Peter C Esselman, PhD
Peter Esselman, PhD, is a Research Fishery Biologist based in Ann Arbor, MI.
My research extends the theory and approaches of landscape ecology into large lake and river contexts to support natural resource decision making from local to continental scales. Since joining USGS in 2014, I have worked to apply emerging technologies and analytical approaches to the description of large-scale spatiotemporal variation in forage fish abundances and habitats that underpin Great Lakes commercial and recreational fisheries. I am also actively engaged in the detection, measurement and modeling of invasive and nuisance species distributions and abundances to support the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. I am a strong advocate for modernization of data collection methods, aquatic remote sensing, and improving bathymetric and habitat maps for the Great Lakes. Prior to joining USGS I worked extensively in Central America where I studied tropical river ecosystems and supported global and local conservation organizations. I have specialties in fish community ecology, landscape ecology, biological assessment, applications of machine learning models to ecological problems, field methods, and spatial planning.
Professional Experience
Research Fish Biologist, US Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center (2014-present)
Assistant Professor, Michigan State University Dept of Zoology (2011-2014)
Consultant to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (2012-2015)
Research Associate, Michigan State University Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife and Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS) (2009-2011)
Consultant, The World Bank (2008-2009)
Consultant, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Global Freshwater Team (2006-2009)
Consultant, City of Knowledge Foundation (2006-2007)
Consultant to TNC Belize Country Program (2001-2002; 2003; 2008)
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. (Aquatic Resource Ecology and Management) University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources & Environment, 2009
M.Sc. (Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development) University of Georgia, Institute of Ecology, 2001
B.A. (Environmental Studies/Anthropology minor) Connecticut College, 1994
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A conceptual framework for the identification and characterization of lacustrine spawning habitats for native lake charr Salvelinus namaycush
A comparison of chlorophyll a values obtained from an autonomous underwater vehicle to satellite-based measures for Lake Michigan
Seasonal fluxes of dissolved nutrients in streams of catchments dominated by swidden agriculture in the Maya Forest of Belize, Central America
Evidence for interactions among environmental stressors in the Laurentian Great Lakes
Status and trends of pelagic prey fish in Lake Huron, 2017
Landscape drivers and social dynamics shaping microbial contamination risk in three Maya communities in southern Belize, Central America
Hierarchical modeling assessment of the influence of watershed stressors on fish and invertebrate species in Gulf of Mexico estuaries
Islands in the ice stream: were spawning habitats for native salmonids in the Great Lakes created by paleo-ice streams?
Landscape prediction and mapping of game fish biomass, an ecosystem service of Michigan rivers
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Filter Total Items: 21A conceptual framework for the identification and characterization of lacustrine spawning habitats for native lake charr Salvelinus namaycush
Lake charr Salvelinus namaycush are endemic to the formerly glaciated regions of North America and spawn primarily in lakes, unlike most other Salmoninae. Spawning habitats for lake charr are thought to be characterized by relatively large substrate particle sizes which provide sufficient interstitial spaces for egg incubation, but little is known about the physical processes that create or maintaAuthorsStephen Riley, J. E. Marsden, M. S. Ridgway, Christopher Konrad, Steve A. Farha, Thomas R. Binder, Trevor A. Middel, Peter Esselman, Charles C. KruegerA comparison of chlorophyll a values obtained from an autonomous underwater vehicle to satellite-based measures for Lake Michigan
Accurate methods to track changes in lake productivity through time and space are critical to fisheries management. Chlorophyll a is the most widely studied proxy for ecosystem primary production, and has been the topic of many studies. The main sources of chlorophyll a measurements are ship-based measures or multi-spectral satellite data. Autonomous underwater vehicles can survey large spatial exAuthorsDavid Bennion, David Warner, Peter Esselman, Brett Hobson, Brian KieftSeasonal fluxes of dissolved nutrients in streams of catchments dominated by swidden agriculture in the Maya Forest of Belize, Central America
The biogeochemistry of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in tropical streams and rivers is strongly regulated by the pronounced seasonality of rainfall and associated changes in hydrology. Land use and land cover change (LULCC) can also be a dominant driver of changes in stream biogeochemistry yet responses are not fully understood and vary across different LULCC scenarios. We measured dissolved andAuthorsDavid G. Buck, Peter Esselman, Shiguo Jiang, Joel D. Wainwright, Mark Brenner, Matthew J. CohenEvidence for interactions among environmental stressors in the Laurentian Great Lakes
Co-occurrence of environmental stressors is ubiquitous in ecosystems, but cumulative effects are difficult to predict for effective indicator development. Individual stressors can amplify (synergies) or lessen (antagonisms) each other's impacts or have fully independent effects (additive). Here we use the Laurentian Great Lakes, where a multitude of stressors have been studied for decades, as a caAuthorsSigrid D. P. Smith, David B. Bunnell, G.A. Burton, Jan J. H. Ciborowski, Alisha D. Davidson, Caitlin E. Dickinson, Lauren A. Eaton, Peter C. Esselman, Mary Anne Evans, Donna R. Kashian, Nathan F. Manning, Peter B. McIntyre, Thomas F. Nalepa, Alicia Perez-Fuentetaja, Alan D. Steinman, Donald G. Uzarski, J. David AllanStatus and trends of pelagic prey fish in Lake Huron, 2017
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center conducted integrated acoustic and mid-water trawl surveys of Lake Huron in 1997 and annually from 2004-2017. The 2017 survey was conducted during September and included transects in Lake Huron’s main basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. Mean lake-wide pelagic fish density was 1582 fish/ha and mean pelagic fish biomass was 1AuthorsTimothy P. O'Brien, David M. Warner, Peter Esselman, Steve A. Farha, Steve Lenart, Chris Olds, Kristy PhillipsLandscape drivers and social dynamics shaping microbial contamination risk in three Maya communities in southern Belize, Central America
Land transformation can have cascading effects on hydrology, water quality, and human users of water resources, with serious implications for human health. An interdisciplinary analysis is presented, whereby remote-sensing data of changing land use and cover are related to surface hydrology and microbial contamination in domestic use areas of three indigenous Maya communities in Belize, Central AmAuthorsPeter Esselman, Shiguo Jiang, Henry A Peller, David N. Bucklin, Joel D WainwrightHierarchical modeling assessment of the influence of watershed stressors on fish and invertebrate species in Gulf of Mexico estuaries
The northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) spans five U.S. states and encompasses estuaries that vary greatly in size, shape, upstream river input, eutrophication status, and biotic communities. Given the variability among these estuaries, assessing their biological condition relative to anthropogenic stressors is challenging, but important to regional fisheries management and habitat conservation initiatiAuthorsJonathan Miller, Peter Esselman, Ibrahim Alameddine, Kristan Blackhart, Daniel R. ObenourIslands in the ice stream: were spawning habitats for native salmonids in the Great Lakes created by paleo-ice streams?
Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis and cisco Coregonus artedi are salmonid fishes native to the Laurentian Great Lakes that spawn on rocky substrates in the fall and early winter. After comparing the locations of spawning habitat for these species in the main basin of Lake Huron with surficial substrates and the hypothesized locations of fast-flowing Late WisconAuthorsStephen Riley, Thomas R. Binder, Taaja R. Tucker, John Menzies, Nick Eyles, John Janssen, Andrew M. Muir, Peter C. Esselman, Nigel J. Wattrus, Charles C. KruegerLandscape prediction and mapping of game fish biomass, an ecosystem service of Michigan rivers
The increased integration of ecosystem service concepts into natural resource management places renewed emphasis on prediction and mapping of fish biomass as a major provisioning service of rivers. The goals of this study were to predict and map patterns of fish biomass as a proxy for the availability of catchable fish for anglers in rivers and to identify the strongest landscape constraints on fiAuthorsPeter C. Esselman, R. Jan Stevenson, Frank Lupi, Catherine M. Riseng, Michael J. Wiley - News
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