Bob Anderson, senior scientist, has more than two decades of experience working with industry, state, and federal regulatory agencies, and other organizations regarding environmental permitting, conservation, and propagation of endangered freshwater mussels. He strives for creative and cost-effective approaches toward endangered freshwater mussel conservation.
For nearly 40 years, Bob has worked on the conservation of freshwater mussels and aquatic species. Early on in his career, Bob studied species distribution and the effects of water quality on freshwater mussels, fish, and other organisms in Tennessee and Kentucky. Later, Bob collaborated with landowners and partners with assistance under the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Ohio Division of Wildlife, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife to protect water quality in Fish Creek, a small stream in northern Indiana and Ohio. Fish Creek was the last known location of the federally endangered white cat’s paw mussel. In 1993, a diesel fuel spill impacted the lower part of Fish Creek, and the white cat’s paw has not been seen since 1999.
Building on this experience, Bob extended his experience to monitoring water and aquatic habitat quality in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, focused on the Upper Ohio River watershed. He has been a long-term Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society, member, board member, and served as Society president from 2005 to 2007. He is currently co-editor of the Society’s newsletter, Ellipsaria.