Ph.D.

Steven Zeug (2003-present) Ph.D.; TAMU Merit Fellow, 2003-2004; Tom Slick Fellowship, 2006-2007; Researching the response of fish populations with divergent life history strategies to hydrological variation in a Texas floodplain river; Best paper award at student research symposium; Presented papers at 3 scientific meetings; First author of 5 and coauthor of 5 peer-reviewed publications. He currently is a postdoc researcher at the University of California at Santa Barbara. http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/eemb/labs/cardinale/people/zeug/index.html

David Hoeinghaus (2002-2006) Ph.D.; Researching community and food web ecology of tropical river fishes in Brazil; Presented papers at 4 scientific meetings; 3 invited presentations; Best paper at TAMU student research week symposium, Best paper at TAMU-WFSC student symposium (twice); Received grants from Society of Wetland Scientists (twice), American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, TAMU Office of Graduate Studies, Texas Water Resources Institute; First author on 9 peer-reviewed publications. Currently a postdoc researcher at Kansas State University. http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~djhoeing/index.htm

Craig A. Layman (1999-2004) Ph.D.; TAMU Regents Fellow, 1999-2001; EPA STAR Fellowship, 2000-2003; Tom Slick Graduate Fellowship 2002; Researched determinants of community structure and food web dynamics of a tropical floodplain river; Presented 7 papers at a professional meetings; Author/coauthor on 18 peer-reviewed publications; Best paper award TAMU student research week symposium 2002; Fulbright Fellowship (Venezuela) 2003; Vice-Chancellors’s award for graduate student research 2004; NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant 2004. He currently is an assistant professor at Florida International University. http://www.fiu.edu/~laymanc/

 Hernán Lopéz Fernández (co-advisor Rodney Honeycutt; 1998-2004) PhD.; Researched evolutionary ecology of geophagine cichlid fishes; Received travel grant from American Museum of Natural History; Research Grant from the American Cichlid Association; Presented 10 papers at a professional meetings; Author/coauthor on 9 peer-reviewed publications; NIA Best Student Paper Award 2003, 2004; WFSC PhD Student of the Year 2004. He currently is a post-doctoral research associate in WFSC, Texas A&M University.

D. Albrey Arrington (1997-2002) Ph.D.; Aquatic ecologist formerly working for the South Florida Water Management District on restoration of the Kissimee River; Jordan Fellow 1998; Graduate Student Scholarship Texas Chapter American Fisheries Society 2000; NIA Best Student Paper Award 2000; Tom Slick Graduate Fellowship 2001; WFSC PhD Student Award 2001; NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant 2001; research on the effects of food web structure and seasonality on fish community and ecosystem dynamics in a tropical floodplain river; Author/coauthor on 15 peer-reviewed publications; Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama (2002-2004). He currently is Research Director for the Loxahatchee River District, Jupiter, FL.

Bonnie J. Ponwith (co-advisor with W. Neill, 1997-1999) Ph.D.; NSEP Fellowship, Jordan Fellowship, Sea Grant Intern with NOAA/NMFS in Washington, DC; Dissertation:  "Assemblage Structure, Trophic Ecology and Life History of Fishes in a Tropical Estuary"; Author/coauthor on 2 peer-reviewed publications; Currently employed at the Office for Science and Technology, NOAA/NMFS, Washington, DC.

Gregory W. Stunz (co-advisor with T. Minello, 1997-1999) Ph.D.; GCCA fellow, 1996; co-PI Texas Sea Grant project (P. Levin, PI) to fund dissertation research; Dissertation– "Causes and Consequences of Recruitment Patterns in Newly Settled Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)"; Presented papers at 3 professional meetings; First author on 4 peer-reviewed publications; He worked for 3 years for the National Marine Fisheries Service, Galveston, and currently is assistant professor in Marine Biology at Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi.

Senol Akin (1997-2001) Ph.D.; Received multi-year fellowship for graduate study from the Turkish government; Graduate Student Scholarship Texas Chapter American Fisheries Society 2001; researching seasonal variation in aquatic food webs along salinity gradients in a Texas coastal marsh (TNC- Mad Island Marsh); Presented 4 papers at professional meetings; Author/coauthor of 3 peer-reviewed journal articles; Faculty member at Houston Tilletson College, Austin, TX (2001-2002). He currently is an assistant professor of the Sürmene Institute of Marine Science, Turkey.

Soner Tarim (1994-2002) Ph.D.; Dissertation– "Interactions between White Crappie, Gizzard Shad, and Threadfin Shad on a Heterogeneous Floodplain Landscape"; Presented papers at 2 professional meetings; Faculty member of the Ataturk University, Turkey; Coauthor of one peer-reviewed journal article; He is currently Principal at Houston Science Academy.

Allison A. Anderson (1993-1999) Ph.D.; Dissertation– "Ecological Response to Removal of a Natural Disturbance Regime: the Impacts of a Flood-Control Dam on Its Tailwater Fish Assemblage"; Regent's Fellow, 1993-1994; EPRI Fellow, 1994-1997; Chair of WFSC Graduate Enhancement Fund Committee, 1994-1995; First-author of 3 peer reviewed publications; Presented papers at several professional conferences; 1998 TAMU-WFSC Outstanding PhD Student of the Year Award; She currently works in private industry in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

David B. Jepsen (continued graduate study for a Ph.D. under my advisorship, 1995-1999); researching the inputs to production and biomass flow in floodplain rivers using stable isotopes; Jordan Fellow 1998; Tom Slick Fellow 1998-99; Presented papers at several professional conferences; 3 peer-reviewed first-authored and 2 co-authored journal articles; 1999 TAMU-WFSC Outstanding PhD Student of the Year Award; Formerly Research Scientist, Fishery Coop Unit, Oregon State University; Currently Fisheries Manager, Oregon Department of Natural Resources. 

M.Sc.

Jennifer Cochran (2005-2008) M.Sc.; Thesis research on the comparative ecology of cichlid fishes in Belize; Presented papers at 2 scientific meetings; Research Editor and Biological Writer, U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Mississippi Environmental Science Research; Currently a researcher and writer for WEGO Health, Minnesota.

Clint Robertson (2005-present) M.Sc.; TAMU Graduate Diversity Fellowship, 2005-2007; Researching species assemblage structure in natural and restored tidal marshes on the Texas Gulf coast, Presented papers at 3 scientific meetings; First author of one submitted (pending) peer-reviewed publication. He currently is employed as a biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in San Marcos, TX. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/about/divisions/inland_fisheries/

Jenny Birnbaum (2002-2005) M.Sc.; TAMU Merit Fellow, 2002-2003; Researched river/stream fish community ecology and responses of populations to environmental change; Presented papers at 3 scientific meetings; First author on 1 and coauthor on 1 peer-reviewed publications. She currently works with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Archis Grubh (1999-2002) M.Sc.; Researched community ecology of fishes and aquatic food web associated with floodplain wetlands of the Western Ghats in southwestern India; First author on 1 peer-reviewed publication; He currently is employed as a biologist at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/about/divisions/inland_fisheries/

Michael S. Robertson (1997-1999) M.Sc.; TAMU Former Association of Students Fellowship, 1997; co-PI on grant from The Nature Conservancy of Texas; research the influence of an exotic piscivore on fish assemblage of the Devils River, Texas; Graduate Student Scholarship- Texas Chapter American Fisheries Society; Presented papers at 2 professional meetings; First author on 2 peer-reviewed publications; He currently works for BioWest, Inc, an environmental consulting firm in Austin, TX.

Christopher C. Peterson (1995-1997) M.Sc.; Thesis– "Effects of Seasonal Hydrology on Fish Food Webs in Clear-water Rivers in Venezuela"; Regent's Fellow, 1995-1996; First-author of 2 peer-reviewed publications; He now is an M.D.

John D. Williams (1993-1995) M.Sc. December 1995;  Thesis– "Comparative Ecology of Large Piscivorous Fishes in Guri Reservoir, Venezuela, with Notes on Fish Community Structure"; TAMU Travel Abroad Scholarship, 1993; Presented papers at 2 professional conferences; First author of 1 journal article; Formerly, he was a researcher working on marine food webs for the Prince William Sound Science Center in Alaska; Currently, he is K-12 Education Coordinator at the Univ. of Texas Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas.

Tamara L. McGuire (1993-1995) M.Sc. December 1995;  Thesis– "Site Fidelity and Habitat Affiliation of the Tonina, Inia geoffrensis, in the Cinaruco River, Venezuela"; Willie May Harris Fellow, 1993-1994; First-author of 1 technical report; Presented papers at 3 professional conferences; First author of 2 journal articles; She continued study for a PhD at TAMU under Dr. Bernd Wursig.

David B. Jepsen (1993-1995) M.Sc. December 1995; Thesis– "Seasonality and Midscale Spatial Effects on Cichla  Ecology and Fish Species Diversity in a Neotropical Floodplain River"; TAMU Jordan International Study Fellowship, 1995; Author of 2 technical reports; Vice-president of TAMU-American Fisheries Society, 1994-1995; Presented papers at 4 professional conferences.

Alphonse Adite (1993-1995) M.Sc. December 1995; Thesis– "Fisheries Ecological Survey of Inland Aquatic Habitats of Benin"; Advanced Training in Leadership for Africans Fellowship, 1992-1995; Conservation Biology Scholarship, 1993-1995; Phi Beta Delta Honor Soceity for International Scholars, 1994; First author on 3 and second author on 1 peer-reviewed publications; First author of 2 technical reports; Presented papers at several professional conferences; President of CEPRAEDES, a non-governmental organization for environmental conservation in Africa. 

Loren J. Moriarty (1992-1995) M.Sc. August 1995; Thesis– "Spatial and Temporal Variation in Fish Assemblage Structure at Village Creek"; Regent's Fellow, 1992-1993; First author on 1 peer-reviewed publication; Currently a lab technician at Purdue University.

Nora E. Valdes (1992-1995) M.Sc. May 1995; Thesis– "Composition, Structure, and Habitat Associations of Fish Assemblages of the Dolan Falls Reserve"; First author on 1 peer-reviewed publication; Currently a scientist/administrator with CEDESOL (Mexican Federal Natural Resource Agency).

Updated Tuesday, November 13, 2007