Biodiversity and Ecology
The aquatic animals living in certain water sources can be indicators of water quality.
The overarching objective of this area is to enable basic and applied research related to aquatic ecosystem conservation and management. Current research interests among faculty members in this area are diverse, mainly covering endangered, invasive, and game species management; food webs; biogeochemistry; climate change impacts; and ecosystem services. The biological groups of interest include bacteria, algae, macroinvertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, waterfowl, and bats, as well as genetic-based detection and conservation strategies for many of these groups. Twelve faculty in the Department of Biology, School of Environmental Studies, and USGS Cooperative Fishery Unit are active in this area.
Research Focus Area Leader: Dr. Justin Murdock, Biology
Research Spotlight
Every spring in east Tennessee, tens of thousands of fishes called buffalo make the short trip upstream from Tellico Reservoir into a small tributary called Citico Creek to reproduce. Although their journey is far less dramatic than the much-celebrated salmon of the Pacific Northwest, these buffalo likely share at least one important similarity with the salmon: through their migrations, they transport large quantities of essential nutrients between aquatic habitats. Given their ability to act as conveyor belts of materials that fuel production in habitats used for spawning, researchers at Tennessee Tech are left to wonder, are suckers the salmon of the South?
- Faculty
- Dr. Bradley Cohen, Biology
- Dr. Joshua Hall, Biology
- Dr. Carla Hurt, Biology
- Dr. Hayden Mattingly, Environmental Studies
- Dr. Justin Murdock, Biology
- Dr. Mark Rogers, TN Cooperative Fishery Unit
- Dr. Amanda Rosenberger, TN Cooperative Fishery Unit
- Dr. Christopher Wheeler, Biology
- Students
- Awards and Recognition
- Projects
- Factors Affecting Sanctuary Use by Mallards
Bradley Cohen/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Developing Waterfowl Monitoring Protocols
Bradley Cohen/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Waterfowl Resting Areas
Bradley Cohen/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Mallard Use of West TN
Bradley Cohen/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Tennessee Secretive Marshbird Monitoring Project
Bradley Cohen/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Banding Project to Investigate Gobbler Harvests
Bradley Cohen/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Multi-State Banding for Gobbler Harvest Rates
Bradley Cohen/Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources - Wild Turkey Repro Study II
Bradley Cohen/Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources - Assessing Thermal Responses of Streamside Salamanders
Joshua Hall/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Snapping Shrimp
Carla Hurt/National Science Foundation - Assessing Biodiversity in Stream-Dwelling Crayfish
Carla Hurt/Tennessee Valley Authority - Streamside Salamander Impact
Carla Hurt/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Hardin Crayfish and Pristine Crayfish
Hayden Mattingly/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Population Monitoring Plan for Brawleys Fork Crayfish
Hayden Mattingly/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Harmful Algal Blooms and Toxin Production
Justin Murdock/Marshall University - Contaminants in Bat Food Sources
Justin Murdock/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - African Walking Catfish
Mark Rogers/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Slender Chub
Mark Rogers/U.S. Geological Survey - Bighead & Silver Carp Population Dynamics
Mark Rogers/U.S. Geological Survey - Asian Carp Controls
Mark Rogers/U.S. Geological Survey - Evaluation of Asian Carp Populations
Mark Rogers/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Evaluation of Invasive Carp in Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers
Mark Rogers/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Aquatic Research Sport Fish Restoration
Mark Rogers/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Wolf River Mussel Fauna
Amanda Rosenberger/U.S. Geological Survey - Tennessee Heelsplitter
Amanda Rosenberger/U.S. Geological Survey - Mussels in Hatchie River
Amanda Rosenberger/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Cub Creek - Lone Oaks Study to Characterize Fish Community
Amanda Rosenberger/Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation - DNA Surveillance of the Chucky Madtom
Amanda Rosenberger/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - A Reassessment of the Pale Lilliput
Amanda Rosenberger/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - DNA Surveillance of Duskytail Darter
Amanda Rosenberger/Virgina Department of Wildlife Resources - River Chubs as Keystone Species in the Little River BasinChristopher Wheeler/Tennessee Valley Authority
- Barrens Topminnow Population in the Middle Collins River
Christopher Wheeler/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Sicklefin Redhorse Migrations
Christopher Wheeler/The Sicklefin Redhorse Conservation Committee
- Factors Affecting Sanctuary Use by Mallards
- Publications/Presentations
Journal Articles (Fiscal Year 2025-2026)
- UNDER REVIEW - COMING SOON
Presentations (Fiscal Year 2025-2026)
- UNDER REVIEW - COMING SOON