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​Job Title: Graduate Research Assistant
Primary Affiliation: Department of Watershed Sciences
Secondary Affiliation: Ecogeomorphology & Topographic Analysis Lab
Degree : M.S. - Watershed Science
Faculty Advisor: Joe Wheaton
Committee Members: Brett Roper & Bob Pack
Year Started: 2010
Year Defended : 2013
Year Completed: 2014

currently

In late 2014 Ryan became the new Executive Director for the Grant County Water Information Network in Colorado. After graduating, Ryan worked for both the USFS and BLM Bug Lab in Logan, Utah.

Read ryan's Thesis

scholarly outputs

education

• 2001 Bachelor of Music. University of Idaho, Moscow, ID.
• 2007-2009 Geographic Information Systems courses. Shasta College, Redding, CA.

research

• Training in GIS and an appreciation for the outdoors have led me to combine abiotic conditions in aquatic systems with biotic components related to native and non native trout using various spatial analyses.  
• My graduate research is focused on the habitat use of native Bonneville cutthroat trout and invasive brown trout and brook trout in the Temple Fork watershed.  I am analyzing the physical aquatic environment using a combination of remote sensing tools such as ground based LiDAR, airborne LiDAR, total station, ArcPad, and aerial imagery.  I am exploring the behavior and biotic interactions of trout using Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags and spawning surveys.  My goal is to understand the components of the biotic and abiotic factors in determining the habitat use of these three trout species.     

bio

Ryan is a master's student with Joe Wheaton.  He graduated from the University of Idaho in 2001 with a Bachelor's degree in Music Education.  After seven years of teaching, Ryan retruned to school at USU to pursue a master's degree in watershed sciences.  In addition to academic life, Ryan works for the Forest Service under Brett Roper as a GIS and Biological Science technician in the PIBO effectiveness monitoring program.  In his spare time Ryan enjoys snowbaording, fishing, kayaking, hiking, skateboarding, and other outdoor activities.

projects

• USFS: Temple Fork Watershed Fish & Beaver Ecology
• USFS: Comparison of Traditional Versus Ground-Based LiDaR Instream Haibtat Assessments

scholarly contributions

Peer Reviewed Publications

• Lokteff RL*, Roper B and Wheaton JM. 2013. Do beaver dams impede the movement of trout?  Transactions of American Fisheries Society. DOI: 10.1080/00028487.2013.797497.

Conference Papers, Presentations & Posters

• Presentation: Lokteff, R.L., Roper, B., and Wheaton, J.M., 2011. Ground Based LiDAR and PIT Tags: Does High Resolution Data Improve Our Understanding of a Fish's Utilization of Habitat, American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.
• Poster: Lokteff, R.L., Roper, B., and Wheaton, J.M., 2011. Spatial Distribution and Species Segregation of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, Brown Trout, and Brook Trout, American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.

Reports

• Lokteff, R., Wheaton JM and DeMeurichy KD. 2011. Use of Ground Based LiDAR for Characterization of In-Stream Habitat.  Ecogeomorphology and Topographic Analysis Lab, Utah State University, Prepared for the US Forest Service, 29 pp.

Thesis

• Lokteff R. 2014. Movement and Habitat Use of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus Clarki Utah): A Case Study In the Temple Fork Watershed. MS, Utah State University, Logan, UT. Available: http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2080/.​