Phaedra Budy

Biography

Dr. Phaedra Budy is the Unit Leader of the U.S. Geological Society, Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit, a Professor of fisheries management and aquatic ecology in the Department of Watershed Sciences at Utah State University (USU) and a faculty member of The Ecology Center at USU.   She holds a B.S. in Limnology from the University of California, Davis and a PhD in Aquatic Ecology from Utah State University.  She does research that fits into an overall framework of evaluating the factors that structure and limit fish populations and communities in both lentic and lotic systems, and also works broadly in the conservation biology, invasion ecology, and food web dynamics of aquatic systems.  In addition, she does research and adaptive stream restoration, in part, using beavers deemed nuisance by humans, and slated to be otherwise euthanized.  These nuisance beavers are ecosystem engineers who create and maintain complex in-stream habitat and increase water retention.  These beavers are collected and translocated to locations where they are desired for beaver ecology and conservation research, passive stream restoration, and habitat maintenance for native fishes.  In this capacity, she works closely with the USU Beaver Ecology and Relocation Collaboration (e.g., https://www.facebook.com/beaverbunkhouse/).