say'ay' – John Eli Sirois

Committee Coordinator, Upper Columbia United Tribes
Monday, June 19th

John is Okanagan and Wenatchi of the Colville Confederated Tribes.  say’ay’ studied History at Dartmouth College, Public Administration from the University of Washington and traditional ways from his elders. Mr. Sirois spent 20 years at the Colville Tribes’ in cultural revitalization, renewable energy, policy and governance as former Council Chairman and Member. John facilitates issues through a committee process to achieve the UCUT Mission.  Mr. Sirois was the former Chair of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation and worked toward cultural connections, stewardship and use of traditional lands. Mr. Sirois currently focusses his work on reintroduction of salmon and addressing climate change impacts.  John approaches his work through the lens of cultural upbringing and applied science. John seeks to build a better future for all for generations to come.  You can find say’ay’ camping, hunting, hiking and salmon fishing with his family!

Dr. Futoshi Nakamura

Professor, Forest Ecosystem Management Laboratory, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University
Monday, June 19th

Dr. Futoshi Nakamura has played an active role not only in the field of application including forestry and ecological engineering, but also in the field of basic science including geomorphology and ecology. From 1990 to 1992, Dr. Nakamura was a visiting scholar and actively involved in LETR project in H. J. Andrew Experimental Forest. His major interest is the interactions in ecosystems such as connections of forests, rivers, and wetlands. He has studied this field from a perspective of watersheds including land use, and his activities extend over a wide range of fields. He serves as a member of editorial boards of international journals including Geomorphology, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Landscape and Ecological Engineering, Riparian Ecology and Conservation, and Environmental Science in Oxford Bibliographies. He holds several positions such as president of the Japanese Forest Society; vice president of the Ecology and Civil Engineering Society; member of the Central Environmental Council; member of the Nature Restoration Promotion Conference; president of the Nature Restoration Committee for Kushiro Wetland, leader of River Construction Advisory Panel of Shireto World Heritage Site.

Dr. Paul T. Jacobson

Senior Technical Leader, Electric Power Research Institute
Tuesday, June 20th

Paul T. Jacobson is a Senior Technical Leader at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). He manages research related to ocean energy and environmental aspects of hydropower.

Dr. Jacobson’s research activities at EPRI encompass assessment of technologies and resource potential related to marine and hydrokinetic power generation, and assessment and mitigation of effects of electricity generation on aquatic ecosystems.

His professional work over the past 25 years has focused on environmental assessment in aquatic ecosystems, most often related to electric power generation and especially hydropower. Prior to joining EPRI in 2009, he worked in the environmental consulting arena, most recently for 13 years as the founder and principal scientist of Langhei Ecology, LLC.

For 17 years Dr. Jacobson was a faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, teaching graduate courses on ecological assessment and landscape ecology. He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in oceanography and limnology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a B.A. degree in biology from Cornell University.

Dr. Tony Farrell

Professor, University of British Columbia
Tuesday, June 20th

Dr. Tony Farrell is a Canada Research Chair (Tier I) and Professor at the University of British Columbia located in Vancouver, Canada. His expertise and research emphasis are in cardiorespiratory physiology.  He has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers in this area, with a recent emphasis thermal physiology and the role it will play in the biogeographic distribution of fishes. Farrell’s research group has pioneered studies of exercise performance and physiological recovery both in the laboratory and field.  He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.  He has received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Göteborg, Sweden and the highest awards given by the Canadian Society of Zoologists (Fry Medal), the Fisheries Society of the British Isles (Beverton Medal) and the American Fisheries Society (Award of Excellence).  He has also received the Murray A. Newman Awards from the Vancouver Aquarium and Marine Science Centre for Aquatic Research & for Conservation, as well as Awards of Excellence from the American Fisheries Society for Fisheries Management & Conservation and for Fish Physiology.   He is the series co-editor for the treatise Fish Physiology and was editor-in-chief for the award-winning Encyclopedia of Fish Physiology.  Also, he is currently an Assistant Editor with the Journal Fish Biology and a Section Editor with Aquaculture.

Dr. Kurt D. Fausch

Professor, Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University
Wednesday, June 21st

Kurt Fausch is a professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University, where he has taught for 35 years.  His research collaborations in stream fish ecology and conservation have taken him throughout Colorado and the West, and worldwide, including to Hokkaido in northern Japan.  His experiences were chronicled in the PBS documentary RiverWebs, and the recent book For the Love of Rivers: A Scientist’s Journey.   He has received lifetime achievement awards from the American Fisheries Society and the World Council of Fisheries Societies, and served as the acting director of the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State University.