California Sea Grant welcomes new monitoring program manager

The California Sea Grant Russian River Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Program is excited to welcome Laura Slater as their new Monitoring Program Manager.

Slater joins the northern California-based team after a recent relocation from Alaska, where she completed her master’s degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and worked as a research program coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Slater is currently completing her PhD in fisheries through UAF.

Her diverse background in marine and aquatic research is an asset to the Russian River Salmon and Steelhead team. Slater will oversee the program’s daily operations and activities, provide high-level coordination of monitoring and research projects supporting salmon and steelhead recovery, and assist with program planning and contract management.

"I am a recent California transplant and excited to work with local coho salmon and steelhead trout in the Russian River watershed,” said Slater. “I look forward to utilizing my diverse background in marine and aquatic research to contribute to the California Sea Grant Russian River Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Program and welcome the opportunity to work alongside such a dedicated team.”

For more than a decade, the California Sea Grant Russian River Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Program has conducted broad-scale monitoring and specialized research to help bring endangered salmonids back from the brink of extinction. The team monitors native salmon and steelhead at all life stages and works closely with partners to support salmonid recovery efforts throughout California’s Russian River watershed.

“We are very excited to have Laura join our team,” said program lead and California Sea Grant extension specialist Mariska Obedzinski. “Her experience and expertise in leading research programs is already proving to be a great benefit to the salmon and steelhead monitoring work that California Sea Grant conducts in the Russian River basin.”