CRITFC Staff
Chris Dexheimer
Fishery Technician III
Fishery Science Department Portland Main Office
Biography
I began my relationship with fisheries at six months old on the bank of the Columbia River steelhead fishing near Ringold Hatchery in 1990. As a teenager I began volunteering for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife helping reestablish the Chum Salmon population downstream of Bonneville Dam. This is where I was trained to sample fish and conduct fisherman and habitat surveys. After this I worked seasonally for WDFW on their White Sturgeon Project while I attended college. In late 2018 I left WDFW and joined a molecular ecology lab at Washington State University Vancouver and worked as an academic researcher and lab manager while I finished my B.S. in Biology degree in 2022. While at WSU I traded my waders for a lab coat, I continued to gain experience in critical thinking, the scientific method, and statistical analysis. In 2022, I joined CRITFC where I get to continue the work I have sought out since I was a teenager helping the salmon native to the Columbia River Basin. While not at work, I can still be found along the Pacific Northwest’s rivers when I am not mentoring undergraduate students at WSU Vancouver.
Education
- B.S., Biology, Washington State University, 2022
- Certified Minor in Chemistry, Washington State University, 2022
- Certified Minor in Molecular Biology, Washington State University, 2022