Rod L Owre

Rod returned to the Oregon Water Science Center in 2023 after a 20-year hiatus. He currently serves as the operations coordinator of 14 new Chinook salmon habitat gages in the Willamette River Basin. Data from these sites support the USGS Next Generation Water Observing System program’s goal of monitoring mid-order reaches of mountainous rivers to improve understanding of water supply, air/water temperature dynamics, and salmonid habitat requirements. In tandem with this effort, Rod leads the Flow Photo Explorer (FPE) operations for the Oregon Water Science Center; FPE is an integrated database, machine learning, and data visualization platform for monitoring and classifying hydrologic conditions using time-lapse imagery.

In addition to the USGS, Rod has worked as a hydrologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Instream Flow Researcher for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Water Resource Analyst for PacifiCorp, Stream Restoration Technician with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Hydrologist Research Assistant with the Great Basin Institute in Nevada, Catchment Data Technician for Horizons Regional Council & Tasman District Council of New Zealand, and as a GIS forest ecology Research Assistant for The Nature Conservancy of northern Minnesota.