Expert Consultants for Aquatic Invertebrates
Aquatic Biology Associates, Inc. is a woman-owned small business in Western Oregon.
Over the past 40 years, we have developed and maintained relationships with many of the leading freshwater invertebrate specialists in North America and the world, and we routinely consult with taxonomic specialists to verify identifications.
At Aquatic Biology Associates, we conscientiously archive and curate invertebrate specimens from projects that are of value to the wider scientific community. We regularly donate invertebrate specimens to North American specialists to aid taxonomic revisions and life history studies and routinely deposit valuable specimens at museum repositories worldwide.
Our clients include federal agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. We also serve tribal communities, various state natural resource agencies, counties, cities, private industry, conservation and irrigation districts, citizen and nonprofit groups, universities, K-12 schools, and museums.
Aquatic Biology Associates Team
Mary Jo Wevers, Ph.D.
CEO
About Mary Jo
Mary Jo received her B.A. in Aquatic Biology in 1976 from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she studied freshwater and marine ecosystems and was employed as a research technician at the UCSB Marine Science Center. After moving to Oregon in 1977, Mary Jo worked as an analytical chemist in a lake eutrophication project at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She obtained her M.S. in Fisheries at Oregon State University, studying macroinvertebrate communities in streams. The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife then employed her as a Senior Research Assistant on several watershed and stream projects. Mary Jo earned her Ph.D. at Oregon State University, examining life history strategies of Pacific salmon, and was hired by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to write fish management plans for the Bonneville Power Administration. In 1995, she joined her husband, Bob Wisseman, in his consulting business, which they incorporated under the name Aquatic Biology Associates, Inc. Mary Jo continues working in her roles as CEO, CFO, and General Manager of Aquatic Biology Associates.
Robert W. Wisseman, M.S.
Senior Scientist
About Robert
Bob received his B.A. in Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College in Washington in 1976. He participated in bioassessment studies of an urban lake in Tacoma and intertidal invertebrate studies in the Nisqually Delta Estuary. In 1987, he received his M.S. in Aquatic Entomology from Oregon State University. Although caddisflies were the focus of his thesis and published papers, Bob gained broad experience in stream ecology. Using benthic invertebrate communities in freshwater to assess biological integrity was an emerging field in the 1980s. Bob was actively engaged in this effort from the beginning. With his knowledge of freshwater invertebrates’ taxonomy and biology, Bob began consulting as a sole proprietor in 1984. In 1995, Bob’s wife, Mary Jo, joined his business, and Aquatic Biology Associates, Inc. was formally incorporated. Bob is a recognized expert in western North American caddisflies (Trichoptera).
Barbara Hayford, Ph.D.
Chironomid Taxonomist
About Barbara
Barbara earned a B.S. in Biology and English from Metropolitan State University, Denver, and an M.S. in Applied Natural Science from Colorado State University, Pueblo. She worked on thermal spring ecology for her M.S. Thesis under Scott Herrman and Jim Sublette. Barbara left the Rocky Mountain Region and headed to Lawrence, Kansas, where she completed a Ph.D. in Entomology under Len Ferrington at the University of Kansas. Her doctoral dissertation focused on alpha taxonomy and phylogeny of Paratendipes (Diptera: Chironomidae). Before teaching in the Nebraska State College System, she served as the Assistant Director of the Central Plains Center for Bioassessment at the Kansas Biological Survey under Don Huggins. Her other work includes NSF-funded surveys of macroinvertebrates in Mongolia, production taxonomy with Rhithron Associates, Inc., and directing two small natural history museums. Barbara’s research interests include biodiversity analysis, particularly of chironomids, general freshwater ecology, and Diptera in phytotelmata. Currently, she is searching for elusive marine midges along the coasts of the Pacific Northwest.