Some Recently Completed Projects:
- Mollusk survey in the Coosa River below Logan Martin Dam.
- Evaluation of the freshwater mussel community in the Weiss Bypass Reach of the Coosa River, Alabama after initiation of a minimum flow.
- Evaluation of the freshwater and estuarine fishes in Alabama after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
- Assessing southern flounder populations in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
- Determination of species-specific dissolved oxygen and temperature requirements for non-game riverine fishes.
- Assessing enhancements to recreational fishing ponds using stable isotope analyses.
- The role of yellow perch in Lakes Martin and Yates, Alabama.
- Re-establishing long distance fish migration pathways: feasibility of passing fish through two Alabama River lock structures.
- The relationship between shoreline development and resident fish communities in Lake Martin, Alabama.
- Searching for additional populations of Tulotoma magnifica in tributaries of the Coosa River, Alabama.
- Largemouth bass in the Mobile River Delta: information needed for managing this unique resource.
- Evaluating changes in the Tulotoma magnifica populations in the Coosa River and its tributaries during 1992 through 2004.
- Evaluating movement patterns in estuarine fishes: application of microchemical techniques to fish otoliths.
- Mercury in the Mobile-tensaw Delta: using fish otoliths to explore bioaccumulation patterns.
My professional interests are focused on merging research and education in an academic setting with the ultimate goal of addressing applied management issues. My broad research interests lie at the interface between the basic fields of ecology (e.g., population, community, behavioral) and the applied fields of fisheries and aquatic natural resource management.
More specifically I am interested in:
- the roles of species interactions (including direct and indirect effects, ontogenetic niche shifts, complex interactions) in determining the eventual community structure of aquatic systems (including both managed and natural systems)
- how ecological principles can be used in the study and eventual restoration of rare and endangered species.
Recent Research Projects
- Effects of low-use locks on threatened and endangered species (This includes study of fishes below the dam as well as along the entire river).
- Using bioenergetics to address the effects of temperature and flow on fishes in the Harris Dam tailrace.
- Exploring the use of hard part microchemistry to evaluate fish movement among areas in the Harris Dam tailrace.
- Blueback herring in Lewis Smith Lake, Alabama: How does this introduced prey species interact with resident prey and sport fishes?
- Quantifying temperature and metabolic patterns for non-game riverine fishes, with potential for assessing fish tolerances below dams.
