As required by the state of California, CALFED issued suspensions on December 19, 2008, to recipients of 56 research grants and fellowships totaling $22 million. Scientific research is critical for expanding and improving our understanding of the Bay-Delta ecosystem, which is crucial to inform and support water and ecosystem management actions. An extended break in this research could have tremendous impacts on our ability to continue this learning process and support decision-making.
Research has been suspended for management-relevant Bay-Delta priorities such as Chinook salmon and delta smelt population modeling, ammonium effects on Delta food webs, climate change modeling, mercury effects and the impacts of invasive species. Thirty-two postdoctoral and doctoral students have had their funding suspended. Research teams and groups have had to disband and young scientists are seeking alternative employment. Link here to see a comprehensive list of the projects affected including a short project description and some repercussions of the freeze on the projects.
P.I. Last Name |
Project Title |
PSP/Fellow Year |
Science Program Research Grants |
Brandes |
Estimating Juvenile Chinook Salmon Spring and Winter Run Abundance at Chipps Island |
2006 PSP |
Castillo |
Pilot Mark-Recapture Study to Estimate Delta Smelt Pre-screen Loss and Salvage Efficiency |
2006 PSP |
Castillo |
Pilot
Mark-Recapture Study II: transgenerational marking of cultured fish |
N/A |
Drexler |
Peat
Accretion (RePeat) |
2007
PSP |
Dugdale |
Do
Low Phytoplankton Growth Rates Signal the "Bad" Habitat Conditions
in Suisun Bay Driving the Pelagic Organism Decline? |
2006 and 2007 PSP's |
Dunne |
How
Abiotic Processes, Biotic Processes, and Their Interactions Sustain Habitat
Characteristics and Functions in River Channels and Their Floodplains: An
Investigation of the Response of A Gravel-Bed Reach of the Merced River to
Restoration. |
2004 and 2007 PSP's |
Guerin |
The Consequences of Operational Decisions on Water Quality: Reconciling Delta Smelt, Salmon, and Human Needs |
2006 PSP |
Hendrix |
A Statistical Model of Central Valley Chinook Incorporating Uncertainty |
2004 PSP |
Ingram |
Salmon Rearing in the SF Bay-Delta System: Identification of Geochemical Markers to Determine Delta Use |
2004 and 2007 PSP's |
Kimmerer |
Modeling
the Delta Smelt Population of the San Francisco Estuary |
2004 PSP |
Kimmerer |
Foodweb Support for the Delta Smelt |
2004 and 2007 PSP's |
Klimley |
Survival and Migratory Pattern of Central Valley Juvenile Salmonids |
2004 and 2007 PSP's |
Kueltz |
Quantitative Indicators and Life History Implications of Environmental Stress on Sturgeon (2006 PSP) |
2006 PSP |
Lehman |
Biomass and Toxicology of a Newly Established Bloom of the Cyanobacteria Microcystis Aeruginosa and its Potential Impact on Beneficial Use in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta |
2004 PSP |
Lehman |
Using FlowCam Technology to Measure High Frequency Spatial and Temporal Variation in Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Monitoring Programs |
2006 PSP |
Mangel |
Life History Variation in Steelhead Trout and the Implications for Water Management |
2004 and 2007 PSP's |
May |
Predicting the Effects of Invasive Hydrozoa (Jellyfish) on Pelagic Organisms Under Changing Salinity and Temperature Regimes |
2006 PSP |
Messer |
Spatial and Temporal Quantification of Pesticide Loadings to the Sacramento River, San Joaquin River, and Bay-Delta to Guide Risk Assessment for Sensitive Species |
2006 PSP |
Messer |
Analysis
of Archived Samples to Assess Patterns of Historic Invasive Bivalve Biomass |
2006 PSP |
Mueller-Solger |
Phytoplankton communities in the San Francisco Estuary: monitoring and management using a submersible spectrofluorometer |
2004 PSP |
Parker |
Climate Change Impacts to San Francisco Bay-Delta Wetlands: Links to Pelagic Food Webs and Predictive Responses Based on Landscape Modeling |
2006 PSP |
Sedlak |
Identifying the Causes of Feminization of Chinook Salmon in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Systems |
2004 PSP |
Stacey |
A Calibration-Free Approach to Modeling Delta Flows and Transport |
2006 PSP |
Stacey |
The Transport and Dispersion of Rafting Vegetation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta |
2006 PSP |
Torres |
A Non-Point Source of Contaminants to the Estuarine Food Web |
2006 PSP |
Science Program Fellows |
Barnett-Johnson |
Linking Freshwater Sources of California Chinook Salmon to Their Ocean Distribution Using Physical and Natural Tags of Origin |
2009 Fellow |
Brander |
Endocrine Disruption in the Delta: Confirming Sites' Known Estrogenicity with Outplants, Histology and Choriogenin Level Measurements |
2008 Fellow |
Buck |
Copper-binding
Organic Ligands in the San Francisco Bay Estuary: Evaluating Current and
Future Likelihood of Copper Toxicity Events in a Perturbed Ecosystem |
2009 Fellow |
Chang |
Effects of Freshwater Flow and Population Connectivity on Benthic Community Dynamics in the San Francisco Estuary |
2009 Fellow |
Clemento |
Validation
of a New Method for Population Assessment of Pacific Salmonids Using Genetic
Markers |
2006 Fellow |
Das |
Investigating the Frequency and Magnitude of Floods in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valleys Under Changing Climate |
2009 Fellow |
Feinstein |
Frequency, Distribution, and Ecological Impact of Cryptic Hybrid Invaders: Management Tools for Eradication of Invasive Spartina |
2009 Fellow |
Fremier |
Modeling Physical Drivers and Age Structure of Cottonwood Forest Habitat: An Integrated System Approach |
2008 Fellow |
Ger |
Trophic
Impacts of Microcystis on Crustacean Zooplankton Community of the Delta |
2009 Fellow |
Harrison |
Modeling
Nutrient and Organic Carbon Loads and Sources in Central Valley Watersheds:
Taking Existing Monitoring Data to the Next Stage |
2005 Fellow |
Heady |
Effects of Water Temperature, Streamflow and Flood Availability on the Growth, Survival and Movement of Central Valley Juvenile Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss )with Implications for Water Management |
2005 Fellow |
Hughes |
Environmental
Water: Developing Indicators and Identifying Opportunities |
2008 Fellow |
Kiparsky |
Climate
Change and In-Stream Flows: Methods for Application of Risk Analysis to
Modeling of Environmental Water Supplies |
2009 Fellow |
Lang |
Investigating
the Lower Trophic Levels of the Suisun Bay Food Web: a Biomarker-Specific
Isotope Approach |
2008 Fellow |
Langridge |
Addressing
Stakeholder Concerns: Pests and Pest Control in the Sacramento River
Conservation Area |
2005 Fellow |
Luengen |
Mercury
Interactions With Algae: Effects On Mercury Bioavailability in the San
Francisco Bay Delta |
2006 Fellow |
Matella |
Scenarios
for Restoring Ecologically Functional Floodplains and Providing Flood Control
Services in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta |
2009 Fellow |
Mioni |
Environmental
Controls on the Distribution of Harmful Algae and Their Toxins in San
Francisco Bay, California |
2009 Fellow |
Parker |
Heterotrophic
bacteria and the foodweb of the low salinity zone and salt marsh habitats of
the San Francisco estuary |
2006 Fellow |
Perry |
Estimating
Route-Specific Survival and Distribution of Juvenile Salmonids Migrating
Through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta |
2006 Fellow |
Sandstrom |
Sacramento
River Steelhead Trout: An Assessment of Behavioral Differences and
Contributions of Hatchery and Wild Stocks |
2009 Fellow |
Schile |
Tidal
Wetland Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the SF Bay Delta |
2008 Fellow |
Schroeter |
Temporal
and Spatial Patterns in Abundance and Production in Pelagic Organisms in the
Low Salinity Zone (Suisan Marsh, Bay and Delta) of the San Francisco Estuary
with Insight into Trophic Position and Impacts of Alien Invasive Species |
2006 Fellow |
Seavy |
Measuring
and Predicting the Success of Riparian Restoration for Wildlife Populations:
Accommodating Uncertainty and Complexity |
2006 Fellow |
Stella |
Restoring
Non-Equilibrium Riparian Communities in Disturbance-Altered Ecosystems:
Implications for River Management and Climate Change |
2005 Fellow |
Street |
Reconstructing
Climate Variability, Acidity, and Water Availability in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Watershed Based on Isotopic Evidence in Sediments from Swamp Lake
Yosemite |
2009 Fellow |
Sullivan |
Prey Selection of Larval and Juvenile Planktivorous Fish in the San Francisco Estuary |
2006 Fellow |
Ulrich |
Pilot-Scale
Evaluation of an Iron Sediment Amendment for Control of Mercury Methylation
in Tidal Wetlands |
2009 Fellow |
Weiskel |
Nutrients
and Benthic Invasion Dynamics in SF Bay |
2008 Fellow |
Whitcraft |
Role of Exotics as Ecosystem Engineers Affecting Estuarine Food Webs in Suisun Marsh |
2006 Fellow |
Winder |
Plankton
Dynamics in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Long-term Trends and Trophic
Interactions |
2009 Fellow |
Woodley |
The
Impacts of Global Climate Change on Delta Fishes: Predicting Fish Abundance,
Distribution and Community Changes |
2006 Fellow |