Summer M Burdick

Summer’s research addresses key issues affecting fish populations, particularly those influenced by water management practices. She and her team examine how factors like water flow, temperature, and timing of releases impact the life cycles of important fish species. Using advanced telemetry techniques, they study fish movement, survival, and population dynamics to inform management strategies that protect aquatic ecosystems. Their findings guide water delivery decisions, ensuring practices support fish populations without harm.

As team lead, Summer manages research projects, collaborates with partnering agencies, and designs studies. She works closely with partners to refine research goals and ensure alignment with broader conservation efforts. In addition to overseeing study execution and data analysis, she communicates results through reports, manuscripts, and presentations. Summer’s work is critical for understanding how water and land management practices affect fish populations and informs decision-making for water management.

Key Research Areas

1. Understanding the Lost River and Shortnose Sucker and Water Management

A key focus of Summer’s work is investigating how water management in reservoirs impacts the endangered Lost River and Shortnose sucker. These species, native to the Klamath Basin, faces significant threats from altered water delivery and flow regulation. Summer and colleagues use PIT and acoustic telemetry to track the movements and survival rates of adult suckers, studying how water management affects spawning success. 

2. Juvenile Chinook Salmon Survival and Migration

Summer also leads research on the effects of river flow management on juvenile Chinook salmon. These commercially important fish rely on specific river conditions for migration. The goal is to identify water management practices that can enhance salmon survival, especially during critical migration periods, and contribute to long-term species health.

3. Fish Entrapment in Irrigation Canals

Another aspect of Summer’s research is understanding fish entrainment in irrigation systems in the San Francisco-San Joaquin Delta. Juvenile Chinook salmon can become entrained in irrigation canals, where they face poor survival conditions. They also monitor and evaluate unique technologies used to deter fish from entering irrigation canals, including a bioacoustic fish fence (BAFF). Their work helps ensure that water can be delivered to municipalities and farms while minimizing the impact on endangered and commercially viable salmon runs.

4. Cold Water Refugia and Chinook Salmon

Summer’s team investigating how long and under what conditions juvenile salmon use pockets of cold water on their seaward summer-time migration. This information should lead to a better understanding of how important these areas are for populations of Chinook salmon. 

5. Conservation of Desert Fish Species

Summer’s research aims to understand populations dynamics of some of rarest species on earth.