Featured Scientist

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

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.