Background

Sandy Downing joined the NWFSC in 1991. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Her graduate degrees were based on developing the technology to produce triploid oysters and then evaluating their performance (e.g., growth, survival, and reproductive capabilities) compared to diploid oysters.

Current Research

Sandy leads a team of biologists and electronics engineers and technicians who work on developing, improving and evaluating the ISO-based PIT-tag systems used to detect migrating adult and juvenile salmonids passing hydropower dams. In addition, Sandy has worked on developing and evaluating a computer program that uses PIT-tag codes to separate out targeted fish in the fish bypass facilities at hydropower dams.