2023-2025
Gary E. Whelan: President
Email: whelang@michigan.gov
Gary has a B.S. in fisheries management from the University of Wyoming and a M.S. in fisheries management from the University of Missouri. He has worked as a fisheries biologist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for 35+ years and prior to that worked as a research biologist for Michigan State University for 4.7 years. He retired from his position as a Program Manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources – Fisheries Division, responsible for all operational aspects of the Fisheries Research Section. His other staff duties included fish health program oversight, assisting with habitat management issues including fish passage challenges, and handling emergency response issues for Fisheries Division. In addition to his state duties, he has been involved with the National Fish Habitat Partnership for the last 18 years, initially one of the Core Team that wrote the Plan and for the last 17 years, as the Co-Chair of the Board’s Science and Data Committee directly responsible for the National Fish Habitat Assessment. He is a life member and Fellow of the American Fisheries Society (AFS). He has served in numerous leadership roles for AFS, currently 2nd Vice President, am heavily involved in multiple Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) committees on national fisheries issues and was the second President of the Instream Flow Council. He has authored or coauthored 53 peer-reviewed publications with 6 in progress or review at this time. While his educational training is as a stream ecologist, he has been blessed with a wonderfully diverse career that has ranged from studying 5 micron fish parasites and many other fish pathogens to understanding stream and watershed functioning to examining the consequences of environmental history on aquatic resources to analyzing hydropower impacts statewide to examining fish habitat on a national scale to managing complex fisheries research and fish production systems for the State of Michigan. In his spare time, Gary enjoys fishing, hunting, hiking, and nature exploring with his wife Karen and his grown children, Greg and Kelli.
David Thorne: Past President
Michael Homer, Jr.: President-elect
Rebecca Krogman: Secretary/Treasurer
Rebecca Krogman is a research biologist with Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Her specialty up until November 2023 was reservoirs, the problem child and yet ever-so-useful product of anthropogenic alterations to our freshwater environments. She then worked briefly on big rivers, where the center of her work remained the same: the intersection of diverse habitats, a myriad of water uses, and fish both native and not. In October 2024, she became the biometrician for Iowa DNR’s Fisheries staff, applying her quantitative skills to solving problems statewide. She earned her B.S. from Iowa State University and M.S. from Mississippi State University, with a thesis focused on fish habitat characteristics in reservoirs.
In addition to her state agency duties, she serves as the Outreach Coordinator for the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership/Friends of Reservoirs, and and has served AFS as Iowa Chapter President (2022-2023), Fisheries Information and Technology Section President (2017-2019), NCD Reservoir Technical Committee co-chair and chapter representative (2014-2023), AFS Angler Survey Committee (2022-), subunit president, and various other committees and working groups.
Dylan Kwak: Awards Committee Chair
Dylan Kwak is a fisheries biologist for the College Station/Houston at Texas Parks and Wildlife. Within the College Station/Houston district there are 8 large reservoirs and more than 200 waterbodies less than 80 surface acres in size. Habitat management within his role is daily conversation as the small impoundments were originally designed for storm water management without fisheries habitat in mind. The district adds habitat from grants for artificial structure or natural structure, planting aquatic vegetation, and pond design if involved early enough in the process. He received his Bachelor’s in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from Colorado State University and a Master’s in Fisheries and Aquatic Science from the University of Florida. Prior to working at Texas Parks and Wildlife, Dylan was a private lake management fisheries biologist. In addition to the duties within the state, Dylan serves as the Publicity/Exhibits committee co-chair for the Texas Chapter of AFS (2023- Present).
Kanyan Klein: Social Media Coordinator
Kanyan attended Tarleton State University and received her Bachelor’s in Fisheries and Wildlife Sustainability and Ecosystem Sciences. After graduation, she worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife as a Fish and Wildlife Technician at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, TX. She decided to continue her education and pursue an MBA also at TSU. She is now an assistant fisheries biologist for a private lake management company, Texas Pro Lake Management.
Kanyan is a member of the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Texas Wildlife Association, Bass Brigade secretary-treasurer, serves as the social media coordinator for the American Fisheries Society Habitat Section, and the secretary of the Texas Aquatic Plant Management Society.
Past Officers and Volunteers
Past Presidents
David Thorne, 2021-2023
Kim Dibble, 2019-2021
Tom Lang, 2017-2019
Tom Bigford, 2015-2017
John Sweka, 2012-2015
Kyle Hartman, 2011-2013
Joe Margraf, 2009-2011
Past Secretary-Treasurers
Michael Homer, Jr., 2019-2023
Michael Porter, 2017-2019
Sheila Eyler, 2013-2017
Amanda Rosenberger, 2009-2013
Past Awards Committee Chairs
Kim Dibble, -2023
Past Social Media Coordinators
Lauren Flynn, 2019-2023
Amanda Babin, 2018-2019
Elisabeth Maxwell, 2018-2019
Adrienne McLean, 2016-2018
Joe Nohner, 2015-2016
