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

Staff Member

Dr. Sara Cathey

Photo CRU Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dr Sara Cathey
Post Doc
Email: secathey@ncsu.edu
Faculty Email: sc3102@msstate.edu

Biography

In her graduate career, Sara focused her research on the assembly and stability of freshwater communities threatened by global change. While a postdoc at MSU, she will be leading a species status assessment for the Oktibbeha Rivulet Crayfish (Hobbseus orconectoides) while assisting with modelling the occupancy of Hobbseus spp. Before joining my lab, Sara obtained a BSc in Biology with a concentration in marine and freshwater biology from The University of Texas at Austin. She earned her PhD in Biology from Virginia Tech. Sara’s career goal is to serve as a freshwater scientist within academia or with a government agency.

Areas of Expertise

Anthropogenic Impacts, Aquatic Ecology, Ecological Flows, Entomology, GIS/Spatial Analysis, Landscape Ecology, Movement Ecology, Population and Community Ecology, Resilience, Species Distribution Modeling, Species Status Assessments, Statistics and Modelling, Stream Ecology, Water Quality

Taxon Groups Studied

Crayfish, Invertebrates/Insects, Species of Greatest Conservation Need

Project Completion Date
Using conservation genomics, morphometrics, and occupancy modeling to support Species Status Assessments of rivulet crayfishes (Hobbseus spp.) September 2025
Development of quantitative tools to support Species Status Assessments of freshwater mussels September 2024
Presentations Presentation Date
Raburn, D, M., H. Ahmad, P. Allison Jr., S.B. Adams, Z.C. Barnett, R. Garrick, K.A. Sterling, S. Cathey, M.E. Colvin, & C.G. Dunn. 2024. Uncharted waters: high-resolution stream networks reveal hidden habitats for petitioned headwater crayfishes. Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. January 2024
Raburn, D, H. Ahmad, P. Allison Jr., S.B. Adams, Z.C. Barnett, R. Garrick, K.A. Sterling, S. Cathey, M.E. Colvin, & C.G. Dunn. 2024. Uncharted waters: high-resolution stream networks reveal hidden habitats for petitioned headwater crayfishes. Mississippi Crayfish Working Group Meeting, Moss Point, MS January 2024
Cathey, S. E., M. E. Colvin, & C. G. Dunn. 2024. Developing a standardized quantitative framework for evaluating imperilment of southeastern crayfishes. Annual meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. Chattanooga, Tennessee. January 2024