My interactions with students have taken different forms over the past few years, from full time teaching to supervising research projects. For several years I was an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where I taught courses such as Marine Fisheries Ecology and Management, and Populations Dynamics of Exploited Fishes. Since coming to the Ecosystems Center, I have remained an Adjunct Professor at UMASS and serve as major professor to graduate students.
I currently teach in the Semester in Environmental Science (SES) at The Ecosystems Center. In teaching in the SES, I hope to show students that animals are fundamental parts of ecosystems that affect and, in turn, are affected by ecosystem processes. I believe strongly in involving students in the research process. As an undergraduate I was involved in a NSF program for research that inspired me to continue in science. This program taught me that science isn't the step-by-step, cut and dried process that is presented in books, but a process full of challenges, uncertainties, imagination, and promise. Through NSF and other private funding, I have continued to supervise the projects of undergraduates from schools across the nation including Bucknell, Brown, Brandeis, Texas A&M, BU and others. Several students I have supervised are now working in management agencies or pursuing advanced degrees.
Graduate Student Thesis Director - Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Heidi Golden, M.S., 1996, Ecology of young-of-the-year arctic grayling.
Cheryl Ryder, M.S., 1993, Application of the estuarine Index of Biotic Integrity to Buttermilk Bay, MA.
Sean Murphy, M.S., 1991, The ecology of estuarine fishes in southern Maine high marshes.
Suesan Saucerman, M.S., 1990, Movement, distribution and productivity of post-metamorphic winter flounder in different habitat types in Waquoit Bay, MA.
Undergraduate Thesis or Project Director
John Chick, University of Massachusetts, 1988.
Rosemary Bailey, University of Massachusetts, 1991.
Karen Beatty, University of Massachusetts, 1992.
Gretchen Gettle, Boston University, 1993.
John Harrison, Brown University, 1995.
Mat Distler, Amherst College, REU 1996.
Gabriel Seifert, Germany, 1996.
Michael Buchalski, University of Michigan, REU 1996.
Amos Wright, Hampshire College, 1996.
Suzanne Graham, Univ. California, REU, 1998.
Jessica Davis, REU, 1998
Jennifer Sweeney, REU, 1998
Amanda Thimayya, Bard College SES, 1998.
Graduate Committees
Jay McMenemy, M.S., Forestry and Wildlife, University of Massachusetts
Paul Cezilwitz, M.S., Forestry and Wildlife, University of Massachusetts
Chris Webber, M.S., Forestry and Wildlife, University of Massachusetts
Joshua Philibert, M.S., Botany, University of Massachusetts
Robin Berry, M.S., Forestry and Wildlife, University of Massachusetts
Mark Fregeau, Ph.D., Zoology, University of Massachusetts
Course Instructor
WFBIO 696 - Animals in Ecosystems; 1987.
WFBIO 672 - Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations; 1985, 1987.
WFBIO 571 - Ecology of Marine Fisheries; 1986-1988.
WFBIO 597 - Independent Study for Undergraduates; 1986-1988.
WFBIO 197 - Fauna of New England; 1987, 1988.
Course Lecturer
MBL, SES, Aquatic Ecology; 1998.
MBL, SES, Aquatic Ecology; 1997.
NAREST 100 - Conservation of Natural Resources; 1985-1987.
WFBIO 563 - Ecology and Management of Wetland Wildlife; 1986.
WFBIO 577 - Introduction to Systems Ecology; 1985.
Hampshire College - Geology and Ecology of New England; 1986.
WFBIO 577 - Modeling in Fish and Wildlife; 1987.
Smith College - Marine Ecology; 1987.
Hampshire College - Aquatic Biology, 1988.