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Hello! I am Joe Buckwalter, a Research Associate and PhD student in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech (Advisor: Paul Angermeier). My research focuses on drivers of occurrence and diversity of freshwater critters, with emphasis on stream fishes. I am currently investigating the effects of agricultural conservation practices and land use on stream-fish communities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. I am also examining the influence of livestock grazing, wetland vegetation structure and composition, and groundwater hydrology on Bog Turtle habitat in the eastern U.S. Other recent research topics have included: water quality and flow alterations in Appalachian coalfield streams; the distribution of larval darter (fish) species in the upper Roanoke River watershed and associated environmental conditions; DNA barcoding and morphometrics of larval darters; long-term trends in range size of New River fishes, and species traits of spreaders and decliners; and fish and habitat inventories in freshwaters of Alaska.

For more details, see my CV, publications, talks, and teaching pages.