s Water Pollution Control Laboratory since 1991. His duties include investigating biological effects of toxic spills, designing water quality monitoring projects for CDFW and various government agencies and supporting CDFW’s regional water quality biologists. Jim established CDFW’s Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory (ABL) in 1993 and since then has lead the development of ecological assessment techniques in California, participates on several U.S. EPA workgroups to integrate biological assessment into water quality regulation and co-authored a soon to be released SETAC Pellston Workshop publication entitled "Ecological Assessment of our Aquatic Resources: Application, Implementation, and Interpretation". Jim.Harrington@wildlife.ca.gov
Office: 916.358-2862
Fax: 916.985.4301
Peter R. Ode Ph.D, CDFW Staff Environmental Scientist, SWAMP Bioassessment Lead Scientist
Since joining the ABL in 1995, Pete has been involved in nearly all aspects of the ABL including invertebrate taxonomy, laboratory and field methods development, fieldwork and reconnaissance, project design and management and research projects, and promotion / advancement of bioassessment and biocriteria in California's water quality regulatory programs. Pete holds a B.S. in Biology from Allegheny College and a Ph.D. in Entomology from Cornell University. Peter.Ode@wildlife.ca.gov
Office: 916.358.0316
Fax: 916.985.4301
Angie Montalvo, CDFW Environmental Scientist, Enforcement & Pollution Response
Angie received her B.S. in Biological Sciences and Wildlife Ecology from the University of California at Davis and joined the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory (ABL) in August 1996. Angie is the lead enforcement person, which includes responding to pollution events, investigating spills, collecting benthic samples as evidence from various spill locations and assisting with the NRDA process. Angie participates in drills and responds to spills statewide that include both inland and marine environments for OSPR and CDFW. Additionally, she helps conduct bioassessment trainings for both enforcement and environmental staff within the department along with other regulatory agencies. Angie.Montalvo@wildlife.ca.gov
Office: 916.358.4398
Cell: 916.202.6734
Fax: 916.985.4301
Doug Post, Aquatic Entomologist
Doug joined the ABL in 1997. He has been involved with almost all projects of the ABL. He has worked in the field as well as identification of invertebrates. His taxonomic specialty is Coleoptera. He received his B.S. in Wildlife Conservation from CSU Sacramento. Doug.Post@wildlife.ca.gov
Office: 916.358.4397
Fax: 916.985.4301
Shawn McBride, Environmental Scientist
Shawn has been with the ABL since 1999 and is currently the Field Operations Manager for the ABL. His past contributions include the development of the statewide protocol for reconnaissance and probabilistic site assessment, also his work on projects such as the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP 00-04), California Monitoring and Assessment Program (CMAP 04-07), Perennial Stream Assessment (PSA 07-current), and various bioassessment projects for the Sate and Regional water Boards including the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Project (SWAMP). He received a B.S. in Conservation Biology from CSU, Sacramento. Shawn.McBride@wildlife.ca.gov
Office: 916.358.2861
Fax: 916.985.4301
Andrew Rehn Ph.D, Aquatic Entomologist
Andrew has been with the ABL since 2000. He is a worldwide expert of dragonflies (Odonata) and has over 10 years of nationwide experience with all other aquatic invertebrates. He has helped to develop and maintain the QA/QC program and also is involved with establishing reference conditions for California. He received his PhD. from University of California, Davis in 2000. arehn@sbcglobal.net
Office: 916.456.5464
Fax: 916.985.4301
Glenn Sibbald, Environmental Scientist Glenn joined the ABL in December 2000. Working for both Dave Crane and Jim Harrington, Glenn conducts field work and write reports, dealing with studies ranging from the EPA's Environmental Monitoring Assessment Program (EMAP), for both streams and lakes, to projects using California's Rapid Assessment Methodology (CRAM) for riparian plant assessment, to fish tissue sampling for State and local agencies, to Bald Eagle nest monitoring for the Lake Davis project. Glenn began working for the CDFW as a scientific aide with the Wild Trout Program (statewide), back in 1984, while working on his B.S. in Fisheries Biology (marine emphasis) at Humboldt State University. He attained a full-time position with the CDFW, as a Laboratory Technician at the Fish Health Lab, in 1993, as he finished up his M.S. at HSU (Natural Resources Management: Fisheries - freshwater emphasis). He moved on to the Stream Enhancement Program (STEP), and then eventually to the ABL. Glenn.Sibbald@wildlife.ca.gov
Office: 916.358.2990
Fax: 916.985.4301
Jennifer York, Biologist and Field Crew Leader Jennifer joined the ABL in December 2000. Since then, she has worked on all aspects of probabilistic and targeted field projects for the ABL which includes research, leading and managing field crews, reconnaissance, and permitting. She is also involved with the development of the ABL website. She received a B.S. in Zoology from CSU, Humboldt. Jennifer.York@wildlife.ca.gov
Office: 530.902.2643
Staff located at the Chico Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory
Dan Pickard, Aquatic Entomologist
Dan joined the ABL in October 2000. Dan has worked with aquatic macroinvertebrates for over 16 years. He is experienced with macroinvertebrates from across the U.S. with emphasis in western states. Currently, he is involved with the identification of all of the projects of the ABL. He is also supervising the development of the ABL California Digital Reference Collection web pages. It is a digital reference collection for aquatic macroinvertebrates of California and the Southwest. He received a B.A. in Biology from University of California, Santa Barbara and M.S. Biology / Aquatic Ecology from the University of Alabama.
Dan Pickard
Aquatic Entomologist
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory - Chico
233 Holt Hall
400 West 1st Street
California State University - Chico
Chico, CA 95929-0555
Office 530.898.5573
Fax: 530.898.4363 dpickard@csuchico.edu
Joseph Slusark, Aquatic Entomologist Joe joined the ABL in September 2001. He has over 20 years of experience in freshwater invertebrate taxonomy. His current work includes taxonomic identification for projects with the following agencies CDFW, CDFW-OSPR, SWAMP, USEPA, SCCWRP, SWRCB regional boards, University of Maryland, citizen monitoring groups, environmental consulting firms and various non-profits such as Nature Conservancy. His areas of taxonomic expertise include all groups of freshwater insects with special interest in the ephemeroptera, plecoptera, trichoptera and chironomidae. Joe performs QA/QC on taxonomic identifications on ABL projects, manages contracts, personnel and day to day operations of the Chico ABL. Joe is one of the founding members of the Southwest Association of Freshwater Invertebrate Taxonomists (SAFIT) and is the current President. SAFIT was founded to establish standardized data quality objectives and the guidelines for achieving them for freshwater invertebrate taxonomic data used in bioassessment in California and the greater southwestern United States. SAFIT also promotes the training and professional development of freshwater invertebrate taxonomists by conducting regular workshops and training sessions led by lead by recognized taxonomic experts in their field. Additionally, Joe is a periodic instructor at California State University-Chico giving frequent lectures and training students in freshwater invertebrate taxonomy and field collections techniques. Joe graduated from Penn State University with a B.S. in Wildlife Science and an M.S. in Entomology with a minor in Ecology and currently resides in the Sierra Nevada foothills overlooking Chico California.
Joseph Slusark
Aquatic Entomologist - SAFIT President
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory
115 Holt Hall
400 West 1st Street
California State University - Chico
Chico, CA 95929-0555
Office: 530.898.4792
Fax: 530.898.4363 jslusark@csuchico.edu
Austin Brady Richards, Aquatic Entomologist Brady joined the ABL on October 31, 2001. He has over 15 years of experience identifying Nearctic aquatic invertebrates. His taxonomic specialties include Coleoptera, Heteroptera and adult Trichoptera. He is currently involved with the identification of a wide range of projects with the ABL, including serving as the ABL External QC Taxonomist. Brady co-authored and helps maintain the current version of the SAFIT STE and STE Rules documents. He received his M.S. in Biology from Arkansas State University in 1994.
Austin Brady Richards
Aquatic Entomologist
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory - Chico
115 Holt Hall
400 West 1st Street
California State University
Chico, CA 95929-0555
Office 530.898.4792
Fax: 530.898.4363 arichards@csuchico.edu
John Sandberg, Aquatic Entomologist John joined the ABL in May, 2006. John has 20 years of experience studying aquatic macroinvertebrates, specializing in stoneflies (Plecoptera) and midge larvae (Chironomidae). He conducts research in California focusing on the stonefly family Perlodidae and anticipates publishing scientific journal papers on topics including taxonomic revisions and intersexual vibrational communication (drumming). John earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas where he revised the stonefly genus Isogenoides Klapalek with his advisor Dr. Kenneth W. Stewart.
John Sandberg
Aquatic Entomologist
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory - Chico
233 Holt Hall
400 West 1st Street
California State University - Chico
Chico, CA 95929-0555
Office 530.898.5573
Fax: 530.898.4363 jsandberg@csuchico.edu
