Holly Embke is a Research Fish Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. Holly’s research aims to understand conditions to support self-sustaining inland fish communities in a changing climate across a range of scales. Her work is collaborative and seeks to inform the conservation of inland fishes by working directly with partners to address areas of ma
Holly’s research consists of projects across the basic to applied science spectrum with a focus on understanding the impact of climate change on inland fisheries. She works across a range of scales, including local (e.g., walleye in Wisconsin lakes), regional (e.g., recreational fisheries across the U.S.), and global (e.g., valuing inland fisheries globally).
Education and Certifications
PhD in Freshwater and Marine Sciences, University of Wisconsin.
MS in Biology, University of Toledo
BS in Biology, McGill University
Science and Products
Climate Adaptation for Data-Limited Inland Fisheries
Informing Mekong River Basin Resiliency and Climate Adaptation
Indigenous Perspectives on Lake Sturgeon and the Potential Impact of Climate Change
CASC Fish Research
Walleye Fisheries: Bright Spots in a Changing Climate
One from Many: Combining State Creel Data to Estimate Regional Harvest
Estimating Global Inland Recreational Consumption to Adapt to Global Change
The U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat): A Database and Interactive Tool for Inland Fisheries Management and Research
Safe Operating Space for Walleye: Understanding the Conditions Needed to Sustain Recreational Fisheries in a Changing World
Global dataset of species-specific inland recreational fisheries harvest for consumption
Potential effects of climate change on Acipenser fulvescens (lake sturgeon)
Synthesizing professional opinion and published science to build a conceptual model of Walleye recruitment
Global dataset of species-specific inland recreational fisheries harvest for consumption
Overturning stereotypes: The fuzzy boundary between recreational and subsistence inland fisheries
Resist-accept-direct (RAD) considerations for climate change adaptation in fisheries: The Wisconsin experience
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
Status of the major aquaculture carps of China in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin
Modeling framework to estimate spawning and hatching locations of pelagically-spawned eggs
First direct confirmation of grass carp spawning in a Great Lakes tributary
Science and Products
- Science
Climate Adaptation for Data-Limited Inland Fisheries
Inland fisheries have tremendous cultural, economic, and subsistence value. However, climate change brings new stresses to land-locked fisheries that raise novel challenges for resource managers. One fundamental challenge in inland fisheries is how to best assess and manage data-limited fisheries when resources are finite and uncertainty is pervasive. To address this challenge, we will use quantitInforming Mekong River Basin Resiliency and Climate Adaptation
CASC experts are often requested to provide technical assistance to other Federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of State, as well as national and international partners. The U.S. Consulate in Thailand solicited leadership and guidance from the CASCs to help develop community-supported recommendations for increasing resiliency for fishing communities in the Mekong River Basin. ThailIndigenous Perspectives on Lake Sturgeon and the Potential Impact of Climate Change
Lake sturgeon are a fish of strong subsistence, cultural, and spiritual importance for many Tribal nations. But lake sturgeon are especially vulnerable to climate change given their unique life history and historical mass declines. Therefore, there is a great need to incorporate Tribal perspectives on lake sturgeon shifts and information needs into adaptation planning to conserve these fish in a cCASC Fish Research
The CASC Fish Research Program is a dynamic group of federal researchers and early-career scientists working together to explore the impacts of climate and other stressors on fish and aquatic systems to inform conservation, climate adaptation, and sustainable use.Walleye Fisheries: Bright Spots in a Changing Climate
Habitat loss, pollution, species introductions, and overfishing have been impacting inland fisheries for decades. Climate change threatens to compound the factors that lead to fisheries decline. Walleye, an ecologically, economically and culturally important cool-water sportfish, have been declining in the Upper Great Lakes Region since the early 2000s. Yet while many inland walleye populations haOne from Many: Combining State Creel Data to Estimate Regional Harvest
Recreational angling in the U.S. represents a large group of people that catch and harvest fish for a variety of reasons, including for relaxation, adventure, social motivations, and consumption. Collectively, recreational anglers can exert pressures on both economies and fishery resources. Fish removals by anglers represent an important source of mortality data when trying to understand fish popEstimating Global Inland Recreational Consumption to Adapt to Global Change
Inland recreational fishing, defined as primarily leisure-driven fishing in freshwaters, is a popular past-time which can provide substantial contributions to human consumption which are often overlooked at global scales. Here, we aim to establish a baseline of national inland recreational consumption estimates with species specificity to identify the nutritional composition and total use value ofThe U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat): A Database and Interactive Tool for Inland Fisheries Management and Research
Inland recreational fishing, defined as primarily leisure-driven fishing in freshwaters, is a popular past-time 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 surveySafe Operating Space for Walleye: Understanding the Conditions Needed to Sustain Recreational Fisheries in a Changing World
Walleye, a socially and economically important sportfish across much of North America, are experiencing population declines in many lakes throughout their range. Studies suggest that multiple factors – potentially linked to climate change – are contributing to the decline of walleye, including changes in lake temperatures, loss of habitat, increasing water clarity (perhaps due to drought), and int... - Data
Global dataset of species-specific inland recreational fisheries harvest for consumption
Inland recreational fisheries, found in lakes, rivers, and other landlocked waters, are important to livelihoods, nutrition, leisure, and other societal ecosystem services worldwide. Although recreationally-caught fish are frequently harvested and consumed by fishers, their contribution to food and nutrition has not been adequately quantified due to lack of data, poor monitoring, and under-reporti - Multimedia
- Publications
Potential effects of climate change on Acipenser fulvescens (lake sturgeon)
Acipenser fulvescens (Rafinesque, 1817; lake sturgeon) are the only sturgeon species native to the Great Lakes region and are threatened across most of their range. They are historically vulnerable because of overfishing and habitat fragmentation with the potential for climate change acting as an increasing stressor in the future. Lake sturgeon span multiple habitats during their long lifespans, iAuthorsHolly S. Embke, Catherine A. Nikiel, Marta P. LyonsSynthesizing professional opinion and published science to build a conceptual model of Walleye recruitment
Understanding and predicting recruitment, longstanding goals in fisheries science and ecology, are complicated by variation in the importance of environmental drivers coupled with the dynamic nature of individual ecosystems. Developing an understanding of recruitment from well-monitored stocks offers an opportunity to overcome these complexities. We used a systematic literature review, a survey, aAuthorsCorey Krabbenhoft, Stuart A. Ludsin, Elizabeth A. Marschall, Richard Budnik, Zoe Almeida, Chris Cahill, Holly Susan Embke, Zachary S. Feiner, Patrick J Schmalz, Matt Thorstensen, Michael Weber, Melissa R. Wuellner, Gretchen HansenGlobal dataset of species-specific inland recreational fisheries harvest for consumption
Inland recreational fisheries, found in lakes, rivers, and other landlocked waters, are important to livelihoods, nutrition, leisure, and other societal ecosystem services worldwide. Although recreationally-caught fish are frequently harvested and consumed by fishers, their contribution to food and nutrition has not been adequately quantified due to lack of data, poor monitoring, and under-reportiAuthorsHolly Susan Embke, Elizabeth A. Nyboer, Ashley M. Robertson, Robert Arlinghaus, Shehu L. Akintola, Tuncay Atessahin, Laamiri Mohamed Badr, Claudio Baigun, Zeenatul Basher, Douglas Beard, Gergely Boros, Shannon D. Bower, Steven J. Cooke, Ian G. Cowx, Adolfo Franco, Ma. Teresa Gaspar-Dillanes, Vladimir Puentes Granada, Robert John Hart, Carlos Heinsohn, Vincent Jalabert, Andrzej Kapusta, Tibor Krajč, John D. Koehn, Gonçalo Lopes, Roman Lyach, Terence Magqina, Marco Milardi, Juliet Nattabi, Hilda Nyaboke, Sui C. Phang, Warren M. Potts, Filipe Ribeiro, Norman Mercado-Silva, Naren Sreenivasan, Andy Thorpe, Tomislav Treer, Didzis Ustups, Olaf L.F. Weyl, Louisa E. Wood, Mustafa Zengin, Abigail LynchOverturning stereotypes: The fuzzy boundary between recreational and subsistence inland fisheries
Inland recreational fisheries provide numerous socio- economic benefits to fishers, families and communities. Recreationally harvested fish are also frequently consumed and may provide affordable and sustainable but undervalued contributions to human nutrition. Quantifying the degree to which recreationally harvested fish contribute to food security and subsistence is impeded by lack of data on haAuthorsElizabeth A. Nyboer, Holly Susan Embke, Ashley Robertson, Robert Arlinghaus, Shannon D. Bower, Claudio Baigun, Douglas Beard, Steve J. Cooke, Ian. G. Cowx, John D. Koehn, Roman Lyach, Marco Milardi, Warren M. Potts, Abigail LynchResist-accept-direct (RAD) considerations for climate change adaptation in fisheries: The Wisconsin experience
Decision-makers in inland fisheries management must balance ecologically and socially palatable objectives for ecosystem services within financial or physical constraints. Climate change has transformed the potential range of ecosystem services available. The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework offers a foundation for responding to climate-induced ecosystem modification; however, ecosystem trajecAuthorsZachary S. Feiner, Aaron D. Shultz, Greg G. Sass, Ashley Trudeau, Matthew G. Mitro, Colin J. Dassow, Alexander W. Latzka, Daniel A. Isermann, Bryan M. Maitland, Jared Joseph Homola, Holly Susan Embke, Michael PreulResisting 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 BeardStatus of the major aquaculture carps of China in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin
There is concern of economic and environmental damage occuring if any of the four major aquacultured carp species of China, black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus, bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, silver carp H. molitrix, or grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, were to establish in the Laurentian Great Lakes. All four are reproducing in the Mississippi River Basin. We review the status of theseAuthorsDuane Chapman, Amy J. Benson, Holly S. Embke, Nicole R. King, Patrick Kočovský, Teresa D. Lewis, Nicholas E. MandrakModeling framework to estimate spawning and hatching locations of pelagically-spawned eggs
Identifying spawning and hatching locations is vital to controlling invasive fish and conserving imperiled fish, which can be difficult for pelagically-spawning species with semi-buoyant eggs. In freshwater systems, this reproductive strategy is common among cyprinid species, such as Chinese carp species currently threatening the Great Lakes. Following the confirmation that one of these species, GAuthorsHolly S. Embke, Patrick Kočovský, Tatiana Garcia, Christine M. Mayer, Song S. QianFirst direct confirmation of grass carp spawning in a Great Lakes tributary
Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), an invasive species of Asian carp, has been stocked for many decades in the United States for vegetation control. Adult individuals have been found in all of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior, but no self-sustaining populations have yet been identified in Great Lakes tributaries. In 2012, a commercial fisherman caught four juvenile diploid grass carp in theAuthorsHolly S. Embke, Patrick M. Kocovsky, Catherine A. Richter, Jeremy J. Pritt, Christine M. Mayer, Song Qian