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

Tennessee Research Activities


Silver Carp below Barkley Dam on the Cumberland River

The Tennessee Unit resides at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville between the Tennessee River and Cumberland River. Tennessee is home to one of the most diverse freshwater fish and mussel communities in the world, including numerous imperiled species. The Tennessee and Cumberland river systems have more than 30 impoundments ranging from coldwater, oligotrophic systems to warmwater, eutrophic systems, each with important sport fisheries. In addition, many impoundments also support popular coldwater tailwater fisheries. Tennessee also has thousands of miles of free-flowing streams and small rivers. With this overwhelming diversity of aquatic fauna and resources in Tennessee, the Unit does not lack for research topics.