Byron Karns

Byron Karns

National Park Service
401 Hamilton Street
St. Croix Falls, WI 54024
715-483-2281
[email protected]

Education

M.B.S., University of Minnesota
Advisor: L.C. Ferrington, Jr.

B.A. History, University of Minnesota

Byron Karns received his undergraduate degree in history and Masters of Biological Science from the University of Minnesota. Byron has worked on and off for the National Park Service since 1991, all of that service with the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. He began his work with the Park as a naturalist, and in this role acted as volunteer coordinator of citizens providing zebra mussel information to boaters. That experience provided the opportunity to coordinate the Riverway’s zebra mussel prevention plan for over a decade. He is currently the chair of the St. Croix Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Task Force, NPS’s Midwest Regional representative to the Mississippi Panel of the ANS Task Force and NPS representative to the Minnesota Invasive Species Advisory Council. In addition to working with all aspects of zm/AIS issues, Byron does field monitoring and inventories of other species on the Riverway, from assessing hazardous trees, collecting beaver activity data, to working a prairie burn. Most of his responsibility at the Park is underwater, however, and as a member of the Riverway’s SCUBA team, he sees this part of the resource first-hand. Here his interests range from aquatic insects, snails, crayfish, water quality, and native mussel life histories and propagation. Byron’s involvement with Dr. Ferrington began with Len’s arrival in Minnesota in 2000. Len was Byron’s Master’s advisor and the two developed a strong interest in the local aquatic insects and a shared love of the St. Croix River, in part from graduate work/consulting done as part of this project.

 

Byron
Byron
Byron