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Bio:
Charrish completed her B.S. in Marine Biology and minor in Chemistry in 2007 at Texas A&M. She began working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2008 as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist. It was then, her life came full circle with freshwater mussels. She was assigned the listing review of 12 freshwater mussels in Texas in 2008. Since then, Charrish has conducted listing review of 11 species of mussels; 5 of them becoming federal candidates for protection under the Endangered Species Act. She has and continues to be a trail-blazer for freshwater mussel conservation in Texas.
In 2012 – 2014, she teamed up with USGS to conduct host fish studies on the 5 candidate mussels in Texas. From there, she took it upon herself to establish two long-term monitoring sites in the lower Colorado River system starting in 2014. She has conducted presence/absence surveys in the San Jacinto, Colorado, Guadalupe-San Antonio, Lavaca-Navidad, San Bernard, Nueces-Frio, Rio Grande and Trinity River basins in Texas, Little River system in Oklahoma, and Apalachicola River basin in Florida. She works closely with Federal and State resource agencies, as well as with private agencies and river authorities on mussel relocation activities. In addition, she takes time out of her work schedule to educate and train scientists and biologists with mussel interests to ensure proper identification and handling procedures are adhered to.
Charrish's presentation will cover:
• Her Personal/Career background
• Freshwater Mussel Biology 101
• Freshwater Mussel History in Texas
• Freshwater Mussel Status in Texas
• Freshwater Mussel Conservation in Texas
• Freshwater Mussel Citizen Science Needs
• Handling and Training Requirements
• Helpful Information
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