Timothy Counihan
Over the course of my career with the USGS I have worked on a variety of different topic areas that range from white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus embryology to the development of landscape level ecological classification schemes.
Research Interests:
My early-career work focused on assessing the early life history requirements of white sturgeon and assessing the effects of hydropower operations on the behavior and survival of juvenile pacific salmon and steelhead. My current research focus is on the analysis and development of long-term integrated monitoring programs. Towards this end I have been interacting with interdisciplinary teams to assess and develop aspects of monitoring programs on large river systems, focusing primarily on the mainstem Columbia River.
I have recently been working with an interdisciplinary team of USGS scientists to assess the effects of emerging and legacy contaminants on the Columbia River Estuary food web. My particular focus in this collaborative study was on using knowledge of sedimentation patterns to inform contaminant survey designs.
I am also working with scientists from around the U.S. to better understand the potential for conducting cross-basin comparisons of large river (e.g., Alabama, Colorado, Columbia, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers etc.) monitoring data. As part of this study, we are working to provide an understanding for the potential to provide assessments of trends in fish community characteristics over longitudinal gradients and through time and then to relate those trends to landscape level stressors.
Another focus area is the coordination and development of early detection monitoring programs for invasive species. As part of this research activity I am working with biologists from multiple states, universities, and Canadian provinces to develop a framework for the development of a regional early detection monitoring program for aquatic invasive species, and quagga and zebra mussels in particular.
In addition to the topics listed above I am also very interested and have conducted research involving aquatic plants, invertebrates (benthic macroinvertebrates, crayfish, and zooplankton), and multiple introduced and native fish species.
Professional Experience
1993 to Present - Research Fish Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory, Cook, WA
Education and Certifications
M.S. 1991. Wildlife Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
B.S. 1989. Biological Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
Science and Products
Estimating the survival of juvenile salmonids passing through The Dalles Dam using radio-telemetry, 2002
Using radiotelemetry to determine fish passage information at large hydroelectric dams: Design and analysis to achieve multiple objectives with a single design
Length changes in white sturgeon larvae preserved in ethanol or formaldehyde
Survival estimates of migrant juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River from John Day Dam through Bonneville Dam using radio-telemetry. Annual report 2000
Estimating the survival of juvenile salmonids passing through The Dalles Dam using radio-telemetry, 2001
Estimates of fish and spill passage efficiency of radio-tagged juvenile steelhead and yearling Chinook salmon at John Day Dam, 1999
The effects of dissolved gas supersaturation on white sturgeon larvae
Movement, distribution, and behavior of radio-tagged sub-yearling Chinook salmon in the forebay of John Day Dam, 1999
Estimates of fish-, spill-, and sluiceway-passage efficiencies of radio-tagged juvenile steelhead and yearling Chinook salmon at The Dalles Dam, 1999
Indexing the relative abundance of age-0 white sturgeons in an impoundment of the lower Columbia River from highly skewed trawling data
Feasibility of extracting survival information from radio-telemetry studies at the John Day Dam
Influence of externally attached trasmitters on the swimming performance of juvenile white sturgeon
Science and Products
- Science
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 55
Estimating the survival of juvenile salmonids passing through The Dalles Dam using radio-telemetry, 2002
Abstract not availableAuthorsT.D. Counihan, K. Felton, G.S. Holmberg, J.H. PetersenUsing radiotelemetry to determine fish passage information at large hydroelectric dams: Design and analysis to achieve multiple objectives with a single design
Abstract not availableAuthorsJ.W. Beeman, T.D. CounihanLength changes in white sturgeon larvae preserved in ethanol or formaldehyde
We examined the effects of two preservatives on the notochord and total lengths of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) larvae. White sturgeon larvae that were one, seven, and 14 days old were measured live and then preserved in 95% ethanol or 10% formaldehyde. Length changes were then determined at 20 and 95 days after preservation. We found mean length changes ranging from 0.4% to 3.4% shrinAuthorsJ.M. Bayer, T.D. CounihanSurvival estimates of migrant juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River from John Day Dam through Bonneville Dam using radio-telemetry. Annual report 2000
Abstract not availableAuthorsT.D. Counihan, J.H. PetersenEstimating the survival of juvenile salmonids passing through The Dalles Dam using radio-telemetry, 2001
Abstract not availableAuthorsT.D. Counihan, K. Felton, G.S. HolmbergEstimates of fish and spill passage efficiency of radio-tagged juvenile steelhead and yearling Chinook salmon at John Day Dam, 1999
Abstract not availableAuthorsH.C. Hansel, J.W. Beeman, T.D. Counihan, B.D. Liedtke, M.S. Novick, J.M. PlumbThe effects of dissolved gas supersaturation on white sturgeon larvae
Spill at dams has caused supersaturation of atmospheric gas in waters of the Columbia and Snake rivers and raised concerns about the effects of dissolved gas supersaturation (DGS) on white sturgeons Acipenser transmontanus. The timing and location of white sturgeon spawning and the dispersal of white sturgeon larvae from incubation areas makes the larval stage potentially vulnerable to the effectsAuthorsT.D. Counihan, Allen I. Miller, M.G. Mesa, M.J. ParsleyMovement, distribution, and behavior of radio-tagged sub-yearling Chinook salmon in the forebay of John Day Dam, 1999
Abstract not availableAuthorsH.C. Hansel, J.W. Beeman, T.D. Counihan, B.D. Liedtke, M.S. Novick, J.M. PlumbEstimates of fish-, spill-, and sluiceway-passage efficiencies of radio-tagged juvenile steelhead and yearling Chinook salmon at The Dalles Dam, 1999
Abstract not availableAuthorsH.C. Hansel, J.W. Beeman, T.D. Counihan, J.M. Hardiman, B.D. Liedtke, M.S. Novick, J.M. PlumbIndexing the relative abundance of age-0 white sturgeons in an impoundment of the lower Columbia River from highly skewed trawling data
The development of recruitment monitoring programs for age-0 white sturgeons Acipenser transmontanus is complicated by the statistical properties of catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) data. We found that age-0 CPUE distributions from bottom trawl surveys violated assumptions of statistical procedures based on normal probability theory. Further, no single data transformation uniformly satisfied these assAuthorsT.D. Counihan, Allen I. Miller, M.J. ParsleyFeasibility of extracting survival information from radio-telemetry studies at the John Day Dam
Abstract not availableAuthorsT.D. Counihan, J.H. Petersen, N.S. Adams, R.S. Shively, H.C. HanselInfluence of externally attached trasmitters on the swimming performance of juvenile white sturgeon
We measured the critical swimming speed of juvenile white sturgeons Acipenser transmontanus equipped with externally attached dummy ultrasonic transmitters and of untagged control fish in the laboratory. White sturgeons ranging from 31.9 to 37.0 cm fork length were subjected to one of three treatments: Control (handled but not tagged), tag attached below the dorsal fin, and tag attached with the aAuthorsT.D. Counihan, C.N. Frost - News