Current Position: Resource Specialist
How long have you been with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and in what capacity?
I have worked as a fishery biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for 36 years.
How did you become involved in working as a Fishery Biologist?
I received training as a field technician in fisheries when I was getting an undergraduate degree in zoology at Southern Illinois University. This training involved working on the Mississippi River with several students from Iowa State University. I have always loved fishing and grew up along the banks of the Illinois River. My mentor was Frank Bellrose, a well known waterfowl biologist. I worked for Mr. Bellrose in the summers when I was in high school. He got me interested in river ecology, marsh management and flood pulse affect on habitats.
Describe a typical day at your job.
(If there is no such thing as a typical day, then please tell us about your primary responsibilities and duties.)
I spend most of the year doing a wide variety of work, depending on season. I manage fishery resources in 6 counties of the State of Illinois. That includes lakes, ponds and streams. The work involves measuring fish population status and detecting management problems. After a problem is detected, devising plans to correct the problem. I also carry out whatever management activity is needed to correct the problem. I do this kind of work during our "field season," which in Illinois is February thru November. In the spring, I assist our hatchery operation in obtaining brood fish for state-wide hatchery production of muskie and northern pike. When a fish kill occurs in a pond lake or stream, it is my duty to help establish the cause, put an economic value on the loss and help the States Attorney in the development of a case against polluters. I spend a great deal of time in "outreach" activities to groups of sportsmen, clubs and schools. This outreach involves presentations about aquatic biology and sports use of our resources. We also give information on rare and endangered plants and animals, ecology and government actions.
How many hours a week do you work in this position?
Depending on the season, 40-100.
What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
The ability to be a detective and solve environmental problems!
What do you find to be the greatest challenges of your job?
The population pressures on our resources and trying to “regulate and zone” use in order to accommodate public enjoyment. We have a finite resource that needs to be preserved and yet, also be available for public use.
What kind of training/schooling is required in your position?
A master's degree in Fisheries and experience in managing a fishery resource.
Is there any kind of training or general experience that you wish you had before taking your job?
The job, as it is now, is a profession that has evolved while I have been doing it. Fish management was pretty well in its infancy when I started work.
What are a few of the projects that you've been working on recently that have been the most interesting?
The most interesting project to me has been the rehabilitation of several lateral marshes along the Illinois River. These marshes were once connected to the River and were developed for farming by construction of levees. Several are now being reclaimed for fish and wildlife habitat.
If someone were interested in working as a Fish Biologist, what advice could you give them?
Be prepared for a set of problems in our native populations of fish that are caused by the world becoming a "global" community. All kinds of special problems involving movement of non-native fishes and aquatic animals as well as diseases are going to cause us to alter how we think about our habitats. This will be exaggerated by human population pressures and economic concerns. There will be plenty of problems for future fishery biologists to tackle. Let's look to the past for direction, but keep our focus squarely on the future!!
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