James E McKenna, Jr., PhD
James E McKenna, Jr. is a Research Ecologist based in Cortland, NY.
Dr. McKenna is a Research Ecologist with the Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science in Cortland, NY. For the past 28 years, he has conducted research on Great Lakes ecosystems, including tributary watersheds and the St. Lawrence River. His research topics range from native fish population restoration to ecosystem function and threats evaluation. Much of his work focuses on applied ecology of fish communities in the Great Lakes Region to support natural resource manager decision-making. His work often involves development of new analytical tools and methods to address complex ecological questions about how biodiversity and ecosystem function and adaptability is maintained (or repairable) in the face of continuing human activities. The methods have been applied to simplify the complex relationships among more than 100 fish species and their habitats into salient interpretations of fish communities that managers may use to address conservation and restoration objectives for Great Lakes ecosystems. This includes characterization of the best potential of any aquatic habitat to support the various fish species and associated biodiversity. Recent research has revealed habitat conditions (both locally and globally) most influential to fish communities in the Great Lakes proper and identified the inherent suitability (or unsuitability) of each of the millions of 30-m habitat units within a Great Lake. The research demonstrates how the natural suitability of habitat conditions varies by species and is affected by anthropogenic disturbances, including climate change. One research project, supporting native American tribal interests, provides managers and scientists with a detailed understanding of biodiversity and fish communities in rivers and streams throughout a large region of the St. Lawrence River valley, highlighting the abundance and distributions of threatened and endangered species, and characterizing their habitats. Restoration research has included work with the thousands of Atlantic Salmon, Ciscos, and Bloaters raised at the Tunison laboratory to support reintroduction of these native species to historically occupied habitats, and has shown how native prey fish (e.g., Cisco and other Coregonine species) can be raised in hatcheries in large numbers, transported to a Great Lake, and released successfully. The work also demonstrates how to mark the fish and their tolerance for use of advance technology, like acoustic telemetry, to track their movement and survival after release into the wild. This research advances our ability to understand threats to fish populations and aquatic communities at scales from stream reaches and small open lake locations to entire watersheds and whole Great Lake basins, and supports cost-effective management decisions about Great Lakes fishes and restoration or conservation of their habitats.
Professional Experience
Research Ecologist, October 2022 to present, US Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science, Cortland, NY
Supervisory Research Ecologist, Acting Director July 2017 to September 2022, US Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science, Cortland, NY
Research Ecologist, March 1995 to March 2014, US Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science, Cortland, NY
Associate Research Scientist, October 1992 to March 1995, Florida Marine Research Institute, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, St. Petersburg, FL. Analyst in Fisheries Statistics and Fisheries Independent Monitoring Departments
Assistant Research Scientist, May 1990 to October 1992, Florida Marine Research Institute, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, St. Petersburg, FL. Analyst in Fisheries Statistics Department
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. (1990) in Biological Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography. Dissertation: Ecology of an exploited Antarctic fish community
M.S. (1987) in Biological Oceanography from U. of Rhode Island, Oceanography School: An Analysis of Food Limitation in the Benthic Communities of Narragansett Bay Using a Numerical Simulation Model
B.S. with Distinction in Marine Science from Richard Stockton State College (1981)
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Fisheries Society
International Association of Great Lakes Researchers
Managing Editor, Northeastern Naturalist
Abstracts and Presentations
McKenna, J.E.,Jr. and P. Kocovsky. 2020. Habitat Characterization and Species Distribution Model of the only Large Lake Population of the Endangered Silver Chub. 150st Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, Columbus, OH, September 2021.
McKenna, J.E.,Jr., and M.T. Slattery. 2020. Seasonal Responses of Walleye Abundance to Changes in Ecological Flow. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Feb 2020
McKenna, J.E.,Jr., J.H. Johnson, S. Lapan, M. Chalupnicki, G. Mackey, M. Millard, K. Loftus, M. Connerton, C. Legard, B. Weidel, D. Gorsky. 2021. Rehabilitating Native Lake Ontario Coregonine Fishes: Tunison et al. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Feb 2021.
McKenna, J.E.,Jr., C. Riseng, and K. Wehrly. 2021. Evaluation of relative benefits in various restoration areas of the Great Lakes nearshore zone based on fish perception of disturbed conditions. 151st annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society, Baltimore, MD, November 2021.
Woda, Joshua, Neil Terry, James E. McKenna, Jr., John Williams, Scott Prindle, Michael Connerton. 2021. Mapping Temperature-dependent Fish Habitat in the Salmon River, NY. 151st annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society, November 2021.
Brown, T. et al. 2022. Distributions of sympatric cisco and lake whitefish larvae in Lake Ontario embayments. Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI 16 May 2022.
Heisey A., A. Beezel, B. Weidel, B. Lantry, B. O’Malley, D. Yule, M. Vinson, B. Ray, M. Seider, M. Chalupnicki, J. McKenna Jr., D. Gorsky, M. Connerton. 2022. An evaluation of coregonine egg deposition between Lake Superior and Lake Ontario. 152nd Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. Spokane, WA. August 2022.
Koeberle, A., S.A. Sethi, M.A. Chalupnicki, B. Hammers, J.E. McKenna, Jr., D.P. Mulhall, W. Pearsall, M. Bartron, A. Maloy, C. Rees, L. Atkins. 2022. Novel Acoustic Telemetry to Evaluate Survival of Re-introduced Native Cisco (Coregonus artedi) at a Whole-lake Level in the Finger Lakes, New York. Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI 16 May 2022.
Kraus, R.T., M. Faust, M. Rowe, J. Markham, C. Vandergoot, T. MacDougall, J.D. Schmitt, J.E. McKenna, Jr. 2022. Synergisms from collaborative research – merging water quality modeling and fisheries science in Lake Erie. Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI 16 May 2022.
Legard, C. et al. 2022. Bloater re-introduction in Lake Ontario. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Feb 2022.
McKenna, J.E.,Jr. 2022. Conservation decision-support for Silver Chub habitat in Lake Erie. Northeast Natural History Conference, April 2022.
Le Tarte L., M. Chalupnicki, J.E. McKenna, Jr., A. Gatch, M. Nguyen, S. LaSalle, B.C. Weidel. 2023. Sodus Bay Coregonines: Past, Present, Future. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Feb 2023.
McKenna, J.E., Jr., R.S. Cornman, and A. David. 2023. Biodiversity and Distribution Estimates in a Tributary to the St. Lawrence River Using eDNA and Conventional Collection Methods. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Feb 2023.
McKenna, J.E.,Jr. 2023. The Laurentian Great Lakes: Restoration Research. Conservation Biology Seminary Series, State University of New York at Cortland, 23 February 2023.
Moore, J., M. Chalupnicki, J.E. McKenna, Jr., and D.E. Dittman. 2023. Multi-year Assessment of Walleye Spawning in the Black River. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Feb 2023.
Rubenstein S., J.E. McKenna, Jr., J.H. Johnson. 2023. Phototaxic response of Cisco larvae. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Feb 2023.
Skrotzki, J. M., M. A. Chalupnicki, J. E. McKenna Jr., and J. H, Johnson. 2023. Dace Hybridization and Diet Comparison. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Feb 2023.
Taylor, T.L., M.A. Chalupnicki, J.E. McKenna, Jr., and J.H. Johnson. 2023. Diel Diet of Swallowtail Shiner in Little York Lake. New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.
Science and Products
Science pages by this scientist
Data releases by this scientist
Publications by this scientist
A novel approach to fitting the von Bertalanffy relationship to a mixed stock of Atlantic sturgeon harvested off the New Jersey Coast
An enhanced cluster analysis program with bootstrap significance testing for ecological community analysis
Community metabolism during early development of a restored wetland
Biological structure and dynamics of fish assemblages in tributaries of eastern Lake Ontario
Littoral zone fish assemblages of northern Cayuga Lake.
Biological structure and dynamics of littoral fish assemblages in the eastern Finger Lakes
FITPOP, a heuristic simulation model of population dynamics and genetics with special reference to fisheries
Ecological status of Onondaga Creek in Tully Valley, New York; summer 1998
Age and growth of lake sturgeon in the Upper St. Lawrence River
Structure and dynamics of the fishery harvest in Broward County, Florida, during 1989
Influence of physical disturbance on the structure of coral reef fish assemblages in the Dry Tortugas
Ecosystem management and fishery resources of the Antarctic
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
News about this scientist
Science and Products
Science pages by this scientist
Data releases by this scientist
Publications by this scientist
A novel approach to fitting the von Bertalanffy relationship to a mixed stock of Atlantic sturgeon harvested off the New Jersey Coast
An enhanced cluster analysis program with bootstrap significance testing for ecological community analysis
Community metabolism during early development of a restored wetland
Biological structure and dynamics of fish assemblages in tributaries of eastern Lake Ontario
Littoral zone fish assemblages of northern Cayuga Lake.
Biological structure and dynamics of littoral fish assemblages in the eastern Finger Lakes
FITPOP, a heuristic simulation model of population dynamics and genetics with special reference to fisheries
Ecological status of Onondaga Creek in Tully Valley, New York; summer 1998
Age and growth of lake sturgeon in the Upper St. Lawrence River
Structure and dynamics of the fishery harvest in Broward County, Florida, during 1989
Influence of physical disturbance on the structure of coral reef fish assemblages in the Dry Tortugas
Ecosystem management and fishery resources of the Antarctic
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
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