PNNL

Stephanie Liss joined PNNL in 2014. Her background is in fisheries ecology and physiology and she is active in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) projects. Liss is a subject matter expert in several resource areas as applied to NEPA. More recently, Liss has taken on project management roles, such as a deputy team leader for NEPA projects. She also supports environmental compliance work and Endangered Species Act consultations. Liss is also a project manager and team member for multi-disciplinary and complex acoustic and radio telemetry field studies. The goals of these studies are to better understand the behavior, movement, and survival of fish at structures that impede migrations (e.g., hydropower structures). Liss also manages laboratory studies at PNNL’s Aquatic Research Laboratory. Using PNNL-developed acoustic transmitter technologies, her laboratory research evaluates potential tagging effects of the transmitters after surgical implantation in a variety of fish species, including eels, lamprey, salmon, and sturgeon. The goals of these studies are to demonstrate the capabilities of the innovative transmitter technologies and create guidelines for their use prior to implementation in field studies. Other areas of Liss’s research include quantifying and analyzing physiological biomarkers in fish to monitor how fish interact with their environment. She has several peer-reviewed publications relating to tagging effects and physiology.

Currently, Liss supports a variety of projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

• Applied fisheries management
• Coordination of multidimensional field and laboratory studies
• Data management and quality assurance
• Ecology and physiology of large-river and marine fishes
• Effects of hydropower structures on fishes
• Environmental assessment/environmental compliance (NEPA analysis)
• Radio and acoustic telemetry technologies in fisheries research

• MS in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013
• BS in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010

• Associate Editor, North American Journal of Fisheries Management
• American Fisheries Society
• North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society
• PNNL Bio-Acoustics and Flow Laboratory Member

• Outstanding Performance Award for coordinating and managing the Willamette River tagging studies, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (2018)
• Outstanding Performance Award for supporting the research and write-up of the Clinch River Biological Assessment, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (2018)
• Exceptional Achievement Award for contributions to publications, hard work, and dedication to the PNNL mission, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (2017)
• Outstanding Performance Award for supporting the CRSO Scoping project, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (2017)
• Outstanding Performance Award for supporting the Consent Based Siting team, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (2016)
• Individual Performance Award for managing the Green Peter Dam Radio Telemetry project, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (2016)
• Project Team of the Year Award for supporting the WHOOSHH project, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (2015)
• Outstanding Performance Award for supporting projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Idaho Power Company, and Manitoba Hydro, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (2015)
• Outstanding Performance Award for supporting the Orchards Characterization project, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (2015)
• MS Graduate Student of the Year Research Award, College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2013)
• Excellence in Research Award, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2012)

2021

• Hughes, J.S., Khan, F., Liss, S.A., Harnish, R.A., Johnson, G.E., Bellgraph, B.B. and Znotinas, K.R., Evaluation of “Juvenile salmon passage and survival through a fish weir and other routes at Foster Dam, Oregon, USA.” Fisheries Management and Ecology. PNNL-SA-156667.
• Liss, S.A., Znotinas, K.R., Blackburn, S.E., Fischer, E.S., Hughes, J.S., Harnish, R.A., Li, H. and Deng, Z.D., 2021. “From 95 to 59 Millimeters: A New Active Acoustic Tag Size Guideline for Salmon.” Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. PNNL-SA-153487.

2020

• Talwar B., J.A. Stein, S. Connett, S.A. Liss, and E.J. Brooks. 2020. "Results of a fishery-independent longline survey targeting coastal sharks in the eastern Bahamas between 1979 and 2013." Fisheries Research 230. PNNL-SA-155254. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2020.105683

2019

• Fischer E.S., S.E. Blackburn, S.A. Liss, J.S. Hughes, H. Li, and Z. Deng. 2019. "How Small Can We Go? Evaluating Survival, Tag Retention, and Growth of Juvenile Chinook Salmon Implanted with a New Acoustic Microtag." North American Journal of Fisheries Management 39, no. 6:1329-1336. PNNL-SA-144456. doi:10.1002/nafm.10367
• Mueller, R., Liss, S. and Deng, Z.D., 2019. “Implantation of a new micro acoustic tag in juvenile pacific lamprey and American eel.” JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) 145, p.e59274. PNNL-SA-137246. doi: 10.3791/59274

2018

• Geist, D.R., S.A. Liss, R.A. Harnish, K.A. Deters, R.S. Brown, Z.D. Deng, J.J. Martinez, R.P. Mueller, and J.R. Stephenson. 2018. "Juvenile Chinook Salmon survival when exposed to simulated dam passage after being implanted with a new microacoustic transmitter." North American Journal of Fisheries Management 38, no. 4: 940-952. PNNL-SA-130560. doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10198

2017

• Ashton N.K., S.A. Liss, R.W. Walker, R.S. Brown, C. Klassen, S. Backhouse, and P. Bates, et al. 2017. "How Low Can You Go? Determining a Size Threshold for Implantation of a New Acoustic Transmitter in Age-0 White Sturgeon." Northwest Science 91, no. 1:69-80. PNNL-SA-113031. doi:10.3955/046.091.0108
• Liss S.A., N.K. Ashton, R.S. Brown, R.W. Walker, P. Bates, C. Klassen, and S. Backhouse. 2017. "Evaluation of four surgical implantation techniques for age-0 white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836) with a new acoustic transmitter." Journal of Applied Ichthyology 34, no. 2:382-389. PNNL-SA-123234. doi:10.1111/jai.13564
• Mueller, R.P., Janak, J., Liss, S.A., Brown, R.S., Deng, Z. and Harnish, R.A., 2017. “Retention and effects of miniature transmitters in juvenile American eels.” Fisheries Research 195, pp.52-58. PNNL-SA-120628. doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2017.06.017

2016

• Liss S.A., R.S. Brown, K.A. Deters, R.W. Walker, Z. Deng, M.B. Eppard, and R.L. Townsend, et al. 2016. "Mortality, retention, growth, and wound healing in juvenile salmon injected with micro acoustic transmitters." Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 145, no. 5:1047-1058. PNNL-SA-115570. doi:10.1080/00028487.2016.1176955
• Walker R.W., N.K. Ashton, R.S. Brown, S.A. Liss, A.H. Colotelo, B. Do Vale Beirao, and R.L. Townsend, et al. 2016. "Effects of a Novel Acoustic Transmitter on Swimming Performance and Predator Avoidance of Juvenile Chinook Salmon: Determination of a Size Threshold." Fisheries Research 176. PNNL-SA-110565. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2015.12.007