Orey Eckes on the left tagging Coaster Brook Trout with a volunteer on the right. Photo: USFWS.

Meet the new boss….same as the old boss. These song lyrics were written by the Who in one of their most popular songs in the 70’s, and were never more accurate when describing the new assistant manager at the Genoa (WI) National Fish Hatchery. Orey Eckes was selected to replace Angela Baran Dagendesh, former Assistant Manager of the Genoa hatchery.
Angela has moved onward and upward after her decade at the hatchery by accepting a position in the Washington Office’s Division of Refuges. Orey started at the Genoa station in 2011 as a Pathways student and worked his way up through the ranks after earning his Master’s Degree. His thesis focused on an important lake sturgeon life history research question, and in 2013 he completed his thesis on Lake Sturgeon egg development and initiation of exogenous feeding as influenced by water temperature. This project answered a research question that benefited many lake sturgeon restoration programs and their managers including many states, tribes and across a few international boundaries. Recently he served as the station’s primary fish biologist, whose duties included direct day to day supervision of the station’s lake sturgeon production building. We welcome Orey into his new role and are anxious to help him transition into his new role at the hatchery, both serving the staff and the aquatic resources that we have all committed to conserve. By: Doug Aloisi

Orey Eckes holding a Lake Sturgeon from the Genoa NFH. Photo: USFWS