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Division:
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REUT
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Status:
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Federal, NOAA Fisheries
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Job Title:
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Research Fishery Biologist
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Phone:
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206-860-3461
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Email:
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send e-mail
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Programs:
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NWFSC Publications
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Background
Brian Beckman is a physiological ecologist who has worked at the Center since 1986, first at the Cook Field Station in the Columbia River Gorge, and since 1992 at Montlake. He has extensive expertise and experience in evaluating growth and smolting of salmonids in laboratory, hatchery and field environments. He has designed a number of studies seeking to elucidate how growth, and the endocrine mechanisms controlling growth, interact to vary the age and season at which smolting occurs in chinook salmon. This work has lent insight into how endocrine mechanisms mediate life history variability in salmonids. More recently, he has conducted several studies seeking to validate plasma levels of the hormone insulin-like growth factor-I as an indicator of short-term growth rates in salmonids. Dr Beckman obtained a BS in Biology from Oregon State University, an MS in Marine Environmental Science from the State University of New York Stony Brook, and a Ph.D. in Aquatic and Fishery Science from the University of Washington.
Current Research
Brian is currently continuing a series of projects, conducted in collaboration with Don Larsen, examining growth, smolting, and precocious maturation in wild and hatchery spring chinook salmon from the Yakima River. These studies document similarities and differences between hatchery and wild fish, lending insight into the efficacy of the Yakima Supplementation Program, the first large scale test of supplementation techniques. In addition, Brian is continuing participation in a series of ocean cruises examining juvenile salmon in the Northeast Pacific. Specifically, blood is being obtained from juvenile salmon and the concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I is being measured to assess short-term growth rate of these fish in the ocean. Seasonal and geographic variation in growth rates are being related to ocean conditions and ocean survival in an attempt to discern the mechanisms responsible for variation in oceanic survival of salmon. In collaboration with Briony Campbell and Penny Swanson, he is examining the influence of size and growth rate on reproductive decisions (age of maturation, egg size, fecundity) in female coho salmon. Finally, Brian is initiating experiments on the influence of spawning and emergence timing on smolting patterns in Sacramento River chinook salmon.
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