Like many young kids, Gian Dodici spent his early years fully immersed in the underwater universe of Jacque Cousteau and found world travel at his fingertips by turning the pages of National Geographic.
While traveling throughout his childhood, Gian spent time turning over creek rocks looking for crayfish to flipping desert stones searching for scorpions. Thanks to that time, he developed a life-long fascination for the natural harmony of creatures and their habitat.
That love for natural history and his desire to work outdoors led him to study Environmental & Forest Biology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. From there he moved to western New York, then on to Iowa, eventually returning to the northeast to a government career as a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), where he is a frequent collaborator with Trout Unlimited’s restoration team in New York.
Coffee and conservation
Dodici, whose first name is pronounced “Jan,” is a passionate cyclist, husband, father and coffee enthusiast known for using his small backpacking stove to brew a hot cup of fresh-ground velvety goodness from his favorite roaster––Ithaca-based Copper Horse Coffee–– with the peaceful sounds of a free-flowing river in the background.
He has been with the USFWS since 2002. In his current role at the Partners for Wildlife New York Field Office, he has spent nearly two decades working with mentor Carl Schwartz in every corner of New York restoring rivers and wetlands, removing dams and replacing culverts.
One of Gian’s first projects was in western New York on Wiscoy Creek, where he used wood to improve trout habitat and has since been a strong advocate for the value of reintroducing wood into streams. Recently, he removed a dam on Black Creek, a tributary to Lake Ontario, reconnecting critical habitat for salmon.
“Taking a dam out and seeing a free-flowing river again,” he reflects. “I’ve got the best job in the world.”
Partnerships create successful projects
His partnerships are diverse, from small town highway staff to local and state agencies and NGOs. Dodici is a mentor to many, including the TU team in New York.
“The number of projects Gian has been responsible for is too many to count,” says Jo-Anne Humphreys, stream specialist for Trout Unlimited. “Just this year with Trout Unlimited we are working together on over a dozen. He and Carl are a critical part of our small team providing insight and design expertise.”
Humphreys connected with Dodici when she started restoration work with the Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation District many years ago,
“I would follow him with my notebook, frantically writing all that I could while scaling large fallen trees amid forests of invasive rose and buckthorn,” she remembers. “He never talked down to me; he always patiently answered my questions and would often return to difficult sites we had already visited together just to help me see more clearly what he saw.”
This year, for the third year in a row, Humphreys and Dodici are working on a large-scale project on Big Creek, a tributary to Oriskany Creek in the foothills of the Adirondacks.
“Restoration can be a complex web of challenges,” says Dodici. “On Big Creek we are working to mitigate past flood damage by reconnecting floodplains, securing bank failures and protecting private property through low tech restoration solutions.”
Inspiring with action and attitude
We’re thankful for folks like Gian Dodici who make it their mission to inspire with both action and attitude. We appreciate the thousands of dedicated USFWS employees for graciously passing that torch of inspiration to our staff here at TU and who join us in fighting the good fight for healthy rivers and wild creatures.
Dodici is modest and humble about his role in the larger picture.
“To have played even a small role helping and encouraging the development of practitioners across the state and working with the TU team restoring rivers, protecting communities and making things better,” he says, “has truly been an honor.”