Harmony Patricio, Ph.D.
Freshwater Fish Conservation Program Manager
Education
Ph.D. Environmental Science, Griffith University
M.P.A. Environmental Science and Policy, Columbia University
B.A. Environmental Studies, University of California Santa Cruz
Dr. Harmony Patricio leads the development and roll-out of Shoal in the U.S. and manages freshwater fish conservation programs, in partnership with Global Wildlife Conservation and the IUCN SSC Freshwater Fish Specialist Group. Harmony has over 13 years of experience in conservation research, practice, and policy.
Harmony specializes in freshwater biodiversity, and has worked in Australia, Central America, Southeast Asia, and the U.S. She spent six years designing and implementing freshwater fish conservation programs in the Mekong River Basin, in close collaboration with rural fishing communities, and established the Mekong Fish Network. Her Ph.D. research focused on the development of novel environmental DNA methods to assess river biodiversity and determine distributions of rare fishes, including the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish. Harmony serves on the Freshwater Conservation Committee and Freshwater Fish Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. She is also the Co-Chair of the Freshwater Specialist Group for the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.
Publications
Patricio, H.C., Zipper, S.A., Peterson, M.L., Ainsley, S.M., Loury, E.K., Ounboundisane, S., and D.B. Demko. (2018). Fish catch and community composition in a data-poor Mekong River subcatchment characterized through participatory surveys of harvest from an artisanal fishery. Marine and Freshwater Research. 70(2), 153-168. doi: https://doi.org/10.1071/MF17338
Darwall, W., Bremerich, V., Cai, L., De Wever, A., Dell, A.I., Freyhof, J., Gessner, M.O., Grossart, H.P., Harrison, I., Irvine, K., Jähnig, S.C., Jeschke, J.M., Lee, J.J., Lewandowska, A.M., Monaghan, M.T., Patricio, H.C., Stuart, S.N., Thieme, M., Tockner, K., Turak, E., and O. Weyl. (2018). The Alliance for Freshwater Life: a global call to unite efforts for freshwater biodiversity science and conservation. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 28(4), 1015-1022. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2958
Turak, E., Harrison, I., Dudgeon, D., Abell, R., Bush, A., Darwall, W., Finlayson, C.M., Ferrier, S., Freyhof, J., Hermoso, V., Juffe-Bignoli, D., Linke, S., Nel, J., Patricio, H.C., Pittock, J., Raghavan, R., Revenga, C., Simaika, J., and A. De Wever. (2017) Essential Biodiversity Variables for measuring change in global freshwater biodiversity. Biological Conservation. 213, 272-279. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.09.005
Bellemain, E.*, Patricio, H.C.*, Gray, T., Guegan, F., Valentini, A., Miaud, C., and T. Dejean. (2016). Trails of river monsters: Detecting critically endangered Mekong giant catfish Pangasianodon gigas using environmental DNA. Global Ecology and Conservation, 7, 148-156. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2016.06.007
*Co-first authors
Patricio, H.C., Ainsley, S.M., Andersen, M.E., Beeman, J., and D.A. Hewitt. (2012). The Mekong Fish Network: expanding the capacity of the people and institutions of the Mekong River Basin to share information and conduct standardized fisheries monitoring. U.S Geological Survey. Peer-reviewed Open-File Report 2012-1246. doi: https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20121246
Patricio, H.C., Cohen, J., Fulton, S., Jordan, T., Kline, R., Matheson, H., Miller, A., Pang, J., Shepherd, D., Stucker, A., Tress, S., and F. Wang. (2008). Climate Change in West Africa: Recommendations for Adaptation and Mitigation. Ed. Tress, S. United Nations World Food Programme and Columbia University, New York, NY. doi: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.4870.4167