Shaara Ainsley joined LLTK in late 2021. She most recently served as Scientific Collaborations Director at FISHBIO in California before returning to Seattle to continue working towards recovering salmon and steelhead in her native Pacific Northwest. For over 10 years, she has managed fisheries research and conservation projects on river systems throughout California and Southeast Asia. Her previous work included expanding and supporting a research and conservation program in the Mekong River basin, serving as technical lead for a long-term steelhead life-cycle monitoring program, and participating in collaborative science working groups in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Shaara holds an M.S. in Marine Science from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and the California State University, Monterey Bay, and a B.A. in Creative Studies (Biology Emphasis) from the University of California, Santa Barbara.