KANSAS COOPERATIVE FISH AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH UNIT

Unit News



March 2008

The annual Coordinating Committee Meeting was held. The Annual Report for the Kansas Coop Unit was distributed at the meeting.

Josh Schloesser, Wes Bouska, Kristen Pitts and Andrea Severson attended the Annual Midwest Student Fisheries Colloquium in Lincoln, Nebraska. The following papers were presented:
February 2008

Jeff Eitzmann defended his M.S. Thesis, "Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on the fish assemblage and food web structure in a Great Plains river."

Craig Paukert, Joanna Whittier, Josh Schloesser, Wes Bouska, Andrea Severson, Kristen Pitts, Joe Gerken and Jeff Eitzmann attended the Kansas Natural Resources Conference in Wichita, Kansas. The following papers were presented:
Craig Paukert and Josh Schloesser attended the Missouri River Natural Resources Conference in Nebraska City, Nebraska. The following papers were presented:
Craig Paukert, Joanna Whittier and Kristen Pitts attended the Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona and New Mexico Chapters of the American Fisheries Society in Prescott, Arizona. The following papers were presented:

January 2008

Four new graduate students joined the Kansas Unit in January:  Joe Gerken, Derek Moon, Andrea Severson and Mackenzie Shardlow.

Donald Althoff presented a poster, "Althoff, D.P. and P.S. Gipson. 2008. Breeding chronology and reproductive success of grasshopper sparrows and eastern meadowlarks on a military training landscape: implications for management." Presented at the Society for Range Management Annual Conference, Louisville, Kentucky.

December 2007

Craig Paukert, Wes Bouska, Kristen Pitts, Josh Schloesser and Jonathan Conard attended the 68th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Research Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. The following papers and poster were presented.
November 2007

Craig Paukert attended the Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Annual Coordinating Committee Meeting in Corvallis, Oregon.

Don Althoff hosted three student researchers from the University of Rio Grand of Ohio. They conducted research on Fort Riley through the Range and Training Lands Assessment (RTLA) project.

October 2007


September 2007

Craig Paukert, Jodi Whittier, Jeff Eitzmann, Josh Schloesser and Kristen Pitts attended the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA. Whittier taught two workshops on "Introduction to GIS" and "Advanced GIS."

Kristen Pitts presented a paper titled "Hydrologic Variability in the in the Lower Colorado River Basin: Implications for fish conservation" at the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Co-authors were Craig Paukert and Jodi Whittier.

Josh Schloesser presented a poster titled "Comparison between push trawls and mini fyke nets to sample shallow water fish communities" at the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Co-authors were Jeff Finley, Craig Paukert, Wyatt Doyle, and Tracy Hill.

Jeff Eitzmann was a winner of the Skinner Award from the American Fisheries Society.

Phil Gipson and Kevin Blecha attended the Midwest Furbearers Workshop sponsored by the Nebraska Chapter of The Wildlife Society in Omaha, NE. Kevin Blecha gave an oral presentation at a workshop titled "Occupancy of River Otter in Eastern Kansas." Co-authors were Phil Gipson and Matt Peek.

Joanna Whittier gave a presentation at the National Gap Analysis Program Conference in Asheville, North Carolina. The topic was: "Lower Colorado River aquatic gap: meeting the needs of stakeholders."

August 2007

Craig Paukert attended the Montana Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit Annual Coordinating Committee Meeting in Bozeman, MT.

Don Althoff attended the Introduction to GPS Mapping and Navigation Workshop in St. Joseph, MO.

July 2007


June 2007

Ron VanNimwegen presented a poster titled, "Ecosystem engineering by a colonial mammal: how black-tailed prairie dogs structure small mammal communities." American Society of Mammalogists Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, NM. Co-authors were Justin Kretzer, and Jack F. Cully, Jr.

May 2007

Craig Paukert participated in a USGS Research Grade Evaluation Panel in Atlanta, Georgia.

Kevin Blecha and Josh Schloesser attended the Modeling Patterns and Dynamics of Species Occurrence Workshop in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Andrea Severson joined the Unit as a Research Experience for Undergraduate student and will be working on recruitment of fishes in the Kansas River. Andrea will be finishing up her BS at Utah State University and will be starting her PhD under Craig Paukert in January 2008.

Josh Schloesser, Kristen Pitts and Andrea Severson attended the motorboat operators certification course in Brookings, South Dakota.

Craig Paukert attended a Topeka shiner 5-year review workshop at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. The workshop was sponsored by the US Fish and Wildlife Service at the Cooperative Research Units in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas participated.

Don Althoff attended the U.S. Army Sustainable Range Program Workshop in Hampton, VA.

April 2007

Jesse Fischer defended his M.S. Thesis, "Structural organization of Great Plains stream fish assemblages: Implications for sampling and conservation." Fischer has accepted a position with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission working on Missouri River issues.

March 2007

Craig Paukert attended the Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit annual Coordinating Committee Meeting in Tucson, AZ. He also attended the Cooperative Research Units professional development program in Tucson.

Craig Paukert and Josh Schloesser attended the Missouri River Natural Resources Conference in Nebraska City, Nebraska. They received the Fourth Best Poster Award for a poster titled, "Schloesser, J., J. Finley, C. Paukert, W. Doyle, and T. Hill. 2007. Comparison between push trawl and mini fyke nets to sample shallow water fish communities."

Jesse Fischer, Unit student under the direction of Craig Paukert, was awarded the outstanding Graduate Student Award from the Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

February 2007

The annual Coordinating Committee Meeting for the Kansas Unit was held on February 28.

Phil Gipson and Jonathan Conard presented a poster, "Elk in Kansas: a review of historical distribution and current status" at the Kansas Chapter of The Wildlife Society meeting in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Craig Paukert, Joanna Whittier and Kristen Pitts attended the 40th Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona and New Mexico Chapters of The Wildlife Society and the Arizona/New Mexico Chapter of the American Fisheries Society in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The following poster was presented:

• Whittier, J. B., C. P. Paukert, K. L. Pitts, and J. D. Olden. 2007. The Lower Colorado River aquatic GAP project-an update. Arizona-New Mexico American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM 7 February 2007.

Publications in February:

Paukert, C. P., M. McInerny, and R. Schultz. 2007. Current and historical black bass regulations in North America. Fisheries (Bethesda): 32(2):63-72.

January 2007

Craig Paukert, Jesse Fischer, Jeff Eitzmann, Josh Schloesser and Wes Bouska attended the American Fisheries Society Tri-State (Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska) Joint Meeting in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The following papers were presented:

• Schloesser, J. T., D. E. Haines, and C. P. Paukert. 2007. Walleye harvest restrictions to reduce gizzard shad impingement. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting, Council Bluffs, IA. 20 January 2007.

• Paukert, C. P., J. Eitzmann, J. Fischer, K. Pitts, J. Schloesser, and D. Thornbrugh. 2007. Fish community and habitat differences in dredges and undredged sites on the Lower Kansas River. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting, Council Bluffs, IA. 19 January 2007. (best professional presentation)

• Paukert, C. P., and A. S. Makinster. 2007. Flathead catfish population dynamics in the Kansas River: implications for management. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting, Council Bluffs, IA. 19 January 2007.

• Fischer, J., and C. Paukert. 2007. Sampling effort required to estimate species richness in wadable Great Plains streams with a towed electrofishing. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting, Council Bluffs, IA. 19 January 2007. (Best Student Presentation)

• Eitzmann, J., and C. Paukert. 2007. Electrofishing and hoopnetting gear comparisons for fish communities in the Kansas River, Kansas. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting, Council Bluffs, IA. 19 January 2007.

• Fischer, J., and C. Paukert. 2007. Historical and current environmental influences on an endemic great plains fish. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting, Council Bluffs, IA. 19 January 2007. (poster) (Best Student Poster)

Awards:

Jesse Fischer won best student oral presentation at the Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting, Jan. 2007.

Jesse Fischer won best student poster presentation at the Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting, Jan. 2007.

Craig Paukert won best professional oral presentation at the Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa Tri-State American Fisheries Society Meeting, Jan. 2007.

Jesse Fischer won the Kansas Chapter AFS Tiemeier-Cross Award for outstanding fisheries graduate student in Kansas, Jan. 2007.


 
 
 

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