In May 2025, Sasha Milsky found herself on the banks of the Penobscot River, watching thousands of rainbow smelt swim up inch-deep tributaries on their way to spawning grounds. With flashlights and headlamps, she and a team from the Penobscot Nation, University of New Hampshire (UNH) and University of Maine (UMaine) scooped fish after fish from the water, implanting each with an acoustic tag.