Dr. Kevin Mulligan is Research Hydraulic Engineer at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Leetown Science Center S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory in Turners Falls, MA.
Education
Current Position
Kevin’s work primarily focuses on improving the performance of fish passage structures through hydraulic modeling and experiments with live, actively-migrating fish. In conjunction to his research, Kevin has served in multiple organizer roles for the International Fish Passage Conference since its inception in 2011 and currently serves as the Vice Chair of theAmerican Fisheries Society Bioengineering Section & American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental Water Resources Institute Joint Committee on Fish Passage. Kevin is also an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He received his Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering specializing in fish passage engineering in 2015. In 2009, he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering and became an Engineer in Training (E.I.T.).
Previous Positions
Memberships in Professional Societies
American Fisheries Society - Bioengineering Section
American Society of Civil Engineers - Environmental Water Resources Institute
Dams can be found in just about every major river, and for good reason. Society has received many benefits like flood control, hydropower, water supply storage, and places to recreate. However, many fish and other life in our rivers can’t swim around these barriers. Often, the best spot for a fish to live and reproduce is out of reach because they can’t pass by a dam. This has not gone...
Engineering has an important role to play in the conservation of migratory fish species. As a result of anthropogenic development on river systems, full and partial barriers to fish movement commonly exist in watersheds worldwide. There is an estimated 2.5 million barriers to fish migration in the United States alone. These barriers typically consist of small to large size dams, culverts,...
Many existing upstream and downstream fish passage structure designs (fishways, culverts, screens, downstream bypasses, etc.) function poorly or only for a narrow range of species or environmental conditions. Agencies currently seek improved or new designs that pass a broader range of species with increased efficiency and reliability, under a wider range of hydraulic operating conditions, and...
Streamgage designs often include a full-width artificial hydraulic control (e.g., concrete weir) to aid in the computation of streamflow. While important to water resource managers, these weirs also tend to act as full or partial barriers to fish migration, effectively hindering the health and survival of these populations. In this study, we...
Mulligan, Kevin; Haro, Alexander; Noreika, John Anadromous alosines are widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Juveniles of this clade are notoriously fragile animals that are at high risk of injury and death associated with passage at hydroelectric facilities. Although turbine mortality is a common concern, conditions encountered when bypassed around these routes may also be hazardous...
Castro-Santos, Theodore R.; Mulligan, Kevin; Kieffer, Micah; Haro, Alexander The goal of this multiyear study was to examine how changes to an upstream fishway entrance impacted the passage rate of adult American shad (Alosa sapidissima). We evaluated a total of nine treatment conditions that consisted of three fishway entrance gate types and three submergence depths (i.e., the water surface elevation of the tailwater...
Mulligan, Kevin; Haro, Alexander J.; Towler, Brett; Sojkowski, Bryan; Noreika, John Partial-depth guide walls are used to improve passage efficiency and reduce the delay of out-migrating anadromous fish species by guiding fish to a bypass route (i.e. weir, pipe, sluice gate) that circumvents the turbine intakes, where survival is usually lower. Evaluation and monitoring studies, however, indicate a high propensity for some fish...
Mulligan, Kevin; Towler, Brett; Haro, Alexander J.; Ahlfeld, David P.
Recent efforts to advance river connectivity for the Millstone River watershed in New Jersey have led to the evaluation of a low-flow gauging weir that spans the full width of the river. The methods and results of a desktop modelling exercise were used to evaluate the potential ability of three anadromous fish species (Alosa sapidissima [American...
Haro, Alexander J.; Mulligan, Kevin; Suro, Thomas P.; Noreika, John; McHugh, Amy R. Partial-depth impermeable guidance structures (or guide walls) are used as a method to assist in the downstream passage of fish at a hydroelectric facility. However, guide walls can result in a strong downward velocity causing the approaching fish to pass below the wall and into the direction of the turbine intakes. The objective of this study was...
Mulligan, Kevin; Towler, Brett; Haro, Alexander J.; Ahlfeld, David P. A partial-depth, impermeable guidance structure (or guide wall) for downstream fish passage is typically constructed as a series of panels attached to a floating boom and anchored across a water body (e.g. river channel, reservoir, or power canal). The downstream terminus of the wall is generally located nearby to a fish bypass structure. If...
Mulligan, Kevin; Towler, Brett; Haro, Alexander J.; Ahlfeld, David P. Reducing turbulence and associated air entrainment is generally considered advantageous in the engineering design of fish passage facilities. The well-known energy dissipation factor, or EDF, correlates with observations of the phenomena. However, inconsistencies in EDF forms exist and the bases for volumetric energy dissipation rate criteria are...
Towler, Brett; Mulligan, Kevin; Haro, Alexander J.