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Alumni Profiles
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very month, Martin Merz ’09 gathers with a small group of consultants, engineers, fisheries scientists and other friends in the water field to discuss the health of the region’s rivers, wetlands, and marine areas. This group, which he started a year ago, calls these gatherings “Water Nerd Meet Ups.” “We support each other in our careers, share about interesting projects that we are working on, and discuss current events,” explains Martin, who works as a Physical Scientist in the Water Division at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10, in Seattle. “I want to create spaces to talk openly about these issues.” Martin holds a master’s in Environmental Science and Management with a specialization in Water Resources Management from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara. During his graduate studies he was part of the Sustainable Water Markets Fellowship Program. Martin’s current work at the EPA is largely focused on the quality and temperature of Pacific Northwest rivers and the habitat they provide for salmon, with most of his work focused on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
Martin Merz ’09
Physical Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
“In the summer, many Pacific Northwest rivers, including the Columbia and Snake Rivers, are too warm and can be harmful to migrating salmon,” explains Martin. “When salmon migrate up the Columbia River to their spawning grounds, the temperature of the river and the temperature of any cold-water habitat they can find to rest in plays a substantial role in determining their spawning success. Their gas tank depletes more quickly in warm temperatures.”
Cooling the River The Columbia River, which has always heated up in the summer, is now trending warmer in the summer months, and will continue to trend in this direction. “To cope with the warmer temperatures, migrating salmon seek out and rest in cold-water pockets, which are created where colder, often glacially fed, tributaries meet the Columbia River,” explains Martin. “One of my current projects involves working with colleagues to map these ‘cold water refuges,’ determine how they are used by salmon, and identify restoration actions to maintain and support them.” These restoration actions can involve planting trees along riverbanks to provide shade, reconnecting rivers with their floodplains, and identifying other levers throughout the tributary watersheds that impact the quality of these cold-water refuges.
