Keith Parker

Keith Parker is currently a Fisheries/Molecular Biologist for the Yurok Tribe of California.  Keith co-manages fish harvest management on the Klamath River and conducts genetic analysis of returning Trinity River Hatchery salmon.  For the past six years, Keith has conducted four fisheries biology, hydrology, and river ecology research projects in Alaska, Washington, and California - funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Keith received a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries Biology in 2015 from Humboldt State University (HSU) and a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources (Fisheries) from HSU in 2018 with a thesis on conservation genetics. He examined the spatiotemporal genetic structure of Klamath River Pacific lamprey (eels) using high-throughput genetic sequencing and discovered two new ecotypes of “eels”, naming them using words from the Yurok language. Keith’s work is in the process of being published in a scientific journal. He is a 2018 NOAA and NSF GRIP awardee, 2016 Switzer Fellow, a 2015 NSF GRFP Fellow, a 2012 NSF URM Fellow, and has won research awards at both the AISES and NSF Emerging Researchers Network national conferences. Keith also sits on the HSU President’s Native American Advisory Committee and was appointed to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Pacific Lamprey Technical Workgroup Committee in 2017. Prior to 2011, Keith was the CEO of the Yurok Economic Development Corporation and prior to that was a Federal agent for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) with a rank of Sergeant and three letters of commendation. Keith lives on the Yurok reservation at the mouth of the Klamath River and has focused his studies on tribal trust fish species and dam removals. His goal is to be a catalyst for positive environmental change by being a “translator” in bridging the gaps between traditional ecological knowledge and modern science.