Abigail J. Lynch, Ph.D.
Abigail (Abby) J. Lynch is a Research Fish Biologist with the USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center. Abby conducts science and science syntheses on the impacts of global change to inland fishes at local, national, and global scales. Her work aims to inform conservation and sustainable use and to help fishers, managers, and other practitioners adapt to change.
Collaborative Networks
Abby leads the National CASC's aquatics program and co-leads the CASC Fish Research Team. She is adjunct/affiliate faculty at Michigan State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Florida, and the University of Missouri.
She serves as the coordinator for the international 'InFish' research network, a steward for the Fish and Climate Change Database (FiCli), and an Associate Editor for Fisheries Management and Ecology.
Abby received her Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University on climate impacts to Great Lakes Lake Whitefish, M.S. in marine science on Atlantic Menhaden population genetics at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary, and B.S. in biology and B.A. in English literature from the University of Virginia. She also served as a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Fisheries Program.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University
M.S. in Marine Science, College of William & Mary
B.S. in Biology, University of Virginia
B.A. in English, University of Virginia
Affiliations and Memberships*
IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist Group; IUCN Fisheries Expert Group
IPBES Global and Nexus Assessments (Fellow, Author)
2024 World Fisheries Congress International Program Committee (Co-chair)
UN International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 (International Steering Committee)
FAO International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability (Advisory Board Member)
American Fisheries Society International Fisheries Section (Past-President)
Honors and Awards
Outstanding Young Alumni Award, Michigan State University College of Agriculture & Natural Resources
Science and Products
Impacts of Global Change on Biotic Resistance, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services in Caribbean Fish Assemblages, Fisheries, and Aquatic Ecosystems
Making an Invisible Resource Visible: Integrating Inland Fisheries into the Sustainable Development Goals
National Stream Summarization: Standardizing Stream-Landscape Summaries
Assessing the Impact of Future Climate on Hawai‘i’s Aquatic Ecosystems
Global Analysis of Trends in Projected and Documented Effects of Climate Change on Inland Fish
Evaluating Future Effects of Climate and Land Use on Fisheries Production in Inland Lakes
Fish and Climate Change (FiCli) Database: Informing Climate Change Adaptation and Management Actions for Freshwater Fishes
Global Assessment of River Fish Production and Potential Global Change Implications
Science to Action Fellowship: Supporting Graduate Students to Apply Science to Decision Making and Adaptation
A Value and Investment Assessment of Marine and Inland Fisheries Globally to Inform Future Resource Management Strategies
The Effects of Drought on Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout: The Role of Stream Flow and Temperature
Resisting ecosystem transformation through an intensive whole-lake fish removal experiment
The U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat): Development, applications, and opportunities
RAD adaptive management for transforming ecosystems
Aquatic foods to nourish nations
COVID-19 influences on US recreational angler behavior
Climate change effects on North American fish and fisheries to inform adaptation strategies
A global dataset of inland fisheries expert knowledge
The ten steps to responsible Inland fisheries in practice: Reflections from diverse regional case studies around the globe
Twenty-five essential research questions to inform the protection and restoration of freshwater biodiversity
Managing for RADical ecosystem change: Applying the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework
Interacting effects of density-dependent and density-independent factors on growth rates in southwestern Cutthroat Trout populations
How does climate change affect emergent properties of aquatic ecosystems?
Science and Products
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Impacts of Global Change on Biotic Resistance, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services in Caribbean Fish Assemblages, Fisheries, and Aquatic Ecosystems
Extreme events not only affect people but can have detrimental impacts on natural resources, such as fish and freshwater habitats. Impacts of extreme events, like hurricanes, tornadoes, and extreme flooding, have immediate consequences, but also have the ability to alter habitats and animals far in the future by providing opportunities for exotic species to colonize new areas. Some fish communitieMaking an Invisible Resource Visible: Integrating Inland Fisheries into the Sustainable Development Goals
Inland fisheries make up more than 50% of all food fish in the world. Sustainable inland fisheries can support global economic development by providing food for billions and livelihood for millions of people worldwide. However, it can be difficult to quantitatively track and evaluate the services that inland fisheries provide to communities, which ultimately means that the contributions of this imNational Stream Summarization: Standardizing Stream-Landscape Summaries
As research and management of natural resources shift from local to regional and national scales, the need for information about aquatic systems to be summarized to multiple scales is becoming more apparent. Recently, four federally funded national stream assessment efforts (USGS Aquatic GAP, USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] StreamCat, andAssessing the Impact of Future Climate on Hawai‘i’s Aquatic Ecosystems
The stream systems of Hawai‘i are unique and home to many rare species, including five native fish and five native shellfish. These native species have amphidromous life cycles, meaning that they spend part of their lives in the ocean and part in freshwater streams. Stream flow serves as a vital natural pathway, connecting saltwater and freshwater habitats so that these animals can migrate betweenGlobal Analysis of Trends in Projected and Documented Effects of Climate Change on Inland Fish
Inland fish populations are a crucial resource to humans and communities around the world. Recreational fishing throughout the United States, for example, provides important revenue to local and state economies; globally, inland fisheries are a vital food source for billions of people. Warming temperatures and changing precipitation patterns, however, are already causing significant changes to fiEvaluating Future Effects of Climate and Land Use on Fisheries Production in Inland Lakes
Inland fisheries are critical for global food security and human well-being. However, fish production may be threatened by changes in climate and land use. Understanding this threat is crucial to effectively manage inland fisheries in the future. To address this need, this project will identify which types of lakes across the globe are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate and land use changesFish and Climate Change (FiCli) Database: Informing Climate Change Adaptation and Management Actions for Freshwater Fishes
Inland fishes provide important ecosystem services to communities worldwide and are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Fish respond to climate change in diverse and nuanced ways, which creates challenges for practitioners of fish conservation, climate change adaptation, and management. Although climate change is known to affect fish globally, a comprehensive online, public datGlobal Assessment of River Fish Production and Potential Global Change Implications
Better understanding of the overall fishery production in river systems around the world may influence general development policies and practices for aquatic systems and sustainable maintenance of an important protein source (particularly for poorer countries where fish are relatively readily available to the local human population). With this study, researchers worked to fill this knowledge gap bScience to Action Fellowship: Supporting Graduate Students to Apply Science to Decision Making and Adaptation
The mission of the US Geological Survey’s National Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC) is to provide managers, policy-makers, and other stakeholders with information and decision-making tools to respond to effects of climate change on natural resources. In support of this goal, the NCASC wishes to support an exceptional mentoring experience for graduate students from select partner institutiA Value and Investment Assessment of Marine and Inland Fisheries Globally to Inform Future Resource Management Strategies
Marine and inland fisheries provide substantial economic, nutritional, recreational, and cultural benefits to human populations globally. Though extensive research and management efforts exist to ensure the sustainability of these important resources, many fisheries still face threats including climate change, habitat degradation, and overfishing. The inland fisheries community often cites that leThe Effects of Drought on Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout: The Role of Stream Flow and Temperature
Increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation threaten the persistence of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the southernmost subspecies of cutthroat trout, found only in parts of New Mexico and Colorado. This subspecies appears to be more vulnerable to drought than more northern subspecies, because it occupies small and fragmented streams which are at greater risk of drying up during drought - Data
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Resisting ecosystem transformation through an intensive whole-lake fish removal experiment
Lake ecosystems are shifting due to many drivers including climate change and landscape-scale habitat disturbance, diminishing their potential to support some fisheries. Walleye Sander vitreus (Mitchill) populations, which support recreational and tribal fisheries across North America, have declined in some lakes. Climate change, harvest, invasive species and concurrent increases in warm-water fisAuthorsHolly Susan Embke, Stephen R. Carpenter, Daniel A. Isermann, Giancarlo Coppola, Douglas Beard, Abigail Lynch, Greg. G Sass, Zachary S. Feiner, M. Jake Vander ZandenThe U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat): Development, applications, and opportunities
Inland recreational fishing, defined as primarily leisure-driven fishing in freshwaters, is a popular pastime in the USA. State natural resource agencies endeavor to provide high-quality and sustainable fishing opportunities for anglers. Managers often use creel and other angler survey data to inform state- and waterbody-level management efforts. Despite the broad implementation of angler surveysAuthorsAbigail Lynch, Nick Sievert, Holly Susan Embke, Ashley Robertson, Bonnie Jean Evaline Myers, M. S. Allen, Zach S. Feiner, Fritz Hoogakker, Scott Knoche, Rebecca Krogman, Stephen R. Midway, Chelsey L. Nieman, Craig Paukert, Kevin L. Pope, Mark W. Rogers, L. S. Wszola, T. Douglas BeardRAD adaptive management for transforming ecosystems
Intensifying global change is propelling many ecosystems toward irreversible transformations. Natural resource managers face the complex task of conserving these important resources under unprecedented conditions and expanding uncertainty. As once familiar ecological conditions disappear, traditional management approaches that assume the future will reflect the past are becoming increasingly untenAuthorsAbigail Lynch, Laura Thompson, John M. Morton, Erik A. Beever, Michael Clifford, Douglas Limpinsel, Robert T. Magill, Dawn R. Magness, Tracy A. Melvin, Robert A. Newman, Mark T. Porath, Frank J. Rahel, Joel H. Reynolds, Gregor W. Schuurman, Suresh Sethi, Jennifer L. WilkeningAquatic foods to nourish nations
Despite contributing to healthy diets for billions of people, aquatic foods are often undervalued as a nutritional solution because their diversity is often reduced to the protein and energy value of a single food type (‘seafood’ or ‘fish’)1,2,3,4. Here we create a cohesive model that unites terrestrial foods with nearly 3,000 taxa of aquatic foods to understand the future impact of aquatic foodsAuthorsChristopher D. Golden, J. Zachary Koehn, Alon Shepon, Simone Passarelli, Christopher M. Free, Daniel Viana, Holger Matthey, Jacob G. Eurich, Jessica A. Gephart, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Elizabeth A. Nyboer, Abigail Lynch, Marian Kjellevold, Sabri Bromage, Pierre Charlebois, Manuel Barange, Stefania Vannuccini, Ling Cao, Kristin Kleisner, Eric Rimm, Goodarz Danaei, Camille DeDisto, Heather Kelahan, Kathryn J. Fiorella, David C. Little, Edward H. Allison, Jessica Fanzo, Shakuntala H. ThilstedCOVID-19 influences on US recreational angler behavior
Recreational angling in the United States (US) is largely a personal hobby that scales up to a multibillion-dollar economic activity. Given dramatic changes to personal decisions and behaviors resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, we surveyed recreational anglers across the US to understand how the pandemic may have affected their fishing motivations and subsequent activities. Nearly a quarter milAuthorsStephen R. Midway, Abigail Lynch, Brandon K. Peoples, Michael A. Dance, Rex CaffeyClimate change effects on North American fish and fisheries to inform adaptation strategies
Climate change is a global persistent threat to fish and fish habitats throughout North America. Climate-induced modification of environmental regimes, including changes in streamflow, water temperature, salinity, storm surges, and habitat connectivity can change fish physiology, disrupt spawning cues, cause fish extinctions and invasions, and alter fish community structure. Reducing greenhouse emAuthorsCraig Paukert, Julian D. Olden, Abigail Lynch, Dave Brashears, R. Christopher Chambers, Cindy Chu, Margaret Daly, Kimberly L. Dibble, Jeffrey A. Falke, Dan Issak, Peter C. Jacobson, Olaf P. Jensen, Daphne MunroeA global dataset of inland fisheries expert knowledge
Inland fisheries and their freshwater habitats face intensifying effects from multiple natural and anthropogenic pressures. Fish harvest and biodiversity data remain largely disparate and severely deficient in many areas, which makes assessing and managing inland fisheries difficult. Expert knowledge is increasingly used to improve and inform biological or vulnerability assessments, especially inAuthorsGretchen L. Stokes, Abigail Lynch, Simon Funge-Smith, John Valbo-Jørgensen, T. Douglas Beard, Benjamin S. Lowe, Jesse P. Wong, Samuel J. SmidtThe ten steps to responsible Inland fisheries in practice: Reflections from diverse regional case studies around the globe
Inland fisheries make substantial contributions to food security and livelihoods locally, regionally, and globally but their conservation and management have been largely overlooked by policy makers. In an effort to remedy this limited recognition, a cross-sectoral community of scientists, practitioners, and policy makers from around the world convened a high-level meeting in 2015 at the Food andAuthorsSteven J. Cooke, Elizabeth A. Nyboer, Abigail Bennett, Abigail J. Lynch, Dana M. Infante, Ian G. Cowx, Douglas Beard, Devin Bartley, Craig Paukert, Andrea J. Reid, Simon Funge-Smith, Edith Gondwe, Emmanuel Kaunda, John D. Koehn, Nicholas J. Souter, Gretchen L. Stokes, Leandro Castello, Nancy J. Leonard, Christian Skov, Soren Berg, William W. TaylorTwenty-five essential research questions to inform the protection and restoration of freshwater biodiversity
Freshwater biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Freshwater conservationists and environmental managers have enough evidence to demonstrate that action must not be delayed but have insufficient evidence to identify those actions that will be most effective in reversing the current trend.Here, the focus is on identifying essential research topics that, if addressed, will contribute diAuthorsMeagan Harper, Hebah S. Mejbel, Dylan Longert, Robin Abell, T. Douglas Beard, Joseph R. Bennett, Stephanie M. Carlson, William Darwall, Anthony Dell, Sami Domisch, David Dudgeon, Jörg Freyhof, Ian Harrison, Kathy A. Hughes, Sonja C. Jähnig, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Richard Lansdown, Mark Lintermans, Abigail Lynch, Helen M. R. Meredith, Sanjay Molur, Julian D. Olden, Steve J. Ormerod, Harmony Patricio, Andrea J. Reid, Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber, Michele Thieme, David Tickner, Eren Turak, Olaf L. F. Weyl, Steve J. CookeManaging for RADical ecosystem change: Applying the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework
Ecosystem transformation involves the emergence of persistent ecological or social–ecological systems that diverge, dramatically and irreversibly, from prior ecosystem structure and function. Such transformations are occurring at increasing rates across the planet in response to changes in climate, land use, and other factors. Consequently, a dynamic view of ecosystem processes that accommodates rAuthorsAbigail Lynch, Laura Thompson, Erik A. Beever, Augustin C. Engman, Cat Hawkins Hoffman, Stephen T. Jackson, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft, David J Lawrence, Douglas Limpinsel, Robert T. Magill, Tracy Melvin, John M. Morton, Robert Newman, Jay Peterson, Mark T. Porath, Frank J. Rahel, Gregor Schuurman, Suresh Sethi, Jennifer L. WilkeningInteracting effects of density-dependent and density-independent factors on growth rates in southwestern Cutthroat Trout populations
Density-dependent (DD) and density-independent (DI) effects play an important role in shaping fish growth rates, an attribute that correlates with many life history traits in fishes. Consequently, understanding the extent to which DD and DI effects influence growth rates is valuable for fisheries assessments because it can inform managers about how populations may respond as environmental conditioAuthorsBrock M. Huntsman, Abigail Lynch, Colleen A. CaldwellHow does climate change affect emergent properties of aquatic ecosystems?
Emergent properties of ecosystems are community attributes, such as structure and function, that arise from connections and interactions (e.g., predator–prey, competition) among populations, species, or assemblages that, when viewed together, provide a holistic representation that is more than the sum of its individual parts. Climate change is altering emergent properties of aquatic ecosystems thrAuthorsMichelle Staudinger, Abigail Lynch, Sarah Gaichas, Michael Fox, Daniel Gibson-Reinemer, Joseph Langan, Amy K. Teffer, Stephen Thackeray, Ian Winfield - Web Tools
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*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government