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Dana Winkelman, PhD

Dana is interested in environmental effects on fish population dynamics and fish biology. Dana's research has three major themes: disease ecology of inland salmonids, the effects of water quality on fish populations, and evaluation of endangered species. 

Dana's lab focuses on salmonid diseases, including whirling disease, bacterial cold-water disease, and bacterial kidney disease. Dana's work on water quality has focused on contaminants and water temperature as factors affecting fish populations in the Great Plains of Colorado. Dana's lab has also focused on assessment and management of endangered fishes using mark-recapture techniques, passive integrated transponders (PIT), and otolith microchemistry.

Research Interests

  • Fish population dynamics
  • Fish biology

Teaching Interests

  • Population dynamics
  • Population ecology

Professional Experience

  • Colorado Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit, 2003

Education and Certifications

  • Ph D University of Georgia 1994

  • MS University of Nevada, Reno

  • BS University of Nevada, Reno

Science and Products

Filter Total Items: 37

Population genetics reveals bidirectional fish movement across the Continental Divide via an interbasin water transfer

Interbasin water transfers are becoming an increasingly common tool to satisfy municipal and agricultural water demand, but their impacts on movement and gene flow of aquatic organisms are poorly understood. The Grand Ditch is an interbasin water transfer that diverts water from tributaries of the upper Colorado River on the west side of the Continental Divide to the upper Cache la Poudre River on
Authors
Audrey Harris, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Jennifer A. Fike, Matthew P Fairchild, Christopher M Kennedy, Harry J Crockett, Dana L. Winkelman, Yoichiro Kanno
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units, Fort Collins Science Center

Incorporating antenna detections into abundance estimates of fish

Autonomous passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antennas are commonly used to detect fish marked with PIT tags but cannot detect unmarked fish, creating challenges for abundance estimation. Here we describe an approach to estimate abundance from paired physical capture and antenna detection data in closed and open mark-recapture models. Additionally, for open models, we develop an approach tha
Authors
Maria C. Dzul, Charles Yackulic, William L. Kendall, Dana L. Winkelman, Mary M Conner, Mike Yard
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Southwest Biological Science Center

Evidence for the use of mucus swabs to detect Renibacterium salmoninarum in brook trout

Efforts to advance fish health diagnostics have been highlighted in many studies to improve the detection of pathogens in aquaculture facilities and wild fish populations. Typically, the detection of a pathogen has required sacrificing fish; however, many hatcheries have valuable and sometimes irreplaceable broodstocks, and lethal sampling is undesirable. Therefore, the development of non-lethal d
Authors
Tawni B. Riepe, Victoria Vincent, Vicki Milano, Eric R. Fetherman, Dana L. Winkelman
By
Cooperative Research Units

Partial migration and spawning movements of humpback chub in the Little Colorado River are better understood using data from autonomous PIT tag antennas

Choosing whether or not to migrate is an important life history decision for many fishes. Here we combine data from physical captures and detections on autonomous passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antennas to study migration in an endangered fish, the humpback chub (Gila cypha). We develop hidden Markov mark-recapture models with and without antenna detections and find that the model fit wi
Authors
Maria C. Dzul, William Louis Kendall, Charles Yackulic, Dana L. Winkelman, David Randall Van Haverbeke, Mike Yard
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Southwest Biological Science Center

Retention of passive integrated transponder tags in a small-bodied catfish

Members of the freshwater catfishes (order Siluriformes) are capable of transintestinal expulsion of foreign bodies, including internally implanted tags, which can bias movement and survival estimates. We evaluated long-term (120-week) retention rates of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in a laboratory setting to assess potential tag loss in Stonecat Noturus flavus. The PIT tags were surg
Authors
Timothy W. D’Amico, Dana L. Winkelman, Tyler R. Swarr, Christopher A. Myrick
By
Cooperative Research Units

Effects-based monitoring of bioactive chemicals discharged to the Colorado River before and after a municipal wastewater treatment plant replacement

Monitoring of the Colorado River near the Moab, Utah, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) outflow has detected pharmaceuticals, hormones, and estrogen-receptor (ER)-, glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ)-mediated biological activities. The aim of the present multi-year study was to assess effects of a WWTP replacement on bioactive chemical (BC)
Authors
J.E. Cavallin, William A. Battaglin, Jon Beihoffer, Bradley D. Blackwell, Paul M. Bradley, AR Cole, Drew R. Ekman, R Hofer, J Kinsey, Kristen Keteles, R Weissinger, Dana L. Winkelman, Daniel L. Villeneuve
By
Water Resources Mission Area, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Temperature–not flow–predicts native fish reproduction with Implications for climate change

Habitat alterations and introduction of nonnative fishes reduced the distributions of the Flannelmouth Sucker Catostomus latipinnis, Bluehead Sucker C. discobolus, and Roundtail Chub Gila robusta to less than 50% of their historical ranges. Climate change models generally predict decreased streamflows and increased water temperatures that may further affect these species. Understanding the effects
Authors
Gregory S. Fraser, Kevin R. Bestgen, Dana L. Winkelman, Kevin G. Thompson
By
Cooperative Research Units

Survival of whirling disease resistant rainbow trout fry in the wild: A comparison of two strains

Introduced pathogens can affect fish populations, and three main factors affect disease occurrence: the environment, host, and pathogen. Manipulating at least one of these factors is necessary for controlling disease. Myxobolus cerebralis, the parasite responsible for salmonid whirling disease, became established in Colorado during the 1990s and caused significant declines in wild Rainbow Trout On
Authors
Brian W. Avila, Dana L. Winkelman, Eric R. Fetherman
By
Cooperative Research Units

Evaluation of targeted and untargeted effects-based monitoring tools to assess impacts of contaminants of emerging concern on fish in the South Platte River, CO

Rivers in the arid Western United States face increasing influences from anthropogenic contaminants due to population growth, urbanization, and drought. To better understand and more effectively track the impacts of these contaminants, biologically-based monitoring tools are increasingly being used to complement routine chemical monitoring. This study was initiated to assess the ability of both ta
Authors
Drew R. Ekman, Kristen Keteles, Jon Beihoffer, Jenna E. Cavallin, Kenneth Dahlin, John M. Davis, Aaron Jastrow, James M. Lazorchak, Marc A. Mills, Mark Murphy, David Nguyen, Alan M. Vajda, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Dana L. Winkelman, Timothy W. Collette
By
Cooperative Research Units

Differences in vitellogenin production between laboratory raised and wild fathead minnows: Potential consequences for understanding estrogenic exposure in wild

No abstract available.
Authors
Jordan R. Anderson, Dana L. Winkelman
By
Cooperative Research Units

Tools to minimize interlaboratory variability in vitellogenin gene expression monitoring programs

The egg yolk precursor protein vitellogenin is widely used as a biomarker of estrogen exposure in male fish. However, standardized methodology is lacking and little is known regarding the reproducibility of results among laboratories using different equipment, reagents, protocols, and data analysis programs. To address this data gap we tested the reproducibility across laboratories to evaluate vit
Authors
Aaron Jastrow, Denise A. Gordon, Kasie M. Auger, Elizabeth C. Punska, Kathleen F. Arcaro, Kristen Keteles, Dana L. Winkelman, David Lattier, Adam Biales, James M. Lazorchak
By
Cooperative Research Units

Tributary use by imperiled Flannelmouth and Bluehead Suckers in the upper Colorado River Basin

Habitat alterations and establishment of nonnative fishes have reduced the distributions of Flannelmouth Sucker Catostomus latipinnis and Bluehead Sucker C. discobolus to less than 50% of their historical ranges in the Colorado River basin. Tributaries are sometimes less altered than main-stem habitat in the basin and may be important to support various life history processes, but their role in th
Authors
Gregory S. Fraser, Dana L. Winkelman, Kevin R. Bestgen, Kevin G. Thompson
By
Cooperative Research Units
link
Sunrise of blue and orange hues and clouds illuminated by the rising sun. Clear water reflects the sky and the leafless tree

Prairie Streams and Fishes Collaborative

The Prairie Streams and Fishes Collaborative (PSFC) is a geographically diverse group of fisheries professionals who share an interest in prairie streams and associated prairie stream fishes. Fisheries researchers and managers responsible for prairie stream fish conservation recognized the need for multi-State, multi-agency networking. Established in 2020, PSFC is a unique initiative that seeks to...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units
link

Prairie Streams and Fishes Collaborative

The Prairie Streams and Fishes Collaborative (PSFC) is a geographically diverse group of fisheries professionals who share an interest in prairie streams and associated prairie stream fishes. Fisheries researchers and managers responsible for prairie stream fish conservation recognized the need for multi-State, multi-agency networking. Established in 2020, PSFC is a unique initiative that seeks to...
Learn More

Science and Products

Filter Total Items: 37

Population genetics reveals bidirectional fish movement across the Continental Divide via an interbasin water transfer

Interbasin water transfers are becoming an increasingly common tool to satisfy municipal and agricultural water demand, but their impacts on movement and gene flow of aquatic organisms are poorly understood. The Grand Ditch is an interbasin water transfer that diverts water from tributaries of the upper Colorado River on the west side of the Continental Divide to the upper Cache la Poudre River on
Authors
Audrey Harris, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Jennifer A. Fike, Matthew P Fairchild, Christopher M Kennedy, Harry J Crockett, Dana L. Winkelman, Yoichiro Kanno
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units, Fort Collins Science Center

Incorporating antenna detections into abundance estimates of fish

Autonomous passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antennas are commonly used to detect fish marked with PIT tags but cannot detect unmarked fish, creating challenges for abundance estimation. Here we describe an approach to estimate abundance from paired physical capture and antenna detection data in closed and open mark-recapture models. Additionally, for open models, we develop an approach tha
Authors
Maria C. Dzul, Charles Yackulic, William L. Kendall, Dana L. Winkelman, Mary M Conner, Mike Yard
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Southwest Biological Science Center

Evidence for the use of mucus swabs to detect Renibacterium salmoninarum in brook trout

Efforts to advance fish health diagnostics have been highlighted in many studies to improve the detection of pathogens in aquaculture facilities and wild fish populations. Typically, the detection of a pathogen has required sacrificing fish; however, many hatcheries have valuable and sometimes irreplaceable broodstocks, and lethal sampling is undesirable. Therefore, the development of non-lethal d
Authors
Tawni B. Riepe, Victoria Vincent, Vicki Milano, Eric R. Fetherman, Dana L. Winkelman
By
Cooperative Research Units

Partial migration and spawning movements of humpback chub in the Little Colorado River are better understood using data from autonomous PIT tag antennas

Choosing whether or not to migrate is an important life history decision for many fishes. Here we combine data from physical captures and detections on autonomous passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antennas to study migration in an endangered fish, the humpback chub (Gila cypha). We develop hidden Markov mark-recapture models with and without antenna detections and find that the model fit wi
Authors
Maria C. Dzul, William Louis Kendall, Charles Yackulic, Dana L. Winkelman, David Randall Van Haverbeke, Mike Yard
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Southwest Biological Science Center

Retention of passive integrated transponder tags in a small-bodied catfish

Members of the freshwater catfishes (order Siluriformes) are capable of transintestinal expulsion of foreign bodies, including internally implanted tags, which can bias movement and survival estimates. We evaluated long-term (120-week) retention rates of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in a laboratory setting to assess potential tag loss in Stonecat Noturus flavus. The PIT tags were surg
Authors
Timothy W. D’Amico, Dana L. Winkelman, Tyler R. Swarr, Christopher A. Myrick
By
Cooperative Research Units

Effects-based monitoring of bioactive chemicals discharged to the Colorado River before and after a municipal wastewater treatment plant replacement

Monitoring of the Colorado River near the Moab, Utah, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) outflow has detected pharmaceuticals, hormones, and estrogen-receptor (ER)-, glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ)-mediated biological activities. The aim of the present multi-year study was to assess effects of a WWTP replacement on bioactive chemical (BC)
Authors
J.E. Cavallin, William A. Battaglin, Jon Beihoffer, Bradley D. Blackwell, Paul M. Bradley, AR Cole, Drew R. Ekman, R Hofer, J Kinsey, Kristen Keteles, R Weissinger, Dana L. Winkelman, Daniel L. Villeneuve
By
Water Resources Mission Area, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Temperature–not flow–predicts native fish reproduction with Implications for climate change

Habitat alterations and introduction of nonnative fishes reduced the distributions of the Flannelmouth Sucker Catostomus latipinnis, Bluehead Sucker C. discobolus, and Roundtail Chub Gila robusta to less than 50% of their historical ranges. Climate change models generally predict decreased streamflows and increased water temperatures that may further affect these species. Understanding the effects
Authors
Gregory S. Fraser, Kevin R. Bestgen, Dana L. Winkelman, Kevin G. Thompson
By
Cooperative Research Units

Survival of whirling disease resistant rainbow trout fry in the wild: A comparison of two strains

Introduced pathogens can affect fish populations, and three main factors affect disease occurrence: the environment, host, and pathogen. Manipulating at least one of these factors is necessary for controlling disease. Myxobolus cerebralis, the parasite responsible for salmonid whirling disease, became established in Colorado during the 1990s and caused significant declines in wild Rainbow Trout On
Authors
Brian W. Avila, Dana L. Winkelman, Eric R. Fetherman
By
Cooperative Research Units

Evaluation of targeted and untargeted effects-based monitoring tools to assess impacts of contaminants of emerging concern on fish in the South Platte River, CO

Rivers in the arid Western United States face increasing influences from anthropogenic contaminants due to population growth, urbanization, and drought. To better understand and more effectively track the impacts of these contaminants, biologically-based monitoring tools are increasingly being used to complement routine chemical monitoring. This study was initiated to assess the ability of both ta
Authors
Drew R. Ekman, Kristen Keteles, Jon Beihoffer, Jenna E. Cavallin, Kenneth Dahlin, John M. Davis, Aaron Jastrow, James M. Lazorchak, Marc A. Mills, Mark Murphy, David Nguyen, Alan M. Vajda, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Dana L. Winkelman, Timothy W. Collette
By
Cooperative Research Units

Differences in vitellogenin production between laboratory raised and wild fathead minnows: Potential consequences for understanding estrogenic exposure in wild

No abstract available.
Authors
Jordan R. Anderson, Dana L. Winkelman
By
Cooperative Research Units

Tools to minimize interlaboratory variability in vitellogenin gene expression monitoring programs

The egg yolk precursor protein vitellogenin is widely used as a biomarker of estrogen exposure in male fish. However, standardized methodology is lacking and little is known regarding the reproducibility of results among laboratories using different equipment, reagents, protocols, and data analysis programs. To address this data gap we tested the reproducibility across laboratories to evaluate vit
Authors
Aaron Jastrow, Denise A. Gordon, Kasie M. Auger, Elizabeth C. Punska, Kathleen F. Arcaro, Kristen Keteles, Dana L. Winkelman, David Lattier, Adam Biales, James M. Lazorchak
By
Cooperative Research Units

Tributary use by imperiled Flannelmouth and Bluehead Suckers in the upper Colorado River Basin

Habitat alterations and establishment of nonnative fishes have reduced the distributions of Flannelmouth Sucker Catostomus latipinnis and Bluehead Sucker C. discobolus to less than 50% of their historical ranges in the Colorado River basin. Tributaries are sometimes less altered than main-stem habitat in the basin and may be important to support various life history processes, but their role in th
Authors
Gregory S. Fraser, Dana L. Winkelman, Kevin R. Bestgen, Kevin G. Thompson
By
Cooperative Research Units
link
Sunrise of blue and orange hues and clouds illuminated by the rising sun. Clear water reflects the sky and the leafless tree

Prairie Streams and Fishes Collaborative

The Prairie Streams and Fishes Collaborative (PSFC) is a geographically diverse group of fisheries professionals who share an interest in prairie streams and associated prairie stream fishes. Fisheries researchers and managers responsible for prairie stream fish conservation recognized the need for multi-State, multi-agency networking. Established in 2020, PSFC is a unique initiative that seeks to...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units
link

Prairie Streams and Fishes Collaborative

The Prairie Streams and Fishes Collaborative (PSFC) is a geographically diverse group of fisheries professionals who share an interest in prairie streams and associated prairie stream fishes. Fisheries researchers and managers responsible for prairie stream fish conservation recognized the need for multi-State, multi-agency networking. Established in 2020, PSFC is a unique initiative that seeks to...
Learn More