James Fish is an Environmental Program Specialist with the Contaminated Sites Program of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), in Fairbanks, Alaska. He was worked for the Alaska DEC since 2009. As a Project Manager, he oversees the characterization and remediation of contaminated sites across Alaska’s Interior. In addition to environmental cleanup, he has worked in many aspects of environmental microbiology, including water quality and treatment processes, aquaculture and fish health. His interests in microbial ecology involve biodegradation, microbial survival, and the activities of microorganisms in cold environments. He is currently the president-elect of the Alaska Chapter of the American Society of Microbiology. He joined the ITRC EMD team in 2011. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Fisheries Biology in 1986 and a master’s degree in Microbiology in 1991, both from the SUNY College of New York at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York.