TRRP Staff

Aaron has been working in the Trinity and Klamath Basin for 20 years with the Yurok Tribe.  Aaron received his bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology from Dalhousie University all way back east in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  That’s right, hes a Canuck….eh!   Aaron moved out West in 1999 and was fortunate to work in various fisheries related positions with ODFW, EPA, and CDFW.  He’s worked around rivers in all the Western United States.  Aaron began working for the Yurok Tribe during the spring of 2002, the same year the fish kill occurred in the Lower Klamath.  He’s helped develop and co-lead the habitat assessment efforts on the Trinity since 2005.  He’s also been a primary member of the Trinity River Design Team since 2008, and has been assisting with onsite construction of Trinity River restoration projects (including wood instillation) since that time.  Aaron is an avid fisherman, both fresh and saltwater.  He also loves to hunt, float rivers, and chase his son up and down trails on their mountain bikes and calls Blue Lake his home.  

TRRP Role: Outmigrant monitoring and multiple TRRP work groups.

Brett has only recently joined the TRRP in the late summer of 2021. Brett possesses a degree from Humboldt State University in Fisheries Biology with both a marine and freshwater emphasis. After graduation he spent time working as a hydrologist and fisheries technician for the Pacific Lumber Company before moving on to work with Chinook escapement surveys in the Central Valley. After a brief time working for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (Department) Herring Project on San Francisco Bay, he joined the Marine Region’s Ocean Salmon Project as a port sampler. Brett then became the lead biologist on the Central Valley Scale Age Project where he developed a broad understanding of Central Valley Chinook and the management challenges unique to the hatcheries and rivers there. Brett then became an Environmental Scientist and eventually a Senior Supervisor with the Ocean Salmon Project, charged with oversight of California ocean salmon fisheries monitoring and management over the course of 10 years. In addition, Brett has extensive experience as a member of the multi-agency Klamath River Technical Team and the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Salmon Technical Team. Brett also has years of service as the Department’s representative on the Council. In that role he has negotiated and voted on behalf of the state’s interests related to multi-state, federal, and comanager salmon fishery policy and science under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Issues ranged from development and implementation of Endangered Species Act consultation standards, to harvest allocation and the setting of annual conservation objectives. Brett has also worked on a myriad of other Interagency Ecological Program and technical working groups associated with inland and ocean salmon fishery monitoring, evaluation, assessment, and policy. Brett is currently the Coastal Fisheries Program Manager for Department’s Northern Region. 

Chris was born and raised in northern California and has been visiting Trinity County since he was a teenager. Chris serves as the fish biologist/ecologist for the TRRP in the program's Science branch. Chris has worked on the Trinity River since 2015, previously serving as a fish biologist for the Yurok Tribe and a fisheries technician for the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Chris holds a B.S. in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology from the University of California, Davis and a M.S. in Aquaculture/Fisheries from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. In his free time, Chris enjoys taking friends and family fishing on one of the many watercraft available to him.

David Gaeuman joined the Yurok Tribe Fisheries Department in 2019 after 13 years as a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation employee in the Weaverville TRRP office. Prior to arriving in Weaverville in 2006, he spent 3 years conducting sediment transport research in the Missouri River with the U.S. Geological Survey and worked in stream monitoring and restoration throughout the mountain west while earning a master’s degree in stream geomorphology at the University of Montana and a Ph.D. from Utah State University.

TMC Representative (and Chair)

Elizabeth Hadley is the Deputy Area Manager at the California Great Basin Region’s Northern California Area Office.  In her capacity, Elizabeth oversees the natural resources, water and lands, safety, security, and administrative divisions.  Prior to joining Reclamation in 2017, she spent ten years with Redding Electric Utility where she ran the legislative, regulatory, and compliance programs, coordinated the Utility’s involvement in State and Federal regulatory proceedings, interacted with State and Federal legislators, and directed legal and consultant activities. Elizabeth has previously held positions managing the environmental compliance program at the Northern California Power Agency’s hydroelectric project on the Stanislaus River, and as a Park Ranger in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.  Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Management and a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources, both from Humboldt State University.

Elliot started working in the Weaverville office of the TRRP in late October 2022.  He spent his youth as a city slicker living just outside of Detroit, content to stay on the pavement.  Through a twist of fate Elliot was offered a job working for Katmai National Park and Preserve in Brooks Camp as a maintenance mechanic and later as a utilities operator.  There Elliot discovered the splendor of the natural world living amongst 1400lb brown bears, moose and an abundant sockeye salmon run.  Elliot was instrumental in expanding the parks facilities and building new infrastructure all the while managing the difficult logistics that Alaska brings.  A few hundred fish-landings later, Elliot is excited to bring his experience and passion to Weaverville as an engineering technician.

I am passionate about the recovery and conservation of wild salmon and trout through fostering river ecosystem self-renewal. I have experience since 2012 in multiple facets of applied natural resource science where I’ve specialized in fisheries biology, stream geomorphology, ecohydrology, watershed revegetation restoration, research science, project management, and logistics coordination. I earned my B.A. in Environmental Studies from Hendrix College (2010) in my home-state, Arkansas, and my M.S. in Natural Resource Science from Humboldt State University (2017) in Arcata. Specifically, much of my professional experience is focused on coastal watershed, instream, and wetland restoration, fish habitat assessment and capacity modeling, juvenile salmonid growth and survival, using hydraulic-flow relationships for ecological risk assessments in streams, and broader linkages between river geomorphology, hydrology, and biology. I utilize ground-based and geospatial scientific methods for explaining natural processes and interactions. Much of my work has taken place throughout the Eel River and Klamath-Trinity River watersheds, aiming to inform water resource and fisheries management. My involvement with the TRRP through the Yurok Tribe has mostly consisted of Trinity River juvenile habitat assessment, juvenile growth assessment in thermally diverse habitats, and participating in the Flow Workgroup. In my free time, I love backpacking, camping, surfing, ocean and trout fishing, river rafting, river snorkeling, bike trips, traveling, and finding myself in the next adventure with my husband and two dogs. I also spend a lot of time gardening! I love growing food and flowers, and making bouquets for my community in Bayside. I’m constantly in awe and inspired by the beautiful northern California area I get to call home.

Eric grew up in Weaverville, hiking in the Trinity Alps and exploring East Weaver Creek. A natural biologist from an early age, he completed a B.S. in biology and botany at Humboldt State University in 1995, and a Ph.D. at Oregon State University in 2000 in plant ecology with a focus on lichens and forestry. Eric worked as the vegetation ecologist for State of Nevada’s Natural Heritage Program for about 8 years, covering all corners of the state and developing techniques for mapping invasive annual grasses with satellite imagery. Eric and his wife decided to raise their kids in Trinity County, returning in 2007. Eric joined TRRP in 2009 to manage Trinity River data and coordinate its use across the many offices of our partnership but also works with a focus on river ecology and is conducting a study of algae growth in the river and tributaries.

Eric maintains his interest in lichens on the side as a Research Associate of the California Academy of Sciences, and he chaired the California Lichen Society’s conservation committee for over 20 years.  Meanwhile, Eric continues to hike the Trinity Alps and is an active member of Trinity County Search and Rescue. Eric is also on ResearchGate.

A Minnesota native, Galen left his home state in 1981 and made a career in the Air Force. After 27 years of service, he returned to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in Biological Systems Engineering from UC Davis. He came on board with the Forest Service as an intern hydrologist in 2015. The rugged terrain, trees, creeks, wildlife, quiet, and night sky make him feel at home here.

TRRP Role: TMC Representative.

Jeanne McSloy has been with the TRRP for almost ten years, beginning as a Biological Science Technician with the Pathways Internship Program, and progressing to Natural Resource Specialist, providing field and office support for both the science and implementation branches as well as environmental compliance, land surveying, and ArcGIS analysis and mapping. 

TRRP role: Habitat Effectiveness Monitoring Group

Justin has worked on the Trinity River since 2006. He earned his B.S. in Wildlife Management and M.S. in Fisheries from Humboldt State University. Justin spent many summers working at a Boy Scout camp in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range teaching kids about the outdoors, and a couple summers working for the USFS in New Mexico before finding his way to the Hoopa Tribal Fisheries Department. His work primarily focuses on salmonid habitat. Many of his projects require working out of a raft on the Trinity River. To diversify his activities, in his off time he chooses to raft other rivers with his family and friends.

Justin has worked in the Klamath Basin since 2003 and got more involved with the Trinity River in 2016. After earning his bachelor’s degree in marine biology from UC Santa Cruz, Justin worked for the California Department of Fish and Game in Rancho Cordova collecting salmon data and tissue samples throughout the Sacramento Valley tributaries. After the fun field work, Justin buckled down and has been spending the next twenty-three years in Federal service working for the USFWS in Sacramento, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Yreka, and now NOAA Fisheries in Arcata, California. He has been with NOAA Fisheries in Arcata since 2008. As the North Coast branch supervisor, Justin enjoys collaborating with partners to recover imperiled fish species and restore habitat. He and his family are passionate about conservation. From the frequent sharing of salmonid updates with his family, his kids regularly call him "coho." In his spare time, Justin loves playing basketball and volleyball with friends and family, watching good movies, and working on home improvement projects. He and his family enjoy hikes at local community forests, Redwood National Parks, Ma-le'l Dunes to relax and recharge. Family trips to spend the day hanging out in the Trinity River have always been particularly special. 

TRRP Role: TMC Representative

I was born and raised on Long Island, just outside of New York City, and have always been interested in ecological sciences, particularly marine biology and fisheries. I would say my fisheries career began in 2005, while I was in high school, when I attended a summer program at the Acadia Institute of Oceanography in Maine learning basic field techniques in marine science. The next summer, I worked on my first true research project at Stony Brook University’s Marine Science Research Center investigating the environmental origins of the Quahog clam parasite QPX via eDNA processing. I then attended the University at Buffalo, graduating in 2012 with a BS in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Ecology and Evolution and a minor in Geology. Soon after graduating, I found myself in the remote wilderness of Kodiak Island, AK working for the Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association (KRAA) monitoring Pacific Salmon populations and working at their hatchery facilities. This was the beginning of my salmon-centric career path. I spent the next 2 years bouncing around Washington, Oregon, and Alaska working various salmon related field and hatchery positions, gaining valuable experience and insights into the research and management of Pacific Salmon. During this period, I decided I needed to augment my growing field skills with additional academic coursework focused specifically on fisheries. So, in 2014, I enrolled at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (SAFS) at the University of Washington and in just over a year earned another BS degree. While at SAFS, I worked with scientists at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center on a post-dam removal anadromous salmon recolonization project for my capstone research and volunteered on a University of British Columbia led research project investigating the effects of stream habitat structure on juvenile salmonid growth rates and condition factors. I also worked part-time at Wild Salmon Seafood Market in Seattle, gaining insight into the commercial side of the fisheries industry. After another summer season in Alaska running remote monitoring camps and performing hatchery duties for KRAA, I joined Dr. Jonathan Moore’s Salmon Watersheds Lab at Simon Fraser University (SFU). My MSc thesis work was focused on estuary community ecology, specifically the identification of nursery habitats and the effects of saltwater intrusion on fish community assemblages in the Koeye River estuary on the Central Coast of British Columbia. While working on my thesis, I also managed field operations for the Koeye River Salmon Ecosystems Research Project, a collaborative initiative between SFU, the Heiltsuk Nation, and the Hakai Institute, and after I defended my thesis in early 2020, I was hired on as the Project Manager. I stayed with the Koeye Project until July 2021 when I was brought on by the Hoopa Valley Tribe (HVT) into my current position as the Fisheries Management Division Lead. Here in Northern California, I look forward to working with HVT to strengthen their fisheries, revive dwindling salmon stocks, improve hatchery practices, and restore degraded habitats.

TRRP Role: TMC Representative.

As a fourth generation Humboldt County native, Ken is proud to focus his career and expertise on restoring local ecosystems. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in human evolution and evolutionary psychology from U. C. Santa Barbara, he hiked, backpacked, and rock climbed his way through the natural wonders of California and New Zealand before discovering the natural resources field. His career in the field began as a hydrology and water quality technician for the Yurok Tribe on the lower Klamath River through the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Program, followed by a second year as a fisheries technician for CDFW trapping, tagging, counting, and otherwise enamored by salmon and steelhead in small coastal streams of Humboldt County. After several years as a field technician he returned to school and obtained an M.S. in Fisheries from Humboldt State University in 2014. He spent the next two years working as a quantitative ecologist in the consulting industry largely focused on experimental design and analysis of wildlife populations associated with the alternative energy sector. In 2017 he returned to CDFW to assume a coordinator role with TRRP, where he serves on several technical work groups and provides field and analytical support for various science projects. In his free time, you might find Ken standup paddle boarding or rafting the Trinity River, exploring nature across the West with his wife, or designing and building furniture.

Kiana began working with the TRRP crew in the summer of 2022 as the office Secretary. You might encounter her friendly voice and welcoming smile when visiting or calling our office. Her background is in graphic design, marketing, project management and straight up organization. Kiana is a west coast girl who fell for a midwestern guy and has left her heart in all places she's lived. She lives in Weaverville with her husband and two children and enjoys hiking, boating, swimming, foraging, art (especially fashion), vegetables, rainbows, granite peaks and deep crystal clear waters.

TRRP Role: TMC Representative.

Max was born in Santa Cruz, CA and spent most of his childhood fishing around sloughs, trapping crayfish and bullfrogs, hiking Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park looking for steelhead in tributaries to the San Lorenzo River, fishing high Sierra streams and lakes for trout, and surfing. Max spent a lot of his youth at his cousin Dave’s sawmill in Grass Valley, CA. Max received his B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo in 2014 and his M.S. in Fisheries Biology from Humboldt State University in 2020. Max has worked throughout the Klamath basin on freshwater ecology projects including Upper Klamath Lake redband trout utilization of thermal refugia habitats with OSU and his thesis project on the re-establishment of coho salmon to tributary streams within the Klamath Hydroelectric Reach. Max serves on multiple workgroups for the TRRP as well as the Hatchery Technical Team.

TRRP Role: Alternate Representative on the TMC for the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service

I have spent a great deal of time exploring the north coast as a student, outdoor enthusiast, and employee of multiple agencies and private consultants. After graduating from HSU for the second time, I gained employment with the USFS in northeastern Washington as a District Fisheries Biologist but longed for a return to the challenge of addressing the multitude of issues facing anadromous fisheries. To that end, I accepted an opportunity in 2016 to join NMFS’ famed Interior Columbia Basin Office in Ellensburg, Washington. Under the guidance of my experienced NMFS cohorts I made the transition from field crew lead to Section 7 consulting biologist. My time in the Columbia Basin was a grand adventure as I explored the intricacies of the ESA as well as the basin itself from British Columbia to Hood River. Although I grew up in the Sierra foothills I was always drawn to the tremendous rivers and fisheries of California’s north coast and leapt at the chance to return there with an opening in NMFS North Coast Branch in 2019. With extensive cooperation and guidance from multiple TRRP and NMFS personnel, I was the primary author of the Biological Opinion for the TRRP’s Mechanical Channel Rehabilitation, Sediment Management, Watershed Restoration, and Monitoring Actions. I look forward to engaging with the TRRP and partners in implementing the program for years to come. I enjoy fishing, mountain biking, whitewater boating, and spending time with family.

Seth has been with the California Department of Water Resources since 2000.  He spent 14 years doing groundwater and geologic investigations and then transferred in 2014 to managing the engineering studies section of the Northern Region Office.  At that time, he got involved with the Trinity River and the TRRP.  He manages the team of engineers who are on all the TRRP working groups and he is part of the IDT,  While getting his degree from Humboldt State he focused on fisheries restoration and is excited to be using his background and working in the restoration field.  In his spare time, Seth runs his family’s orchard and he and his wife are raising three boys.

Seth was born in Oregon, but grew up in Pittsburgh, PA (Go Steelers!). Seth grew up fishing in every stream, ditch, river, pond or lake he possibly could. Among other proud achievements, at the age of ten he used fishing line with a hook and a worm tied to a remote-control car to pull trout out of a pond. He became an avid kayaker and rafter soon after high school, eventually spending time running rivers throughout the western US. He earned a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from Oregon State University in 2001. Upon moving to Humboldt County, Seth worked for the Yurok Tribe for about five years, performing data collection and studies on the Klamath and Trinity rivers. During that time, he earned an M.S. in Fisheries Biology in 2008 from Humboldt State University. He began working in his current position for the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2008. Seth participates in several of the TRRP’s work groups, the Trinity River Hatchery Technical team, and is an alternate on the TMC. He is a longtime resident of Humboldt County, where he enjoys hunting and fishing and kayaking.

TRRP Role: Service representative for the Riparian and Aquatic Ecology Workgroup (and former representative for the Fish Workgroup)

TRRP Role: TMC Representative.

Taylor earned her B.S. in Marine Science from the University of Delaware, with a minor in Public Policy in 2015. After graduating, Taylor worked for Delaware Fish and Wildlife as a biological aide on Delaware’s Juvenile Trawl Survey.  Through this work Taylor gained experience in fishery independent data collection, as well as age and growth techniques. Her master’s work at the University of Southern Mississippi focused on the biostatistical and fishery characteristics of Atlantic Chub Mackerel (Scomber colias) from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions. Taylor joined the USFWS as a fish biologist in 2018. Taylor is lead on the Klamath Temperature Monitoring project and team lead on the annelid monitoring survey.

My name is Tim Hayden, Deputy Executive Director of Natural Resources for the Yurok Tribe.  I graduated from Humboldt State University, Fisheries’ Department in 1997, with an emphasis in anadromous fisheries habitat restoration and instream flow management. I have worked for the Yurok Tribe for the last 26 years, serving as a fisheries biologist and supervisor, and now in the Executive Department of the Yurok Tribe.  Since my hiring, I have worked extensively on Klamath and Trinity River instream flow issues, fish population monitoring, habitat restoration, land acquisition, and forest carbon management initiatives.  In this role, I have served on Trinity River Management Council policy guidance group, and led TRRP technical workgroups, including; the TRRP Flow Workgroup, and TRRP Fish Workgroup.  In 2015, I was promoted to the Natural Resources Division Lead, directing all Yurok natural resources department and programs, including Yurok Fisheries, Forestry, Watershed Restoration, Environmental, and Wildlife Departments.  In addition, I oversee a growing Yurok Wildland Fire Department to promote tribal prescribed burning, fuels management, and wildfire prevention on tribal lands.   In December 2019, I was appointed Deputy Executive Director of Natural Resources, and continue to work on land acquisition, resources management planning, environmental compliance, and carbon project management on about 59,000 acres of recently purchased Yurok lands.  In addition, I currently serve on the CAL Fire Native American Advisory Committee (NAAC), and the CAL Fire Northern Regional Prioritization group (NRPG).  I have also served on the Sacramento River Temperature Task Group (SRTTG), and the CA Air Resources Board’s (CARB), Carbon Offsets Taskforce.  I live with my family in Hoopa, and enjoy playing guitar, kayaking, ATV riding, and hunting (but seldom fill my tags).

Todd works on flow and sediment issues on the Trinity River for the TRRP and is currently investigating flow effects on temperature stratification in river pools, development of an acoustic technique for bedload monitoring, and evolution of Rush and Indian creek deltas and their capacity for rearing juvenile Chinook salmon. Todd completed a four-year enlistment in the U.S. Coast Guard before starting his career in river and salmon restoration in 1994. His work has mainly focused on interties between sediment transport dynamics, streamflow, and biological populations in rivers in the Western U.S., Alaska, New York, and Costa Rica. Todd has earned a B.S. in Watershed analyses and restoration and an M.S. in Watershed Management from Humboldt State University and a Ph.D. in Water Resources from the University of Idaho. His academic research included developing and testing an equation that predicts entrainment of waterlogged wood in rivers, streambed packing effects on sediment mobility, relative stability of salmon redds and ambient streambed areas, and salmon spawning effects on hyporheic (groundwater) flow and marine nutrients from salmon in streams. Todd’s free time is preferably spent building wood structures of any kind and caring for the land where he lives along Browns Creek.

TRRP Role: Design and Flow Workgroup

Tyler grew up in Southern Illinois surrounded by corn fields and muddy rivers, but fell in love with fish, specifically salmonids, on weekend fishing trips with his family in Missouri’s spring fed rivers.  This interest in the outdoors was bolstered by many family vacations racking up miles on National Park road trips. Ty was interested in science and biology, but living in an agricultural region, believed his only career path in the field would be in medicine. Thankfully, during his undergraduate program at McKendree University, Ty’s advisor recommended him to field classes at the University of Michigan Biological Station. Here is where Ty’s passions and a career truly merged. He began spending his summers volunteering and working seasonally for the U.S. Forest Service, first surveying for Bull Trout in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Recreation Area and then assessing barriers for non-native Brown Trout removal in Utah’s Ashley National Forest. This experience led Ty to pursue his Masters in Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology with the USGS Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit at New Mexico State University. Ty’s thesis explored the effectiveness of management strategies for threatened Gila Trout in a fire prone system experiencing the effects of global climate change. Ty assessed the thermal limits for three lineages of the species and the effectiveness of repatriation stocking of a population extirpated by wildfire. Ty entered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through a Directorate Fellows Program internship collecting baseline habitat data for Rio Grande Sucker and Rio Grande Chub on the Baca National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado. Upon completion of this fellowship and his graduate degree, Ty was hired on permanently as a fish biologist at the Arcata office of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and is now the lead for the office’s Klamath Basin Juvenile Salmon Outmigrant Monitoring team. He is also a part of the USFWS Employee Ambassador Program for the Pacific Southwest and a co-chair of the FWS Pride Employee Resource Group. When not at work, Ty enjoys spending time with his fiancé, Dylan, and their gremlin of a dog, Smudge.

Veronica was born and raised in in the remote Sierra Nevada foothills. Growing up amongst granite in the gorgeously rugged Tahoe region, she’s always been more comfortable in the great outdoors than in concrete jungles. After earning a B.S. in Environmental Chemistry from UC Santa Cruz in 2014, she found herself on the North Coast, where she happily hung up her indoor-dooming lab coat for a career in ecological restoration. She lived and worked on California’s Lost Coast for almost 8 years, where she managed a native plant nursery, oversaw revegetation monitoring and invasive species removal, and gained experience with prescribed fire and public outreach. During this time, she co-authored a book to native plants of the Lost Coast, which is currently awaiting publication. Veronica works for HVT at the TRRP office and is involved with riparian revegetation implementation and design, and collaborates with several interagency workgroups. In her free time, she can be found writing about, photographing, hiking to, gardening with, or studying plants, typically far outside the tendrils of civilized society