Roger Fuller

Roger Fuller is the Natural Resource Coordinator at Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, a 12,000-acre reserve that encompasses nearshore habitats spanning the range from subtidal marine to upland forest. As an ecosystem ecologist, he focuses on the biological and physical interactions among species and their habitats.

Mr. Fuller works on habitat restoration, invasive species ecology and control, species’ interactions, ecosystem processes, and climate change impacts. He applies research to improve natural resource management strategies. Since 2002 he has been working in Skagit ecosystems, including marine, estuarine, riverine, and terrestrial habitats, and has also collaborated on work in ecosystems throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Research Interests
Skagit-specific research interests

  • Studying habitat response to restoration, climate change, and invasive species

  • Characterizing physical drivers of estuary ecosystem dynamics (sediment and freshwater distribution, physical impacts from living organisms, relative sea level, flood and storm dynamics, infrastructure, and historic land use)

  • Evaluating species’ interactions and their implications for habitat management

  • Science communication and decision-support tools

Other research interests

  • Stillaguamish estuary – current and historic conditions, effects of restoration projects at the ecosystem scale, climate change impacts, biophysical linkages such as relationships among sediment, vegetation, waves, and snow geese

Education and Credentials

  • M.S., plant ecology, University of Washington, 1999

  • B.S., animal science, University of Illinois, 1991

Scientific Appointments

  • Western Washington University, spatial ecologist, 2013-present

  • The Nature Conservancy of Washington, landscape ecologist, 2000, 2002–2013

  • Kitsap County, habitat biologist and lead entity coordinator, 2001–2002

  • Private consulting spatial ecologist, 1999–2000

  • University of Washington, research assistant, 1995–1999

Affiliations and Professional Service

  • Skagit Climate Science Consortium, board member

  • Skagit Land Trust, board member

  • Western Washington University, adjunct faculty

  • Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation

  • Society for Ecological Restoration

Contact
Email: rfuller@padillabay.gov

Additional Information

Learn more about Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

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