Gina Ylitalo is an environmental chemist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, Washington. She was born in Yakima, Washington in 1957, and has been interested in a career in science since junior high.She attended Yakima Valley Community College for two years before transferring to Western Washington University and receiving a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. She earned her Master of Science in Chemistry from Western Washington University and was hired by National Marine Fisheries Service in 1989.

Barry Berejikianwas born in 1967 in Panorama City, California, and spent his childhood summers going north on camping and fishing trips, particularly for trout and salmon. As a behavior ecologist, he leads the Behavioral Ecology Team and the Hatchery Reform Science Program at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Manchester, Washington. He received his B.S. in Environmental and Systematic Biology from California Polytechnic State University in 1990 and his M.S. in 1992 and his PhD. in 1995 in Fisheries from the University of Washington.

Dr. Walton "Walt"Dickhoff was born in Wisconsin in 1947. He received his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of California Berkeley in 1976 and joined the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in 1986 working in the Coastal Zone and Estuarine Studies Division. Dr. Dickhoff is the Division Director of the Environmental and Fisheries Science division, and his research focuses on salmon growth and development.

Michael (Mike) Ford was born in Colorado in 1967. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and his PhD in Population Genetics from Cornell University in 1991. In 1995, Mike began working at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center as a national research associate where he studied the local adaptations of Chinook salmon using molecular genetic data. Since 2003, Mike has been the Director of the Conservation Biology Division at the Center.

Kurt Fresh was born in 1953. He attended the University of the Pacific for his undergraduate degree and received his Master's in Fisheries Science from the University of Washington in 1979. He began his career at the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife in 1978. He moved to the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in 2002. Kurt’s focus has long been on salmon life histories and ecology as well as estuarine habitats. At the time of this interview, he was the Estuarine and Ocean Ecology Program Manager at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

James Hastie received a PhD in Resource Economics in 1987 from Oregon State University and immediately began working for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Jim has been on the Pacific Council’s groundfish management team since 1993 and has served as co-chair from 2000 to 2003. He is currently the Program Manager for the Population Ecology Program and the Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

Robert Kope was born in Reedley, California in 1953. He received his PhD in Population Ecology from the University of California Davis and began working for NOAA Fisheries at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in1989.His work has focused on stock assessments, harvest management, and conservation biology of salmon in northern California. In 1994, Robert moved to the Northwest Fisheries Science Center to participate in the coast-wide status review of all Pacific salmon species under the Endangered Species Act.

Dr. Peter Lawson earned his Bachelor’s degree at Evergreen State College, and his Master’s and Ph.D. in Stream Ecology at Idaho State University. Dr. Lawson was a field ornithologist in northeastern Mexico, studying in particular parrots and peregrine falcons. After earning his graduate degrees he joined the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife using modeling to study Coho salmon.

Phillip Levin was born in Champaign, IL in 1962. He studied at the University of Texas receiving his Bachelor's in Zoology. During college, a fish class led to his interest in marine biology and field work. After teaching marine science at a San Antonio high school, he attended the University of New Hampshire where he received his PhD in Zoology. He then was an Assistant Professor at Texas A & M before he joined NOAA Fisheries at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in 1999 as a Research Fisheries Biologist.

Tiffani Marsh was born in Warren, Ohio in 1956. She received her B.A. in Zoology from Miami University. She began her career at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in 1990 studying salmon migration patterns. She is now a Supervisory Research Fishery Biologist in the Fish Ecology Division.