Aquatic Research Scientist
Toxicology and Disease

Contact Information

200 S Spruce St., Gunnison, CO 81230
Email: tawni.firestone@state.co.us
Phone: 970-666-0912

Education

  • Ph.D. Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology - Colorado State University 2022
  • B.S. Biology - University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 2013

Current or Recent Positions

  • Aquatic Research Scientist - Colorado Parks and Wildlife 2023 - Present
  • Toxicology Postdoctoral Researcher - Colorado Parks and Wildlife 2022-2023
  • Graduate Research Assistant - Colorado State University, Colorado Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit 2018-2022
  • Fish Pathology Technician - Colorado Parks and Wildlife 2015-2018

Current or Recent Research Projects

  • Application Methods to Apply EarthTec QZ as an Attempt to Eradicate Zebra Mussels from Highline Lake
  • Assessing Water Quality Impacts on Genetic Recruitment of Native Suckers in the Gunnison River
  • Effects of Road Salts on Cutthroat Trout
  • Effects of copper, chloride, and chlorine on drift and chemical avoidance of benthic macroinvertebrates and salmonids
  • Establishing Temperature Tolerance Ranges for Native Fish Species through Electrocardiogram Analysis
  • Field-based Temperature Standards for Bluehead Sucker (Catostomus discobolus), Flannelmouth Sucker (Catostomus latipinnis), and Roundtail Chub (Gila robusta)
  • Leveraging detection uncertainty to estimate Renibacterium salmoninarum infection status among multiple tissues and assays
  • Non-lethal detection of Renibacterium salmoninarum in Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii comparing mucus, blood, and ovarian fluid samples to kidney tissues
  • Pathogenesis of Renibacterium salmoninarum in Chinook Salmon following intraperitoneal injection: Description of disease progression using qPCR and histopathology
  • Temperature tolerance of Flannelmouth sucker larvae
  • Temperature tolerance of Bluehead sucker larvae
  • The importance of a nuanced approach to developing aquatic species-specific temperature standards: A review

Areas of Interest/Expertise

I study complex interactions between aquatic wildlife and their environments by conducting research on biological and physiological mechanisms to better understand how various pollutants, toxicants, temperature, or disease affect aquatic organisms.

Publications

Riepe, T. B., Z. E. Hooley-Underwood, and M. Johnson. 2024. Thermal tolerance of larval flannelmouth sucker Catostomus latipinnis acclimated to three temperatures. Fishes 9(5):181.

Riepe, T. B., Z. E. Hooley-Underwood, R. E. McDevitt, A. Sralik, and P. Cadmus. 2023. Increased density of Bluehead Sucker larvae decreases critical thermal maximum. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 43(4):1135-1142.

Riepe T. B., E. R. Fetherman, B. Neuschwanger, T. Davis, A. Perkins, and D. L. Winkelman. 2023. Vertical transmission of Renibacterium salmoninarum in Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii). Journal of Fish Diseases 46(4):303-319.

Riepe, T. B., B. W. Avila, and D. L. Winkelman. 2022. Effects of 17⍺-ethinylestradiol and density on juvenile fathead minnow survival and body size. Journal of Aquatic Pollution and Toxicology 6:60.

Kowalski, D. A., R. J. Cordes, T. B. Riepe, J. D. Drennan, and A. J. Treble. 2022. Prevalence and distribution of Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of bacterial kidney disease, in wild trout fisheries in Colorado. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 149:109-120.

Riepe, T. B., V. Vincent, V. Milano, E. R. Fetherman, and D. L. Winkelman 2021. Evidence for the use of mucus swabs to detect Renibacterium salmoninarum in Brook Trout Pathogens 10(4):460.

Johnson P. T. J., D. M. Calhoun, W. E. Moss, T. McDevitt-Galles, T. B. Riepe, J. Dallas, T. Parchman, C. Feldman, J. Cropanzo, J. Bowerman, and J. Koprivnikar. 2020. The cost of travel: how dispersal ability limits local adaption in host-parasite interactions. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 34(3):512-524.

Johnson P. T. J., D. M. Calhoun, T. B. Riepe, T. McDevitt-Galles, and J. Koprivnikar. 2019. Community disassembly and disease: realistic - but not randomized - biodiversity losses inhibit parasite transmission. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286(1902).

Riepe T. B., D. M. Calhoun, and P. T. J. Johnson. 2019. Comparison of direct and indirect techniques to detect intestinal parasites in newts (Salamandridae Taricha). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 134:137–146.

Johnson P. T. J., D. M. Calhoun, T. B. Riepe, and J. Koprivnikar. 2019. Chance or choice? Understanding selection by parasites in multi-host communities. International Journal for Parasitology 49:407–415.

Calhoun D. M., L. K. Leslie, T. B. Riepe, T. J. Achatz, T. McDevitt-Galles, V. V. Tkach, and P. T. J. Johnson. 2019. Patterns of Clinostomum spp. infection in fishes and amphibians: integration of field, genetic, and experimental approaches. Journal of Helminthology94:1–12.

Koprivnikar J., T. B. Riepe, D. M. Calhoun, and P. T. J. Johnson. 2018. Whether larval amphibians school does not affect the parasite aggregation rule: testing the effects of host spatial heterogeneity in field and experimental studies. Oikos 127:99–110.]]> No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only]]>