Professor of Fisheries in the Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife. Research interests include population dynamics of fishes in large lakes, biochronology, the study of environmental histories of fishes as recorded in their calcified structures, and conflict resolution related to fishery management.
E-Mail: GRS@finsandfur.fw.umn.edu
Voice Phone: (612) 624-9229 Also attended by voicemail
Main Office: (612) 624-3600 Also attended by voicemail
FAX: (612) 625-5299
Biographical sketch
A native of northern California, I spent my summers in the northern Sierra Nevada and Coast Range mountains. I intended to follow a career in forestry until I discovered the profession of fishery biology. Pursuing a bachelor's degree at Humboldt State College (1960-'64, now Humboldt State University), I enjoyed summer jobs in Yellowstone Park and coastal Oregon. These introduced me to field biology with cutthroat trout and marine invertebrates. After graduation, my wife, Kay and I moved our family to Ontario, where I studied maskinonge in my Master's program with Prof. F.E.J. Fry, and sea lamprey and lake whitefish during my Doctoral research with Prof. H. A. Regier. In nearly ten years of research with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources I developed an appreciation of the fishery potential of the Great Lakes and an awareness of the vulnerability of the lakes to anthropogenic stresses. Moving to Minnesota in 1978, I joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota as a successor to Prof. Loyd L. Smith, Jr. Here, I have pursued research into the effects of exotic fishes on endemic fauna, freshwater fishery management, population dynamics of fishes in large lakes, and, most recently, the biochronology of freshwater fishes.
Encapsulation of Professional Interests
My most recent research has focussed on biochronology, the piscine analogue of dendrochronology, that is, a characterization of the environmental history of fishes as recorded in their own calcified structures. Application of this technology to the problem of age determination in fishes has led to the development of the "temporal signature" methods for assigning ages to fish from otoliths, scales and other bony structures. Our biochronology research group is currently working on further applications of these techniques to lake trout and shallow-water cisco of Lake Superior, stock discrimination in the ruffe, and freshwater fish ecology in walleye rearing ponds, in the Red Lakes, and in the Great Lakes. We are also attempting to apply biochronology to an archaeometric study with freshwater drum remains from an archaeological site in the Minnesota River valley. In the next few years we hope to use biochronologies of fishes to establish holarctic indices of change in the aquatic environment through collaboration with colleagues in Canada, the U.S., Russia, the U.K. and Scandinavia.
In addition to the areas in which I have conducted original research, I have been especially interested in general issues in fishery management, including impacts of exotic fishes and conflict resolution. Some of these interests have prompted me to write essays that have appeared in publications directed at non-technical audiences.
Click here for my detailed professional interests home page
Avocational Interests
When our four children graduated from high school, Kay and I moved to Vadnais Heights, a northern suburb of Saint Paul, where we enjoy the change of seasons on Vadnais Lake. The spring and fall bird migrations and waterfowl nesting around Vadnais Lake belie the urban surroundings in our neighborhood. Favorite outdoor activities include fly fishing for trout, photography, golf, and bird hunting for grouse and woodcock, especially with the Lady and the Tramp (my Pudelpointer and our English Cocker Spaniel).
Reading, fly tying, bread-making, game cookery and woodworking are also favorite pursuits. An errant turn toward poetry was short-lived, for reasons that will be apparent if you follow the link. My favorite fly pattern is the Rio Grande King bucktail illustrated here in a size 12. I like it because it doesn't imitate anything in particular, it's highly visible, and it fishes just as well wet as it does dry. In the past few years we have enjoyed travelling to the Rocky Mountain west, Alaska, Russia and Germany.
Other Places in Webspace
Lou Botsford has some helpful software for age and growth analysis, and the National Institutes of Health have provided an excellent downloadable software package, "Image," for all kinds of image analysis with microcompters.
For an interesting ride on your surfboard, have a look at Russia and some sites in the northern Urals too! The dendrochronology thing is also being done at Arizona, and at Lamont-Doherty.
Go to my 'professional interests' web site .
