Oral history interview with Ron Goede by Elaine Thatcher

Part one - Ron briefly talks about his childhood growing up in Nebraska and his German background and German language skills. He discusses his college education and double majoring in Botany and Zoology. While at the University of Nebraska, Ron enlisted in the National Guard and trained as an aircraft mechanic and served of year of active duty in the Air Force. Ron mentions hitchhiking to Alaska to do biological studies for River Basin Fish and Wildlife Services while living in a warehouse and sleeping on fishnets. After applying to several graduate schools, Ron decided on USU because he had never been to Utah before. While working with paddlefish for the State of Missouri, Ron was called into active duty and flew all over the country. Ron discusses how he had to take a different job in public use management when he returned from his military service, but still maintained interest in fish health. After some formal training of fish pathology in Virginia, Ron returned to Missouri to build the state's first fish disease lab and eventually came back to Utah when he was recruited for fish quality.