Jesse M. Lepak
Number of files: 1
Item Metadata
Dublin Core
Title
Description
Cool and Warmwater Lakes and Reservoirs
Contact Information
317 W Prospect Rd, Fort Collins, CO 80526Email: jesse.lepak@state.co.us
Phone: 970-657-5820
Education
- Ph.D., Natural Resources (Concentrations: Fisheries, Natural Resource Policy and Management, Cellular and Molecular Medicine) — Cornell University, 2008
- M.S., Natural Resources (Concentration: Fisheries) — Cornell University, 2004
- B.S., Biology, Zoology, Biological Aspects of Conservation — University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2001
Current or Recent Positions
- Aquatic Research Scientist – Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2023-Current
- Research Associate, Colorado State University Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 2022-2023
- Aquatic Research Section Technician, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2021-2022
- Great Lakes Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist, New York Sea Grant, 2017-2020
- Adjunct Biologist, Biodiversity Research Institute, 2016-present
- Aquatic Research Scientist – Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2010-2015
- Affiliate Faculty Member, Dept of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, 2011-2016
Areas of Interest/Expertise
I focus largely on the interactions between fish in lakes and reservoirs. I am primarily interested in sport fish and fisheries, but also consider native species within lake and reservoir systems. My areas of expertise include; contaminant cycling, bioenergetics, freshwater food webs, ecosystem dynamics, fish behavior and movement, fisheries management, fish immune systems and disease, aquatic nuisance species, aquaculture, biological control of invasive species, nutrient inputs and uptake, and sources of fish mortality. Combining these interests provides a better understanding of freshwater ecosystems to help protect, maintain, and enhance fisheries in Colorado.
Publications
In press: Lepak, J.M., Hansen, A.G., Johnson, B.M., Battige, K., Cristan, E.T., Farrell, C.J., Pate, W.M., Rogers, K.B., Treble, A.J., and Walsworth, T.E. Four decades of change: cyclical multi-trophic level responses to an introduced forage fish. Fisheries.
Lepak, J.M., Pate, W.M., Cadmus, P., Hansen, A.G., Gallaher, K.D., Silver, D.B. 2024. Response of an invasive aquatic crustacean to the fish toxicant rotenone. Lake and Reservoir Management 40(3):330-337
Hansen, A.G., J. M. Lepak, E. I. Gardunio, and T. Eyre. 2024. Evaluating harvest incentives for suppressing a socially-valued, but ecologically-detrimental, invasive fish predator. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 00, e12699.
Lepak, J. M., A. G. Hansen, E. T. Cristan, D. A. Williams, and W. M. Pate. 2023. Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) influence on walleye (Sander vitreus) recruitment decline: mtDNA evidence supporting the predation hypothesis. Journal of Fish Biology 103(6):1543-1548.
Lepak, J. M., B. M. Johnson, M. B. Hooten, B. A. Wolff, and A. G. Hansen. 2023. Predicting sport fish mercury contamination in heavily managed reservoirs: Implications for human and ecological health. PLoS ONE 18(8): e0285890.
Hansen, A.G., Miller, M.W., Cristan, E.T., Farrell, C.J., Winkle, P., Brandt, M., Battige, K., and Lepak, J.M. 2023. Gill net catchability of walleye (Sander vitreus): are provincial standards suitable for estimating adult density outside the region? Fisheries Research. 266: 106800.
Cristan, E. T., A. G. Hansen, and J. M. Lepak. 2022. Effects of ethanol preservation on larval and juvenile walleye and gizzard shad body size. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 42:874-881.
Hansen, A. G., E. T. Cristan, M. M. Moll, E. I. Gardunio, and J. M. Lepak. 2022. Factors influencing early growth of juvenile tiger trout stocked into subalpine lakes as biocontrol and to enhance recreational angling. Fishes 7:342.
Lepak, J. M., A. G. Hansen, M. B. Hooten, D. Brauch, and E. M. Vigil. 2022. Rapid proliferation of the parasitic copepod, Salmincola californiensis (Dana), on kokanee salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum), in a large Colorado reservoir. Journal of Fish Diseases 45:89-98.
Wolff, B.A., Johnson, B.M., and Lepak, J.M. 2017. Changes in sport fish mercury concentrations from food web shifts suggest partial decoupling from mercury loading in two Colorado reservoirs. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 72:167-177.
Kopack, C. J., E. D. Broder, E. R. Fetherman, J. M. Lepak, and L. M. Angeloni. 2016. The effect of a single prerelease exposure to conspecific alarm cue on poststocking survival in three strains of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Canadian Journal of Zoology 94(9):661-664.
Lepak, J.M., Hooten, M.B., Eagles-Smith, C.A., Tate, M.T., Lutz, M.A., Ackerman, J.T., Willacker, J.J. Jr., Evers, D.C., Wiener, J.G., Flanagan Pritz, C., and Davis, J. 2016. Assessing potential health risks to fish and humans using mercury concentrations in inland fish from across western Canada and the United States. Science of the Total Environment. 571:342-354.
Eagles-Smith, C.A., Ackerman, J.T., Willacker, J.J., Tate, M.T., Lutz, M.A., Fleck, J., Stewart, A.R., Wiener, J.G., Evers, D.C., Lepak, J.M., Davis, J., and Flanagan Pritz, C. 2016. Spatial and temporal patterns of mercury concentrations in freshwater fishes across the Western US and Canada. Science of the Total Environment. 568:1171-1184.
Eagles-Smith, C.A., Wiener, J.G., Eckley, C, Willacker, J.J., Evers, D.C., Marvin-DiPasquale, M., Obrist, D., Fleck, J., Aiken, G., Lepak, J.M., Jackson, A.K., Webster, J., Stewart, A.R., Davis, J., Alpers, C., and Ackerman, J.T. 2016. Mercury in western North America: a synthesis of environmental contamination, fluxes, bioaccumulation and risk to fish and wildlife. Science of the Total Environment. 568:1213-1226.
Jackson, A., Evers, D.C., Eagles-Smith, C.A., Ackerman, J.T., Willacker, J.J., Elliott, J.T., Lepak, J.M., VanderPol, S.S., and Bryan, C.E. 2016. Mercury risk to avian piscivores across the western United States and Canada. Science of the Total Environment. 568:685-696.
Willacker, J.J., Eagles-Smith, C.A., Lutz, M.A., Tate, M.T., Ackerman, J.T, and Lepak, J.M. 2016. The influence of reservoirs and their water management on fish mercury concentrations in Western North America. Science of the Total Environment. 568:739-748.
Vigil, E., Christianson, K., Lepak, J.M., and Williams, P. 2016. Temperature effects on hatching and viability of juvenile gill lice; Salmincola californiensis. Journal of Fish Diseases. 39:899-905.
Fetherman, E. R., J. M. Lepak, B. L. Brown, and D. J. Harris. 2015. Optimizing time of initiation for triploid walleye production using pressure shock treatment. North American Journal of Aquaculture 77:471-477.
Kopack, C. J., E. D. Broder, J. M. Lepak, E. R. Fetherman, and L. M. Angeloni. 2015. Behavioral responses of a highly domesticated, predator naïve rainbow trout to chemical cues of predation. Fisheries Research 169:1-7.
Johnson, B.M., Lepak, J.M., and Wolff, B.A. 2015. Effects of prey assemblage on mercury bioaccumulation in a piscivorous sport fish. Science of the Total Environment. 506-507:330-337.
Hargis, L.N., Lepak, J.M., Vigil, E.M., and Gunn, C. 2014. Prevalence and intensity of the parasitic copepod (Salmincola californiensis) on kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in a Colorado reservoir. The Southwestern Naturalist. 59:126-129.
Pate, W.M., Johnson, B.M., Lepak, J.M., and Brauch, D. 2014. Management for coexistence of Kokanee and trophy Lake Trout in a montane reservoir. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 34:908-922.
Lepak, J.M., Cathcart, C.N., and Stacy, W.L. 2014. Tiger muskellunge predation upon stocked sport fish intended for recreational fisheries. Lake and Reservoir Management. 30:250-257.
Fetherman, E.R., and Lepak, J.M. 2013. Addressing depletion failure and estimating gear efficiency using known population abundances. Fisheries Research. 147:284-289.
Lepak, J.M., Cathcart, C.N., and Hooten, M.B. 2012. Otolith weight as a predictor of age in kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) from four Colorado reservoirs. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 69:1569-1575.
Lepak, J.M., Hooten, M.B., and Johnson, B.M. 2012. The influence of external subsidies on diet, growth and Hg concentrations of freshwater sport fish: implications for fisheries management and the development of fish consumption advisories. Ecotoxicology. 21(7):1878-1888.
Stacy, W.L., and Lepak, J.M. 2012. Relative influence of prey mercury concentration, prey energy density and predator sex on sport fish mercury concentrations. Science of the Total Environment. 437:104-109.
Lepak, J.M., Fetherman, E.R., Pate, W.M., Craft, C.D. and Gardunio, E.I. 2012. An experimental approach to determine esocid prey preference in replicated pond systems. Lake and Reservoir Management. 28:224-231.
Lepak, J.M., Kinzli, K.D., Fetherman, E.R., Pate, W.M., Hansen, A.G., Gardunio, E.I., Cathcart, C.N., Stacy, W.L., Underwood, Z.E., Brandt, M.M., Myrick, C.M., and Johnson, B.M. 2012. Manipulation of growth to reduce sport fish mercury concentrations on a whole-lake scale. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 69(1):122-135.
Pate, W.M., Stacy, W.L., Gardunio, E.I., and Lepak, J.M. 2011. Collaborative research between current and future fisheries professionals: facilitating AFS subunit participation. Fisheries. 36(9):458-460.