CAL JOHNSON

CAL JOHNSON grew up in Greensboro, Alabama, near the foothills of the Appalachians where he learned to fish and hunt at an early age.  It was this that taught Cal the fundamentals of conservation.  Cal worked in aquaculture in high school, where he learned about aquatic sciences and how to raise catfish for consumption.  He earned a B.S. in Environmental Sciences with a concentration in conservation biology in 2007 from the University of Alabama.  While in college, Cal did an internship with the Geological Survey of Alabama (GSA), where he collected fish population data throughout Alabama.  His research helped direct fisheries conservation and water quality analysis.  After graduation, Cal went to work for GSA.  In 2008, Cal was part of a group that rediscovered the Trispot Darter while conducting a fish survey, a species thought to have been extirpated in Alabama.  Subsequent surveys have shown the Trispot darter to exist in larger numbers than previously recorded.  Cal currently works in field operations for Alabama Department of Environmental Management conducting water quality and fish population surveys.  He resides near Florence, Alabama, where he serves on the Tennessee River Basin Network committee and is president of the Alabama Chapter of American Fisheries Society.  Cal can be reached at cal.johnson@adem.alabama.gov