Former Students

Former M.S. Students

Ryne Lehman

Quantifying Patterns of Fish Assemblage Structure Across the Eastern South Central Plains Ecoregion of Arkansas. 2023

Ryne is currently a Fish and Wildlife Technician 2 at Texas Parks and Wildife River Studies Program

Chance Garrett

Variation of Fish Communities of Four Adventitious Streams with Differing. 2023.

Chance is currently working at Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as a Fish Ecologist in the Aquatic Conservation Section

Joe Miller

Status, Distribution, and Detectability of the Peppered Shiner (Notropis perpallidus) in Arkansas.  2022.

Calvin Rezac

Spatiotemporal Response of Fish Communities in the Spring River Basin, Arkansas to Chronic Pasture Land-Use.  2021.

Calvin is currently working as a Conservation Resource Biologist at Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.

Danny Morrill

Temporal Trends in Fish Assemblage Structure in the Current River Drainage, Missouri Over Eighty Years. 2021.

Danny is the project/lab manager for the fisheries section of the Academy of Natural Sciences. Their projects focus on invasive, migratory, and endangered species. They also have a variety of projects monitoring fish community response to different disturbances (i.e, deforestation and industrial waste).

George Gavrielides

Examining Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Fish Assemblage Structure in the Eleven Point River Drainage Basin, Arkansas After Forty Years. 2020.

George is currently working as a Water Resource Specialist  for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

Jennifer Main

Fish Assemblage Dynamics In The Strawberry River, Arkansas, In Relation To Land-Use Changes And Farm Pond Proximity Within The Watershed.  2019.

Jennifer currently teaching high school science for Providence Academy in northwest Arkansas and working towards a second M.S. Degree in Education.

Heather Saco 

Changes In Land Use And Fish Community Composition In Four Ozark Highland Streams Over Four Decades.  2018.

Heather currently the TSS Program Manager for the Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services.

Geoffry Spooner

The Migration Dynamics Of The Ohio Shrimp, Macrobrachium Ohione, In The Lower Mississippi River. 2018.


Geoff is currently a PhD student at The University of Southern Mississippi .

Michelle Furr

Changes In Fish Assemblage Patterns Over 40 Years In Two West Central Arkansas Rivers.  2018.

Michelle works for Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as the Private Lands Habitat Division Program Coordinator.

Aaron Burgad

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Fish Community Structure During Watershed Alteration in Two Ouachita River Systems.  2018.


Aaron is currently a Data Analyst at Pet Smart in Arizona.

Derek Filipek

Phytogeography and Historical Demography of the Queensnake (Regina septemvittata).  2016


Derek currently works for the National Park Service on the Buffalo National River.

Brittney Furtado

Fish assemblage composition along a gradient of unconventional natural gas development in north-central Arkansas streams.  2015

Brittany is currently and Environmental Education Instructor for the Springdale, AR School District

Garrett Grimes

Investigating a marine fish in freshwater: population dynamics of striped mullet, Mugil cephalus, in the Arkansas River.  2015

Garrett is currently working at Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as the Northwest Arkansas Stream Habitat Coordinator.

Casey Cox

Population demographics and upstream migration of American Eels in the Ouachita, White and Arkansas rivers. 2014 


Chris Naus

Fish nursery habitat function of the main channel, tributaries, and oxbow lakes of a river-floodplain system.  2014

Chris is currently working as a data analyst for Dillards.

Jessie Green

Examining effects of natural gas development on fishes of the Fayetteville Shale.  2014


Jason Christian

Hunger games: how isolation can change a fishes diet.  2012

Jason is currently Dean of the School of STEM at Georgia Highlands College.

Loren Stearman

Fish assemblage structure and the life history and ecology of Etheostoma whipplei in the Fayetteville shale natural gas basin.  2011

Loren is currently a Post-doc at University of Southern Mississippi under the direction of Dr. Jake Schaefer.

Richard Walker

Movement patterns of southern redbelly dace, Chrosomus erythrogaster, in a headwater reach of an Ozark stream.  2011

Richard completed his PhD from Wyoming and is a faculty member at University of Tennessee Chattanooga.

Ed (Ted) Kluender

Seasonal habitat use of a leviathan, alligator gar, at multiple spatial scales in a river-floodplain ecosystem.  2011.

Ed is currently a Research Associate II at Colorado State University.

Clint Johnson

Recovery of a lowland fish assemblage following large-scale rotenone application in eastern Arkansas.  2011

Clint is the Quail Program Coordinator for Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Geoff Smith

Do habitat characteristics limit population densities of American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in Arkansas?  2010

Geoff is an Assistant Professor and Department Chair at Dixie State in southern Utah.


Robert Clark

Fish assemblages in off-channel habitats of a large, modified river.  2010.


Robert is an instructor at Ozarks Technical Community College in Missouri.

Tyler Fox

Contaminant concentration analysis of Perry County, Missouri cave streams utilized by grotto sculpin (Cottus carolinae).  2009 

Tyler is the River Conservation Director for The Nature Conservacy in Arkansas.

Julie Day

Evolutionary ecology and conservation of a threatened subterranean fish. 2009 

Julie is currently working at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Klamath Falls Fish and Wildlife Office

David Mitchell

Structure and function of large wood in Ozark headwater streams and its effects on fish community structure.   2009

David currently a Dean and teaches at Ozarka College in Mountain View.

Luke Driver

Reproductive life history of the Western sand darter, Ammocrypta clara, in Northeast Arkansas.   2009

Luke has moved back to Arkansas after completing his PhD at North Texas.  He is currently working as an Ecologist with USGS in Little Rock. 

Tommy Inebnit

Aspects of the reproductive and juvenile ecology of Alligator Gar in the Fourche LaFave River, Arkansas.  2009

Tommy is currently working for U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Conway, Arkansas.

Joe Gerken

Spatial variation in habitat use of grotto sculpin (Cottus carolinae), a troglomorphic sculpin in Perry County, Missouri.   2007


Joe is currently and Instructor at Kansas Sate University.

Matt Schroeder

Distribution and patterns of spatial structure of fish communities in floodplain wetlands of the Arkansas River.   2006

Matt is currently working at Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as a Fisheries District Coordinator.