Blake E. Feist

Background

Blake has been studying and fascinated by fishes since high school. His research interests have ranged from laboratory studies of gymnotid ethology and electrophysiology, to modeling spatial patterns of anadromous salmonid, groundfish, and cetacean populations at landscape scales. Prior to his arrival at the NWFSC, his studies have included fish population differences in resistance to low pH, and juvenile anadromous salmonid audiology and ethology. He has applied the principles of landscape ecology to characterize patterns and processes in invaded estuaries; develop estuarine restoration site ranking protocols; characterize vegetation change in breached dike estuarine wetlands; assess potential dike-breach restoration sites in estuarine wetlands; and generate an inventory of breached dike estuarine wetlands along the Washington, Oregon, and California coast. Blake has a B.S. in Zoology (University of Wisconsin-Madison,1986), an M.S. in Fisheries (University of Washington, 1991), and a Ph.D. in Fisheries (University of Washington, 1999).

Current Research

In his current position, Blake studies macro-scale linkages between sea- and land-scapes and the organisms they contain. Like most aquatic ecologists, he is interested in the interactions between organisms and their surroundings, but he is most interested in the higher-level patterns that emerge when applying a landscape ecology approach. Coupling these broad patterns with those observed at finer spatial grains affords a richer story concerning the world's complex marine and freshwater ecosystems

Curriculum vitae (PDF, 15 pages)