Assessing the Biological Health of Freshwater Ecosystems

The personable and knowledgeable staff at ABA, Inc., combined with high-quality results and transparent interpretation, make returning to ABA year after year with our macroinvertebrate samples an easy choice.

Part of the abandoned mine site cleanup process requires benthic macroinvertebrate enumeration to assess potential impacts from former mining activities. This process requires a high-quality laboratory with extensive experience in identifying species in various Pacific Northwest montane stream ecosystems. Aquatic Biology Associates, Inc. has provided us with the requisite high-quality service at reasonable prices. Mr. Wisseman is exceptionally knowledgeable and always provides personal attention to assist us with site-specific abandoned mine cleanup options. Thank you, Mr. Wisseman. I look forward to working with ABA on future mine cleanup projects.

Mary Jo began acquiring her knowledge and experience of Pacific Northwest watersheds and streams at the Oak Creek Laboratory of Biology as a graduate student and project supervisor. During this time, Mary Jo conducted her own research, supervised and assisted other graduate students, and managed undergraduates working in the field and laboratory on stream toxicology and watershed classification projects. She has extensive experience managing complex projects, tracking them, and paying attention to details while maintaining high standards.

Aquatic Biology Associates, Inc. has quantified the results of macroinvertebrate samples in the State of Idaho for two large USGS water quality projects: our Statewide Water Quality Network and the Boise River Water Quality and Biological Integrity Sampling Network. Since 1994 the USGS Idaho Water Science Center has received complete and accurate macroinvertebrate data that meet all of our data quality objectives for very reasonable prices. Bob Wisseman has given us personal and professional assistance in identifying objectives for the use of macroinvertebrate data in our water quality studies as well as helped our office in reporting results. Bob is always available to answer any questions posed to him about our data. His lab has also provided quality assurance data to help identify sampling needs to reduce analytical error.

Aquatic Biology Associates has performed our taxonomic analysis for the City of Seattle for the past 16 years. I have been very pleased with the high quality of both work and technical assistance. Bob Wisseman has always been willing to explain various aspects of the process, from the best way to preserve and ship the samples to the interpretation of the results. Our samples tend to be different from other areas’ samples since the sample sites are highly urbanized, but that has never been a problem for this lab. I’ve always felt that ABA was willing to go the extra distance to make sure the City got the maximum value out of their biological sampling efforts.

As a small volunteer group, the Cloud Peak Chapter of Wilderness Watch is especially grateful for the helpful, professional attitude of Aquatic Biology Associates. At the startup of our multi-year project, we needed detailed help in many ways, and ABA got us through all the steps from A to Z. ABA’s excellent reputation in the field of macroinvertebrate analysis also ensured acceptance of our data.