Featured Scientist

Installing a water measurement flume at East Walker River Wildlife Area (Mono County)


Site visit to Green Creek Wildlife Area (Mono County)


Working a bobcat capture to deploy GPS tracking collar

Aaron Johnson is an environmental scientist in CDFW’s Bishop office, in Inyo County. A Bay Area native, Aaron spent much of his childhood doing two things – exploring the East Bay hills above his hometown of Albany, and tagging along with his dad, who was a photographer for the Nature Conservancy.

Aaron earned an environmental studies degree at UC Santa Cruz, then worked for a local land trust, the US Department of Agriculture and California State Parks before settling in with CDFW in 2015. Today his work involves land management and invasive plant management on the 22,000 acres of CDFW wildlife areas and ecological reserves in Inyo and Mono counties.

Can you share an early memory of being outdoors with your dad? What kind of wildlife or plants do you remember seeing?

One highlight was visiting Carrizo Plain (San Luis Obispo County) in the early ’90s with my parents. I recall catching western fence lizards and admiring their colors, and climbing all around on rusty farm equipment in the tall grass. It’s also where my dad first let me drive on backroads a few years later. I now have a lot more sympathy for the poor clutch in that 4-Runner. I look forward to taking my daughter out there for the first time.

What’s your role as a land manager in Bishop?

A number of our properties are managed as habitat for mule deer herds. We also manage for public recreation opportunities, including hunting and birdwatching. One day I can be working in the High Sierra near Monitor Pass in Mono County, and the next I can be working down in the Mojave Desert, doing something entirely different.

Right now the big project is getting all our irrigation systems flowing. That’s typical in the spring. We maintain irrigation infrastructures, which involves repairing ditches and head gates, and getting our water measurement devices all set up so we can keep track of our water rights correctly. The latter is a neat mix of some construction work, engineering, math – a little bit of everything – in order to meet new requirements we have as a state agency. It’s important to catch that spring runoff from the snow melt so we can green up our properties for deer, grow cover for upland game birds and maintain ponds for ducks and other waterfowl.

What kind of invasive plants do you eradicate, and why?

One of our big springtime tasks is treating invasive plants. Perennial pepperweed is the one we’re always chasing. Then we’ve got Canada thistle, and poison hemlock, which is taking over a couple of livestock pastures. These plants are concerning because they have the capacity to displace native plant species that have a limited range, or special status. There are plenty of plants that aren’t native – the ones we’re focused on have the capability of being a monoculture and displacing either other plants or being harmful to wildlife.

Can you describe the process for removing these plants?

In some cases removal includes pulling the plants out by hand, but most often it involves carefully targeted herbicide applications, either with a backpack or ATV-mounted sprayer. We’ve been out a couple of times just recently to a property where we have two really special rare plants, the Owens Valley checkerbloom and Parish’s popcornflower. They grow in alkali meadows at the edge of Owens Dry Lake. Unfortunately, a few years ago, pepperweed showed up for the first time after a visit by some free-ranging cattle, and we found out that it does really well in the same microtopography as the popcornflower. Given the sensitivity of those species, we’ve had to work to develop a treatment strategy that is less reliant on chemicals. We’ve also erected a temporary electric fence to minimize livestock disturbance since the habitat is more resistant to further invasion without the added disturbance. We’ve been manually removing the pepperweed to keep it from getting more established. As with most things in land management, we will evaluate how these management strategies go this year and will adapt our approach as needed.

To some, your job description might sound like endless yardwork. What do you like about the work you do?

The eastern Sierra is one of the last wild portions of the state. There is a huge amount of undeveloped public land, with relatively intact migration routes for wildlife and functioning and intact ecosystems. In a way, we are charged with saving the best of what’s left of California.

It’s always interesting – a really nice balance of field work and trying to put together resources for the public. It’s mending fences to keep livestock either on or off of the wildlife area, and doing wildlife surveys and rare plant surveys, and writing land management programs for public review, and issuing use permits to researchers and learning about all the neat things they’re doing.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

I think the most challenging part of the job is setting priorities and staying focused on the most important objectives. It’s the nature of land management that every day presents some type of new interesting challenge. This can sometimes be an enjoyable aspect of the work but can also distract from getting other important tasks done, like long-term planning. Whether the task is an emergency repair to a fence to keep livestock out of a rare plant population, treating an invasive plant at the most opportune time, or finishing an environmental document – it all needs to get done.

If you had unlimited time and resources, what project would you like to implement on your lands?

I think we do a really good job with our small team given the broad geographic range of the properties we manage. Thinking of the “use and enjoyment by the public” aspect of CDFW’s mission, I would really like to see more interpretative, educational and recreational opportunities developed for the public. In places where public access is consistent with our management objectives, this could mean educational kiosks, maps and habitat improvement projects to improve hunting and nature viewing opportunities, such as managed wetlands for waterfowl or seeding/planting forage species for deer at a degraded site. We have a number of such projects that could be completed with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) funding. For more remote or sensitive sites, additional web content, species profiles or virtual tours are probably more appropriate. I’ve been really impressed by how other agencies have been managing this kind of outreach during the current crisis. I’d also like to see our unique properties used for academic purposes – school groups or research.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working in wildlife or lands management? What’s the best path to take to end up with a job like yours?

My advice would be to seek out opportunities to gain experience in related fields. After a season working on a backcountry trail crew for the Forest Service after high school, I got interested in meadow restoration. That helped direct me into a restoration ecology course at UC Santa Cruz that resulted in an internship with State Parks. When they handed me a drip torch and let me set fire to Coastal Prairie, it became my senior project in disturbance ecology, and led me to develop respect for bunchgrasses. After a few years doing invasive plant work, and a few more in land conservation, I ended up here. It’s been a really nice blend of a number of my interests.

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CDFW Photos

Ben Ewing shows off a large White Catfish that turned up in an electrofishing survey of Clear Lake.


Recovering the rare and threatened Clear Lake Hitch has been a priority for Environmental Scientist Ben Ewing.


Backpack electrofishing Deer Creek in Nevada County 2018.


Recycled Christmas trees provide warmwater fish habitat at New Hogan Lake in Calaveras County.


Away from work, Ben Ewing's 1967 Chevy Camaro occupies much of his time and attention.

Ben Ewing is an environmental scientist for CDFW's North Central Region. Based out of the region headquarters office in Rancho Cordova, Sacramento County, Ben serves as the district fisheries biologist for Alpine, Amador, Calaveras and Lake counties.

Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Ben holds a Bachelor's degree in wildlife management from Humboldt State University. He first joined CDFW as a volunteer staffing a hunter-angler check station at Camp Roberts on the Central Coast and was later hired as a scientific aid in 2004. Ben worked as a scientific aid in three CDFW regions – the North Central Region, the Marine Region and the Central Region – before landing a permanent position with CDFW in 2007 as a reservoir fisheries biologist in Riverside County. He rejoined CDFW's North Central Region in his current capacity in 2012.

What does a typical day at work look like for you?

When I am out in the field, I may be doing a boat-based electrofishing survey, backpack electrofishing, frog surveys, snorkel surveys, public outreach, warmwater fish habitat work or gill net surveys. All these surveys are used to gather information on the specific fishery we are working on.

I spend most of my spring working with the Clear Lake hitch up in Lake County. It's a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act. In the summer and fall, I am doing a lot of backcountry work in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

I get to spend a lot of time in beautiful country and simultaneously try to improve the recreational fishery as well as try and save listed species such as the Clear Lake hitch, Lahontan cutthroat trout, and Paiute cutthroat trout.

What are some of your biggest challenges?

One of the greatest challenges is trying to recover the Clear Lake hitch in order to de-list it under the California Endangered Species Act. Getting money for a minnow is a lot harder than for a salmonid. It only grows to about 11 or 12 inches as an adult. No one eats it, no one fishes for it, so it's pretty much at the bottom of the priority list.

But it's native to the Clear Lake watershed. It's an indicator species that speaks directly to the water quality problems at Clear Lake – agricultural runoff, water diversions, drought. If we can improve the health of the watershed and bring back the Clear Lake hitch, Clear Lake will benefit, the local economy will benefit, the whole community will benefit.

What's one thing you'd like the public to know about the fisheries or fishing in the counties you work in?

That CDFW's North Central Region – and, really, the entire state of California – has an unbelievable amount of diversity of fisheries. California has world class trout, bass, salmon and other ocean fishing all in one state. We have high mountain lakes, the ocean, the Delta, the rivers. Californians are very fortunate to have so many fishing options. Clear Lake was recently voted the No. 1 bass fishing lake in the entire nation by Bassmaster Magazine.

Speaking of Clear Lake, how much active fisheries management really goes on there?

We monitor it by electrofishing regularly every spring and try to get out there every fall as well. It is usually a collaboration between CDFW's Fisheries Branch and our North Central Region. I've put fish habitat into Clear Lake so shore anglers will have better access to the fish. During the drought, we received complaints from the bass tournament organizers that the average weight of the bass was going down. Fisheries Branch and Region staff then went out to gather weights of bass to compare them to data collected in previous surveys to see if there was a significant decrease in average weights. We believe the drought may have impacted not only the bass, but the rest of the fish species in Clear Lake. Clear Lake is shallow and it loses a lot of surface acres in a drought, which negatively impacts water quality, food resources, and fish habitat. The record drought from 2015-2017 really hit the fishery hard.

How has COVID-19 changed the way you do your job?

It has limited what type of field work I can do due to the proximity issues. I had to cancel my Clear Lake Hitch work halfway into the season this spring, which was a bummer. We also are limited to specific field surveys that don't put us into close proximity of others. I can still get out into the field, but I am much more limited. As of right now we aren't allowed to do any boat-based surveys or backpack electrofishing (due to COVID-19 and physical distancing requirements). Those activities are typically how I do my usual field sampling.

Is there a particular CDFW project you worked on that you're especially proud of?

I take a lot of pride in trying to recover the dwindling Clear Lake hitch. The fish was listed in 2014, and I think it would be a great success story for our region and the department to be able to remove this fish from listing. It would be the first inland fish species successfully removed from the list if we could pull it off.

I take a lot of pride in acquiring black bass for the display tank at the annual International Sportsmen's Expo in Sacramento every January. We electrofish the Delta just prior to the expo and then release the fish back into the Delta once the expo is over. Year in and year out, the department supplies the biggest bass on the ISE tour. It's great to show off these big, beautiful bass to the public and what they can find just down the road in the Delta. I also think the ISE show is a great way to interact with our constituents and the public and share my passion for the outdoors and fishing with them.

Away from work, where are we likely to find you?

At the drag strip racing my 1967 Chevy Camaro, fishing in the backcountry or out on my ski boat somewhere.

Tell us something else about yourself many people might be surprised to learn.

Prior to joining the department, I worked at an auto shop changing tires as well as working as a mobile carpet cleaner. Having those jobs motivated me to get a better education so that I would end up with a career that I love. I feel very fortunate to work for the department and have a job that I love.

CDFW Photos

Gwinn holding a mourning dove captured as part of a banding project.


Small mammal trapping for a population monitoring project at Lokern Ecological Reserve.


Gwinn holding a short-nosed kangaroo rat caught for the Lokern Ecological Reserve monitoring project.


Processing a tule elk captured as part of a translocation effort at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge.

As the unit biologist for Kern County, Abigail Gwinn conducts research on several endangered species in the Central Valley including San Joaquin kit foxes, blunt-nosed leopard lizards, giant kangaroo rats and more. She also responds to public questions about wildlife and assists residents with managing wildlife conflicts. She’s currently working with CDFW’s Wildlife Branch to put together a deer monitoring plan for the central coast which will include trail cameras, aerial surveys, radio telemetry and fecal DNA analysis. Gwinn also does wildlife education and public outreach for local schools and community groups. She graduated in 2007 from California State University, Monterey Bay, with a Bachelor’s degree in Earth Systems and Science Policy. She was hired by CDFW as a scientific aid in 2008.

What sparked your interest in wildlife conservation?

Growing up I did a lot of hiking and camping. I liked being outdoors and seeing animals. I used to subscribe to Ranger Rick magazine, which had really cool photos of wildlife. At first, I wanted to be a photographer for Ranger Rick. In middle school I learned that I could be a wildlife biologist. I remember reading about biologists doing radio telemetry and forest surveys, and I realized all the science that was being done to increase our understanding of different species of plants and animals.

What kinds of experiences did you have as a scientific aid? 

I started out working on a food safety project on the Central Coast which involved testing for E. coli and salmonella in local wildlife populations. Most of the work involved live-trapping small mammals, like mice and voles, and mist netting songbirds to collect samples for the lab. After that project, I moved on to the California Recreational Fisheries Survey where I interviewed anglers about their fishing trips and measured their catch for biological monitoring. I helped with steelhead rescue on the Carmel River and was part of a short but intense bear population study using hair snares in Monterey County in 2014. I started working more inland with projects in or near the Carrizo Plain, mainly involving kit fox monitoring using radio collars, camera traps and spotlight surveys. Eventually this led to more work in the San Joaquin Valley where I walked survey grids for blunt-nosed leopard lizards, helped with kangaroo rat population monitoring, and continued working with kit foxes.

Part of your current job is doing public outreach. Do you enjoy it?

I like providing people with information about the animals they’re interested in. When I do outreach, I get people of all ages asking questions about wildlife they’ve seen. A lot of people like to tell me stories, which I enjoy hearing.

It sometimes seems like everyone has my phone number, so that can be challenging – especially during baby bird season. People sometimes mistakenly think they’re doing a good thing by picking up and taking in baby birds found on the ground. But it’s usually best to leave them there. If a baby bird is on the ground, it’s often a fledging. Usually its parents are in the immediate vicinity and are still caring for the bird. They’re watching out for it and driving away predators. The baby bird needs time and space to learn how to fly. It’s hard telling people that they shouldn’t have picked up a bird and that the bird doesn’t need rehab.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part of the job is being able to get out and see a lot of different places. Kern is a huge county – there's a lot to see beyond the valley.

Is there a species that’s especially challenging to manage in Kern County?

Conflicts involving bears can be challenging because the public is very divided in their opinion on bears. But that’s more of a people challenge than a wildlife challenge. The key with bears is to get ahead of the conflict by educating people on what they can do: Clean your grills, don’t leave your dog food out, install motion-sensor lights, etc. An attractant that people don’t always think of is bird feeders. People really like to see birds so they’re reluctant to remove feeders, but bears are really attracted to them. I do as much education and outreach as I can, and thankfully I get a lot of support from the wardens, other biologists and from our Natural Resource Volunteer Program.

Have you been surprised by any wildlife you’ve seen in Kern County?

I saw a lizard in the desert that I’d never seen before. It turned out to be a yellow-backed spiny lizard, which I was unfamiliar with. I was with a group of scientists doing brood counts for quail and chukar and we saw this really cool, extremely colorful lizard. It was fast though, and I didn’t quite get a photo. We were all trying to get a look at the lizard so we could identify it later.

Kit foxes are a big issue in Kern County. What would you like the public to know about them?

They are small and cute and native to this area. Kit foxes have some really interesting adaptations to living in arid environments such as large ears that help dissipate heat and being able to get all the water they need from their food. San Joaquin kit foxes were originally listed as endangered in the 1970s due to habitat loss and fragmentation, a result of industrial, agricultural and urban developments in the Central Valley like the California aqueduct and expanded highways.

Urban kit foxes, like those in Bakersfield and Taft, are having a problem with mange. Mange is a mite that infects the skin and causes the foxes to itch, which can create open wounds. It affects the immune system and can eventually cause death. So far, it’s only been observed in urban foxes. The rural foxes don’t seem to be affected, and we’re hoping to keep it that way. The original cases of mange may have been due to contact with coyotes or domestic dogs. It’s usually transmitted from direct animal-to-animal contact, although the mites can persist on surfaces for a while in the right conditions. If you have a dog with mange, it’s important to work with a veterinarian to get it treated. There are several products on the market that treat mange along with fleas and ticks. It’s important to avoid letting kit foxes congregate in an area, so I tell people to make sure they don’t leave pet food or other attractants in an area they could access, like a front porch. Another issue is kit foxes getting tangled in soccer or volleyball nets. I also tell people to make sure those are tied up and put away.

What advice do you have for young people who are interested in wildlife and conservation careers?

Volunteering is the best way to get started, and the best way for a young person to develop experience and meet people in the field. Be available and be flexible. A lot of work tends to be in the early morning. For example, mist netting for birds often starts before dawn. Additionally, I recommend developing your communication skills because doing public outreach is part of the job for many scientists. I was able to get a lot of practice doing presentations through 4-H when I was young.

CDFW photos