Home > NOAA Internships > Monitoring the Migrations of Wild Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon Juveniles
Internship Opportunity

Monitoring the Migrations of Wild Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon Juveniles

Posted on: 02/09/2023
Research Area(s): Internships / Research

Summary / Description

This is a project working on ESA listed stocks of spring/summer Chinook salmon in their headwater streams of central Idaho, tagging chinook parr to monitor their behavior and survival. The project began in 1991 and is one of the longest running datasets for wild Chinook salmon. A group of scientists from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center travel to central Idaho from mid-July to late-August, camping in various remote locations throughout central Idaho ranging between Salmon and Stanley, Idaho. Around 1,000 fish are collected via electroshocking or seining equipment and tagged with PIT tags in up to 16 headwater streams throughout the Salmon River basin. Two electroshocking teams work several miles upstream each day collecting Chinook parr and quantifying other fish species encountered. Chinook parr are transported from electroshocking teams to a mobile tagging station where they are PIT-tagged and later released. Post-field work includes data management and statistical analysis in order to quantify survival and migrational patterns of out migrating juvenile Chinook.

Skills Required

Prospective students should:

  • Have an avid interest in fish ecology and field research
  • Be familiar with collection of growth metrics for fish (i.e., weight, length)
  • Have experience camping and working in various (sometimes extreme) weather conditions
  • Be prepared for physically demanding work (wading, hiking, carrying heavy equipment, etc.)
  • Be prepared for the possibility of flying in small aircraft ( used to access a couple remote sampling locations)
  • Be a team player and work well with others
  • Coursework in ecology and zoology helpful as is basic experience in collecting field data and laboratory procedures.
  • Have experience working in Excel, Word, and potentially statistical analysis and graphics

Type of Opportunity

Field Research, monitoring, data processing

Location

Remote or In-person:

In-person

Location:

NOAA Research Station Pasco, WA- Field Work in remote areas of central Idaho

Other Information

Intern Supervisor:

Gordon Axel, Jesse Lamb, Matthew Nesbit

Number of Slots Available:

3

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