Pub Talk on Salmon River

Salmon River estuary.\Photo courtesy of ODFW.

Long-time Oregon fisheries biologist Dan Bottom will be the featured speaker for Wednesday, March 11, edition of the OSU Science on Tap series.  The event takes place at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5) at the Rogue Brewery’s South Beach location (2320 S.E. Marine Science Dr.).  These talks are free and open to the public; food and drink are available from the Rogue.  They tend to fill up, so arriving early is advised.

Bottom’s topic is “Return of the Salmon’s River: Vulnerability and Resilience of a Small Coastal Watershed.”  Using the Salmon River as a microcosm, Bottom will discuss the evolution of management strategies over the past 40 years, and the ongoing efforts to restore the Salmon’s tidal wetlands and salmon populations.  He will point to the river system’s resilience and environmental health as hopeful signs, even as concern shifts to climate change and sea level rise.

Dan Bottom served as a fishery research biologist and project leader in state and federal government for 38 years, including 22 years with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Research Section in Corvallis and 16 years with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) in Newport.  At NOAA, Dan led an interdisciplinary research team investigating the ecology and life histories of juvenile Chinook salmon in the Columbia River estuary. In 2011 he co-authored an Oregon Sea Grant book examining the conservation future of Pacific Salmon species, "Pathways to Resilience: Restoring Salmon Ecosystems in a Changing World." Bottom retired from federal service at the end of 2015. He continues serving as a member of the Expert Regional Technical Group for the Columbia River estuary and as Courtesy Faculty at Oregon State University.