The Colorado River Fishery Project at Grand Junction employs nine full-time staff members and 1-8 seasonal technicians that assist with hatchery and fish-ladder operations as well as data collections efforts on the river.
Permanent staff
- Chuck McAda, Project Leader
- Bob Burdick, Fish Biologist
- Doug Osmundson, Fish Biologist
- Dale Ryden, Fish Biologist
- Emily Buchanan, Administrative Officer
- Thad Bingham, Fish Biologist
- Brian Scheer, Fish Biologist
- Rick Smaniotto, Fishery Technician
- Travis Francis, Fishery Technician
Chuck McAda – As part of his graduate research in the mid-1970s, Chuck conducted some of the earliest studies of the life history of the upper Colorado River native suckers, including the now-endangered razorback sucker. Chuck was one of the first biologists to work for the CRFP when it was established in 1979. He spent three years at the Vernal, Utah station before moving to the Grand Junction station in 1982. In 2003, Chuck became Project Leader of the Grand Junction CRFP. In addition to overseeing Project operations and supervising personnel, Chuck serves on the San Juan River Recovery Program Biology Committee, acts as Database Manager for the Upper Basin Recovery Program and continues to perform biological studies on the endangered fish. His interests and areas of expertise include humpback chub population monitoring, flow-habitat relationships for Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker in the Gunnison River.
Bob Burdick -
Following a graduate degree in Wildlife Science from Utah State University in 1979, Bob began his career with the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1979 in Vernal, Utah, and is one of the original biologists with the Colorado River Fishery Project which was established in 1979. His work in Vernal included surveying fish populations over 425 miles of the Green and Yampa rivers. In 1982, Bob transferred to the Grand Junction CRFP field station. Throughout his career, Bob has been involved with a myriad of fishery-related activities which include, 1) developing a stocking and augmentation plan for razorback suckers in the Upper Colorado and Gunnison rivers, 2) monitoring radio-tagged fish, 3) assessing post-stocking survival and distribution for domestic-propagated razorback sucker, 3) performing ichthyofaunal surveys of the Gunnison River, 4) performing a floodplain and bottomlands inventory of the Upper Colorado and Gunnison rivers, 5) evaluating various tagging and marking systems for endangered fishes, and 6) coordinating operation and maintenance of two man-made fish ladders on the Gunnison and Upper Colorado rivers, which requires constant collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation and three different irrigation companies. Bob has extensive experience with surgical implantation of various radio transmitters in Colorado River native fishes that include Colorado pikeminnow, humpback and roundtail chubs, and razorback sucker. This included devising and perfecting a new surgical technique for implanting transmitters with external antennae, which Bob presented and published in the International Symposium on Biotelemetry. Bob presently serves as a senior staff Fish Biologist. He currently is involved with performing mechanical removal of non native, centrarchid fishes in 110 miles of the Upper Colorado and Lower Gunnison rivers and assessing the efficacy of this removal method. Bob also has the lead for ensuring that all station field equipment is maintained and is versed in constructing and trouble shooting station electrofishing boats and rafts.
Doug Osmundson - Graduate studies at Utah State University brought Doug to Grand Junction in 1983 to study largemouth bass predation on Colorado pikeminnow. He was hired as a Fish Biologist by the CRFP in 1986. His studies have included: experimental use of gravel-pits as grow-out ponds for hatchery produced Colorado pikeminnow; radiotelemetry of Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker to determine spawning movements and patterns of seasonal habitat use; evaluating effects of river regulation on maintenance of habitats critical to Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker in the Colorado River. From 1991 to the present, Doug has monitored status and trends of adult Colorado pikeminnow in the upper Colorado River, working with Dr. Kenneth Burnham at Colorado State University to develop annual estimates of population abundance. Recently, he has worked on experimentally removing largemouth bass from Colorado River backwaters, monitored the effect of fine sediment on aquatic insect biomass, and studied sexual size dimorphism (difference in size of males and females) in Colorado pikeminnow.
Dale Ryden – Dale began his career with Fish and Wildlife Service in May of 1990 as a Biological Technician. After three summers as a seasonal employee, he was hired as a Fish Biologist and became responsible for overseeing CRFP's field studies in the San Juan River basin (as part of the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program). Dale works collaboratively with biologists from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Nation, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Region 2 of the Fish and Wildlife Service and several consulting firms. Dale's responsibilities range across a number of areas including: 1) the augmentation and monitoring of the San Juan River's endangered fish populations; 2) annually monitoring the riverwide distribution and abundance of the entire large-bodied fish community in the San Juan River; 3) performing and analyzing the effects of nonnative fish removal operations; 4) determining habitat use and preference and locating spawning areas of both stocked and wild razorback sucker and Colorado pikeminnow via radio-telemetry. Dale has extensive experience in the use of both rafts and motorized boats (jet- and prop-driven) in western rivers. Dale also has extensive experience in performing boat-mounted electrofishing, seining, PIT-tagging, radio transmitter implantation, radio-telemetry (i.e., 'radio tracking'), harvesting fish from grow-out ponds, and transporting and stocking endangered fishes. He has published two peer-reviewed papers on his work in the San Juan River basin along with numerous agency reports, augmentation plans, and a genetics management plan. He also cooks a mean chicken enchilada casserole and loves to play ammo can!
Emily Buchanan – Emily is responsible for providing and managing a variety of administrative activities essential to the direction and operation of the Project. She administers the annual budget, oversees purchasing, is responsible for payroll for station personnel, initiates personnel actions, prepares travel vouchers and assists employees on various administrative matters. She serves as the office computer network administrator and provides training and assistance on numerous complex software programs and hardware components.
Thad Bingham– After completion of his Bachelor of Science, Thad was hired as a seasonal Biological Technician for the CRFP from 1997 to 1999. Later in 1999, Thad was hired as a full-time Fish Biologist. Along with Brian Scheer, his primary responsibilities include management of captive reared razorback sucker broodstock and an annual production and distribution of 15,000 intensively reared razorback sucker. Thad has also developed improved spawning and rearing techniques for intensively reared razorback sucker.
Brian Scheer – Brian began his career with the Colorado Division of Wildlife in 1987 as a seasonal/temporary cold-water fish culturist. In 1996, upon completion of his Bachelor of Science degree, Brian started work with the Grand Junction CRFP as a Biological Technician. Brian then went to work for the Colorado Division of Wildlife as a full-time cold water fish culturist in 1999. In 2003 Brian was hired as a Fish Biologist for the Grand Junction CRFP. Along with Thad Bingham, his primary responsibilities include the management and operation of the CRFP 24-Road Endangered Species Fish Hatchery. This includes management of captive reared razorback sucker broodstock and an annual production and distribution of 15,000 intensively reared razorback sucker.
Rick Smaniotto – Rick has worked at both the Vernal and Grand Junction CRFP field stations as a Biological Technician. He came to Grand Junction in 2000. Rick oversees the rearing of razorback suckers in grow-out ponds and serves as crew leader for a variety of field studies. He assists with hatchery operations throughout the year, maintains detailed property and purchasing records, and acts as the Safety Officer for the project.
Travis Francis – Travis began work for the Grand Junction field office in 2003 as a seasonal Biological Technician and was given fulltime status in 2004. Travis assists biologists at the 24 Road Fish Hatchery and keeps track of paired matings of razorback sucker. He is currently involved in analyzing fish capture data from the Colorado, Gunnison and Green rivers to determine growth and survival of stocked razorback sucker and bonytail. He is also involved in managing all of the Upper Colorado River Recovery Program Data and importing it into Microsoft Access (a program that can handle the large volume of data). Travis also assists station biologists with field data collection for a variety of projects, serving as a crew leader for seasonal biological technicians. Lastly, Travis administers and manages the SAMMS (Service Asset Maintenance Management System) database for the office in addition to being a purchasing officer.
