The NASPS ballot has been sent out to members in good standing (2024 membership year) for the 2025-2027 Governing Board term. Please read the biography for each nominated candidate below.
NASPS 2024 Governing Board Election Bios
Candidate for President: Jason Schooley
Affiliation: Oklahoma Department of Wildlife and Conservation
Jason D. Schooley is a Senior Fisheries Biologist with Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC), where his position focuses on research, management, and conservation of paddlefish and native nongame fishes. His fisheries career began in 2003 as he studied endangered southwest fishes on the lower Colorado River. After the completion of his master’s degree from Arizona State University, he was hired by ODWC in 2010 as a paddlefish biologist and he lead the species’ management within the successful Paddlefish Research Center (PRC), which operated 2008-2023 and resulted in numerous collaborations and papers on the species. Upon the closure of the PRC, his program expanded focus from paddlefish to include the research and management of underappreciated native nongame fishes such as shovelnose sturgeon, American eel, buffalofishes, gars, and others. Jason has been a member of NASPS since 2015 and was elected to the Governing Board as a member at large in 2019, and later elected to Vice President, where he has served since 2022. Although Jason has big shoes to fill after his predecessors in the role, he looks forward to continued service to the society where his skills and insights can benefit paddlefish and sturgeons in the role of President.
Candidate for Vice President: Tim Haxton
Affiliation: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (retired)
I was fortunate to spend the majority of my career working on sturgeon, first at a local level then provincial, national and international. I was able to attend and fully participate in many sturgeon meetings as a member of their scientific advisory committee and editorial board for proceedings. I have been a member of WSCS since its inception in 2004, was a founding member and co-chair of NAC which further developed into its current society, NASPS. I volunteered as an editorial board member for the Journal of Applied Ichthyology for about 10 years and was their sturgeon subject for about 5 years until the journal was taken over. I have published sturgeon papers in scientific literature and have peer-reviewed many more. My specialty is population dynamics and assessment but have dabbled in quantitative genetic analyses. I recently retired from my government position after 37 years and now teach Fisheries Assessment and Management at Trent University among other adventures.
Candidate for Secretary: Jason Kahn
Affiliation: NOAA
My background is in marine ecology and since 2006, I have managed sturgeon for the National Marine Fisheries Service. As an undergraduate, I completed a double major in Marine Biology and Ecology. I went on to complete my Master’s in ecology at Michigan Tech University, estimating abundance and distribution of macroinvertebrates along the Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. I ultimately finished my Ph.D. at West Virginia University studying Atlantic sturgeon demographics in the Chesapeake Bay. I have managed threatened and endangered species with NMFS’ Office of Protected Resources since 2003. In 2006, I became our division’s sturgeon expert working on Atlantic, Gulf, green, and shortnose sturgeon. I am now the national Endangered Species Act Section 7 Training Coordinator, leading all ESA Interagency Cooperation Training nationwide, but remain our sturgeon expert. For the past 10 years, I have had 75% of my job devoted to regulations and policy, including helping to write the ESA section 7 joint NMFS and Fish and Wildlife Service regulations (50 CFR 402) with the other 25% of my annual job requirements allocated to sturgeon research activities. The cross-over between ESA training and sturgeon research has provided a platform to increase awareness of sturgeon-related issues as I use many of my field observations in the trainings I provide. I have served on the NASPS governing board, including as secretary for the past two years, and look forward to continuing to contribute in the future. I particularly think there is a greater role to be played by NASPS membership in helping to establish management and recovery strategies for threatened and endangered sturgeon.
Candidate for Treasurer: Molly Webb
Affiliation: USFWS, Bozeman Fish Technology Center
I am honored to be nominated for Treasurer of the North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society (NASPS). I am a founding member of the NASPS and was the NASPS President from 2014-2018 and the NASPS Treasurer from 2012-2014 and 2020-2024. I am currently the Secretary General for the World Sturgeon Conservation Society and a member of the IUCN Sturgeon Specialist Group. I have played an integral role in attaining the society’s nonprofit status, developing the Student and Early Career Professional Subunit, developing and maintaining the society’s website, planning and organizing the society’s virtual and in person annual meetings and virtual workshops, as well as maintaining the financial records and preparing tax reports for the society. The opportunities that the NASPS provides for dissemination of information, education, and professional development is extraordinary. I am proud to be a part of the NASPS community, and I appreciate your consideration as Treasurer of the NASPS for 2025-2026 so that I may continue to contribute to the conservation and restoration of sturgeons and paddlefish.
Candidates for Member at Large in Alphabetical Order
Candidate for Member at Large: Michael Andres
Affiliation: University of Southern Mississippi
Dr. Mike Andres is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Coastal Sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi. His research is largely focused around migratory fish management, conservation, ecology, and their parasites. Mike received his B.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University at Galveston and his PhD from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2015. His current research focusses on addressing data gaps in Gulf Sturgeon conservation and management, understanding Paddlefish populations in Mississippi’s coastal rivers, and the ecology of coastal fish species in relation to habitat restoration projects (e.g., living shorelines and oyster reefs). He is currently past president of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Fisheries Society and serves as student judging coordinator. He also played a significant role in organizing the 2024 NASPS in person meeting.
Candidate for Member at Large: James Crossman
Affiliation: BC Hydro
Thank you for considering me as a member at large for the Governing Board of the North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society. I have over 20 years of experience in the fisheries profession and have spent my entire career working on questions related to the recovery of sturgeon species. My research interests are in fundamental and applied questions related to understanding the ecology and life histories of threatened and endangered fish species. I’m passionate about advancing our understanding of biological processes in a framework that allows the science to be applied in decision making, ensuring environmental values and species conservation are prioritized in management decisions. Collaboration is the foundation for success in endangered species recovery, and I have direct experience implementing international recovery programs where legislative process and species listing statuses differ and committees are comprised with membership represented by multiple values. I have been on the NASPS board for 10 years, and during this time, we have been very successful in building engagement and momentum for NASPS including reaching record membership levels, holding successful scientific meetings and workshops, and contributing to World Sturgeon Conservation Society (WSCS) initiatives through collaboration and support at ISS and General Assembly meetings. I’m also a regional representative on the WSCS governing board and a member of the Sturgeon Specialist Group under IUCN. As a member at large, I will promote NASPS as a platform to discuss research, management, and conservation/protection strategies, stressing the importance of collaborative and interdisciplinary research efforts. I will continue to support planning of the NASPS annual meetings and ensure we provide workshops or webinars to tackle specific issues facing multiple species as well as significant barriers specific populations may be facing. Further, ensuring that a NASPS membership facilitates professional growth, especially for students and young professionals, remains another important personal goal and I look forward to continuing to keep the momentum NASPS has built in supporting student engagement in the society through collaboration opportunities with members and promoting student involvement at NASPS meetings. I appreciate your consideration as a member at large for the North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society and I look forward to contributing to this great society.
Candidate for Member at Large: Adam Fox
Affiliation: University of Georgia
Dr. Adam Fox is an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. He has been a member of the Warnell faculty since 2018, where he teaches and mentors undergraduate and graduate students. Adam’s research program focuses on the population dynamics, life history, and ecology of coastal and estuarine fishes – especially diadromous sturgeons. His lab studies the federally endangered Atlantic and Shortnose Sturgeon in Georgia and the threatened Gulf Sturgeon in Florida. He works closely with state and federal species managers to ensure that his research helps inform conservation and recovery efforts. Adam has been a member of NASPS since 2015.
Candidate for Member at Large: Laura Heironimus
Affiliation: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Laura Heironimus leads the Sturgeon, Smelt, and Lamprey Unit for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, bringing over a decade of experience working with sturgeon. Laura’s main responsibilities include facilitating research and monitoring of White and Green sturgeon populations in Washington waters to guide conservation and management efforts. Laura earned her Master of Science degree in Fisheries Science from South Dakota State University, where she developed a passion for sturgeon conservation through her thesis on development of a bioenergetics model for larval Pallid Sturgeon. After graduate school, Laura joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, researching White Sturgeon habitat use and spawning success in the California’s San Joaquin River. Laura has served on the NASPS Governing Board as a Member-at-Large since 2019 and is ready to offer another two years of service. She is eager to continue her work, building connections and engaging members in the Pacific Northwest, and across North America, to enhance sturgeon conservation efforts.
Candidate for Member at Large: Amanda Higgs
Affiliation: New York Department of Environmental Conservation
I work on NY’s Hudson River two species of sturgeon, Atlantic and shortnose since 2000. I currently serve as the Technical Committee chair for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the coastal managing body for Atlantic sturgeon and have been a Technical Committee member for over 10 years. Since 2006, I have been conducting an adult spawning stock survey for Atlantic sturgeon, one of the only surveys like this along the coast. In addition to management I am currently collaborating on many research projects such as developing an abundance for Hudson River shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon, modeling Atlantic sturgeon presence along the coast based on NASA satellite imagery, developing an index of abundance for spawning adult Atlantic sturgeon and examining the movement of shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon in NY Harbor.
Candidate for Member at Large: Mary Moser
Affiliation: NOAA (retired)
Dr. Mary Moser has worked with sturgeon nearly her entire career. In the 80s and 90s she researched shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon migration behavior and habitat use in North Carolina. During this time she served on the Shortnose Sturgeon Recovery and helped develop a protocol for safe handling practices. Upon moving to the west coast in 2000, she began working on green and white sturgeon in Washington. She served on the Green Sturgeon Recovery Team and currently is on the NASPS board. Sturgeon are her spirit animal!
Candidate for Member at Large: Kim Scribner
Affiliation: Michigan State University (emeritus)
I am an evolutionary ecologist with academic training and research interests in population ecology and genetics, with emphasis on aquatic vertebrates, including sturgeon. I am a Professor (Emeritus) in the Departments of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University. I have also worked as a research biologist for the US government. I am the retired co-director of a 22 year lake sturgeon research and restoration hatchery program on the Black River in northern Michigan. I have published 310 peer reviewed papers including 70 papers on sturgeon. I have supervised 37 graduate students, including 7 Masters and 6 PhD students working on sturgeon. Many students are currently in senior positions with resource management agencies, NGOs, industry, and in academia. I have engaged extensively with citizen groups and agency personnel concerning our research findings about sturgeon. I have developed Citizen Science place-based and virtual K-12 curricula for students and workshops for teachers based on our lake sturgeon research.
