Restoring wild steelhead runs to Southern Santa Barbara County streams was the inspiration behind a senior thesis at UCSB’s Biology Department and formation of Stoecker Ecological. Adult steelhead in lower Mission Creek above.

This Department of Biology internship and Senior Thesis at UCSB began the formation of the Stoecker Ecological in 1996 and the final report was published with future Stoecker Ecological field researcher Shaw Allen in 1998. Following publication, intern advisors and professors encouraged submitting the project idea for grant funding. I wrote a grant and sent it to the Department of Fish and Game before leaving to Mongolia to be a fly-fishing guide for the summer and fall. When I returned the project was funded by DFG and shortly there after additional funds from the W.P. McCaw Foundation were obtained to broaden and complete the project. The next two years were spent exploring the streams of southern Santa Barbara County, identifying steelhead habitat conditions, observing fish populations, researching historical documentation of steelhead, identifying migration barriers, and assessing limiting factors and restoration priorities for the region. The final result of this effort was the publication of Steelhead Assessment and Recovery Opportunities in Southern Santa Barbara County in 2002 in coordination with the Conception Coast Project (see full project description and download report documents on separate project description page).