Order of Acipenser

As a one of the first scientists in North America to lead the effort to conduct research on North American sturgeon for rehabilitation, management, and aquaculture, Dr. Doroshov has made significant scientific contributions to sturgeon biology, and done groundbreaking research on sturgeon reproduction that had a critical impact on the development of the commercial sturgeon aquaculture industry in the United States.  He is one of the founding members of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society and the North American Chapter of WSCS.  He co-chaired the first International Sturgeon Symposium held in North America; authored numerous scientific papers and books; mentored scores of undergraduate to post-doctorate students who in turn have become successful scientists; and explored diverse scientific interests that spanned both marine and freshwater species.

His accomplishments have influenced and inspired countless scientists, students and friends.  His courage, intelligence, integrity, generosity, graciousness, warmth, wit, and zest for life have enriched the lives of many.

Dr. Ron Bruch has been inspirational and a leader for the formation and development of the North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society. The idea to create a North American Chapter was spawned by Ron and a Canadian colleague, Tim Haxton, in 2008. As a result of his hard work, on August 19, 2008, the foundation committee members which included Tim Haxton, Dave Lane, Ken Sulak, Ed Black, Boyd Kynard, Larry Hildebrand, Peter Allen and Stephan Peake had their inaugural meeting in Ottawa, Canada along with Harald Rosenthal, the WSCS president, to kick off the society. This was done in conjunction with a well-attended symposium on sturgeon at the AFS conference. Over 150 members enrolled the first year primarily as a result of the kick-off in Ottawa. This initiated annual conferences alternating between private venues and ‘piggy backing’ with AFS.  Ron was instrumental with the sturgeon symposium the following year at AFS in Nashville that culminated in 2½ days of talks, making sturgeon one of the most represented species at the conference. The third annual conference was held at Chico Hot Springs, Montana representing NAC’s first solo conference, and was attended by 140 people with 40 oral presentations. The Montana conference spawned a lot of interest in the society, however, it identified several cracks in remaining a North American Chapter, primarily around legal issues with the society’s by-laws. Ron was successful at the meeting to initiate a movement to become an independent society while remaining closely linked with the World Sturgeon Conservation Society.  After a year of hard work by Ron and the executive committee, the North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society was established at the Nanaimo, BC conference in 2011. The NASPS became an affiliate of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society as it represented many of their values, but became a distinct, independent society. The NASPS met again in 2012 at AFS in St. Paul where Ron’s position as president was validated by the society’s first election.  Under Ron’s leadership, NASPS continued a great relationship with WSCS and were very instrumental in the success of the 7^th International Symposium on Sturgeon, a WSCS sanctioned conference, held in 2013 in Nanaimo, BC. This represented the first time NASPS executive board members had a chance to meet with WSCS board members solidifying their relationship and charted a course for sturgeon protection globally. His vision and efforts were instrumental in the formation and success of the NASPS for which the society will be forever indebted.

Mike Parsley has studied several sturgeon species throughout his career as a USGS biologist, but he is best known for his contributions to white sturgeon biology, management, and recovery.  In the research conducted by Mike over the past 30 years, he has compiled a significant amount of data and learnings about Columbia River white sturgeon, including where and under what conditions they spawn, describing important factors in development during early life stages, describing their diet, conducting predation studies, describing detailed movements with telemetry, designing large scale habitat restoration, and fish passage.  Not only has Mike’s research been critical in guiding many of the recovery actions underway, he and his colleagues’ work has established many of the techniques used in the field today (e.g. telemetry arrays, egg collection mats).  Mike has been a leader in both management and recovery actions for sturgeon in North America.  He is a member of multiple recovery teams including the Upper Columbia River White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative Technical Working Group, the Kootenai River White Sturgeon Recovery Team, the Green Sturgeon Recovery Team and is asked to join in California Sturgeon Project Work Team meetings.  He is also a leading expert on sturgeon passage and has presented at workshops and meetings both nationally and internationally.  All of these working groups have progressed over the years from the foundational knowledge that Mike has generated throughout his career.

Dr. King contributed significantly to the conservation, recovery, and management of Atlantic Sturgeon and Shortnose Sturgeon.  He is considered one of the founding fathers of sturgeon genetics with regard to these species.  He developed markers which show relatedness between sturgeon populations and species and probable rates of genetic exchange between groups.  Dr. King provided the genetic information necessary to identify five distinct population segments of Atlantic Sturgeon during the ESA status review in 2006, which assisted NOAA Fisheries when listing the species in 2012.  He was constantly on the cutting edge of new developments and technology related to genetic analyses and was always willing to explain the analyses and results to non-geneticists in a way that was understandable.  Dr. King passed away in the fall of 2016.  We are sorry to have lost such a great researcher and person.

Dr. Scarnecchia has contributed significantly to the conservation, management, and understanding of the life history of paddlefish and sturgeon.  He has been a Professor of Fish and Wildlife Resources at the University of Idaho since 1990.  He has led and collaborated on numerous Acipenser research endeavors and played an invaluable role in management efforts for the species.  Dr. Scarnecchia has served as an active and important advisor for the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association (Paddlefish and Sturgeon Subcommittee) coordinating efforts for inter-jurisdictional management and conservation of paddlefish.  He developed and has guided the state management of paddlefish in Montana, North Dakota, and Oklahoma and is currently assisting eight commercial paddlefish harvest states in developing consistent stock assessment data collection procedures and collaborative state harvest management frameworks in order to conserve the species with sustainable commercial harvest.

Dr. Haxton is a founding member of the North American Chapter of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society (NAC-WSCS) and the North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society (NASPS).  He was the first interim and first non-interim Vice President of the NASPS Governing Board.  He held this position from 2011 to 2014.  During this time, Dr. Haxton was instrumental is assisting with drafting the society’s constitution and bylaws, and he worked very hard to maintain a strong working relationship with WSCS as NASPS became an independent society affiliated with the WSCS.

Tim Haxton received his Ph.D. from University of Ottawa and his thesis research focused on the impacts of waterpower management in the Ottawa River with an emphasis in Lake Sturgeon.  For over 14 years, sturgeon have been a primary focus of his work.  He has played a key role in our understanding of Lake Sturgeon biology and needed conservation and recovery actions.

Dr. Haxton has played an essential role in NASPS and the WSCS.  He has assisted with the planning of NASPS and International Symposia on Sturgeons (ISS) meetings, organized workshops, moderated sessions, and edited many of the NASPS and ISS proceedings.  He has been on the scientific advisory committee of at least three of the ISS meetings helping to drive the cross-talk and conservation of sturgeons and paddlefish across the globe.  Dr. Haxton has over 20 peer reviewed publications on sturgeon biology, management, and conservation.  As well, Dr. Haxton is on the editorial board and is the sturgeon subject editor of the Journal of Applied Ichthyology.

Dr. Haxton has made significant scientific and leadership contributions to the recovery and restoration of sturgeons worldwide.  His knowledge, creativity, and drive laid the foundation and promoted the international success of the NAC-WSCS and the NASPS.

Joel Van Eenennaam got his MS degree with Dr. Serge Doroshov in 1985 at UC Davis.  He became a Research Associate in the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis where he worked for over 30 years.  Joel played an integral role in the early stage of the White Sturgeon Broodstock and Development Program in California.  To this day, he continues to help farms around the country with their sturgeon aquaculture programs. He has considerable expertise in the areas of reproductive physiology and early development, identification of sex and stage of maturity, reproductive abnormalities, and the causes and effect of spontaneous autopolyploidy.

Joel has worked with all of the North American sturgeons and paddlefish.  He has published over 60 peer reviewed publications, a book chapter, numerous technical reports, and outreach publications. Most notably, Joel co-authored a series of indispensable outreach documents detailing essential procedures in assessing reproductive readiness of sturgeon.

Joel’s lengthy academic and industry contributions alone make him well deserving of being honored with the Order of Acipenser, but we cannot ignore his contributions as a colleague, mentor, teacher, and friend. Countless students, post-docs, and visiting scientists at UC Davis have worked with Joel, benefiting from his vast knowledge, patience, kindness, and desire to teach. It is impossible to quantify how many people – students, faculty, agency scientists, aquaculture specialists, and more, in California, the United States, and internationally – Joel has taught how to spawn, hatch, rear, handle, maintain, sex, and perform surgery on sturgeon.

Dr. Kim Scribner is a professor at Michigan State University in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program.  Kim has significant research, educational, and management accomplishments that have broad impacts on sturgeon populations throughout the Northern Hemisphere.  He has published in areas of molecular ecology, behavioral ecology, stock recruitment, predator-prey dynamics, and more.  Kim has trained hundreds of the next generation of sturgeon scientists, many of whom have made significant contributions to sturgeon biology.

Kim is a prominent member of AFS and longstanding member of NASPS.  He has been a NASPS Governing Board Member at Large from 2022-2024,

Dr. Ed Baker is a research biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.  He has 27 years with Michigan Department of Natural Resources as a lake sturgeon biologist. Ed designed the early monitoring studies for lake sturgeon and establishment of recovery programs.  He has led technical working groups for lake sturgeon throughout the Great Lakes and published numerous scientific papers on sturgeon management and ecology. Ed has co-advised over 30 students and helped launch the careers of over 100 hourly seasonal technical staff in the field and lab.