Plenary Sessions

Alex Haro

Fish Biologist,

United States Geological Survey,

S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory

https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/alexander-haro

Dr. Haro is a Fish Biologist with the Fish Passage Design and Analysis Team at the S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center (Eastern Ecological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey) in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, USA. He has been a member of AFS and SNEC since 1985. Alex has also been a member of the AFS Bioengineering Section served on the served on the SNEC and BES Executive Committee.

Alex’s work involves migratory fish behavior, design and evaluation of fish passage structures, fish swimming performance, and ecology and management of American eels. This research focuses on restoration and sustainability of migratory (diadromous and riverine) fish populations and supports effective conservation and enhancement of populations of fish species throughout the northeastern United States, as well as nationally and internationally. Much of the research is applied, involving design, evaluation, and engineering of specific passage structures, but also has strong basic science components of fish behavior, fish locomotion, and energetics, as well as hydraulics, fluid mechanics, structural, civil, and mechanical engineering, and hydrology. Alex provides extensive basic and applied research and advice to state, national, and international agencies, NGOs, and the private sector on fish passage technology and operations. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Conservation, teaching graduate level courses and practica to students in the natural resources and engineering fields and serving as an advisor for several graduate students. Alex received his B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Michigan in 1981, a M.Sc. in Zoology from the University of Rhode Island in 1985, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maine in 1989. His graduate work involved migration and behavior of American eels.

Leslie Jonas

Co-founder,

Vice Chairwoman,

Native Land Conservancy, Inc.

http://www.nativelandconservancy.org/about-nlc.html

https://seagrant.whoi.edu/whsg-welcomes-new-fiscal-officer/

https://www.woodwellclimate.org/?event=kaneb-lecture-series-indigenous-perspectives-on-climate-change

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-jonas-b9a1483b/

Leslie Jonas is a native Cape Codder and eel clan member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. She is an experienced senior planning and grants development strategist with a demonstrated history of working in tribal governments and non-profits in senior level administration and planning. She is skilled in management, communications, client relations, and non-profit work, specifically indigenous land conservation management with a focus on climate change, and cultural preservation of lifeways. As Co-founder and Vice-chairwoman, Leslie has spent the past 10 years helping to build the first, native-led land conservation trust east of the Mississippi, the Native Land Conservancy. The Native Land Conservancy is involved with numerous land conservation and preservation projects, from Cape Cod and the islands, west to the Blackstone River and upto the Merrimack in MA.

Leslie first became actively engaged in land conservation and the health and wellness of our environment, when she worked for the New Alchemy Institute (https://newalchemists.net), now called the Green Center, Inc., in her hometown of Falmouth on Cape Cod. This early environmental work became the basis for her life work to help save our precious earth mother. During the past few years, she has been researching and focusing on Climate Change from the Indigenous Perspective. Currently, this work for the Native Land Conservancy has led to her co-teaching and co-advising environmental courses in social/environmental justice at UMASS Boston and MIT, speaking publicly on Climate Change and producing educational video tools for audiences across many disciplines. During summer 2021, she was invited to sit on the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) Advisory Board for the state of MA. where she helps to advocate for human rights to land and clean water in MA with teams of CLF environmental experts.

Leslie currently works as the Sea Grant Fiscal Officer for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, providing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funded grants support to Principal Investigators/Scientists in their Oceanographic work to support our coastal communities through research, extension and education. She is also DEI certified from Cornell University, holds a BA in Mass Communications and Television Production from Emerson College, and a Masters degree in Community Economic Development.