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

I am from Augusta, Georgia. I have worked in a variety of fisheries positions which have included hatchery, lab, and field work. Through my career I have worked with a variety of sturgeon species in multiple rivers systems throught the United States. I have also worked with other species including humpback chub in the Colorado River and Grand Canyon, AZ, robust redhorse restoration in the Oconee River, GA, and trout in the White River, AR. . It is a challenge to count fish and other aquatic organisms since we cannot usually see them directly like animals and plants on land. My primary research interests involve using technology to improve our ability to observe and count fish. Technologies include advanced forms of sonar and telemetry tags that track fish movements. I am also interested in designing monitoring programs and population models that take advantage of these technologies. I am particularly interested in fishes found exclusively in rivers and those that use both freshwater and saltwater habitats during their life-cycles (anadromous species), including threatened and endangered species. The objective of my current project is to develop methods to use side-scan sonar, a form of sonar that produces high-resolution images of the underwater environment, to study endangered fish species. The goal is to produce techniques that will allow researchers to rapidly survey rivers and estuaries in a cost-effective manner that will not cause harm to fish. Traditonal stu...