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NANFA Regional Outreach Program
Peter Unmack Trips are held 2-4 times a year in conjunction with the Desert Springs Action Committee. Reports of these trips can be read at http://www.pupfish.net/dsac Contact Peter for more information on conservation trips in his region! Q&A with Peter Unmack NANFA: Can you tell us about your background and interests, and why you volunteered to be a regional representative? I am originally from Melbourne, Australia, and since 1994 have lived in California, Texas, and Arizona. I was first attracted to fish keeping in 1979 and angling in 1982. For a long time I have been interested in Australian native fishes, especially nongame and desert species, which has since transcribed to include North American desert species. I have served on the boards of several fish organizations and am presently most involved with the Desert Springs Action Committee (DSAC) and NANFA. My academic interests are broad and include desert spring conservation and ecology, biogeography, systematics, ecology, and just about anything to do with freshwater fishes. I am attending Arizona State University where I am working on my Ph.D. on the historical biogeography of Australian freshwater fishes. My work for NANFA includes being chairperson for the Board of Directors, maintaining the server that runs NANFA's website, and contributing to general discussions regarding NANFA's programs and future. I organize at least two field trips per year in conjunction with the Desert Springs Action Committee ( http://www.pupfish.net/dsac ), undertaking conservation work and research in springs in southern Nevada. Information on upcoming and past trips can be found at that website. Anyone is welcome to contact me if they would like to tag along on any of these adventures. Unfortunately, it is illegal to keep any Arizona and Nevada native fishes in captivity, hence you won't be able to bring any back home for your aquaria. NANFA: Please describe the boundaries of your region that would be most comfortable to you, and whether you would like other members to assist you. Peter: My region includes the states of Arizona and Nevada. Part of the reason for this large geographic area is there are very few members in those states, and plus my field work takes me out in both as well. I would be more than happy to split things up if someone else wanted to take over part of this region. NANFA: What regional activities have you been involved in? Peter: We have our main trips twice a year, these have been running now for sometime and dates are usually posted well ahead of time. In the past, or whenever I write trip reports or send out notices I have usually mentioned these trips are regular and to contact me if interested. We even have an email list for these trips (although I haven't really publicized that as the email list is made redundant by the website). NANFA: Thanks, Peter! |