Daniel L Yule, MSc
Daniel Yule is a Research Fisheries Biologist based in Ashland, WI.
Dan was born and raised in western Wisconsin and attended New Richmond Senior High School. He obtained his BS degree from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls (1989) and his MS from Utah State University (1992). After completing his studies he worked for 9 years as a Fish Biologist with the Reservoir Research Crew of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. From 2001-2003 he worked as a Fish Research Scientist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Since 2004, Dan has held his current position as a Fishery Research Scientist with the Great Lakes Science Center – Lake Superior Biological Station. In his free time Dan enjoys hiking, camping, fishing, following WI sports teams, and watching movies. Dan is a huge fan of historical fiction novels.
Professional Experience
1991-2000: Fish Biologist with the Reservoir Research Unit of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Dan oversaw the largest trout stocking evaluation conducted in Wyoming and developed acoustic methods for estimating trout abundance in reservoirs.
2001-2003: Senior Fishery Research Biologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Dan worked to develop acoustic methods for assessing abundance of zooplankton, forage fish, lake trout and rainbow trout populations in northern Minnesota lakes.
Education and Certifications
Certified Fisheries Professional by the American Fisheries Society, 2000-Present.
Master of Science - Utah State University, 1992.
Bachelor of Science - University of Wisconsin at River Falls, 1989.
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Fisheries Society
Honors and Awards
Recipient of the 2020 Moffett Award for tying for the best scientific contribution by the Great Lakes Science center that year (2022).
Exemplary Act Award awarded by the U.S. Department of Interior in recognition for a heroic act resulting in the saving of a life (2018).
Scientific and Technological Achievement Award Level III awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Identifying the Spatial Organization and Support of Large-Lake Food Webs (2015).
Bronze Medal of Commendable Service awarded by U.S. EPA to the 2011 Lake Superior Coordinated Science Monitoring Initiative - Integrated Assessment Team (2012).
Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s, Director’s Award recipient (1999) for exemplary performance (1999).
Abstracts and Presentations
Yule, D.L. W. Stott, T. Krabbenhoft, M. Bernal, S. Koenigbauer, and A. Ackiss. February 2021. Ongoing Lake Superior Coregonine Research: Answering Challenging Questions with New Tools to Support Future Management. Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, St. Paul, MN.
Yule, D.L., and M.R. Vinson. March 2023. A tale of three lake-wide CSMI benthic and pelagic fish surveys: 2011, 2016 & 2022. Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Upper Lakes Committee Meeting, Sault St. Marie, ON.
Science and Products
Science pages by this scientist
Use of Advanced Technologies to Improve Fisheries Assessments on Lake Superior
The mission brings together state, federal, tribal, Canadian provincial, private, and non-profit partners using advanced fishery research approaches to enhance fishery assessment methods.
Hydroacoustic data from uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) overtakes in Lake Superior, 2022
These data were derived from hydroacoustic data collected by uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and powered research vessels in Lake Superior in 2022. The powered vessels overtook the USVs to study fish avoidance of survey vessels during traditional acoustic surveys. The water column was divided into four depth groups for analysis. Each USV transect was binned into 30-sec intervals and measured hydr
Hydroacoustic data from uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) overtakes in Lakes Huron and Michigan, 2021
These data were derived from hydroacoustic data collected by uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and powered research vessels. The powered vessels overtook the USVs in Lakes Huron and Michigan to study fish avoidance of survey vessels during traditional acoustic surveys. The water column was divided into three depth groups (epilimnion, metalimnion, hypolimnion) for analysis. Each drone transect was b
Compilation of Data for Parameterization of an Ecopath Model of Lake Superior at the Beginning of the 21st Century (2001-2016)
This data release includes tabular data files. The dataset consists of four input data tables (Appendices A1-A4) for a Lake Superior EcoPath with EcoSim (EwE; http://ecopath.org) model parameterized to the early 21st century using 2001-2016 collections. The data presented here are primarily intended to development a static ecosystem model representing a snapshot of Lake Superior circa 2005 when th
Filter Total Items: 31
Paired comparisons with quiet surface drones show evidence of fish behavioral response to motorized vessels during acoustic surveys in Lake Superior
Acoustic surveys are important for fish stock assessments, but fish responses to survey vessels can bias acoustic estimates. We leveraged quiet uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to characterize potential bias in acoustic surveys. Five conventional motorized ships overtook USVs from astern over 2 km transects at night in Lake Superior in 2022. We examined the difference in acoustic backscatter, avera
Authors
Thomas M. Evans, Lars G. Rudstam, Suresh A Sethi, Daniel Yule, David Warner, Steve A. Farha, Andrew R. Barnard, Mark Richard Dufour, Timothy P. O'Brien, Kayden Nasworthy, Ian Harding, Bradley A. Ray, Edmund J. Isaac, Joshua Blankenheim, Hannah B. Blair, James M. Watkins, Steven A. Senczyszyn, James Roberts, Peter C. Esselman
Origin of the Laurentian Great Lakes fish fauna through upward adaptive radiation cascade prior to the Last Glacial Maximum
The evolutionary histories of adaptive radiations can be marked by dramatic demographic fluctuations. However, the demographic histories of ecologically-linked co-diversifying lineages remain understudied. The Laurentian Great Lakes provide a unique system of two such radiations that are dispersed across depth gradients with a predator-prey relationship. We show that the North American Coregonus s
Authors
Nathan J.C. Backenstose, Daniel J. MacGuigan, Christopher A. Osborne, Moises A. Bernal, Elizabeth K. Thomas, Eric Normandeau, Daniel Yule, Wendylee Stott, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Victor A. Albert, Louis Bernatchez, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft
Factors influencing larval coregonine spatial distribution in Lake Geneva (Europe) and Lake Superior (North America) during a single season near known spawning sites
Survival rate of the larval stage is an important driver of fish recruitment. To understand mechanisms regulating larval survival it is important to understand the relative importance of abiotic and biotic factors that shape larval spatial distributions. We studied larval Coregonus distributions in surface waters (surface to 1 m) by repeatedly sampling study sites in two lakes that varied greatly
Authors
Jamie A. Dobosenski, Daniel Yule, Jean Guillard, Orlane Anneville, Edmund J. Isaac, Jason D. Stockwell, Jared T. Myers, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Rosaura J. Chapina, Seth A. Moore
Trophic ecology of juvenile lean and siscowet lake charr (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Superior: Assessing for potential competition
We investigated the spatial overlap, diet, isotopic niche, and growth of juvenile lean and siscowet lake charr (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Superior to address concerns of potential competition with implications to the study of resource polymorphism. Catch data revealed the greatest levels of sympatry in waters from 40 to 60 m. Juvenile lean and siscowet diet changed ontogenetically with Mysis b
Authors
Brandon S. Gerig, Shawn P. Sitar, Will F Otte, Daniel Yule, Heidi K. Swanson, Charles R. Bronte, Dray Carl, Joshua Blankenheim
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2023
The U.S. Geological Survey annually conducts fishery surveys across Lake Superior that describe trends in fish species occurrence and relative abundance to inform fisheries management and large lake ecology. In 2023, the Lake Superior fish community was sampled with daytime bottom and surface trawls at 51 nearshore locations in June and 31 offshore locations in July. Nearshore bottom trawls collec
Authors
Mark Vinson, Lori M. Evrard, Owen Gorman, Sydney B Phillips, Daniel Yule
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2022
In 2022, the Lake Superior fish community was sampled with daytime bottom and surface trawls at 71 nearshore locations in May-June and 35 offshore locations in July, and at 51 Coordinated Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) locations in July-October with bottom trawls, surface trawls, mid-water trawls and acoustics that were previously sampled in 2011 and 2016. Nearshore bottom trawls collect
Authors
Mark Vinson, Daniel Yule, Lori M. Evrard, Sydney B Phillips
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2020
The Lake Superior fish community within Management Unit WI-2 was sampled in July 2020 with daytime bottom trawls at 11 nearshore stations. The 11 locations sampled were long-term monitoring sites that had been annually sampled since 1974. In 2020, the number of species collected at each site ranged from 0 to 13, with a mean of 6.3 and median of six. All comparisons to 2020 results were limited to
Authors
Mark Vinson, Lori M. Evrard, Owen Gorman, Daniel Yule
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2021
The Lake Superior nearshore fish community was sampled in May-June 2021 with daytime bottom trawl tows at 45 stations located in USA waters. The 45 locations sampled were long-term monitoring sites that had been annually sampled since 1978. All comparisons to 2021 results were limited to past collections from USA waters, as compared to previous years, where comparisons included USA and Canadian si
Authors
Mark Vinson, Daniel Yule, Lori M. Evrard, Owen T. Gorman, Sydney B Phillips
Genetic population structure of cisco, Coregonus artedi, in the Laurentian Great Lakes
Management of a widely distributed species can be a challenge when management priorities, resource status, and assessment methods vary across jurisdictions. For example, restoration and preservation of coregonine species diversity is a goal of management agencies across the Laurentian Great Lakes. However, management goals and the amount of information available varies across management units, mak
Authors
Wendylee Stott, Daniel Yule, Chris L. Davis, Kevin Donner, Mark P. Ebener, Stephen Lenart, Christopher Olds
Lake Superior Kiyi reproductive biology
ObjectiveThe Lake Superior Kiyi Coregonus kiyi is an understudied species being considered for reintroduction into Laurentian Great Lakes where it no longer occurs. Herein, we provide descriptions of Kiyi reproductive biology with the intention of guiding potential gamete collections for propagation.MethodsData were collected on Kiyi spawning timing, spawning locations, spawning season catch rates
Authors
Mark Vinson, Matthew E. Herbert, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Jamie A. Dobosenski, Lori M. Evrard, Owen Gorman, Joshua F Lyons, Sydney B Phillips, Daniel Yule
Diversity in spawning habitat use among Great Lakes Cisco populations
Cisco (Coregonus artedi) once dominated fish communities in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Restoring the abundance and distribution of this species has emerged as a management priority, yet our understanding of Cisco spawning habitat use is insufficient to characterise habitat needs for these populations and assess whether availability of suitable spawning habitat could be a constraint to recovery. W
Authors
Matthew R. Paufve, Suresh Sethi, Brian Weidel, Brian F. Lantry, Daniel Yule, Lars G. Rudstam, Jory L. Jonas, Eric K. Berglund, Michael J. Connerton, Dimitry Gorsky, Matthew Herbert, Jason Smith
Concordant patterns of morphological, stable isotope, and genetic variation in a recent ecological radiation (Salmonidae: Coregonus spp.)
Groups of sympatric taxa with low interspecific genetic differentiation, but considerable ecological differences, offer great opportunities to study the dynamics of divergence and speciation. This is the case of ciscoes (Coregonus spp.) in the Laurentian Great Lakes, which are characterized by a complex evolutionary history and are commonly described as having undergone an adaptive radiation. In t
Authors
Moises A Bernal, Daniel Yule, Wendylee Stott, Lori M. Evrard, Thomas E Dowling, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft
News about this scientist
Science and Products
Science pages by this scientist
Use of Advanced Technologies to Improve Fisheries Assessments on Lake Superior
The mission brings together state, federal, tribal, Canadian provincial, private, and non-profit partners using advanced fishery research approaches to enhance fishery assessment methods.
Hydroacoustic data from uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) overtakes in Lake Superior, 2022
These data were derived from hydroacoustic data collected by uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and powered research vessels in Lake Superior in 2022. The powered vessels overtook the USVs to study fish avoidance of survey vessels during traditional acoustic surveys. The water column was divided into four depth groups for analysis. Each USV transect was binned into 30-sec intervals and measured hydr
Hydroacoustic data from uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) overtakes in Lakes Huron and Michigan, 2021
These data were derived from hydroacoustic data collected by uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and powered research vessels. The powered vessels overtook the USVs in Lakes Huron and Michigan to study fish avoidance of survey vessels during traditional acoustic surveys. The water column was divided into three depth groups (epilimnion, metalimnion, hypolimnion) for analysis. Each drone transect was b
Compilation of Data for Parameterization of an Ecopath Model of Lake Superior at the Beginning of the 21st Century (2001-2016)
This data release includes tabular data files. The dataset consists of four input data tables (Appendices A1-A4) for a Lake Superior EcoPath with EcoSim (EwE; http://ecopath.org) model parameterized to the early 21st century using 2001-2016 collections. The data presented here are primarily intended to development a static ecosystem model representing a snapshot of Lake Superior circa 2005 when th
Filter Total Items: 31
Paired comparisons with quiet surface drones show evidence of fish behavioral response to motorized vessels during acoustic surveys in Lake Superior
Acoustic surveys are important for fish stock assessments, but fish responses to survey vessels can bias acoustic estimates. We leveraged quiet uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to characterize potential bias in acoustic surveys. Five conventional motorized ships overtook USVs from astern over 2 km transects at night in Lake Superior in 2022. We examined the difference in acoustic backscatter, avera
Authors
Thomas M. Evans, Lars G. Rudstam, Suresh A Sethi, Daniel Yule, David Warner, Steve A. Farha, Andrew R. Barnard, Mark Richard Dufour, Timothy P. O'Brien, Kayden Nasworthy, Ian Harding, Bradley A. Ray, Edmund J. Isaac, Joshua Blankenheim, Hannah B. Blair, James M. Watkins, Steven A. Senczyszyn, James Roberts, Peter C. Esselman
Origin of the Laurentian Great Lakes fish fauna through upward adaptive radiation cascade prior to the Last Glacial Maximum
The evolutionary histories of adaptive radiations can be marked by dramatic demographic fluctuations. However, the demographic histories of ecologically-linked co-diversifying lineages remain understudied. The Laurentian Great Lakes provide a unique system of two such radiations that are dispersed across depth gradients with a predator-prey relationship. We show that the North American Coregonus s
Authors
Nathan J.C. Backenstose, Daniel J. MacGuigan, Christopher A. Osborne, Moises A. Bernal, Elizabeth K. Thomas, Eric Normandeau, Daniel Yule, Wendylee Stott, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Victor A. Albert, Louis Bernatchez, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft
Factors influencing larval coregonine spatial distribution in Lake Geneva (Europe) and Lake Superior (North America) during a single season near known spawning sites
Survival rate of the larval stage is an important driver of fish recruitment. To understand mechanisms regulating larval survival it is important to understand the relative importance of abiotic and biotic factors that shape larval spatial distributions. We studied larval Coregonus distributions in surface waters (surface to 1 m) by repeatedly sampling study sites in two lakes that varied greatly
Authors
Jamie A. Dobosenski, Daniel Yule, Jean Guillard, Orlane Anneville, Edmund J. Isaac, Jason D. Stockwell, Jared T. Myers, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Rosaura J. Chapina, Seth A. Moore
Trophic ecology of juvenile lean and siscowet lake charr (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Superior: Assessing for potential competition
We investigated the spatial overlap, diet, isotopic niche, and growth of juvenile lean and siscowet lake charr (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Superior to address concerns of potential competition with implications to the study of resource polymorphism. Catch data revealed the greatest levels of sympatry in waters from 40 to 60 m. Juvenile lean and siscowet diet changed ontogenetically with Mysis b
Authors
Brandon S. Gerig, Shawn P. Sitar, Will F Otte, Daniel Yule, Heidi K. Swanson, Charles R. Bronte, Dray Carl, Joshua Blankenheim
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2023
The U.S. Geological Survey annually conducts fishery surveys across Lake Superior that describe trends in fish species occurrence and relative abundance to inform fisheries management and large lake ecology. In 2023, the Lake Superior fish community was sampled with daytime bottom and surface trawls at 51 nearshore locations in June and 31 offshore locations in July. Nearshore bottom trawls collec
Authors
Mark Vinson, Lori M. Evrard, Owen Gorman, Sydney B Phillips, Daniel Yule
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2022
In 2022, the Lake Superior fish community was sampled with daytime bottom and surface trawls at 71 nearshore locations in May-June and 35 offshore locations in July, and at 51 Coordinated Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) locations in July-October with bottom trawls, surface trawls, mid-water trawls and acoustics that were previously sampled in 2011 and 2016. Nearshore bottom trawls collect
Authors
Mark Vinson, Daniel Yule, Lori M. Evrard, Sydney B Phillips
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2020
The Lake Superior fish community within Management Unit WI-2 was sampled in July 2020 with daytime bottom trawls at 11 nearshore stations. The 11 locations sampled were long-term monitoring sites that had been annually sampled since 1974. In 2020, the number of species collected at each site ranged from 0 to 13, with a mean of 6.3 and median of six. All comparisons to 2020 results were limited to
Authors
Mark Vinson, Lori M. Evrard, Owen Gorman, Daniel Yule
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2021
The Lake Superior nearshore fish community was sampled in May-June 2021 with daytime bottom trawl tows at 45 stations located in USA waters. The 45 locations sampled were long-term monitoring sites that had been annually sampled since 1978. All comparisons to 2021 results were limited to past collections from USA waters, as compared to previous years, where comparisons included USA and Canadian si
Authors
Mark Vinson, Daniel Yule, Lori M. Evrard, Owen T. Gorman, Sydney B Phillips
Genetic population structure of cisco, Coregonus artedi, in the Laurentian Great Lakes
Management of a widely distributed species can be a challenge when management priorities, resource status, and assessment methods vary across jurisdictions. For example, restoration and preservation of coregonine species diversity is a goal of management agencies across the Laurentian Great Lakes. However, management goals and the amount of information available varies across management units, mak
Authors
Wendylee Stott, Daniel Yule, Chris L. Davis, Kevin Donner, Mark P. Ebener, Stephen Lenart, Christopher Olds
Lake Superior Kiyi reproductive biology
ObjectiveThe Lake Superior Kiyi Coregonus kiyi is an understudied species being considered for reintroduction into Laurentian Great Lakes where it no longer occurs. Herein, we provide descriptions of Kiyi reproductive biology with the intention of guiding potential gamete collections for propagation.MethodsData were collected on Kiyi spawning timing, spawning locations, spawning season catch rates
Authors
Mark Vinson, Matthew E. Herbert, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Jamie A. Dobosenski, Lori M. Evrard, Owen Gorman, Joshua F Lyons, Sydney B Phillips, Daniel Yule
Diversity in spawning habitat use among Great Lakes Cisco populations
Cisco (Coregonus artedi) once dominated fish communities in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Restoring the abundance and distribution of this species has emerged as a management priority, yet our understanding of Cisco spawning habitat use is insufficient to characterise habitat needs for these populations and assess whether availability of suitable spawning habitat could be a constraint to recovery. W
Authors
Matthew R. Paufve, Suresh Sethi, Brian Weidel, Brian F. Lantry, Daniel Yule, Lars G. Rudstam, Jory L. Jonas, Eric K. Berglund, Michael J. Connerton, Dimitry Gorsky, Matthew Herbert, Jason Smith
Concordant patterns of morphological, stable isotope, and genetic variation in a recent ecological radiation (Salmonidae: Coregonus spp.)
Groups of sympatric taxa with low interspecific genetic differentiation, but considerable ecological differences, offer great opportunities to study the dynamics of divergence and speciation. This is the case of ciscoes (Coregonus spp.) in the Laurentian Great Lakes, which are characterized by a complex evolutionary history and are commonly described as having undergone an adaptive radiation. In t
Authors
Moises A Bernal, Daniel Yule, Wendylee Stott, Lori M. Evrard, Thomas E Dowling, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft
News about this scientist
*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