Charles Si Simenstad

Charles Si Simenstad
Research Professor, School of Fishery Sciences, University of Washington

TAC

P.O. Box 355020 (mailing) 1122 Boat St. NE (physical)
SeattleWashington WA 98195

Phone Number: (206) 543-7185

Email Address: simenstd@u.washington.edu

Educational Background:

- M.S., Fisheries, University of Washington, 1971
- B.S., Fisheries, University of Washington, 1969

Professional Background

- Having conducted research on estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems throughout Puget Sound, the Washington coast, and Alaska for over twenty-three years, most of his studies have focused on the functional role of estuarine and coastal habitats to support fish (especially juvenile Pacific salmon) and wildlife, and the associated ecological interactions that are responsible for enhancing populations of economically and ecologically-important fisheries resources
- Primary interest is on natural (e.g., basic) ecosystem-, community- and habitat-level interactions, with emphasis on predator-prey relationships and the sources, organization and flow of organic matter through food webs, and interactions between estuarine circulation and ecological processes
- Habitats of interest include kelp and eelgrass beds, emergent marshes and mudflats
- Recent research emphasis has stressed integration of such basic interactions to applied issues such as
restoration, creation and enhancement of estuarine and coastal wetlands and estuarine ecosystems, and ecological approaches to evaluating the success of anthropogenic stressors and alterations
- Primary research focus relates to the association between habitat landscape structure and fundamental ecological processes that support both directly (e.g., foraging or rearing habitats) and indirectly (e.g., detritus sources) production of important organisms in the estuary; involves characterizing the role of natural variability in the structure of watershed-estuary gradients, understanding the effect of changing habitat structure on processes such as juvenile salmon and crab rearing, and investigating the effects of anthropogenic changes and inputs in the watershed and estuary upon habitat patterns and processes.