Adria Anne Elskus

As an emeritus Bureau Approving Official (BAO) I participate, when possible, in BAO team and ‘Hot Topics’ meetings, Information Product Data System (IPDS) Users Group meetings, and Fundamental Science Practices (FSP) Advisory Council Communications, Outreach and Training Subcommittee meetings. I assist, as needed, with the review and update of FSP frequently asked questions (FAQs), and with the review of information products with interpretive research results for release to the public or other federal agencies.

From 2020 to 2025 I was a practicing Bureau Approving Official in the USGS Office of Science Quality and Integrity. Prior to that from 2016-2020 I was Branch Chief of the U.S. Geological Survey’s S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory where I oversaw research on migratory fish including the design of fishways, the physiological processes unique to migratory fish, fish performance metrics, tracking and predicting the movement of fish in response to environmental change, and work on endangered fish species. Prior to becoming Branch Chief, I was a U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) Supervisory Research Fishery Biologist toxicologist at the University of Maine (2004-2015) studying a range of aquatic pollutants and their effects on vertebrate and invertebrate physiology, reproduction, early life stage development, biochemical metabolism, and ecosystem processes. In this work I partnered with Federal, State, university, and Tribal scientists and managers, and with non-governmental organizations. Before joining USGS I was an environmental consultant in industry, an environmental chemist and invertebrate toxicologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and held faculty positions at the Marine Sciences Research Center at Stony Brook University and the Biology Department at the University of Kentucky. I have authored or co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and reports on topics ranging from biochemical mechanisms involved in pollutant tolerance to novel methods for treating the ballast water of Great Lakes bulk carriers.