2017 Annual Meeting StudEnt Awards

2016 Annual Meeting StudEnt Awards

Etnier Best Student Oral Presentation
1^st Aaron Burgad (University of Central Arkansas), Preliminary analysis of fish assemblage composition in the upper Saline River, Arkansas over multiple decades

2^nd Jessica Grady (Austin Peay State University,) Scale shape variation in a speciose and highly imperiled group of fishes, the darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae)

3^rd Ed Burress (Auburn University), Ecological diversification associated with the benthic-to-pelagic transition by North American minnows

3^rd Daniel Walker (University of Tennessee), Microhabitat selection and partitioning among darters in the Nolichucky River, Tennessee

Suttkus Best Student Poster
1^st Brooke Washburn (Austin Peay State University), Islands in the stream, is that what we are: assessing the spatial scale of genetic diversity in the endangered tuxedo darter, Etheostoma lemniscatum.

2^nd Brooke Bedal (Austin Peay State University) Development of microsatellite loci for the threatened Blackside Dace (Chrosomus cumberlandensis) and other co-occurring cyprinid

3^rdBrittany McCall (Arkansas State) Spatiotemporal population dynamics of the Caddo Madtom (Noturus taylori)

2015 Annual Meeting Student Awards (1st $150.00; 2nd $100.00; 3rd $50.00)

Oral Presentations

1st Place.   Malorie M. Hayes, Auburn University, Conservation genetics of the Broadstripe Shiner, Pteronotropis euryzonus, an endemic species of the middle Chattahoochee River

2nd Place. Mattie C. Lewis, Austin Peay State University, Role of nuptial coloration in interspecific communication: examining color vision in a nest host, the Creek Chub

3rd Place. (tie) Brittany V. Furtado, University of Central Arkansas, Variation in fish assemblage composition and population dynamics across a gradient of natural gas development on the Fayetteville Shale, Arkansas and Amy E. Gebhard, Tennessee Technological University, Loiters, leavers, and leptokurtosis: Measuring and predicting short-term movement of Banded Sculpin, Cottus carolinae, in Tennessee

Poster Presentations

1st Place Daniel J. MacGuigan, Yale University, Molecular and morphological species delimitation in the Greenthroat Darter, Etheostoma lepidum

2nd Place Joseph A. Andreoli, University of Florida, Predicting the geographic ranges of non-native cichlids in Florida with climate change

3rd Place (tie) Kenny Jones, Arkansas State University, Conservation genetics of the Blueface Darter (Etheostoma sp. cf. zonistium), a rare undescribed fish in Northwest Alabama and Brooke A. Bedal, Austin Peay State University, Cytochrome B lineage assessment of Blackside Dace (Chrosomus cumberlandensis) from the Kentucky River system

2014 Annual Meeting Student Awards (1st $150.00; 2nd $100.00; 3rd $50.00)

Oral Presentations

1st Place.   Edward D. Burress, Auburn University,  The Influence Of Phylogeny On Minnow Morphology, Ecology, And Physiology

2nd Place. Daniel Walker, University of Tennessee, Substrate Characteristics And Potential Contaminant Exposure Risk Of Lake Sturgeon Habitat In The Upper Tennessee River

3rd Place. Erica Rottmann, Southern Louisiana University, Revealing What Lies Beneath: Utilizing Environmental DNA (eDNA) To Detect Rare Fishes In Louisiana

Poster Presentations

1st Place Tie. Courtney Weyand, Austin Peay State University, Quantitative Microscopic Analysis Of Darter (Percidae: Etheostomatinae) Scale Morphology

2nd Place Tie. Pamela Hart,  Auburn University, Preliminary Data For Diagnosing Putative Lineages Of The Southern Cavefish (Typhlichthys subterraneus) In Alabama

3rd Place Tie. Brittany McCall, Austin Peay State University, Seeking Taxonomic Resolution: Is Orconectes cf. barrenensis From The Red River (Cumberland River) Of Tennessee A Distinct Species Of Crayfish?

2013 Annual Meeting Student Awards (1st $150.00; 2nd $100.00; 3rd $50.00)

Oral Presentations

1st Place. Brianna Zuber and Hayden T. Mattingly. SPECIESHABITAT ASSOCIATIONS OF A RARE TENNESSEE STREAM FISH AT FOUR SPATIAL SCALES

2nd Place. Brooke Washburn, Carol-Rose Gingras, David J. Eisenhour, DISPERSAL ABILITY OF THE FRECKLEBELLY DARTER (PERCINA STICTOGASTER)

3rd Place. Brittany Furtado, Jessie Jean Green, Ginny L. Adams, Reid Adams. EXAMINING NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT AND FISH COMMUNITIES OF THE FAYETTEVILLE SHALE, ARKANSAS

Poster Presentations

1st Place. Savannah Michaelsen, Jacob F. Schaefer, FLUCTUATING ASYMETRY AS A MEASURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS CAUSED BY THE 2010 DEEPAWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL

2nd Place. Laura Steward and Jacob F. Schaefer, TEMPERATURE PREFERENCE IN THE FUNDULUS NOTATUS SPECIES COMPLEX

3rd Place Tie. Shawn Patrick Settle and Rebecca Blanton Johansen, IDENTIFICATION OF FISH HOSTS OF PARASITIC GLOCHIDIAL LARVAE OF FRESHWATER MUSSELS (MOLLUSCA: UNIONIDAE) FROM THE DUCK RIVER, TENNESSEE

3rd Place Tie. Erin Bloom, Rebecca Blanton Johansen, John W. Johansen, Mollie Cashner, A SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION OF ORCONECTES CR. BARRENENSIS FROM THE RED RIVER SYSTEM (CUMBERLAND RIVER) OF TENNESSEE AND KENTUCKY

2011 Annual Meeting Student Awards (1st $150.00; 2nd $100.00; 3rd $50.00)

Oral Presentations

1st Place. Loren Stearman, University of Central Arkansas. Life history of the redfin darter, Etheostoma whipplei, in central Arkansas (with Ginny Adams).

2nd Place. Brook Fluker, University of Alabama. Spring-adapted species as a model for understanding the genetic consequences of aquatic habitat fragmentation (with Bernard R. Kuhajda and Phillip M. Harris).

3rd Place. Mark Hoger, Austin Peay State University. Inter-seasonal movements of Etheostomatinae darters in Yellow Creek and Whiteoak Creek, Tennessee (with Rebecca Blanton).

Poster Presentations

1st Place. John Johansen, Tennessee Tech University. Development of species-habitat models to inform conservation planning for freshwater species covered by the Cumberland Habitat Conservation Plan (with Hayden Mattingly).

2nd Place. Laura Stewart, University of Southern Mississippi. Body shape and burst-swimming performance in the F. notatus complex: a tale of two tails (with Nathan R. Franssen and Jake Schaefer).

3rd Place Tie. Zachary Martin, University of Florida. A preliminary investigation of the morphological diversity of genital papillae in Etheostoma and its association with spawning behavior.

3rd Place Tie. Matthew Wagner, Austin Peay State University. Utility of amplified fragment length polymorphisms in a phylogeographic study of the redband darter, Etheostoma luteovinctum (with Rebecca Blanton).

3rd Place Tie. Christopher Yates, Kennesaw State University. The effects of urbanization on food sources and gut morphology in largescale stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis) (with Troy Mutchler and William Ensign).

2010 Annual Meeting Student Awards (1st $150.00; 2nd $100.00; 3rd $50.00)

Oral Presentations

1st Place. James Roberts, Virginia Tech. Extensive dispersal of Roanoke logperch inferred from genetic marker data (with Paul L. Angermeier and Eric M. Hallerman).

2nd Place. Andrea Fritts, University of Georgia. Development of a nonlethal approach for assessing stress in freshwater mussels (with James T. Peterson and Robert B. Bringolf).

3rd Place. Brook Fluker, University of Alabama. Genetic divergence and sympatric occurrence of the spring inhabiting coldwater darter (Etheostoma ditrema) and an undescribed stream inhabiting form (E. sp. cf. ditrema) (with Bernard R. Kuhajda).

Poster Presentations

1st Place. Kerstin Edberg, Saint Louis University. Genetic isolation as a result of dam construction: a look at the effects on two species of darters (with Philip Lienesch, Jeffrey Marcus and Robert Wood).

2nd Place. Jane Argentina, Virginia Tech. Genetic structure and diversity of variegate darters (Etheostoma variatum) in the Big Sandy River Drainage (with Paul L. Angermeier, Eric M. Hallerman and Joanne E. Printz).

3rd Place. Andrew Taylor, University of Georgia. Dispersal of non-native smallmouth bass in the Chattahoochee River (with Douglas L. Peterson).

2009 Annual Meeting Student Awards (1st $150.00; 2nd $100.00; 3rd $50.00)

Oral Presentations

1st Place. Brook Fluker, University of Alabama. Comparative phylogeography of Etheostoma boschungi and E. tuscumbia: assessing habitat preference and dispersal ability (with Bernard R. Kuhajda, and Phillip M. Harris)

2nd Place. Mollie Cashner, Tulane University. If you build it, who will come? Differences in spawning assemblage structure between Nocomis micropogon and Semotilus atromaculatus

3rd Place. Clint R. Johnson, University of Central Arkansas. Population ecology and habitat use of the invasive northern snakehead (Channa argus) near Brinkley, Arkansas (with Reid Adams, and Ginny Adams)

Poster Presentations

1st Place. Daniel J. Farrae, University of Georgia. Evidence of a source-sink population of shortnose sturgeon in the Altamaha and Ogeechee rivers, Georgia (with Douglas L. Peterson)

2nd Place. Robert A. Bahn, University of Georgia. Sturgeon bycatch in the Altamaha River shad fishery, Georgia (with Douglas L. Peterson, and Joel Fleming)

3rd Place. Audrey M. Richter, Morehead State University Bioassessment of a recently restored headwater stream in Rowan County, Kentucky (with D. J. Eisenhour)

2008 Annual Meeting Student Awards (1st $150.00; 2nd $100.00; 3rd $50.00)

Oral Presentations

1st Place. Brianna Zuber, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN. Fluctuating asymmetry and condition in fishes exposed to varying levels of environmental stressors (with Jake Schaefer)

2nd Place. Rich Harrington, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Phylogeographic analysis of the Barrens Darter, Etheostoma forbesi

3rd Place. Rachel Katz, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. Estimating darter survival and temporary emigration in a Piedmont bedrock shoal during record low-flows (with Mary Freeman)

Poster Presentations

1st Place. Jennifer Schade, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL. Investigations into the Relationship between the Steroid Hormone 11-ketotestosterone and Reproductive Status in the Fish Lythrurus fasciolaris (with Bruce Stallsmith and Amy Bishop)

2nd Place. Ben Keck, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. A new species of Nothonotus darter from the Caney Fork River and paraphyly in its sister clade of N. microlepidus and N. sanguifluus (with Thomas Near)

3rd Place. Tyler Black, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN. Ecology and Conservation of the Blackside Dace, Phoxinus cumberlandensis, a Threatened Stream Fish in Kentucky and Tennessee, USA (with Jason E. Detar, Brena K. Jones, and Hayden T. Mattingly)

2007 Annual Meeting Student Awards
(1st $150.00; 2nd $100.00; 3rd $50.00)

Oral Presentations

1st Place. Mollie Cashner, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans.
Genetic Characterization of the hybrid zone between Notropis chiliticus and N. chlorocephalus in the Catawba River system.

2nd Place. Brook Fluker, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.
The influence of historical gene flow and contemporary population translocations on genetic diversity in the endangered watercress darter, Etheostoma nuchale, inferred from multiple microsatellite DNA markers (with B. R. Kuhajda and P. M. Harris).

3rd Place. Michael Sandel, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.
Conservation genetics of metapopulations: A case study of the spring pygmy sunfish (Elassoma alabamae).

Poster Presentations

1st Place. Kevin McAbee, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens.
Spatially realistic models aid management decision-making for a federally threatened species (blackside dace) in the face of geographically varying stressors (with N. P. Nibbelink and J. L. Long).

2nd Place. Gregory Anderson, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens.
Reproductive aspects of three darter species (Percidae) within the Etowah River Basin (with M. M. Hagler, S. J. Wenger, and B. J. Freeman).

3rd Place. A. Karen Persons, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg.
Ecomorphological shape variation within the darter subgenus Nothonotus.

Note: SFC Judges acknowledge the tradition of including academic mentors on presentations; however, the body of work is assumed to be that of the student.