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 Okanagan crayfish and will show some GoPro footage from snorkel surveys of freshwater sponges.
Stay Tuned! There may be a field trip from 1pm-3pm on Sunday 31, 2026 associated with this presentation. We will announce the details at a later time.
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.