Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Cooperative Research Units
Education, Research And Technical Assistance For Managing Our Natural Resources

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Federal Staff

Alan Afton Assistant Unit Leader Email: aafton@lsu.edu Website: http://www.rnr.lsu.edu/Afton/default.htm Tel: (225) 578 - 4212

Alan joined the Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit in 1988, where he is an Assistant Leader-Wildlife and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources. From 1983-88, he worked as a Research Scientist in the Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Group of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, located in Bemidji, MN.

Sammy King, Unit Leader, Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Sammy King Unit Leader Email: sking16@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 7564

Dr. King is a native of Louisiana and holds a B.S. from Nicholls State University, M.S. from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University

Megan La Peyre Assistant Unit Leader Email: mlapey@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4180

Megan joined the Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit in 2000, where she is the Assistant Unit Leader and Associate Research Professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources and Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and Louisiana State University, respectively.

University Staff

Cheryl Duplechain serves as the Administrative Assistant for the Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

Cheryl Duplechain Administrative Specialist Email: cduplech@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4179

Cheryl joined the Louisiana Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit in 2004 as an Administrative Coordinator and provides support to the Coop Unit staff and graduate students. Prior to joining the Coop Unit, she worked for St Vincent de Paul as an event coordinator. A real “people person” she loves spending time with family and friends. She enjoys reading, music and being outdoors – gardening, biking, hiking.

Sammy King Research Associate Email: sking16@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 7564

Dr. King is a native of Louisiana and holds a B.S. from Nicholls State University, M.S. from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University

Shea Miller Research Associate Email: smiller@agcenter.lsu.edu

Lindsay Schwarting Research Associate Email: lschwarting@agcenter.lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4232

Lindsay joined the LACFWRU in 2011 as a Research Associate in the LaPeyre Lab, which monitors and studies oyster reef ecology in the Gulf. Prior to that, she completed her MS in Natural Resources/Aquatic Ecology at the University of Vermont, with a thesis on the paleolimnology of Lake Champlain food webs. A native of the northeast, Lindsay has studied and worked at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Lab and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in NY. She enjoys hiking, skiing, canoeing, and all things aquatic in nature.

Students and Post Docs

Steve Beck Email: sbeck2@tigers.lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4232

Steve received a BS in Biology from Juniata College in Pennsylvania. He studied phytoplankton in the Chesapeake Bay and fish in coastal Maine and Wyoming before becoming a wetland biologist in coastal North Carolina for three years. Having joined the Coop unit in 2009, he is finishing an MS in Fisheries from Louisiana State University studying the effects of oyster harvest on oyster reef communities. Currently a research associate, he is also studying larval and juvenile fish movement through water control structures in coastal levees.

John Cochran Email: jcochr3@lsu.edu

Wes Cochran received his B.S. in Zoology from Auburn University and his M.S. in Wildlife Biology from Louisiana State University. He is currently working towards a Ph.D. in Forestry, studying the bottomland hardwood forests of the Mississippi River valley. His research is focused on the role of hydrologic processes in bottomland hardwood stand dynamics and the effects of altered fluvial processes on riparian ecosystems.

Graduate student Ben Eberline sampling oysters in Breton Sound, LA

Ben Eberline Email: beberl1@tigers.lsu.edu

Ben joined the unit in 2009 as a M.S. student under Dr. Megan La Peyre. He studies oyster population dynamics along a salinity gradient in Breton Sound, LA as part of a larger population modeling effort for the Louisiana oyster fishery. Ben has his B.S. in Fisheries Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. In his spare time he enjoys traveling and playing music.

Drew Fowler Email: dfowle2@lsu.edu

Drew Fowler is working on his Masters of Science in Wetland Ecology under the instruction of Dr. Sammy King. Originally from Sugar Land, Texas he received his Bachelors of Science from Texas A&M University in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. Currently he is working on a project at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico to develop a sustainable agricultural program that meets the energetic needs of wintering and migratory waterbirds. Specifically, he is evaluating the effects of management practices on soil salinization in seasonal wetlands,soil nutrient cycling of wetland / cropland rotations, and the ability to use overwintering flooding of agricultural fields as a way to control plant-parasitic nematodes.

Jessica Furlong Email: jfurlo2@tigers.lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 3819

Jessica Furlong is studying the nekton communities and oyster populations of artificial oyster reefs in estuaries spanning from Texas to Florida. She earned a degree in Biology: Ecology and Systematics from the University of Northern Iowa in 2007 and worked as a native plants arboretum intern, naturalist, wildlife survey technician, and New Zealand eco-volunteer before coming to LSU.

Hugo Gee Email: hgee1@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4196

Hugo Gee hails from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Hugo obtained a Baccalaureate in Commerce (Major: Marketing, Minor: Accounting, International Business) from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1995. Hugo worked for three years as a project coordinator for a printing a publishing company before returning to school to obtain a Bachelor of Science (Major: Wildlife Biology) from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2002. Hugo studied "Habitat Characteristics of Taro Lo'i and Managed Wetlands Used By Endangered Waterbirds at Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, Hawaii" for his Masters in Science (Major: Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences) from South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota, USA in 2007. Hugo is currently studying "The Effects of Hydrologic Modifications on Tree Establishment and Growth in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, USA" for his Doctor in Philosophy (Major: Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences) at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.

Sarah Hamilton Email: shami11@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4196

I'm Sarah Hamilton from Decatur, Alabama. I graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife Science from Auburn University and I'm currently working on my Master's degree at LSU. I'm studying the ecology of the yellow billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) along the Middle Rio Grande at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. In particular, I am interested in how geomorphology, hydrology, and vegetation communities interact to affect habitat quality of yellow-billed cuckoos. This study is part of a broader study to evaluate the effects of minimum river flows on the middle Rio Grande ecosystem.

Aaron Honig Email: ahonig1@tigers.lsu.edu

Aaron Honig joined the unit in 2011 as an M.S. student under Dr. Megan Lapeyre. He studies ribbed mussel aquaculture and ecology as part of a marsh stabilization and conservation project in southeastern Louisiana. He graduated from Tufts University with B.S. in Biology and Environmental Studies and went on to teach marine ecology at the Catalina Island Marine Institute in California. Most recently, he worked as the Field Research Coordinator for Cano Palma Biological Station run by the Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation in Tortuguero. He enjoys ocean kayaking, scuba diving, and misses the New England ski season very much.

Austin Humphries Email: austin.humphries@gmail.com

Austin completed his MS degree examining habitat complexity and fisheries use in 2010. He is currently working on his PhD at Rhodes University in South Africa examining grazer effects on algal growth and succession in marine protected areas and is based at the Wildlife Conservation Society office in Kenya.

Sanjeev Joshi Email: sjoshi2@lsu.edu

I am from Nepal, a small developing country in Asia extremely rich in natural resources and the country of Mount Everest. I received my B.S. from Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Pokhara, Nepal in Forestry Science in September, 2007. Then, after working as a Research Assistant for a couple of forestry related Non-Governmental Organizations in Nepal for about a year or so, I started my M.S. program in forestry in August 2009 at the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources with a Gilbert Fellowship Award under Dr. Sammy King.
Currently, I am using dendrochronlogical techniques to evaluate the encroachment of water elm (Planera aquatica) into Catahoula Lake, a RAMSAR wetland in central Louisiana. Invasion of water elm has been a major problem in this lake in recent years as it shades out herbaceous food resources that are valuable for waterfowl and shorebirds. My basic hypothesis is that the expansion of water elm trees in the lake has been affected by the construction of a diversion canal built on the lake in 1971 which resulted in more rapid drying and more stable hydroperiods. I hypothesize that water elm establishment has increased particularly at lower elevations due to drier fall conditions and reduced summer/fall variability caused by the construction of diversion canal. I hope to recommend changes in the hydrological regimes to minimize, if not eradicate, the establishment of water elm trees in the lake. I hope to defend my M.S. thesis in upcoming December 2011.

Jackie Kang Email: skang1@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4196

I am from Busan, South Korea, and attended Dong-A University (Busan) for my B.S. and M.S. degree, majoring in Biological Sciences (B.S.) / Evolution and Environmental Ecology (M.S.). Following graduation, I worked for the Natural Ecosystem Management Institute. My research is to evaluate the effects of hydrologic connectivity (permanently connected pond: PCP; temporary connected pond: TCP), salinity, vegetation coverage, water depth and other environmental variables on seasonal aquatic macroinvertebrate and nekton community assemblages in freshwater, brackish, and saline marshes of the Chenier Plain, Louisiana. A clear understanding of the linkages among hydrological connectivity, environmental variables, and aquatic macroinvertebrates and nekton community assemblages would facilitate management strategies for Whooping Crane foraging habitat based on prey (i.e., aquatic macroinvertebrate and nekton) availability.

Ashby Nix Email: enix@gmail.com

Brad Pickens Email: bpickens@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 5044

I am originally from Navarre, OH, USA, and attended Ashland University (Ohio) for my B.S. degree in Environmental Science/Biology. From 2001-2004, I gained valuable research experience on a variety of projects in the eastern U.S. I obtained an M.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Bowling Green State University in 2006 before coming to LSU as a Research Associate in 2007. Since then, I have embarked on Ph.D. research, which will be completed in 2012. My Ph.D. research is focused on modeling the distribution of King Rails and other secretive marsh birds in Louisiana and Texas coastal marshes. The research is being conducted at several spatial scales, including a radio telemetry study of movements and broad-scale spatial analysis based on bird point counts.

Nick Smith holding a captured Trumpeter Swan in Iowa

Nick Smith Email: nsmit61@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 5747

Nick Smith has joined the Coop Unit at Louisiana State University after receiving a B.S. from South Dakota State University and several years of working in the wildlife field. He has conducted plover research for Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, multi-species inventories for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and GIS work for Ducks Unlimited. Now he will be continuing in his passion for nature and avian research as he studies the Bald Eagles of Louisiana.

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5 Year Summary

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Unit Leader

	Steve Beck Email: sbeck2@tigers.lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4232 Steve received a BS in Biology from Juniata College in Pennsylvania. He studied phytoplankton in the Chesapeake Bay and fish in coastal Maine and Wyoming before becoming a wetland biologist in coastal North Carolina for three years. Having joined the Coop unit in 2009, he is finishing an MS in Fisheries from Louisiana State University studying the effects of oyster harvest on oyster reef communities. Currently a research associate, he is also studying larval and juvenile fish movement through water control structures in coastal levees.
	John Cochran Email: jcochr3@lsu.edu Wes Cochran received his B.S. in Zoology from Auburn University and his M.S. in Wildlife Biology from Louisiana State University. He is currently working towards a Ph.D. in Forestry, studying the bottomland hardwood forests of the Mississippi River valley. His research is focused on the role of hydrologic processes in bottomland hardwood stand dynamics and the effects of altered fluvial processes on riparian ecosystems.
	Ben Eberline Email: beberl1@tigers.lsu.edu Ben joined the unit in 2009 as a M.S. student under Dr. Megan La Peyre. He studies oyster population dynamics along a salinity gradient in Breton Sound, LA as part of a larger population modeling effort for the Louisiana oyster fishery. Ben has his B.S. in Fisheries Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. In his spare time he enjoys traveling and playing music.
	Drew Fowler Email: dfowle2@lsu.edu Drew Fowler is working on his Masters of Science in Wetland Ecology under the instruction of Dr. Sammy King. Originally from Sugar Land, Texas he received his Bachelors of Science from Texas A&M University in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. Currently he is working on a project at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico to develop a sustainable agricultural program that meets the energetic needs of wintering and migratory waterbirds. Specifically, he is evaluating the effects of management practices on soil salinization in seasonal wetlands,soil nutrient cycling of wetland / cropland rotations, and the ability to use overwintering flooding of agricultural fields as a way to control plant-parasitic nematodes.
	Jessica Furlong Email: jfurlo2@tigers.lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 3819 Jessica Furlong is studying the nekton communities and oyster populations of artificial oyster reefs in estuaries spanning from Texas to Florida. She earned a degree in Biology: Ecology and Systematics from the University of Northern Iowa in 2007 and worked as a native plants arboretum intern, naturalist, wildlife survey technician, and New Zealand eco-volunteer before coming to LSU.
	Hugo Gee Email: hgee1@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4196 Hugo Gee hails from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Hugo obtained a Baccalaureate in Commerce (Major: Marketing, Minor: Accounting, International Business) from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1995. Hugo worked for three years as a project coordinator for a printing a publishing company before returning to school to obtain a Bachelor of Science (Major: Wildlife Biology) from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2002. Hugo studied "Habitat Characteristics of Taro Lo'i and Managed Wetlands Used By Endangered Waterbirds at Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, Hawaii" for his Masters in Science (Major: Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences) from South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota, USA in 2007. Hugo is currently studying "The Effects of Hydrologic Modifications on Tree Establishment and Growth in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, USA" for his Doctor in Philosophy (Major: Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences) at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
	Sarah Hamilton Email: shami11@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4196 I'm Sarah Hamilton from Decatur, Alabama. I graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife Science from Auburn University and I'm currently working on my Master's degree at LSU. I'm studying the ecology of the yellow billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) along the Middle Rio Grande at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. In particular, I am interested in how geomorphology, hydrology, and vegetation communities interact to affect habitat quality of yellow-billed cuckoos. This study is part of a broader study to evaluate the effects of minimum river flows on the middle Rio Grande ecosystem.
	Aaron Honig Email: ahonig1@tigers.lsu.edu Aaron Honig joined the unit in 2011 as an M.S. student under Dr. Megan Lapeyre. He studies ribbed mussel aquaculture and ecology as part of a marsh stabilization and conservation project in southeastern Louisiana. He graduated from Tufts University with B.S. in Biology and Environmental Studies and went on to teach marine ecology at the Catalina Island Marine Institute in California. Most recently, he worked as the Field Research Coordinator for Cano Palma Biological Station run by the Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation in Tortuguero. He enjoys ocean kayaking, scuba diving, and misses the New England ski season very much.
	Austin Humphries Email: austin.humphries@gmail.com Austin completed his MS degree examining habitat complexity and fisheries use in 2010. He is currently working on his PhD at Rhodes University in South Africa examining grazer effects on algal growth and succession in marine protected areas and is based at the Wildlife Conservation Society office in Kenya.
	Sanjeev Joshi Email: sjoshi2@lsu.edu I am from Nepal, a small developing country in Asia extremely rich in natural resources and the country of Mount Everest. I received my B.S. from Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Pokhara, Nepal in Forestry Science in September, 2007. Then, after working as a Research Assistant for a couple of forestry related Non-Governmental Organizations in Nepal for about a year or so, I started my M.S. program in forestry in August 2009 at the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources with a Gilbert Fellowship Award under Dr. Sammy King. Currently, I am using dendrochronlogical techniques to evaluate the encroachment of water elm (Planera aquatica) into Catahoula Lake, a RAMSAR wetland in central Louisiana. Invasion of water elm has been a major problem in this lake in recent years as it shades out herbaceous food resources that are valuable for waterfowl and shorebirds. My basic hypothesis is that the expansion of water elm trees in the lake has been affected by the construction of a diversion canal built on the lake in 1971 which resulted in more rapid drying and more stable hydroperiods. I hypothesize that water elm establishment has increased particularly at lower elevations due to drier fall conditions and reduced summer/fall variability caused by the construction of diversion canal. I hope to recommend changes in the hydrological regimes to minimize, if not eradicate, the establishment of water elm trees in the lake. I hope to defend my M.S. thesis in upcoming December 2011.
	Jackie Kang Email: skang1@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 4196 I am from Busan, South Korea, and attended Dong-A University (Busan) for my B.S. and M.S. degree, majoring in Biological Sciences (B.S.) / Evolution and Environmental Ecology (M.S.). Following graduation, I worked for the Natural Ecosystem Management Institute. My research is to evaluate the effects of hydrologic connectivity (permanently connected pond: PCP; temporary connected pond: TCP), salinity, vegetation coverage, water depth and other environmental variables on seasonal aquatic macroinvertebrate and nekton community assemblages in freshwater, brackish, and saline marshes of the Chenier Plain, Louisiana. A clear understanding of the linkages among hydrological connectivity, environmental variables, and aquatic macroinvertebrates and nekton community assemblages would facilitate management strategies for Whooping Crane foraging habitat based on prey (i.e., aquatic macroinvertebrate and nekton) availability.
	Ashby Nix Email: enix@gmail.com
	Brad Pickens Email: bpickens@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 5044 I am originally from Navarre, OH, USA, and attended Ashland University (Ohio) for my B.S. degree in Environmental Science/Biology. From 2001-2004, I gained valuable research experience on a variety of projects in the eastern U.S. I obtained an M.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Bowling Green State University in 2006 before coming to LSU as a Research Associate in 2007. Since then, I have embarked on Ph.D. research, which will be completed in 2012. My Ph.D. research is focused on modeling the distribution of King Rails and other secretive marsh birds in Louisiana and Texas coastal marshes. The research is being conducted at several spatial scales, including a radio telemetry study of movements and broad-scale spatial analysis based on bird point counts.
	Nick Smith Email: nsmit61@lsu.edu Tel: (225) 578 - 5747 Nick Smith has joined the Coop Unit at Louisiana State University after receiving a B.S. from South Dakota State University and several years of working in the wildlife field. He has conducted plover research for Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, multi-species inventories for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and GIS work for Ducks Unlimited. Now he will be continuing in his passion for nature and avian research as he studies the Bald Eagles of Louisiana.