Graduate F&W Faculty Research Interests

douglas

DR. DOUGLAS BARRON

Professor of Wildlife Science

Research interests:

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Current research projects: 

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kheckeDr. Kyler Hecke, Ph.D. 

Visiting Assistant Professor of Fisheries Science

Research interests:

  • Fish community ecology.
  • Spatial applications in fish and mussel distributions.
  • Fish and mussel conservation.

Current research projects: 

-Multi-species occupancy of mussels in the Louisiana portion of Bayou Bartholomew.

- Temporal assessment of fish movement and fish communities in a natural barrier and a human-made barrier with a high SARP score.

-Assessing microhabitat Use of the Highland Darter in the Illinois Bayou watershed.

​-Distribution of mussels in south-central plains ecoregion tributary watersheds.  

-Spatial and niche-breadth assessment of Slender Madtom diets in the Illinois Bayou watershed.

-Distribution of mussels in the Big Shoal and Little Shoal Creek watershed.

-Thermal ecology of mussels in an intermittent stream of the South Central Plains Ecoregion in Arkansas. 

Current publications (in review or in press):

Parker, Ryley I., K.B. ​Hecke, and C.J.  Gagen. 2024. Adapting to Taxonomic Change in Darters (Etheostomatinae): Reassessment of Preserved Specimens in a Natural History Collection. Southeastern Naturalist (in press).

Kyler B. Hecke, Ben S. Johnson, Ethan H. Dodson, Seth Drake, and Kade  B.Mitchell.  The Use of Gastric Lavage to Extract Diet Data from Darters (Etheostomatinae). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (in review). 

 

Dr. Chris Kellner, Ph.D.Chris with snake

Professor of Wildlife Science

Research interests: 

  • Population ecology of birds and lizards, especially how habitat structure influences use of space and demographics. 
  • For birds, I am particularly interested in how silvicultural practices influence community structure and population size. 
  • For lizards, I am particularly interested in how habitat complexity influences population size, movements, survival, and individual growth. 

Current research projects:

  •  I am currently comparing population trends of rusty blackbirds among different physiographic regions within Arkansas.  One of my graduate students is also investigating home range and habitat selection in urban landscapes in Central Arkansas. 
  • I am also investigating growth patterns of prairie lizards among three structurally different habitats.   

  

 

Tom with possumDr. Tom Nupp, Ph.D.

Interim Department Head of Biological Sciences; Fisheries and Wildlife Program Director; Professor of Wildllife Science

Research interests:

  • Mammalian community ecology.
  • GIS applications in Wildlife Ecology and Management.
  • Management of endangered species

Current research projects:

  • Examination of disturbance patterns at endangered Interior Least Tern colonies on the Arkansas River.
  • Interactions among small mammals, mesocarnivores and endangered American Burying Beetles.
  • Examination of small mammal carcass disturbance and decay.