Peter Gruendike

When Pete was four years old, he leapt from the top of jungle gym and landed on a tree, breaking his left arm. Weeks later he reeled in his first fish from an Adirondack lake in upstate New York while still wearing a cast. Ever since that summer, he’s spent much of his life exploring watery places and chasing the fish that live within them. He still occasionally manages to fall down and break things.

Years later at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Pete studied the effects of small dams on freshwater ecosystems and realized that there was work to be done that combined his passions and interests with an ability to help improve water resources for fish, wildlife and people across the U.S.

Pete moved to the rainy forests of the Pacific NW in 2002 and spent months living in a tent, leading field survey crews into remote watersheds in CA, OR, and WA, learning secret places to later revisit, while developing a deep appreciation for wild places and our public lands. Over his 15+ years working in rivers and streams, Pete has worked for university research labs, nonprofit organizations, state and federal agencies, and in private consulting.

At River Design Group, Pete is responsible for managing large wood and floodplain restoration projects, conducting field surveys, performing innovative GIS analyses, assisting with project designs, technical reporting, regulatory permitting, and construction management. Pete’s extensive experience provides RDG’s team with the critical link between engineering hydraulics and biological considerations and he provides critical input on fish habitat enhancement projects based on his professional experience and understanding of resident and anadromous fish populations. Outgoing and approachable, Pete believes that successful restoration projects are a collaborative process that balance restoring ecosystem function with client and landowner wants and needs.