Allen Lab

 

Andrew (Drew) Dutterer, Biological Scientist

A native son of the blessed South, I grew up stained in the red clays of middle Georgia and the rolling hills of the North Carolina piedmont.  In 2003 I received a B.S. from North Carolina State University in Environmental Sciences: Ecology Concentration.  Shortly thereafter, I relocated to Gainesville, Florida to begin working among Dr. Mike Allen’s minions as a fisheries technician.  Eventually my ambitions led me down the winding and torturous road of graduate studies.  My graduate research focused on the identification of spotted sunfish Lepomis punctatus habitat selection patterns and was designed to provide insight for Minimum Flow and Level regulations for Florida Rivers.  That project and all requirements for a M.S. degree came to well anticipated completion during the late summer of 2006.  Currently I remain employed as a biological scientist for Drs. Allen and Bill Pine and enjoy collaborating on various research projects taking place within the freshwater systems of Florida and beyond.

 

Dan Gwinn, Biological Scientist

I grew up in Baltimore exploring the seemingly wild and unlikely recesses of the neighborhood parks. Dreaming of wilder places, I received my B.S. and M.S. in biology from Towson University and headed to Alaska to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I spent one year as a fisheries technician for the Fairbanks field office working with Chum Salmon on the Yukon River. I then moved to the bush town of Dillingham, AK and spent two years as a fish biologist for the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge performing surveys and stock assessment of resident fish species. From Alaska, I migrated south to Arizona and worked for two years as a fish biologist for the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center. I aided in the execution of a multi-species monitoring program and native fish stock assessment in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon. My professional interests include population modeling to inform best management of aquatic resources. 

 

 

 

Current Graduate Students

 

Matt Catalano, Ph.D. Student

Matt is from Lorain, Ohio and grew up within a stone’s throw of Lake Erie. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from Miami University (Ohio) in 1997. After graduation he worked as a field technician at Yellowstone National Park where he assisted in a study of the effects of non-native lake trout on the cutthroat trout population in Yellowstone Lake. He also spent two years working as a fisheries technician at the Illinois Natural History Survey in Salem, IL. Matt received his Master of Science degree in 2002 at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he evaluated the effects of low-head dam removal on fish communities in the Baraboo River, Wisconsin. He then worked for two years as a research biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Madison, WI. Matt is now a PhD student at the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences working with Mike Allen on understanding compensatory demographic responses of fish populations and the effects of gizzard shad biomanipulation on lake nutrient cycling. Matt enjoys fishing, playing mandolin, and spending time with friends.

 

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Alexia Morgan, Ph.D. Student

I graduated from Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center in 2001 with a Masters of Science degree. After completing my masters, I worked as a fisheries observer in the drift gillnet fishery off the coast of Southern California and the Bottom longline fishery off the coast of Florida. In 2002 I became the coordinator for the Commercial Shark Fishery Observer Program, which was run out of the Florida Museum of Natural History through 2005. I am currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Fisheries and am completing a stock assessment of the dusky shark in the NW Atlantic Ocean.

 

 

 

 

Aaron Bunch, M.S. Student

I headed south from N.C. State University where I received a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. Through my jobs and fishing trips I have been able to view the gradual change in hydrologic conditions and fish communities from the high altitude mountain streams of the Appalachians, the sandy and gravel bottom streams and rivers of the piedmont of North Carolina, the most inland portion of the Albemarle Sound that drains the northeastern coastal plain, the estuarine zones located around the Chesapeake Bay, and finally, the Atlantic Ocean surf zone off the coast of Virginia. I have tried to touch on several aspects of fisheries work including aquaculture, freshwater biology (streams and rivers), and estuarine ecosystems. I now enter a new realm of fisheries in Florida while working with Dr. Mike Allen on freshwater lakes. We are conducting research on Lakes Kissimmee and Istokpoga to characterize fish communities within dense vegetation. We are also trying to find out the point at which dissolved oxygen becomes too low to sustain members of the family, Centrarchidae.

 

 

Patrick O'Rouke, M. S. Student

I am a native of Sugar Hill, Georgia and received my BSFR in Fisheries and Aquaculture with a minor in Agribusiness from the University of Georgia in December 2004.  During my last two years of undergrad I worked as a technician for the USGS Co-op unit at UGA.  Following school, I went to work for the American Sportfishing Association as the Everett C. Hames Policy Fellow, a two-year position which exposed me to various aspects of the policy process as it relates to fisheries conservation on the federal and state level.  I had the opportunity to work with Members of Congress, their staff, federal resource management agencies, state fish and wildlife agencies and many non-governmental organizations.  I am currently a technician for the Allen lab and will move into an MS position in the Spring of 2008. In my free time I enjoy fishing, hunting and rooting for my Georgia Bulldogs.

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Erika Thompson, M.S. Student

I am a native of Screven County, Georgia.  My interest in fisheries was kindled under the tutelage of Dr. Bruce Saul at Augusta State University (ASU), where I participated in the assessment of the ichthyofauna of St. Catherines Island, GA.  I completed an internship at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory of the University of Georgia in 2006, where I investigated the effects of radiation-induced sex cell mutations on Japanese Medaka.  I earned my BS in Biology at ASU in May 2007. I joined the Allen lab in the summer of 2006 and assisted with various projects involving gizzard shad removal in eutrophic lakes, gear selectivity of bottom trawls for black crappie, and the characterization of fish lake communities within dense vegetation. I am currently examining the rearing process of Florida large mouth bass (FLMB), for stocking purposes, in Florida bass hatcheries. I strive to determine how the genetic diversity of FLMB is influenced by hatchery culture procedures and suggest management practices which may increase the genetic diversity of stocked Florida largemouth bass. 

 

Technicians

Brandon Baker, Technician

I grew up in Valrico, FL. I transferred to the University of Florida during the fall of 2005 after earning an Associate of Arts Degree from Hillsborough Community College. I am majoring in Natural Resource Conservation and minoring in Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences. I work as a lab technician for Dr. Allen and the crew. I enjoy fishing any chance that I get.

 

 

 

 

 

Lab Graduates and Current Employer

 

Mark Rogers, Ph.D. 2007, UF Post Doctoral Associate

Greg Binion, MS Degree 2007, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Caleb Purtlebaugh, MS Degree 2007 , Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)

Jason Dotson, MS Degree 2007, Florida FWC

Travis Tuten, MS Degree 2007, Florida FWC

Drew Dutterer, MS Degree 2006, Biological Scientist UF

Nick Trippel, MS Degree 2006 , Florida FWC

Christian Barrientos, MS Degree 2006, UF Ph.D. student

Patrick Cooney, MS Degree 2005, North Carolina Cooperative F&W Research Unit

Jim Berg, MS Degree 2004, Consulting firm in CT

Tim Bonvechio, MS Degree 2005, Georgia DNR

Kevin Dockendorf, MS Degree 2002, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission

Kristin Henry, MS Degree 2002, Florida FWC

Powell Wheeler, MS Degree 2001, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commisssion

Kim Bonvechio, MS Degree 2001, Florida FWC

Bill Pine, MS Degree 1999, UF Faculty

 

 

 

 

 

 

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