Thompson Banez Email & Phone Number

San Diego, California, United States

As the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (Department) representative to the Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Groundfish Management Team (GMT), I have been involved in various analytical works that heavily utilize marine fishery dependent data. One of my key responsibilities is to develop, summarize, and conduct analyses related to monitoring and making management recommendations for the groundfish fishery in California.I prepare landings projections, economic, and other critical data reports for the Council's processes, ad-hoc workgroup reports, and Department technical reports. One crucial aspect of my role is to design, maintain, and modify projection models and fishery management measure models. These models are used in the regulatory development process to evaluate groundfish management options that meet fishery management plan conservation objectives, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requirements, and federal Endangered Species Act consultation standards. I also play a key role in overseeing the State's interests and coordination which involves monitoring groundfish data streams, and data sharing arrangements.Overall, my work revolves around providing data support, conducting comprehensive analyses, and making recommendations to ensure the sustainable management of the groundfish fishery while complying with state environmental laws and policies.

San Diego, California, United States

As an Environmental Scientist for CDFW's Habitat Conservation Planning group I served as the Department representative for California Endangered Species Act (CESA) permitting processes. Provided public direction regarding compliance with state and federal environmental protection laws, regulations, and policy. I used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to conduct spatial analysis and produce maps and data summaries. I coordinated with Habitat Conservation Planning Branch, regional staff, regulatory and local agencies, and stakeholders on complex planning and permitting efforts. I reviewed and ensured completeness of CESA applications, analyzed documentation, and prepared incidental take permits. Conducted on-site inspections to assess species presence, habitat quality, and mitigation opportunities and coordinated with biological consultants and engineers in the field. Additionally, I lead a working group to determine to impact of the southern steelhead listing and how the species can be best managed.

San Diego, California, United States

As a Scientific Aid my main duties were to support CDFW's Inland Fisheries Program. To do so I leveraged my expertise in GIS to create a new database to modernize Region Five’s Lake/streambed maps. I spearheaded a project to update passive fish surveys utilizing machine learning/artificial intelligence to classify species and estimate abundance, which has greatly increased the efficiency an analyst can go through video data. Additionally, I demonstrated aptitude for field work in various projects including but not limited to hundreds of hours of fish tagging, habitat improvement projects, invasive species removal, hook and line surveys, and e-fishing. The work associated with these projects allowed me to demonstrate my ability to captain, trailer and maintain CDFW watercraft, automobiles, and trailers. As part of my daily duties, I wrote reports to summarize fish community assessments that I played an integral part of conducting. Along with habitat assessments and species survey reports, I assisted in grant writing and issuing CDFW permits.

I completed my thesis with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southwest Fisheries Science Center focusing on electronic tagging data from blue and mako sharks. I employed my expertise in data management, technical skills in GIS and R Studio to visualize my results and was able to analyze their movements to answer various research questions related to fisheries management. In addition to spending hours creating maps using GIS, the attention to detail required for creating and organizing this extensive marine geospatial database translate well into my mission to utilize data to support fisheries management. Moreover, I have assisted in cruises that utilized various oceanographic sampling techniques such as, hook and line, CTD, net tows, and bottom trawlers for the purpose of collecting fish and marine invertebrate species.

Master'S Of Advanced Studies, Marine Biodiversity And Conservation

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Bachelor'S Of Science, Marine Biology