Spring RBP Member/Partner Meeting

Spring Member/Partner Meeting

March 20th 3-5:30pm; Taprock Northwest Grill

Presentation to begin ~3:15PM; hang out 4 – 5:30PM

snacks provided, beverages for purchase

Get to know the oldest and most misunderstood fishes in North America – lampreys. We’ll explore the biology, diversity, and conservation of these fascinating ancient fishes. We’ll learn how lampreys start out as an eyelash-sized larva (ammocoete) and grow to the size of a pencil hidden in the stream bottom. How they filter the river’s water and mix the sediment like an earthworm. Then we’ll follow their journey, riding the flood downriver and out to sea where they ride fishes and whales along the coast. How they sniff out a good river and work their way upstream, climbing waterfalls along the way, to build a nest, spawn and die. We will also examine the conservation status of lampreys. How are they doing, what are their challenges, how do they fit into our activities on the land and in the water, and what can we do to ensure their long-term survival?

Stewart Reid, PhD, is an ichthyologist and conservation biologist based in the Rogue Valley. He has been working on fishes since he was 13 and has been working on systematics, ecology and conservation of lampreys for almost 20 years in the western North America from the Canadian border down into México. For the last 12 years he has been working as an independent biologist, specializing in the biology of freshwater fishes in western North America – including all the really charismatic overlooked species and leaving salmonids to everyone else. His work includes collaboration with agencies, tribes, local communities and landowners to promote the stewardship of fishes and aquatic communities.

Stewart is looking for an interactive audience, so come prepared!