Banner photo: Redspot Darter – a lowland species found in the Mobile River drainage.
Lab-group members
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Dr. Sara Cathey, Postdoctoral Research Associate: In her graduate career, Sara focused her research on the assembly and stability of freshwater communities threatened by global change. While a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Mississippi State, she will be leading a Species Status Assessment for the Oktibbeha Rivulet Crayfish (Hobbseus orconectoides) while assisting with modeling the occupancy of other rivulet crayfishes. Before joining Miss State, Sara obtained a BSc in Biology with a concentration in marine and freshwater biology from The University of Texas at Austin. She earned her PhD in Biology from Virginia Tech. Sara's career goal is to serve as a freshwater scientist within academia or with a government agency.
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Matthew Graff, MSc student: Matthew, originally from Woodstock, Georgia, received his BS in Fisheries and Wildlife from the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. While at UGA Matthew was a leading member of the Trout Unlimited Costa 5 Rivers Fly Fishing club and member of the UGA chapter of AFS. Matthew completed an undergraduate thesis studying the process of optimizing a sampling process for the invasive Red Shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis) using ArcGIS spatial suitability models. After graduating from UGA, Matthew worked for Great Basin National Park in Baker, Nevada as a Fisheries Technician. He is now pursuing his master’s degree in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from North Carolina State University. His master’s project focuses on using acoustic telemetry to track the movements and habitat use of Largemouth Bass and the invasive Alabama Bass. Matthew is an avid fly fisherman, spending most weekends fishing for bass, bluegill, and trout. Matthew also enjoys hiking, camping, birding, and snorkeling in WNC.
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Devin Raburn, MSc student: Originally from eastern Pennsylvania, Devin moved to Mississippi to pursue a BSc degree in Wildlife, fisheries, and Aquaculture from Mississippi State University. During her undergraduate career, she have worked within the MSU forestry department as a research assistant and performed undergraduate research. She has also participated in the ESA/USGS Cooperative Fellowship Program to develop population and community level metrics of prairie-pothole wetland biodiversity and productivity based on amphibian and aquatic invertebrate monitoring data. Throughout her experience she has developed a passion for aquatic invertebrates and herpetology. She is now pursuing my master’s at MSU where she will be assessing the suitability of roadside ditches and headwater streams as habitat for the Oktibbeha Rivulet Crayfish (H. orconectoides) while clarifying their range and distribution before this species' review under the Endangered Species Act.
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Dr. Savannah Swinea, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Savannah (she/her) is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at NC State University in partnership with the USGS Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center. Her expertise centers around co-producing knowledge between scientists and local experts for practical application to benefit ecosystems and societies. Her work is interdisciplinary, spanning environmental and social sciences, and she uses participatory approaches alongside statistical and computational methods to unpack complex modern challenges. Her current postdoctoral work encompasses two major themes: (1) collaborating with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) on their climate adaptation planning using social surveys and policy analysis; and (2) eliciting the perceptions of prescribed fire managers to enhance climate-informed decision-making in the US Southeast. Savannah received her PhD from Northeastern University in Marine and Environmental Sciences. She is a North Carolina native and received her BS in Environmental Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
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Tucker Gaddy, Undergraduate Researcher
Originally from Hillsborough, North Carolina, Tucker is a senior pursuing a B.S in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. He has worked as a Laboratory Technician in the Riverine Fishes Lab for the past two years. As an undergraduate, Tucker has worked alongside the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission on their Gopher Frog restoration project and spent a summer as a Fisheries Management Intern with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. Currently, he is completing an undergraduate research project analyzing crayfish distribution and habitat use for the Hobbseus genus, a narrowly endemic group of Mississippi crayfish. Tucker is an avid fisherman and spends most of his free time enjoying the various outdoor recreation opportunities that North Carolina has to offer. |
Past members
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Dr. Bobby Cope, Postdoctoral Research Associate (2025 -- 2026)
Bobby completed a B.S at East Carolina University in 2015, and an MSc at with the NC Cooperative Research Unit at NC State in 2018, studying Carolina Madtom (N. furiosus) occupancy, habitat, and genetics throughout their native range in the Tar and Neuse River basins of North Carolina. Most recently, Bobby completed a Ph.D. at Iowa State University in 2024, studying Walleye (S. vitreus) survival, movement, behavior, stocking success, and escapement from Rathbun Lake in southcentral Iowa. Bobby worked for the lab as a postdoctoral researcher, where he completed a spatial modeling comparison of roadside ditch and headwater stream dispersal mechanisms for the Oktibbeha Rivulet Crayfish (H. orconectoides) and Tombigbee Riverlet Crayfish (H. petilus) in relation to species occurrence and genetic differentiation, which aided in the ongoing species' reviews under the Endangered Species Act. Current position: Fish Biologist with Duke Energy |
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Logan Sleezer, Former Post-master's Research Associate II (2021 -- 2023): Logan leads a project that is developing a standardized quantitative framework for evaluating imperilment of fish species in the southeast. Ultimately, the tool Logan is developing will help biologists with USFWS quantify a species' risk of imperilment under the Endangered Species Act. Logan regularly interacts with federal biologist to incorporate their feedback throughout his project, and he uses his quantitative and geospatial skill-sets to model the numerous landscape factors that affect freshwater fish populations. Before joining my lab, Logan earned BSc degrees in Biology and Earth Science at Emporia State University (KS), and a master's degree at Virginia Tech in Fish and Wildlife Conservation. Ultimately, Logan wishes to be a Fish and Wildlife Research Biologist at a federal agency.
Current position: Ecologist with USGS Columbia Environmental Research Science Center |
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Josh Stafford, Former MSc student (2021--2024): Josh is a master's student with interests in fish movement, habitat restoration, and salmonid ecology. His master's research examines seasonal movements of invasive carps from mainstem rivers through water-control structures into oxbow lakes that support native species, and commercial and recreational fisheries. The goal of Josh's project is to identify whether operations of existing water infrastructure impede the spread of invasive carps. For his research, Josh routinely navigates rivers, bayous, and backwaters to track movements of carps using active and passive acoustic telemetry. Before joining my lab group, Josh received bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies at Montreat College (NC). He also worked on several fieldcrews in the western US focused on salmonid conservation and he monitored river fisheries in central Tennessee while working for Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Ultimately, Josh's career goal is to become a state or federal fisheries management biologist.
Current position: Fisheries Management Biologist, GA Department of Natural Resources |
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