The field crew at the Okanogan Basin Monitoring and Evaluation Program (OBMEP) has been collecting macroinvertebrate samples in the Okanogan River and its tributaries since 2009 and snorkeling the river since 2004. Sonya will discuss some interesting findings from the macroinvertebrate data over the years and she will discuss the population of western ridged mussels in the Okanogan River. She will introduce the new species of crayfish called the Okanogan crayfish and will show some GoPro footage from snorkel surveys of freshwater sponges. 

Field Trip! There will be a field trip from 2pm-3pm on Sunday 31, 2026 associated with this presentation. Meet at Twisp Park at 2pm (near the Wagner Memorial Pool). Connor Church (Fish Biologist for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) will lead the field trip where you’ll get to do some collecting with nets at a local site, and will discuss what has been captured, their life histories and which macroinvertebrates are particularly important for fish.

Speaker: Sonya Schaller

Sonya Schaller was born and raised in Omak and has been with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation’s Okanogan Basin Monitoring and Evaluation Program since 2011. She conducts habitat assessments, stream flow monitoring and GIS analyses. Prior to working in the Okanogan Basin, she worked for Whatcom Conservation District and the US Forest Service after receiving her BS in Botany from Western Washington University.

Speaker: Connor Church

Connor Church is a fish biologist for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation's Okanogan Basin Monitoring and Evaluation Program. He is conducting a steelhead egg to fry survival study in the Okanogan basin and also assists with mark-recapture electrofishing surveys, snorkel surveys, and spawning surveys. Prior to working in the Okanogan, he worked as a seasonal field technician for The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. He received a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Northern Michigan University, and an M.S. from the University of Missouri in Natural Resources.