Aida Farag, PhD
Dr. Aїda Farag is the Project Leader at the Columbia Environmental Research Center’s, Jackson Field Research Station.
She focuses on 3 research areas: 1) The potential effects of oil and gas activities on aquatic life and is the Co-Lead for the Environmental Health Mission Area – Energy Project. This project includes 35 researchers and 65 external partners from universities, state agencies, and other federal agencies focusing research on source mobility, pathways to the environment, resilience/restoration, and beneficial reuse. 2) Restoration of Contaminated and Impaired Ecosystems. Dr. Farag convened an international workshop in 2014 and continues to advance the science of putting restoration goals upfront. 3) Fish physiology to complement toxicological investigations and Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration assistance. She uses a multifaceted approach to define not only changes at the level of the individual fish but to relate those changes to population structures in the field.
Professional Experience
2000 - present Research Fishery Biologist, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Project Leader, Jackson Field Research Station, Jackson, Wyoming.
1994 - 2000 Research Fishery Biologist, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Assistant Project Leader Jackson Field Research Station, Jackson, Wyoming.
1994 - 2000 Research Fishery Biologist, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Assistant Project Leader Jackson Field Research Station, Jackson, Wyoming.
1994 - 1994 Post-doctoral Research Associate, Wyoming Cooperative Research Unit.
1988 - 1993 Research Associate and PhD candidate, University Wyoming, Dept. of Zoology and Physiology.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, 1993. U.S. Department of Energy Fellowship
M.S. Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, 1988.
B.S. Environmental Health Management; Indiana University, Bloomington, 1981.
Affiliations and Memberships*
1985 - present, Member of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
1998 - present, Adjunct Faculty, University of Wyoming, Department of Zoology and Physiology.
2004 - present, Member of the Society of Ecological Restoration
2007 - present, Member Editorial Board Restoration Ecology, an international journal.
2011 - 2015, Member Board of Directors, Society of Restoration Ecology
2011 - 2015, Member Science and Policy Committee, Society of Ecological Restoration
2016 - present, Science Team about Energy and Plains and Potholes (STEPPE)
2019 - present, Bakken Federal Executive Group – Natural Resources Subcommittee (BFEG)
2020 - present, Research Associate Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative
2020 - present, Plant Interest Group Steering Committee, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Science and Products
Mining impacts on fish in the Clark Fork River, Montana: A field ecotoxicology case study
Effects of acclimation on the toxicity of stream water contaminated with zinc and cadmium to juvenile cutthroat trout
Concentrations of metals in water, sediment, biofilm, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish in the Boulder River watershed, Montana, and the role of colloids in metal uptake
Influence of in-stream diel concentration cycles of dissolved trace metals on acute toxicity to one-year-old cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi)
The effect of chronic chromium exposure on the health of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
The potential for chromium to affect the fertilization process of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, Washington, USA
Biomonitoring in the Boulder River watershed, Montana, USA: metal concentrations in biofilm and macroinvertebrates, and relations with macroinvertebrate assemblage
Leachability of protein and metals incorporated into aquatic invertebrates: are species and metals-exposure history important?
Does biofilm contribute to diel cycling of Zn in High Ore Creek, Montana?
Winter habitat use by cutthroat trout in the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data, for streams in the upper Prickly Pear Creek watershed, Montana, 2001
Characterizing aquatic health using salmonid mortality, physiology, and biomass estimates in streams with elevated concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in the Boulder River Watershed, Montana
Science and Products
Mining impacts on fish in the Clark Fork River, Montana: A field ecotoxicology case study
Effects of acclimation on the toxicity of stream water contaminated with zinc and cadmium to juvenile cutthroat trout
Concentrations of metals in water, sediment, biofilm, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish in the Boulder River watershed, Montana, and the role of colloids in metal uptake
Influence of in-stream diel concentration cycles of dissolved trace metals on acute toxicity to one-year-old cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi)
The effect of chronic chromium exposure on the health of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
The potential for chromium to affect the fertilization process of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, Washington, USA
Biomonitoring in the Boulder River watershed, Montana, USA: metal concentrations in biofilm and macroinvertebrates, and relations with macroinvertebrate assemblage
Leachability of protein and metals incorporated into aquatic invertebrates: are species and metals-exposure history important?
Does biofilm contribute to diel cycling of Zn in High Ore Creek, Montana?
Winter habitat use by cutthroat trout in the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data, for streams in the upper Prickly Pear Creek watershed, Montana, 2001
Characterizing aquatic health using salmonid mortality, physiology, and biomass estimates in streams with elevated concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in the Boulder River Watershed, Montana
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government