Graduate Research Areas
Within the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife you will find faculty with diverse research interests. The focus areas below can serve as a guide for finding faculty with similar interests, but are not intended to be a complete list of the department's expertise.
Research areas within the graduate program include:
Wildlife Ecology and Management
Faculty Specializing in this area
General Description: emphasis on biological considerations in the management of upland and wetland ecosystems or wildlife species to meet a variety of human demands from biodiversity and endangered species management to management of game species
Sample Coursework:
Wildlife Biology and Management
Wildlife Nutrition
Population and Community Ecology
Population Analysis and Quantitative Methods
Examples of Research Areas:
Wildlife - habitat interactions
Population dynamics and modeling
Environmental or biological issues that affect wildlife in upland or wetland ecosystems
Wildlife biometry and population estimation and sampling
Fisheries Ecology and Management
Faculty Specializing in this Area
General Description: emphasis on factors influencing the productivity and dynamics of fish populations, fish communities, and fisheries to enhance management of these resources; quantitative fisheries science, particularly stock assessment; habitat, population and community modeling; and risk assessment and adaptive management
Sample Coursework:
Fish Population Dynamics
Fish Habitat Management
Aquatic Food Web Management
Simulation Modeling
Risk Assessment and Adaptive Management
Examples of Research Areas:
Evaluations of the effectiveness of various management techniques (e.g., habitat manipulation, stocking) for protecting, rehabilitating, and enhancing fish populations and fisheries
Investigations of the relationship between the habitat needs of fish populations and their productivity
Environmental determinants of fish recruitment
Links among food web interactions, fish recruitment and fish production
Development and utilization of dynamic fish population and community models
Aquatic Ecology and Management
Faculty Specializing in this Area
General Description: fish culture research and training programs including domestic and international projects emphasizing cold, cool, and warm water fishes; academic programs are tied closely to state, regional, federal, and international partners including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, North Central Regional Aquaculture Center, and state and federal hatchery systems
Sample Coursework:
Aquaculture and Limnology
Food Science and Nutrition
Physiology
Economics
Toxicology
Sociology
Examples of Research Areas:
Nutritional requirements and culture techniques for cool water fishes
Diet development using locally available feedstuffs
Larval rearing
Polyploidy induction techniques
Aquaculture water quality and waste control
Landscape Limnology
Faculty Specializing in this Area
General Description: biological, chemical and ecological features of freshwater ecosystems, including lakes, reservoirs, streams, rivers, and wetlands; basic and applied freshwater ecology, emphasizing the intimate connection between limnology and resource management
Sample Coursework:
Limnology and Stream Ecology
Aquatic Entomology
Plankton Biology
Wetland Plants and Algae
Fisheries Ecology and Food-web Management
Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing
Examples of Research Areas:
Food-web interactions
Landscape ecology of aquatic ecosystems
Exotic species ecology and management
Water quality and biomonitoring
Non-point source land-use modeling
Ecological Sustainability and Landscape Ecology
Faculty Specializing in this Area
General Description: emphasizes application of ecological and evolutionary theory and principles of fisheries and wildlife management related to the conservation of species, habitat, and genetic diversity
Sample Coursework:
Conservation Biology and Genetics
Fisheries/Wildlife Management
Population Analysis and Management
Geographic Information Systems
Population and Community Ecology
Examples of Research Areas:
Evaluation of human impacts on the diversity and viability of wild populations
Landscape-level analysis and modeling of habitat quality and quantity on fisheries and wildlife populations
Identification of management units and evolutionarily significant units of conservation concern
Evaluation of the effects of non-native species on populations and ecosystems
Human Dimensions and Policy
Faculty Specializing in this Area
General Description: human attitudes and behavior, conflict resolution among user groups, communication or education tools, economic impacts, interaction with policymakers
Sample Coursework:
Social Science Survey Research Techniques
Qualitative Research Methods
Environmental Law and Policy
Education Program Design and Evaluation
Environmental Sociology
Environmental Attitudes and Movements
Examples of Research Areas:
Outcomes of fisheries co-management policy in developing countries
Angling/hunting recruitment/retention
Effectiveness of environmental education and outreach
Analysis of public perceptions associated with emerging fisheries or wildlife issues
Investigations of the dynamics of wildlife recreational choice behaviors
Ecological Genetics and Physiology
Faculty Specializing in this Area
General Description: emphasis on theory and application of modern molecular, biochemical, and electrophysiological technologies and statistical methods of analysis to examine basic and applied issues in organismal ecology, behavior, environmental adaptability, toxicology, and evolutionary history.
Sample Coursework:
Conservation Genetics and Population Genetics
Population and Community Ecology
Molecular Biology
Biochemistry
Environmental Physiology
Examples of Research Areas:
Chemoreception of fishes
Physiological and genetic factors in fish migratory and sexual behavior
Field and experimental approaches in behavioral ecology including defining genealogical relationships, mate selection, reproductive success, maternity and paternity
Studies of spatial population genetic structure and systematics
Molecular markers in conservation and management of vertebrate populations
Biometry and Ecological Modeling
Faculty Specializing in this Area
General Description: emphasis on development and application of quantitative tools for estimation, hypothesis testing, and simulation, as applied to fisheries and wildlife problems. This departmental program is complimented by a strong inter-disciplinary university-wide quantitative analysis group.
Sample Coursework:
Systems Modeling
Population Analysis
Statistical Theory and Methods
Risk Assessment and Decision Analysis
GIS and Remote Sensing
Examples of Research Areas:
Simulation modeling of wildlife-habitat relationships
Fish stock assessment methods and application
Adaptive management and decision analysis theory and applications
Metapopulation analysis and simulation
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