My research interests revolve around fisheries ecology and management, including artificial reef research. I started the graduate program at UWF in fall 2005 after finishing my undergraduate degree at Auburn University. I am currently working with Dr. Will Patterson as a graduate research assistant in the Department of Biology at UWF.
For my thesis work, I have been conducting a tagging study to site fidelity and dispersion reef fishes associated with unpublished artificial reefs in the north central Gulf of Mexico. My research is part of a larger study focusing on the overall function of artificial reefs on reef fish communities. In another aspect of the broader study, we use a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to examine fish community structure at our study sites. We also conduct ROV visual surveys of fish populations associated with the ex-Oriskany artificial reef site off of Pensacola, which is the world’s largest artificial reef.
