PI
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Graduate students
Postdocs
Past lab members
Cat McClure
Dr. Shannon White
Danielle Massie
Dr. Zhongyao Liang
Tyler Thompson
Ben Kline
Dr. Megan Kepler Schall
Dr. Yan Li
Dr. Steve Midway
Evan Faulk
Kelley Salvesen
Dr. Tyrell DeWeber
Lori Davis
Devin DeMario
Dr. Robert Mollenhauer
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Dr. Tyler Wagner
Broadly speaking, I am an aquatic ecologist; however, my research program focuses primarily on fish and lake ecology. I have built my program to fill important knowledge gaps that exist in our understanding of lake and stream ecosystem processes that include: (a) fine-scale ecological properties and processes of fishes, such as habitat use, movement dynamics, and responses to legacy and emerging contaminants, (b) macro-ecological drivers of lake and stream ecosystem state, including lake water chemistry and fish growth and distributions, and (c) conducting synthetic work to study the interactions that exits between these scales. Click here for my full CV. Olivia Hodgson
I completed my undergraduate degree in May 2023 with a B.S. in Environmental Science from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. In that time, I investigated concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Lake Erie game fish species and completed a thesis exploring the influence of organic contaminants on the health of spotted salamander populations on the Behrend campus. I am broadly interested in how organic pollution, such as contamination from pesticides and industrial chemicals, impacts freshwater ecosystems. At PSU, I will be studying the trophodynamics of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in aquatic food webs and quantifying the effects of invasive catfish on food webs and resulting trophodynamics of PFAS in invaded riverine ecosystems. In my free time, I enjoy reading, fishing, and herping (hiking, but with the intention of finding reptiles/amphibians). Chris Custer
After earning a couple bachelor's in wildlife ecology (Florida, 2010) and statistics (North Florida, 2013), I moved across the country to earn my master's in statistics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (2015). I then spent a few years as a statistician in industry before deciding to return to school and pursue my doctorate in ecology. I am broadly interested in quantitative fisheries, particularly applied research motivated by management and conservation efforts. At PSU, I will be studying stream fish communities across Pennsylvania through Joint Species Distribution Models. I’m also hopeful to incorporate stock assessment methodology into my dissertation research. Some of my favorite free time activities include fishing, hiking and cooking. Morgan Stum
I received my B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries from Frostburg State University in 2020. I then served as an AmeriCorps service member with the Trout Unlimited Western Maryland Initiative, where I worked on a variety of Brook Trout habitat restoration and monitoring projects. I am broadly interested in fish behavior, movement, and community ecology, and I am excited to gain more experience in quantitative analysis. My research project will assess changes in fish community composition, occupancy and abundance throughout The National Parks Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network. Some of my hobbies include fly fishing, wildlife art and photography, and gardening. Justin Waraniak
I received my M.S. in Fisheries & Wildlife from Michigan State University studying predation on larval lake sturgeon in 2017 and completed my Ph.D. in Environmental & Conservation Sciences at North Dakota State University studying landscape genetics of northern leopard frogs in 2023. As part of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, my work focuses on using population genetics of invasive flathead catfish to understand connectivity and movement and using gene expression to investigate how brook trout populations respond to heat stress. Outside of the lab, you can find me running, baking, or moonlighting as a digital illustrator. Paul McLaughlin
In 2019 I received my Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Connecticut where I worked on estimating animal population sizes via hierarchical Bayesian spatial capture-recapture models. Now working through the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit my research is broadly focused on the effects of land management on habitat, fish health and population dynamics in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In my free time I enjoy sewing, painting, playing the banjo and spending time with my dog Ruby. |