Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program:
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Staff Member

Katelynn M Sallack

Photo from previous employment
Master's
Email: ksallack42@tntech.edu
Faculty Email: ksallack42@tntech.edu

Biography

Katelynn is a graduate student at Tennessee Tech University and a member of Dr. Amanda Rosenberger's lab. She is from Western Pennsylvania and worked with fish and freshwater mussels throughout the state. Her research interests center around freshwater mussels, their conservation, and their distribution across landscapes. Her research project involves updating the freshwater mussel distribution within the Hatchie River. West Tennessee is an understudied region, and many of its rivers have been highly modified through channelization. The Hatchie River remains one of the least degraded rivers in the area. Through her research, she will provide information on the freshwater mussel assemblage as well as identify habitat characteristics important to those species.

Areas of Expertise

Aquatic Ecology, Biodiversity, Landscape Ecology

Taxon Groups Studied

Mussels

Project Completion Date
A comprehensive understanding of mussel populations in the Duck River, Tennessee for their conservation and to establish ecological flows for ongoing water withdrawals and water management January 2030
Creation of a Statewide Freshwater Mussel Database for the State of Tennessee January 2030
A re-survey of the mussel fauna and a habitat assessment of the Wolf River, Tennessee January 2024
Assessment and Modeling of the Freshwater Mussel Distributions and Habitat Preferences in the Hatchie River, Tennessee January 2026
Update to Tennessee Status Assessments and Recovery Plans for Listed Mussel Species January 2025
Presentations Presentation Date
Sallack, K., Key, K.N., Irwin Womble, K., and A.E. Rosenberger. 2023. Initiating Freshwater Mussel Research in the Hatchie River. West Tennessee Water Resources Symposium, Jackson, TN. March 2023 (abstract not published) March 2023
Sallack, K., Key, K.N., Irwin Womble, K., and A.E. Rosenberger. 2023. Initiating Freshwater Mussel Research in the Hatchie River. Tennessee Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Chapel Hill, TN. March 2023 (Abstract not published) March 2023
Sallack, K., K.N. Key, K.I. Womble, and A.E. Rosenberger. 2024. Freshwater mussels of the ​Hatchie ​River: ​distribution, composition, and abundance. Poster Presentation for the West Tennessee River Basin Authority Water Resource Symposium. Jackson, TN. February 2024. (Abstract not published) February 2024
Rosenberger, A.E., K.I. Womble, K. Sallack, J. Fetters, K. Key, G. Dinkins, D. Hua. 2023. Current Status of Mussel Research in the Rosenberger Lab at TN Tech. Tennessee Endangered Mollusk Committee Meeting: Crossville, TN. February 2023. (Abstract not published) February 2023