My name is Jie (Jessie) Ma, and I am a research assistant professor in the Fish Health Lab at the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho. With over 15 years of experience in fish health, fish diseases, and fish immunology, I bring a wealth of expertise to my current role. After completing my doctorate in Aquatic Animal Medicine at Huazhong Agricultural University, I obtained my veterinarian license. During that time, I pursued further studies in Molecular Biology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Before joining the University of Idaho in January 2017, I was an associate professor at the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute. I have authored or co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications. My current research interests include fish vaccine development and strategies, fish disease and health, fish immunology, and fish virology.

Dr. Jesse Trushenski is a fisheries scientist with specific interests in conservation and commercial aquaculture. She is the Chief Science Officer for Riverence, the largest producer of farmed Rainbow Trout and Steelhead in the Americas with operations based in Washington and Idaho. Riverence also produces premium Rainbow Trout genetics and is the only commercial supplier of Atlantic Salmon and Coho Salmon eggs located in the USA. Jesse manages Riverence’s R&D portfolio and provides executive-level science leadership across the company’s operations. Jesse also oversees a diverse range of research initiatives as the R&D Manager for the Nordly group, a collection of Norwegian companies providing fish health products, feed, veterinary and environmental services to the salmon aquaculture industry worldwide. For both the Riverence and Nordly groups, she is responsible for helping find better ways to put fish on the table—to produce a better fish, to raise it sustainably and ethically, and to put wholesome seafood within everyone’s reach. Whether it’s fish nutrition, physiology, breeding, or health, Jesse has always been driven by the practical applications of science, going from data to information and information to action. Before joining the private sector, Jesse was a tenured Associate Professor at Southern Illinois University and Fish Pathologist Supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Jesse has also fulfilled numerous leadership roles within the fisheries and aquaculture communities. She has chaired or served on multiple advisory panels and other committees addressing aquaculture research, regulation, and policy on a national scale in the USA, and is the author of Understanding Aquaculture. Jesse is a Past-President and Fellow of the American Fisheries Society and serves as a member of the National Fish Habitat Board. She is also the current President of the US Trout Farmers Association and Vice-President of the AFS Fish Health Section.

Dr. Myron Kebus is an assistant professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University and has been working as the north central regional Aquaculture Outreach Veterinarian since 2022. He has provided extensive direct outreach assistance on fish veterinary concerns to fish farmer and veterinary stakeholders. He is a 1992 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine, and received his master’s degree in aquaculture/veterinary science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1990. His masters research investigated stress in rainbow trout, particularly as it pertains to fish hatcheries. In 1993, after a year of mixed animal veterinary practice, he started the Wisconsin Aquatic Veterinary Service, the first fish-only private veterinary practice in the Midwest, and provided veterinary services to fish farms, public aquariums, pet fish retailers, wholesalers, and hobbyists. From 1999 to 2022 he was Wisconsin’s State Fish Health Veterinarian, directing the Fish Health Program for the Division of Animal Health, in the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Most recently he was an aquaculture research subject matter expert with the University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine, Secure Foods Systems team where he helped developing a risk assessment and associated guidance for viral hemorrhagic septicemia in the Great Lakes region. He is a founding member and is the past president of the American Association of Fish. He is the past chair and currently serves of the Aquatic Veterinary Medicine Committee of the AVMA, representing Private and Public Food Animal Production.

Dr. James Nagler is a Professor of Zoology at the University of Idaho. He is a biologist that has studied fish in both freshwater and marine environments. Nagler has taught courses in Invertebrate Zoology, Ichthyology, and Reproductive Biology of Fishes at the University of Idaho. His research area is fish reproductive physiology. Nagler’s expertise has been applied to aquaculture, ecotoxicology, and the conservation of endangered fish species in the Pacific Northwest.

Greg is a Research Immunologist at the USDA-ARS National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture and the Lead Scientist of a research project focused on improving aquatic animal health (2003-present). Prior to this, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology at Oregon Health and Science University (1993-2003). Greg received his Ph.D. in Microbiology (1992) from Oregon State University under the supervision of Dr. Steve Kaattari and a B.A. in Biology from Occidental College. Greg has authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications and served on the AFS-FHS, Technical Standards Committee (2010-2013). In 2015, he was a co-recipient of the ARS Technology Transfer Award and Federal Laboratory Consortium National Award.

Dr. Tim Leeds received a B.S. degree in Agricultural Science from Wilmington College (Ohio) and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Animal Breeding and Genetics from The Ohio State University. He joined ARS in 2005 as a Postdoctoral Research Geneticist at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station (Dubois, ID). In 2008, he joined the ARS National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture (Kearneysville, WV) as Research Geneticist, and since 2019 has served as Research Leader/Center Director.

Dr. Leeds manages a rainbow trout broodstock development program that aims to characterize novel traits, select elite germplasm, and make germplasm available for scientific research, to private aquatic animal producers of food fish, and to state governmental workers involved in fish and wildlife enhancement. In addition to traditional, BLUP-based methods for genetic evaluation, Dr. Leeds’ research focuses on the development of genomic selection approaches using high-density SNP genotyping arrays in ARS-owned and commercial rainbow trout populations. To date, germplasm from the broodstock development program has been transferred to ~35 stakeholders and colleagues in 15 states. Dr. Leeds has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications and has received Agency and FLC technology transfer awards for development and release of the first publically-available line of rainbow trout bred for specific disease resistance.

Christine Parker-Graham is a Veterinary Medical Officer for US Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Pacific Region Fish Health Program. She earned her BA and DVM from UC Davis. She completed a Zoo & Wildlife Medicine internship at Cornell and an Aquatic Animal Health fellowship at UC Davis. Christine is a diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine. Through her work at FWS Christine supports health and welfare of aquatic animals, primarily salmonids, raised in conservation and fishery enhancement programs. She is also a relief veterinarian at SR3 and the National Marine Mammal Foundation.