Allen Lab

Lab Members

Post Doctoral Research Associate / Staff Biologists / Current Graduate Students / Past Students

Post Doctoral Research Associate

MarkMark Rogers, Ph.D.

I grew up in North Carolina and attended N.C. State University for my Bachelor's degree where I had the opportunity to work on reservoir research in Dr. Richard Noble's lab. Since then, I have been fortunate to work in rivers at Virginia Tech, teach high school, work on walleyes while getting a Master's Degree at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, and finally end up working with Dr. Mike Allen at the University of Florida. Since arriving in Florida, I have worked on a minimum flows and level project and I am now working on my dissertation evaluating the interdependent processes that affect age-0 largemouth bass survival across Florida's latitudinal gradient. In early 2008, I started a post-doc evaluating fisheries issues in Florida using Ecopath with Ecosim software.

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Staff Biologists

Drew 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.


DanDan 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. 

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Current Graduate Students

Matt HanslebenMatt Hansleben, M.S. Student

I grew up in Iowa and attended Iowa State University where I received my Bachelor's degree in 2006 in Animal Ecology with an emphasis in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.  During my summers and since graduation I have gained a variety of fisheries experiences working with trout in Wyoming and Arkansas, anadromous fish in Idaho, and finally, native and endangered species in Arizona.  I joined the Allen lab in the summer of 2009 as a technician and moved into a MS position in the fall of 2009.  I am currently investigating electrofishing catchability in Florida lakes.

During my free time, when I am not fishing or watching sports, I enjoy woodworking.  


Bobby HarrisBobby Harris, M. S. Student

I'm from Indiana, but I grew up in Newberry, FL.  After serving in the Marine Corps for 6 years, I came back and earned my undergraduate degree in 2003 at UF in environmental horticulture.  I worked for the city of Gainesville as its horticulturist managing the tree planting program for about two years and then at a tree nursery for almost 4 years.  I am now enjoying my time as a technician for Mike Allen's lab and have been blessed to work on such great fisheries as Okeechobee and Kissimmee.  I will begin my MS degree in spring 2010.  In my free time I love spending time with my wife and family, fishing, and travelling.


Janice KernsJanice Kerns, Ph.D. Student

As a fisheries biologist for the last three years with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, my primary task was to monitor and conduct research on freshwater fish populations within the Upper St. Johns River Basin. While there I led and assisted on a variety of research including stocking evaluations, apex predator dynamics, and habitat restoration projects. Prior to this, I received my BS degree from University of Tampa in Biology and Marine Science in 2001.  I then volunteered for two years as an Environmental Peace Corps Volunteer in Gambia, West Africa. After returning I received my MS degree from Tennessee Technological University studying delayed mortality of paddlefish released as bycatch on the lower Tennessee River.  Now, as a PhD student in the Fisheries and Aquatic Science program, I am working with Dr. Allen to assess components of fishing mortality for fish populations with high rates of angler release, and to evaluate the potential impact of all sources of fishing mortality on largemouth bass populations.

 


Linda LombardiLinda Lombardi, Ph.D. Student

I completed my BS in marine biology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 1996, and moved to Florida in hopes to get a job in marine biology.  I began my fisheries biology career in 1998 at NOAA Fisheries Service/National Marine Fisheries Service in Panama City, FL as a biological technician spending most of my time sectioning and ageing snapper and grouper otoliths from the Gulf of Mexico.  I was fortunate to be offered a CO-OP position with NOAA/NMFS and the University of Mississippi and completed my master’s of science under the direction of Dr. Glenn Parsons in 2001.  My thesis focused on latitudinal gradient demographic differences in bonnethead populations, a coastal shark species found throughout the Gulf of Mexico.  Since 2002, I have worked as a research fishery biologist at the NOAA/NMFS in Panama City, FL.  My research has been directed on the ecology, life history, and spatial population modeling of Serranid species from the Gulf of Mexico.  I began my Ph.D. in August 2008 by studing the life history, population dynamics, and fishery management of the Golden Tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps, from the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.


Patrick with redPatrick 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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Lab Graduates and Current Employer


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