Alumnus of the Year 2019
Janine Arano Castro is a 1986 OHS graduate. She was born in Renton, Washington. Her family then moved to California where she attended all Orland schools. Janine is a CSF lifetime member.
After graduation, she attended Chico State from 1987-1993 where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology and Geography, and a Master of Geosciences degree.
Janine then attended Oregon State University from 1993-1997 where she graduated with a PhD in Geosciences, and served on the OSU Geosciences board. In addition, Janine recently became an affiliate professor at University of Victoria in Wellington, New Zealand.
Janine was married in 2018 to Dr. Colin Thorne, Chair of Physical Geography at University of Nottingham in England. She has one son, Keston Keuchel, a senior at Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA.
Janine also volunteers for the “River Restoration Northwest” and “Science Talk” organizations. Both promote improving science communication. Her hobbies are travel, home improvement, and New York Times crossword puzzles.
More about Janine (from her LinkedIn profile):
Janine Castro is the Project Leader for the Columbia River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (CRFWCO) in Vancouver, Washington. It is the mission of the CRFWCO to assist in determining the status of imperiled natural fish stocks, to evaluate management measures for recovery and assist in the recovery of these stocks, and to prevent future ESA listings. As the Project Leader, Janine provides leadership to a highly diverse technical staff that address a wide variety of fisheries issues, including: (1) fish passage and aquatic habitat restoration, (2) bull trout recovery and lamprey conservation, (3) marking and tagging of nearly 40 million hatchery fish annually to support tribal, recreational, and commercial mark-selective fisheries, (4) mark-recapture studies of wild fish to determine occupancy, distribution, abundance, trends, and population growth rates, and (5) providing analytical support to project design, evaluation, and information management.
Janine provides national and international training on stream restoration, river science, and public speaking for scientists. She has worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service for 20 years and spent the preceding 10 years working for the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Janine is co-founder of Science Talk, one of the five founding members of River Restoration Northwest, a member of the Expert Regional Technical Group for the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program, an Affiliate Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, adjunct faculty at Portland State University, and the Technical Director for the PSU River Restoration Professional Certificate Program.
Specialties: Aquatic Habitat Restoration, Geomorphology, Science Communication
