Clint Muhlfeld

Clint Muhlfeld

USGS Aquatic Ecologist / Associate Research Faculty Affiliate

Clint Muhlfeld

Email: cmuhlfeld@usgs.gov

I am a Research Aquatic Ecologist for the USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center stationed in Glacier National Park and Associate Research Faculty Affiliate at the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station. My general research interests encompass the fields of aquatic ecology, fisheries biology, and conservation biology. My research goal is to understand how aquatic species interact with physical and biological templates over space and time to inform conservation and management. Specifically, my applied research focuses on assessing how human stressors – invasive species, habitat modification, and climate change – influence native salmonids and rare alpine macroinvertebrates in the Rocky Mountains of the United States and Canada.

My published research spans a range of scientific questions and conservation issues from examining the evolutionary and ecological impacts of invasive species on native fishes, assessing life history and genetic diversity of native salmonids, assessing the status of threatened freshwater species, investigating the impacts of dams and barriers on aquatic species and ecosystems, developing quantitative models (e.g., stream temperature, instream flow/habitat, bioenergetics, riverscape connectivity, population viability) to predict species’ responses to environmental change, to understanding and predicting the impacts of climate change on freshwater species and ecosystems.

I particularly enjoy collaboration and multidisciplinary research, and advising and educating graduate students working on various aspects of freshwater ecology and conservation biology. Currently, I actively participate on several regional, national, and international science teams that address natural resource issues facing aquatic ecosystems. My hope is that the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems will be conserved for future generations through research-informed management and education.

For more information, visit my USGS staff information page.

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