Phil Roni

Research

I focus on designing, implementing and completing, and publishing innovative and definitive science and research to inform the protection, management, and restoration of aquatic ecosystems regionally, nationally and globally. I enjoy conducting both original research and synthesizing existing science to help identify information gaps and research needs to help solve natural resources problems. The aim of my work both at Cramer Fish Sciences (my full-time employer) and at the University of Washington is to help lead and mentor others to produce applied science to help improve, manage, restore and protect rivers, watersheds, and fishes.

My research for the last the last 20 years has concentrated on planning, prioritization, and evaluation of various watershed restoration techniques. Ongoing projects include developing and leading regional restoration monitoring and evaluation programs, watershed assessment to identify process-based restoration strategies, evaluating effectiveness of various river restoration techniques, developing studies to evaluate the effects of current forest regulations on fish and aquatic resources, and salmon egg-to-fry survival. My goal in work and life is to help restore and protect the natural environment and work for the greater good both socially and environmentally.

I find mentoring students, collaboratively teaching watershed restoration at the University of Washington as well as short-courses in other venues as effective ways to bring the latest science into practice in natural resources management and restoration ecology.

Courses

Fish 428: Stream and Watershed Restoration

Area of expertise

  • Stream and watershed restoration
  • Salmon ecology and biology
  • Watershed and stream ecology
  • Fish habitat
  • Forestry-fish interactions
  • Monitoring and Evaluation

Selected Community Engagement and Awards

Science Panels

Washington DNR Off-Channel Habitat Science Panel (Chair) (2016 to present).

Washington DNR PHB Science Panel (Chair) (2017 to present).

NOAA Habitat Conservation Team Science Sub-team (Chair) (2013 to 2015).

Intensively Monitored Watershed Program (2004 to 2015).

Awards

Certificate of Achievement, 2012 American Fisheries Society.

Presidential Early Career Award (2005).

NOAA Outstanding Performance Award (2004).

NOAA Fisheries 2002 Employee of the Year (2003).

Selected Recent Publications

Roni, P., J. E. Hall, S. M. Drenner, and D. Arterburn. 2019. Monitoring the effectiveness of floodplain habitat restoration: A review of methods and recommendations for future monitoring. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water:e1355.

Roni, P. 2019. Does river restoration increase fish abundance and survival or simply concentrate fish? The effects of project scale, location, and fish life history. Fisheries 44:7-19.

Roni, P., P. J. Anders, T. J. Beechie, and D. J. Kaplowe. 2018. Review of tools for identifying, planning, and implementing habitat restoration for Pacific salmon and steelhead. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 38(2):355-376.

Weber, C., U. Åberg, A. D. Buijse, F. M. R. Hughes, B. G. McKie, H. Piegay, P. Roni, Vollenweider, S. Haertel-Borer. 2017. Goals and principles for programmatic river restoration monitoring and evaluation: collaborative learning across multiple projects. WIREs DOI: 10.1002/wat2.1257.

Roni, P., Johnson, C., T. DeBoer, T. and G. Pess. 2016. Interannual variability in the effects of physical habitat and parentage on Chinook salmon egg-to-fry survival. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 73:1-13.

Bennett, S., G. Pess, N. Bouwes, P. Roni, R. Bilby, S. Gallagher, J. Rzycki, T. Buehrens, K. Krueger. W. Ehinger, J. Anderson, C. Jordan. 2016. Progress and challenges of testing the effectiveness of stream restoration in the Pacific Northwest using Intensively Monitored Watersheds. Fisheries 41:94-103.

Roni, P., T. Beechie, G. Pess and C. Jordan. 2015. Basin scale monitoring of river restoration: recommendations from case studies in the Pacific Northwest USA. Managing the impact of Human Activities on Fish Habitat: American Fisheries Society Symposium 78: 1-26.

Roni, P., T. Beechie, G. Pess, and K. Hanson. 2015. Wood placement in river restoration: Fact, fiction and future direction. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72(3): 466-478.

Bennett, T.R, Roni, P., Denton, K., McHenry, M., and R. Moses. 2014. Nomads no more: early juvenile coho salmon migrants contribute to the adult return. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 24: 264-275.

Roni, P., and T. Beechie. 2013. Stream and watershed restoration: a guide to restoring riverine processes and habitats. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, U.K.