State of the Salmon Staff
Rich Lincoln, Director
Lucy Bernard, Deputy Director
Pete Rand, Ph.D., Senior Conservation Biologist
Randy Ericksen, Salmon Management Specialist
Mikhail (Mihael) Blikshteyn, Fisheries Biologist
Amber Gladieux, GIS Analyst
Director Rich Lincoln has 33 years of varied experience in fisheries research, management and policy in the Pacific Northwest as well as working on global fisheries sustainability. His professional interests have focused largely on salmon population conservation and its implications for managing harvests and hatchery programs, including the design of associated monitoring and evaluation programs. He recently returned to the U.S. after working as the International Policy Director for the Marine Stewardship Council in London, UK. Prior to that, he had a long association with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, starting as a field biologist working on salmon fishery and freshwater production evaluation studies, and then moving onto various research, management and policy leadership roles in the department. These roles included serving as bi-lateral chair of the Pacific Salmon Commission's Fraser Panel under the U.S.-Canada Salmon Treaty, leading development of Washington State's Wild Salmonid Policy and Wild Stock Initiative, and developing cooperative management arrangements with Northwest treaty Indian tribes. Rich brings strong dedication and collaborative innovation to ensuring that best available science is used to underpin and improve fishery resource policy and management.
Deputy Director Lucy Bernard has been with Wild Salmon Center since 2004, joining the State of the Salmon team as Deputy Director in 2011. Previously, as Director of Grant Programs, she was instrumental in building WSC's development program. Over the past two decades she has had the privilege of collaborating with a number of outstanding organizations and community leaders to develop and fund innovative projects to address environmental, social and economic challenges, including facilitating the founding of a national coalition of immigrant worker organizations. She earned her B.S. in Biology from Cornell University and has eight years of experience in biological research and salmon data management. Working for the Wild Salmon Center has provided fertile ground for Lucy to couple her roots in biology with a strong strategic sensibility and program management skills developed over her years of experience in community organizing and development. Lucy is fluent in Spanish and enjoys coaching her daughter's soccer team and engaging in various outdoor pursuits with her family.
Senior Conservation Biologist Peter Rand, Ph.D. brings to the program 20 years of experience in basic and applied aquatic ecology, with a focus on fisheries science, management, and conservation. Peter is a graduate of Colgate University and received his master's and doctoral degrees from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Peter was a postdoc at the University of British Columbia from 1995-1997 and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Zoology at North Carolina State University from 1997 to 2003. Peter has authored over 25 peer-reviewed journal articles, two book chapters, and numerous other publications. He has conducted work in a wide variety of ecosystems, including the Laurentian Great Lakes, the Caribbean Sea, and coastal and montane river systems in the southeastern United States. In recent years he as focused his attention on Pacific salmon river ecosystems in British Columbia, Alaska, Russia and Japan. Peter currently holds the position as the Red List Authority Focal Point for the IUCN Salmonid Specialist Group.
Salmon Management Specialist Randy Ericksen brings over 25 years of experience working in the areas of salmon stock assessment, monitoring, escapement goal evaluation and run forecasting. He worked for Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Sport Fish Division in its Southeast Region gaining strong, applied experience – finishing his tenure at ADFG with oversight for management and research activities in the Haines/Skagway area. One specific example of his work was leading a study and recommendations to reduce Chinook bycatch in high profile sockeye and chum drift gillnet fisheries in the area. More recently, Randy worked for an Oregon consulting firm as a senior fisheries scientist where he evaluated salmon habitat and habitat development projects, including using salmon life cycle analysis in the Klamath River basin to assess water diversion activities on listed coho salmon. Randy’s work with the Wild Salmon Center provides scientific and technical support to develop new salmon conservation policies and management practices around the Pacific Rim.
Fisheries Biologist Mikhail (Mihael) Blikshteyn was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, grew up in New York City, but has called Juneau, Alaska his home for the past ten years. Mihael's fisheries experience includes groundfish, shellfish, and salmon work in Alaska and California, and has taken him from commercial fishing vessels in the Bering Sea to subsistence boats in East Africa. He has spent the last three years in Alaska on the board of directors of a non-profit organization working to promote sustainable practices in Alaska and raise awareness about the interdependence of people and the ocean. In his spare time, Mihael's passion for photography turned into a creative photography business specializing in lifestyles, fisheries, tourism and conservation issues. He is very excited to have found an organization that allows him to combine his fisheries background, enthusiasm for conservation work, and ability to use his Russian language skills.
GIS Analyst Amber Gladieux came to the Wild Salmon Center in May 2009. She holds a Graduate Certificate in GIS from Portland State University, a Bachelor's Degree in Recreation from the University of Idaho, and an Associate's degree in Fish and Wildlife Management from Hocking College in Ohio. In her spare time Amber likes to explore Portland by bike, snowboard, canoe, travel and go camping in the great Northwest.
Salmon illustrations by Kate Spencer
Site design by Andrew Fuller (Ecotrust)
Menus by TwinHelix Designs