President: Levi Brown
Levi is currently a Fisheries Scientist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (VFWD) working in the St. Johnsbury office. Originally from Weathersfield, Vermont, Levi spent his time outside of school and extracurriculars exploring the woods and swamps around his house, trying to catch anything that crawled, slinked, or slithered. His love of the outdoors eventually led him to pursue a degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Vermont, where he graduated in 2016. After graduation, Levi was initially focused on pursuing a career studying reptiles and amphibians but accepted a seasonal fisheries job with VFWD working to improve Brook Trout habitat and assist with monitoring fish populations in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. It was this opportunity that convinced Levi that he belonged in the world of fisheries. After working several more years seasonally for VFWD, Levi obtained his M.Sc. from West Virginia University, where he studied the population dynamics of black bass in the Ohio River and its major tributaries. From there, Levi accepted his current position with VFWD in 2022, where he now assists district biologists with fisheries monitoring, habitat enhancement, angler outreach, and other various duties. In his free time, Levi enjoys exploring his new surroundings in northeastern Vermont, where he hopes to make many lasting memories with his family.
Email: lfbrown1994@gmail.com
Vice President: Danielle Frechette
Danielle Frechette, Ph.D. (she/her) is a Marine & Freshwater Ecologist with a focus on endangered & protected species, human dimensions, and impacts of climate change. She grew up playing in the woods and streams of New Hampshire and is still amazed to have found a career where she can get muddy and be outdoors as a Marine Resource Scientist with the Bureau of Sea-Run Fisheries and Habitat for the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR). She is part of the team working to recover federally endangered Atlantic Salmon in Maine and recently launched a research collaboration with the University of Maine to better understand population and movement dynamics of Atlantic and Shortnose Sturgeon in the Gulf of Maine and beyond.
Danielle earned her BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Vermont before heading west to California, where she earned an MS in Marine Science from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, studying the effects of bird predation on juvenile salmon. After working with federally listed Central Coast Coho and Steelhead for several years, she migrated back East in 2014, and did her PhD work on habitat use and migration of Atlantic Salmon during colonization of novel habitat at INRS in Quebec.
She completed training in science communication as a 2021 AFS Climate Fellow, and participated in the AFS Capstone Training Program in 2025. She is an active member of the AFS Climate Change Committee and traveled to Washington DC as part of the first ever AFS Fly-In to Capitol Hill. She is excited to return to her adopted “home city” to share her passion for communicating science effectively and clearly with the Atlantic International Chapter of AFS.
Past President: Rosanne MacFarlane
Rosie MacFarlane is currently employed as a Freshwater Fisheries Biologist with the Prince Edward Island Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action’s Forest Fish and Wildlife Division. She is a graduate of the University of Prince Edward Island and Acadia University. Rosie began working in the fisheries and watershed management world in 1990 and has been the provincial freshwater fisheries biologist since 2003. Rosie’s involvement with the Atlantic International Chapter of the American Fisheries Society started in 2005 at the meeting held in Rangely, Maine. She believes that one of the most important benefits of AFS involvement is the opportunity to network with colleagues from across the region. “PEI is a small province, but it always amazes me how similar its fisheries management issues are to larger provinces and states. I learn a lot from attending the AGMs and have often called on people I have met at these meetings when seeking advice on particular projects or concerns.”
Email: REMACFARLANE@gov.pe.ca
Secretary/Treasurer: Abigale Culberson
Abigale Culberson is currently employed as a Fisheries Biologist with the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife Branch. She is a graduate of the Maritime College of Forest Technology and the University of New Brunswick with her B.Sc. in Environment and Natural Resources and her M.Sc. in Environmental Management focusing on spatial and trophic ecology of largemouth bass in New Brunswick. In her free time, Abigale Culberson can be found outside hunting, fishing and hiking with her dog through the woods of New Brunswick.
University of Maine Student Subunit President: Gregory Kronisch
I am a PhD student at the University of Maine, co-advised by Drs. Michael Kinnison and Nathan Furey (University of New Hampshire). My dissertation focuses on diet, movements, and habitat use of landlocked Arctic charr in the context of climate change. Prior to my PhD, I completed my MS at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) on the changing fish assemblage structure in a eutrophic lake undergoing remediation. However, I developed my background in movement ecology at US Fish and Wildlife Service, where I studied movement patterns of lake sturgeon in the Niagara River and helped manage large acoustic telemetry networks in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
While I had originally finished my undergrad intent on being a chemical limnologist, the connections that I had through AFS helped me get my first job out of school which led to a major refocus of my career. Now as the UMaine subunit president I hope to bring ideas from my time with the New York chapter and SUNY ESF subunit to help getting students practical experience and help them build relationships with professionals in our field.
If you want to learn more about the UMaine Subunit send us an email at umaineafs@gmail.com and follow us on our Instagram and Facebook.
University of New Hampshire Subunit President: Nathan Hermann
I am currently a Masters student at the University of New Hampshire, but have also accepted an offer to stay for a PhD both advised by Nathan Furey. My current research focuses on understanding the impact of seasonal change on fish movement and feeding ecology using sculpin in the high Canadian Arctic as a model system. I have done so combining summertime diet studies with year-round acoustic telemetry to compare the behavior of fish under sea-ice to those exploiting the pulse of summer resources. My interests in this area stem from my desire to comprehend the often-shrouded lives of fish and aquatic life generally and to advocate for their protection. With my PhD work, I hope to expand my quantitative skillset by incorporating mixed predator-prey interactions into an integrated forecast of the Gulf of Maine community given rapidly advancing climate change in the area. I hope my involvement with AFS can help grant me in-depth experiences with all manner of fish and fisheries researchers and to carry through from theoretical to applied knowledge.
Get in touch with us at: unhstudentafs@gmail.com
Quebec Student Subunit President: Veronica Groves
Veronica Groves is the President of the AFS Québec Student Subunit and a PhD candidate with Dr. Lauren Chapman at McGill University. Her PhD research explores how multiple stressors interact to impact the physiology, morphology, and behavior of freshwater fishes. To do so, she uses a combination of field and laboratory experiments across two study systems: Canadian species at risk in Southern Ontario, and species of socio-economic importance in Lake Nabugabo, Uganda. This diversity provides a rich opportunity to address complex ecological issues in socially relevant contexts.
If you would like to contact the Quebec Student Subunit Executive Committee, you can reach us at quebecstudentafs@gmail.com or visit http://linktr.ee/afsqc for our social media information.