Featured Scientist

Christina conducting a population survey of the endangered Sebastopol meadowfoam


Christina with participating scientists and stakeholders after a tidal marsh management workshop in San Francisco Bay


Christina kayaking on SF Bay to survey rare American Oystercatcher populations

Dr. Christina Sloop has been CDFW’s Science Advisor since May 2018. She leads the CDFW Science Institute, where she manages programs on science support, and works with her staff to integrate climate change resilience and biodiversity conservation practices into CDFW’s scientific, management and conservation work.

A native of Munich, Germany, Christina first came to the United States as a high school exchange student. She later returned for college, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a minor in Environmental Studies from Sonoma State University, a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology from San Francisco State University, and a doctorate in Ecology and Conservation Genetics from UC Davis.

Prior to starting her current job, Christina worked for more than two years in CDFW’s Water Branch, co-authoring the 2017 CDFW Delta Conservation Framework. Prior to that, she worked in the nonprofit and consulting world, where she was active in raising awareness for climate adaptation and climate-smart practices for resource managers. She worked on sea level rise impacts and wetland restoration efforts in the San Francisco Bay, and on conservation issues related to North American migratory birds.

What drew you to the field of biological science?

I spent my childhood exploring the woods behind my house in the suburbs of Munich. These times in the woods and Sir David Attenborough’s television shows sparked my interest in nature. I was always interested in systems and how everything works together. I learned more about our environmental crisis, and so I vowed I would do my best to contribute to conservation of our natural ecosystems.

During my career I have worked primarily within the context of plant and bird conservation. As ecologist and conservation geneticist I recognize that everything is interconnected. Without plants, there is no habitat for most wildlife. Without bees or birds, there is no pollination of many species. Without wildlife, there is no seed dispersal for many plants. Nothing in nature occurs in isolation.

And humans are part of nature! For example, participating in five annual aerial waterfowl surveys opened my eyes to the critical importance of regulated hunting activities to land conservation. While humans harvest animals each season, many wetlands are protected to provide for critical habitat to ensure that both animals and sustainable hunting can thrive. Win-win! This interdependence and interconnection fascinates me and makes me want to better understand these dynamics and interactions.

As CDFW’s Science Advisor, you oversee the Science Institute. What is that?

The Science Institute is a CDFW initiative that began in 2012. It provides dedicated scientific staff and resources to support CDFW’s scientific efforts and help link science to decision-making. This support includes tools like information access, guidelines and policies, online discussion forums, communication pathways, professional development and other ways to support and connect our communities of scientists whose work informs our statewide natural resource management and policy decisions. It also helps link CDFW scientists with cutting-edge scientific projects and partnerships throughout the state relative to climate change and biodiversity, two overarching topics that fundamentally affect our work statewide.

The Science Institute’s recent 2018-2019 Progress Report (PDF) highlights some of our accomplishments to date. There are so many ways that we can help connect the dots. The work we are doing touches every corner of the department, and ultimately, helps us provide better service to the people of California.

What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of your job?

It is very interesting, yet a bit challenging, to pull together details of the many scientific efforts statewide. California is a big state and there is a lot of critical scientific work done, and yet to do, by CDFW staff. We are currently creating a knowledge base that supports our overarching strategic planning efforts and helps us to inform each other about how our work may link together, and how we may be able to learn from each other and find efficiencies.

Since the beginning, our goal has been to put in place pathways for us to more easily plan ahead, taking anticipatory rather than reactionary actions in order to serve our Department mission. Therefore, for the past two years, we have been working with our scientists to develop a five-year strategic action plan for the Science Institute to guide our actions from 2020-25. We incorporate information in this plan gathered from targeted interviews, planning workshops, roadshows to all CDFW regions, a Science Institute staff retreat, and our 2020 Science Symposium.

The Science Institute Strategic Action Plan is now in its final stages of completion and will be released this summer. With the Plan in hand, we can adjust which actions are priorities to accomplish each year, which to wait on, or which to prepare for in the background, depending on the opportunities or restrictions we are facing at the time. This is especially pertinent in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, where many of our science efforts in the department have been affected. However, since we (almost!) have a Plan in place, we are more nimble in our response to this crisis, changing our course accordingly to still make progress in supporting science at CDFW.

Everyone’s best efforts to plan ahead have been put to the test in light of COVID-19. How has the pandemic changed the way CDFW does scientific work, and how has the Science Institute been able to assist in the transition?

In many cases, our scientists and engineers are continuing to perform their duties as best as possible under the mandatory social isolation guidelines. However, this brings with it challenges, especially in situations that include small vessels, where it is hard to keep an adequate distance, while having to fit more than one person for safety reasons.

In order to keep our staff as safe as possible, other CDFW scientists have been ordered to refrain from field or laboratory work and to continue other scientific tasks like data analysis and reporting by teleworking. Many scheduled field research or monitoring efforts are canceled this year, resulting in the lack of 2020 reference data to inform resource management activities – for example, long-term population studies on elk, or other sensitive species.

Another challenge this crisis has brought about is that our programs that are engaged in the captive breeding of sensitive species, such as white abalone, are finding it challenging to harvest food resources for their colonies due to limited beach access. And the uncertainty of how long the pandemic will last hampers the ability of our scientists to plan future field work or ocean studies, or schedule trips to retrieve information from established research plots. Inability to attend to these plots could mean the loss of substantial investment of time, money and critical information, especially when the research relates to listed species.

The Science Institute has been working with members of the Science Institute Advisory Team, composed of representatives from all CDFW Regions and Branches, to open communication channels to share information and experiences. The Science Institute plans to engage with science programs across the state to gather more specific information on the limitations and impacts this pandemic has brought to department scientific endeavors. Obtaining and documenting this information is critical to inform planning and the department’s readiness for future emergency situations.

What challenges do you think lie ahead for CDFW scientists?

My sense is that the uncertainty of how long this pandemic will last will prove challenging for our scientific programs, as adequate planning, which is vital for many research efforts, is practically impossible. Continued funding for our scientific work is also uncertain in many cases. A half-baked scientific study is usually not worth much, thus if funding dries up, already-invested money and effort may be lost. This will also very likely affect our overall scientific capacity, where less science staff are asked to do more. I think our scientific programs can work on reexamining their priorities and Science Institute staff can facilitate this and work with interested programs to identify ways to focus available resources specifically on those priorities.

What successes have you seen as CDFW adjusts to the changes brought about by COVID-19?

I have been really impressed at how well our community of scientists have responded to their changed working conditions, and the reality that this “new normal” means to approach work with an innovative mind, focusing on what is possible rather than dwell on what is not. My impression is that the department, has thus far proven largely resilient under these unprecedented circumstances. Way to go! This brings me hope that as the economic repercussions become more real to all of us in the coming months and years, we will be as resilient as possible to continue our important work for California’ natural resources and for all Californians.

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CDFW Photos. Top Photo: Christina performing an aerial waterfowl survey for the annual national mid-winter survey.

Setting a trap on the West Fork San Luis Rey River.


Collecting sample for tissue analysis, San Diego River.


Creating spawning beds for rainbow trout, Sweetwater River.

Russell Barabe is a coldwater fisheries biologist based out of CDFW’s South Coast Region office in San Diego. Though he grew up San Jose, where his mom was a nurse and his dad was a facilities maintenance supervisor, Russell’s family frequently went camping and trout fishing in Shasta County. Russell was an Environmental Studies student at San Jose State University when a summer internship with the Student Conservation Association introduced him to researching fire effects at different national parks. He was hooked on the idea of working in the great outdoors as much as possible. A Master’s degree in fisheries biology at Mississippi State University put him on the path to becoming a CDFW biologist, where he’s been employed since 2009. His first duties included enforcing lake and streambed alteration regulations.

You’re a west coast guy – what was it like completing your education at Mississippi State?

It was really cool working in the Southeast and seeing fisheries from a whole different perspective. Down there, largemouth bass are native; same with bluegill, greenfish, sunfish, and catfish. I actually studied the recovery of catfish in the coastal rivers after Hurricane Katrina. We were tagging catfish and doing mark-recapture, and then we did a full-on age analysis of flathead catfish in the Pascagoula River, which is one of the largest, last remaining undammed watersheds in the lower 48.

As a fisheries biologist based in San Diego, what does your job entail?

My primary areas are San Diego and Orange County, and I was recently assigned to the Sespe Watershed, which is all the way up in Ventura County. I do a lot of monitoring of coldwater fish populations. That includes rainbow trout, both native and non-native. I also monitor other native species like Arroyo Chub. If something goes sideways, then we come to the rescue.

What’s an example of something going sideways?

Another fish population I monitor down here is the Unarmored Threespine Stickleback. Last year we had a really large storm event come through and this population of fish is right out on the edge of the Anza Borrego Desert. This storm came through and dumped a whole bunch of rain in a short period of time and ended up washing a lot of sediment into the stream. By doing that, it made the whole stream really shallow. Later in July and August, the water started percolating into the sand and there was no habitat for the fish. Because we were going to lose these fish if we didn’t do something, we got approval to do a rescue. We went out there and grabbed as many of the fish as we could and took them to another area where we can get them to water. Fully grown, that fish might be two inches long.  

San Diego is known for its ocean fishing opportunities. Do you find that people are surprised to hear there’s a coldwater fisheries biologist in the San Diego area? Can you describe the rivers and streams where you work?

San Diego is unique. I’ll talk with my colleagues up north who do work for the Heritage Wild Trout program as well. They have rivers that are 50 to 100 miles long and they sample little sections and then extrapolate the numbers out to get an idea of what’s going on. In my case, I have a section up in the mountains that still holds native trout but it’s only four miles long. I’ll decide to go camp out there for three days and snorkel everything, because I can. It’s also very difficult work because there are no trails, you're basically hiking in a stream with a full backpack and you often fall down. You’re fighting through brush and poison oak, and of course there are ticks, ants and rattlesnakes.

A snorkel survey is pretty much as it sounds, right? Face down, on your stomach, in a cold river, trying to count fish?

Correct. We just put on the mask and we have a wetsuit and we put our face in the water. With a flashlight we look under every rock to count them and try and put them into size classes. We try and do that every year so that we can track the population and say, okay, in 2017 we saw 400 and then in 2018, we only saw 30.

How do you guarantee you’re not counting the same fish over and over?

First, we always snorkel in an upstream direction. Second, if the stream is wide, we use enough snorkelers to cover the whole width. Down here, two is usually enough. Third, you only count a fish once it swims past you downstream. This way if a fish swims circles around you, you do not count it each time. If you get to the head of a pool and the fish have not swam past you, you then count those fish. This technique can be difficult if a lot of fish are present, but in Southern California, this is rarely a problem. If using more than one snorkeler, communication is important to discuss if the fish that swam between us was counted by me or the other person.

Don’t fish tend to go the other direction when you make yourself very present like that?

The surprising thing is that most fish will tolerate you when you’re snorkeling. They'll look at you a little warily but as long as you don’t try to reach out and touch them they’ll swim near you. But if you get too close, they take off and go hide under a rock.

Is there a particular project you are proud of, because you know that your work made a difference?

I would refer to some work I did on the only population of native rainbow trout left in San Diego County. There had been a report there were non-native bullhead (catfish) found in that part of the stream system. Everyone was worried about the bullhead competing with the trout, so we went out there to get genetic samples for a project to try and look at the heterozygous study of that population. (Low heterozygosity means a lack of genetic diversity. High heterozygosity means high genetic diversity.)

We were camping for the night and I said, “Why don’t we bring out a couple of traps that we have, and we’ll bait them with cat food, and we’ll throw them out just for the heck of it and maybe we’ll catch a bullhead or two.” I thought it might make a small difference. We threw out the traps and ended up catching over 30 bullhead. I thought, this is interesting, this works! When I got back to the office, I dove into the literature to see if I could find anything about anyone doing anything like that. I found a couple of projects, but no references to someone using this specific trap or using a similar technique. So we designed a study where we would use a lot of nets and cat food, and go out on trips of three days. We’d set the traps overnight because bullhead are nocturnal. On the first day, we’d set the traps in the evening. The next day, we’d walk down the stream and set our next set of traps, and camp for the night. The last day, we’d pull out the traps and then hike out. That first year we did that, we ended up removing 1,300 bullhead.

The next year, I figured we’d need to go back and do it again because the chances we’d removed everything were pretty slim. But when we went back, we trapped the entire stream and we didn’t catch a single bullhead. We went back the year after that, and we still didn’t catch anything. Removal of this invasive species is likely to benefit the native rainbow trout through a reduction in competition and possible predation.

I submitted a publication based on that bullhead work and is currently in press. It’s supposed to come out sometime this year in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 

In a 40-hour week, how many hours are spent in those river settings vs. sitting at a desk and writing up reports?

I’m usually getting out three days a week. Because traffic can be so bad down here, travel times to a lot of these places is really tough. To get to that population of native trout I mentioned, it’s a two-hour drive. And then there’s another a two-hour hike to get to where the fish are. So it’s an eight-hour day just to get to and from where the fish are. I’ll do 12- to 16-hour days on a regular basis. It’s easy to fall behind on your emails and reports!

How would your job change if you had unlimited time and an unlimited budget?

Well, I’d love to have a helicopter to make it easier for my back country trips. Just drop me off and pick me up, that would be a great start! Every year this job gets harder. I’m 47 and I have a tech who’s 20 years younger than me. I can usually keep up with him … he might hike a little faster than me, but I’m not far behind!  

CDFW Photos

Chanelle part of team collecting diseased pelicans on Salton Sea.


Chanelle talking about wildlife at elementary school in Chino Hills.


Chanelle part of team examining mountain lion captured in La Canada and later released.


Chanelle on helicopter for Bighorn sheep survey in San Diego County.
 

Chanelle Davis is an environmental scientist in the Inland Desert Region. The Southern California native has been lucky enough to have worked her whole career in Southern California. Her first assignment was as the Los Angeles County Unit Manager, handling all the varied wildlife issues that come up in the most populated county in the state. Only a year into the job, she was the lead biologist for a controversial wildlife removal program in the town of Venice Beach when the local duck population was infected with Duck Viral Enteritis (DVE). She got a firsthand lesson in community relations and the emotions that run high for wildlife in the southland.

Chanelle is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where she majored in zoology.

What’s a typical work day like?

Every day I log onto the computer and check emails and messages on the landline. If it is a scheduled office day, I might work on my database, read documents or work on reports. It’s typical to receive an email from someone regarding an issue they are having with wildlife. Depending on the problem, I might do a little research to make sure my info is up to date before contacting the reporting party. If it is a field day during study season, I meet my crew at the main office and head out to scope out, set up or monitor sites for the bear census we’re working on. Sometimes we get diverted to a new task like picking up a dead sheep and delivering it to the state lab or investigating a call about a sick animal that is in the vicinity. I get a lot of calls from the public regarding “where can I hunt?” or “what’s in my yard?” or “I have a bear, you need to move it.”

The bear census project sounds fascinating; how does that work?

It’s a non-invasive DNA black bear study using hair snares and in some instances camera traps. We erect a single strand barb wire corral in a pre-designated area. A brush pile is assembled in the middle of the corral and is sprayed with a non-consumable scent lure along with a lure rag that is suspended over the corral. Hopefully, a bear traveling through the area will find our scent interesting enough to come and investigate our brush pile and leave hair samples on the barb wire as it enters and exits the site. We also use “natural rubs” which are trees or poles where we find evidence of bear activity such as claw marks or deposits of hair. The hair is collected and submitted to a lab for DNA analysis. The analysis of the hair samples provides us with information regarding the number of bears that visited the site along with the frequency of the visits from a particular bear. Using this along with other data, we can get a general estimate of bears that call the San Bernardino Mountains home.

How is wildlife management in Southern California different from elsewhere in the state?

It often requires finesse and public interaction with local governments. We are very much in the public eye with news vans patrolling the street with their scanners, looking for an exciting story. Bears in pools and mountain lions in backyards are routinely shown on the news. Sometimes that is the first we hear of an encounter! The public has a different view of wildlife here, compared to some of the rural areas in the north. I believe the biggest difference can be seen in the handling of nuisance wildlife. Most cities in Southern California have ordinances against shooting a solid projectile within city limits, which pretty much excludes almost everything you can use to immediately deal with a number of nuisance wildlife issues. Even paintball guns are prohibited in some areas. “Hazing” is a tool that can be used to try to educate wildlife that being around people is not a good idea. In more rural areas, trained hounds can be used to achieve some of these goals, but due to the density of residences and major highways intersecting these city centers, using dogs is not an option here. What it boils down to is that we have to be very creative in our approach to help the public find solutions that protect property and allow wildlife to be wildlife.

For many years, you’ve helped teach the public how to accurately count sheep in our annual San Gabriel Mountains bighorn sheep survey. Is it difficult to explain scientific research to people who’ve never done this before?

I’ve been doing that presentation since 1992. The challenge is explaining why we’re doing this. It’s not just to have fun (though that’s a big part of it). The information they collect is needed in order to manage the species successfully. We have some volunteers who have never seen a bighorn sheep before! My part of the presentation is getting people comfortable with identifying sheep, and teaching them how to differentiate between males and females, adults and juveniles.

Do you have an example of a great CDFW day recently?

Recently, I was with my scientific aides Dylan and Mary, scoping out a potential snare site at Bluff Lake, a Wildlands Conservancy property in the San Bernardino Mountains. On our hike back to the truck, Dylan stopped and pointed and said, “Is that a bear?” Sure enough, about 50 feet away was a bear. Dylan had never seen a black bear this close and Mary had never seen a bear at all. We stopped and as the bear played peek-a-boo around a tree trunk, I suggested that we observe the bear and see what would happen. When the bear decided we were no longer interesting, it crossed the path and started digging in the moist soil. Dirt was flying everywhere! Then it moved on to the lake, where it proceeded to splash around and then float on its back and play with its paws. It ran up a tree and slid back down, and then climbed a different tree and started breaking off branches. Eventually it went back to the lake and swam to the opposite shore, heading back into the forest. We decided to investigate where the bear had crossed the trail. There was no print in the dirt where it crossed. We looked at the trees for claw marks. There were hardly any markings on the trunk. It was awesome to see the look of fascination and determination on the faces of Dylan and Mary. Although we all observed the bear, there was little evidence of its passage through the area. It was a great learning experience for all of us and it highlighted the fact that sometimes bears just want to have fun.

Do you share lessons with your scientific aides when doing research?

Yes, by impressing on them the importance of our tasks, the integrity of the data and taking pride in their work. Sometimes we can do everything right and still come up with nothing. Wildlife do not read our manuals nor do they care what the “model” predicts their habitat should be.

But there is more to it than that. Performing the same task day in and day out can get monotonous. There are days where things do not go as planned and it can get frustrating. I am a firm believer of having a positive outlook. At the end of every day we discuss the day’s events. It’s easy to come up with positives at the end of a great day, but to come up with positives on a day where things went sideways is a challenge. For instance, when we got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, we were on a narrow dirt road in 100-degree weather with no shade and we had to MacGyver the jack to make it lift the car. When we finally got back to the office much later than planned, our positives were: Wasn’t that a great view! The spare tire held up really well! There wasn’t any traffic on the way back!

I think that it is important to expose them to as many different aspects of CDFW as possible so that they have a well-rounded experience that could help them in the future if they intend to pursue a career in our line of work.

How satisfying is it to be in your position in the department?

It is very satisfying! I know many biologists that never worked in their field of study after college so I’m thankful to have had the opportunity. It’s not always a day in the park and it can always be worse, but I get to be involved in some pretty cool stuff in my opinion. I enjoy helping other biologists accomplish their projects. I look forward to learning something new and then applying it, whether it is in the office or in the field. I find it intriguing to be asked a question about a subject that I am unfamiliar with and having to do some digging to find the answer. It’s wonderful to be able to work in the field, to see science in action. And it is gratifying to know that by doing your part, you are contributing to the body of knowledge that can be used to make changes that will hopefully benefit the wildlife that you are responsible for managing. It’s all good. That’s my philosophy and it’s worked well for 27 years!

What advice would you give someone who wanted to pursue a career like yours?

It is not an easy task. Patience is key. It took me three years to become a permanent employee. If possible, apply for a scientific aide position. You can gain a wealth of knowledge about CDFW and what we do by interacting with people within the department. During my nine months as a scientific aide, I found out about the hiring process and networked with employees. With some luck and good timing I was able to fulfill my quest. Volunteering is another way to meet people and learn about jobs occurring throughout CDFW.

You were the first African American woman to be hired as a CDFW wildlife biologist. Is it important to you to be an example for others?

When I was hired, my philosophy was: I’m a wildlife biologist, who happens to be a woman, who happens to be black. I’m just me. If that inspires people, that’s great!

CDFW photos. Top Photo: Chanelle Davis instructs volunteers for Bighorn sheep survey.