Vin D'Angelo
Vin D’Angelo is a fisheries biologist with the USGS NOROCK Glacier Field Station, based in Glacier National Park, Montana.
Background and Research Interests
Vin leads field work and manages data for multiple aquatic research projects in Glacier National Park and the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem. The principle focus of this research is the conservation and preservation of native westslope cutthroat and bull trout, and how threats posed by climate change and invasive species are likely to affect the persistence of these species into the future. These projects range in scope from experimental suppression of lake trout in specific backcountry lakes, conservation introductions of bull trout, development of climate change vulnerability assessments, tracking geospatial trends in hybridization between native westslope cutthroat trout and nonnative rainbow trout, developing unique GIS applications to native fish conservation, and stream discharge. modeling in headwaters streams.
Specialties
- Native salmonid conservation
- Nonnative invasive salmonids
- Geospatial stream networks
- GIS applications to native fish conservation
- Headwater streamflow monitoring
- Leads field work and manages data for multiple aquatic research projects in and around Glacier National Park and the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem
Professional Highlights
- Sampled all fish bearing waters in Glacier National Park to assess genetic status of westslope cutthroat trout 2010 – ongoing
- Leads lake trout suppression research in Glacier National Park backcountry 2009 – ongoing
- Established a network of headwater streamflow gauges in novel habitats 2017 – ongoing
- Lead field work for a conservation introduction of bull trout to Grace Lake, Glacier National Park 2014 – ongoing
- Transboundary telemetry of westslope cutthroat trout to document movement between the U.S. and Canada in the North Fork Flathead watershed 2012 – 2014
- Coordinates with Glacier National Park fisheries management program and local state and federal partners
Science and Products
Integrated Ecohydrological Science in the Northern Rocky Mountains — the variability of water availability and the effects on ecosystems
Our primary goal is to better understand and characterize how stream environments and the ecosystems they support are influenced by climate change and drought in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
Experimental suppression of invasive lake trout: Implications for conservation of imperiled bull trout in Glacier National Park
After 14,000 years of dominance, Glacier National Park’s (GNP) greatest native aquatic predator is at high risk of extirpation (local extinction) in several lakes on the western slopes of the Continental Divide. The decline of threatened bull trout in GNP is directly attributed to the invasion and establishment of nonnative lake trout, which consistently displace bull trout in systems where lake...
Translocation of imperiled fishes: Conservation introduction of threatened bull trout in Glacier National Park
There is an urgent need to consider more aggressive and direct interventions for conservation of freshwater fishes threatened by invasive species, habitat loss, and climate change. Conservation introduction - moving species to areas outside their previous range, where conditions are predicted to be more suitable - is one type of translocation strategy that fisheries managers can use to establish...
Genetic status and distribution of native westslope cutthroat trout in Glacier National Park
After 14,000 years of surviving extreme environmental events, such as floods, fires and glaciations, Glacier’s greatest native trout is at high risk of disappearing from several streams and lakes east and west of the Continental Divide. The decline of westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi; WCT) in Glacier National Park (GNP) has been attributed to the establishment of nonnative...
Science and Products
Integrated Ecohydrological Science in the Northern Rocky Mountains — the variability of water availability and the effects on ecosystems
Our primary goal is to better understand and characterize how stream environments and the ecosystems they support are influenced by climate change and drought in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
Experimental suppression of invasive lake trout: Implications for conservation of imperiled bull trout in Glacier National Park
After 14,000 years of dominance, Glacier National Park’s (GNP) greatest native aquatic predator is at high risk of extirpation (local extinction) in several lakes on the western slopes of the Continental Divide. The decline of threatened bull trout in GNP is directly attributed to the invasion and establishment of nonnative lake trout, which consistently displace bull trout in systems where lake...
Translocation of imperiled fishes: Conservation introduction of threatened bull trout in Glacier National Park
There is an urgent need to consider more aggressive and direct interventions for conservation of freshwater fishes threatened by invasive species, habitat loss, and climate change. Conservation introduction - moving species to areas outside their previous range, where conditions are predicted to be more suitable - is one type of translocation strategy that fisheries managers can use to establish...
Genetic status and distribution of native westslope cutthroat trout in Glacier National Park
After 14,000 years of surviving extreme environmental events, such as floods, fires and glaciations, Glacier’s greatest native trout is at high risk of disappearing from several streams and lakes east and west of the Continental Divide. The decline of westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi; WCT) in Glacier National Park (GNP) has been attributed to the establishment of nonnative...