Hello from Devon!
Devon kayaking the Kaweah River, 2023
I am beyond excited to join the amazing Friends of the River team as their new Lead Scientist! I was born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA, and am lucky to still live there in the house I grew up in. I come from a family of biologists, so family time meant going out into the intertidal with my dad’s marine biology field classes, snorkeling or diving to help him collect samples, chasing snakes and lizards, and learning about biology, science, and nature. It was a fantastic childhood!
Devon guiding Troublemaker with FOR on the South Fork American, 2025
I love rivers! I have been a whitewater kayaker for more than 25 years. I first fell in love with rivers through whitewater kayaking while in graduate school in Athens, Georgia, paddling the creeks and rivers of southern Appalachia. Later I lived in Utah, gaining an appreciation for the stark beauty of red-rock desert rivers, big, multi-day river trips, and the dry landscapes of the intermountain west.
Back in California I have been challenged by the amazing whitewater in our state, from the big class V rapids of Sierra rivers like the Yuba, American, Tuolumne, and Feather, to my home run on the San Lorenzo River and the Carmel River (and after San Clemente Dam was removed). Rivers give us so much, it feels natural to want to give back by helping all our rivers continue to flow.
Pearse Scott Creek; Devon with a fish doing field work in Scott Creek, 2009
I am a Scientist: I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Ph.D. in population genetics from the University of Georgia. My early research focused mostly on freshwater turtles, first studying Painted Turtle mating behavior in the upper Mississippi River, and later researching population structure and movement of Giant Amazon River Turtles (I also conducted field work on crocodiles in the Oronoco River in Venezuela!).
Before coming to FOR, I was a federal scientist at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Science Center Fisheries Ecology Laboratory for more than 20 years, conducting research on genetics and life-history variation in Chinook salmon and steelhead/rainbow trout and the impacts that dams and water management practices have on migratory fish species.
I also provided scientific review to many organizations, including state and federal agencies, and technical working groups, on the management of fish populations in response to dynamically changing water conditions and policies, as well as serving the agency on species status reviews and listing decisions under the Endangered Species Act.
Devon E-fishing at Big Creek, 2022
I am an Advocate: Through my work I have become intimately aware of the many critical issues facing California’s rivers that affect fish, people, and the natural ecosystem processes that depend on them.
Now, I am excited to work with FOR’s amazing staff and our many partners as a passionate advocate communicating the importance of science-based protection and restoration of our California rivers!