Please vote to confirm this year's incoming President-Elect Stephen Gratz. Stephen's biography and goals for OCAFS during his term are listed below.
Stephen Gratz
I am honored to be nominated as President-Elect of the Ohio Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (AFS). I grew up in Lima, Ohio and became interested in fish and fishing at an early age while spending the weekends at a glacial lake in southern Michigan that my parents owned with other relatives. My interest continued while pursuing my undergraduate degree at The Ohio State University – Lima where I graduated from in 2010. I attended Stone Laboratory on Lake Erie during the summers of 2008 and 2009 cementing my passion for aquatic ecosystems. After graduating, I worked as a technician in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Sandusky office for three years where I led a research project tracking Northern Pike movements in East Harbor. I took a short hiatus from the fisheries field and worked for the United States Postal Service. After realizing that I missed my previous career, I enrolled in graduate school at Auburn University (AU), Alabama where my research focused on estimating the economic impact of a local reservoir on the surrounding communities. This experience allowed me to gain invaluable experience working on main-stem river impoundments and small streams while conducting my own research and helping others with their projects. I graduated from Auburn University in 2017 and worked for the Indiana DNR for two years as an Assistant Fisheries Research Biologist on the glacial lakes of northeast Indiana and served on multiple strategic planning committees. In 2019, I married my wonderful wife who was established in Columbus, Ohio. I accepted a position in Dr. Suzanne Gray’s laboratory at The Ohio State University working as a technician in a laboratory coordinator role for a year and was able to assist with other projects on the rivers around Columbus. I transitioned to a technician position in the Aquatic Ecology Lab at The Ohio State University where I currently work. While here, I have been working on a Great Lakes fisheries database while also assisting with various other projects.
I have been a member of AFS since 2015 when I was a student at AU and have been a state chapter member in the states in which I have lived. While at AU, I served as the Vice-President of the AU Student Subunit where I coordinated numerous outreach events and greatly increased participation. I also served as the Southern Division Representative of the Student Subsection of the Education Section. If chosen as President-Elect, I would like to increase engagement and participation within the Chapter. While I have been able to increase participation in the Society at the student subunit level, I also understand the spatial challenges that exist while doing so at the state level. I would also like to maintain and increase communication within the Chapter, relevance to students and professionals, and partnerships with other entities. I would like to make the Ohio Chapter of the AFS better than we were yesterday and better tomorrow than we are today. I look forward to the potential opportunities of this position if chosen as your next President-Elect.