🎙 Go Wildly Podcast — Episode 22: Marshall Wolf | Freak for Fish

🌲About This Episode

On this episode of Go Wildly, we sit down with stream ecologist Marshall Wolf to talk about fish, fieldwork, and what it actually looks like to survey wild streams in the Rogue Valley.

Marshall holds a Ph.D. in Aquatic Ecology from Utah State and has worked across the West studying fish populations, habitat connectivity, and watershed health. But Southern Oregon keeps pulling him back. After moving away multiple times, he’s returned again and again to work in Rogue Valley streams — surveying fish, analyzing creek systems, and helping better understand how water, habitat, and human impact intersect.

In this conversation, we dive into:

• How fish surveys actually work in Southern Oregon streams

• What snorkeling in Oregon streams is like

• What species are thriving (and struggling) in Rogue Valley watersheds

• How fish tell us about the health of an ecosystem

• Making friends with the outdoors

• How to live a life in the dirt

We spend most of this episode in the water — talking fish behavior, surveying structures, and the hidden complexity of small creeks that most people walk right past.

Marshall also shares how his life moves between science and dirt — from aquatic ecology to trail building with the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association — and why the Rogue Valley continues to call him home.

Go Wildly is a storytelling podcast centered on real people, outdoor culture, and meaningful conversations rooted in Southern Oregon — exploring how wild places influence creativity, purpose, resilience, and community.

If you love outdoor podcasts, rivers, fish, local ecology, or understanding the landscapes you move through — you’re in the right place.

🎧 Follow Go Wildly

YouTube: @gowildlypodcast

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/spotifygowildlypodcast

Instagram: @gowildlypodcast

Website: https://www.gowildlypodcast.com

Contact: [email protected]

🌿 About Marshall Wolf

Marshall Wolf is a stream ecologist with a Ph.D. in Aquatic Ecology from Utah State University. He has worked throughout the American West conducting fish surveys and watershed research, with a particular focus on Southern Oregon streams. He is also a trail builder, snowboard instructor at Mt. Ashland, and community member deeply rooted in the Rogue Valley.

🔗 Guest Links

Google: Marshall Wolf PhD Instagram: @shredthewolf

YouTube: @MarshallWolfRogue Valley Mountain Bike Association: www.rvmba.org

🛠 Credits

Hosted, Edited & Produced by Go Wildly Podcast

Theme Music: “Rainmaker” by Jared Masters

🏕 Keywords

Go Wildly Podcast, Southern Oregon podcast, Rogue Valley podcast, outdoor podcast, ecology podcast, stream ecology, aquatic ecology, fish biology, fish surveys, snorkeling, Marshall Wolf, Southern Oregon streams, Rogue River watershed, Rogue Valley Oregon, Oregon rivers, freshwater ecology, watershed science, river restoration, fish habitat, environmental science podcast, field science, conservation podcast, Pacific Northwest ecology, Oregon outdoors, Medford Oregon podcast, Ashland Oregon podcast, Mt Ashland, trail building community, outdoor lifestyle podcast, nature podcast, environmental storytelling, place-based podcast, local voices podcast, watershed health, drought and rivers, wildfire and streams, independent podcast, ghetto birds, ghetto gown