SFBJV People: John Krause
Name: John Krause
Occupation: Environmental Scientist
Agency: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
John Krause is a Wildlife Biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties. His career began in the late 1990’s and his work with CDFW in 2001. When asked what drew him to the field of wetland restoration, John said it was the outcome of “his exposure to SF Bay, and spending much of his youth in the American River and the foothills and Sierra Nevada mountains.” He is proud to be a part of the “renaissance” of San Francisco Bay wetlands.
John’s duties vary from day to day, month to month, season to season but primarily include wetland restoration and management, wildlife monitoring and surveys (rare/Threatened & Endangered species) and regular contact with the general public to address perceived conflicts in the urban-wildland interface, and to help people understand, appreciate and conserve wildlife resources. He spends a significant portion of his time managing state-owned wetland properties such as Eden Landing Ecological Reserve - part of the on-going wetland restoration in the South Bay Salt Ponds. His day often starts in the office with a triage of email and phone messages, then he’ll make calls while driving down to Eden Landing where he spends the majority of his day in the field. There, he is responsible for making operational changes to many of the nearly two dozen salt ponds according to species use, season and water depth or salinity. This can involve opening or closing culverts to target habitat characteristics related to season, weather and tide cycles as well as observed wildlife use. According to John, he “can transform a pond from one condition to another over a period of weeks, and see the bird response to [his] actions in real time.” It’s a lot to do for one person on any given day, but in partnership with many other individuals and organizations, he feels like they are making a difference in the restoration and management of the estuary.
John earned a Bachelor of Science degree at U.C. Davis in ecology and conservation. John was looking to find a practical application for his resource management studies that dealt with ecology and conservation in consideration of the changing world of future generations. There, he "gained a profound respect for the diverse ecology and landscapes of California, and how those landscapes have changed over time, both naturally and more recently by our society.” Prior to working for CDFW, John was District Biologist for the Caltrans Oakland office, as well as a scientific aid with CDFW, and crew leader for Marin County Open Space District. At UC Davis he assisted researchers studying Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe Basin old growth forests. He now spends his time in the wetlands at the bottom of the watershed.
In his personal life, John’s wife, Trish, works as a nurse, and they have two school-aged daughters. John and his family enjoy traveling, and are looking forward to exploring more of the world together. John also loves recreating (or doing anything) outdoors, so look for him out mountain biking in the hills of Marin. He also plays in a band, Sticky's Backyard, that has been playing original jam rock music in local venues since the members met in college over 25 years ago. He is proud that his kids can tell you by looking at a marsh if it’s high or low tide while finding the “one” in a song anytime the beat comes around, and that his wife has learned to appreciate the smell of wetland mud, except when coming into the house on his boots at the end of a day!
