Title: PhD Graduate Research Assistantship: eDNA Monitoring and Co-Occurrence Patterns of Imperiled Species & Invasive Predators in North Carolina Rivers Description: The federally listed Carolina Madtom & Neuse River Waterdog have declined across their historical ranges in the Tar–Neuse river basins of North Carolina. The invasion of non-native Flathead Catfish is one of the primary factors hypothesized to impact these imperiled species. This project will develop joint sampling & monitoring approaches using environmental DNA (eDNA) & occupancy modeling to detect & predict occurrences of these three priority species across the Tar–Neuse river systems Qualifications: Completed bachelor’s degree (master’s degree preferred) in biology, natural resources, or closely related field before start date. Prior experience with molecular applications, quantitative methods, & aquatic conservation. Candidates should have interests in both lab & field research, species distribution modeling, R programming, & science communication. Salary & benefits: Graduate Assistantship >$30,000 per year (Research x 3.5yr, Teaching x 0.5yr) + health insurance, tuition waiver, computer, professional travel, federal safety training. Start date: Anticipated start date of July 2026 (preferred). Apply: Apply here (https://forms.gle/5dmdTxDAQi5aRNou8) by uploading a single, merged PDF: (1) brief cover letter describing experiential background, career goals, & project interest; (2) resume/CV with GPA; (3) unofficial university transcripts; (4) email & phone numbers for three professional references (we will ask before contacting references); (5) optional (but encouraged) writing example from research or coursework. Applications will start being reviewed March 20; position closes April 5, 2026. Email inquiries about this position are welcome (corey_dunn@ncsu.edu; nrmamooz@ncsu.edu).

Looking for a PhD in applied aquatic conservation? Great! Make sure to apply by April 5 to this awesome PhD opportunity at NC State focused on recovering ESA-listed Carolina Madtoms & Neuse River Waterdogs in North Carolina. Application link here: forms.gle/5dmdTxDAQi5a... 🐟🦎💦

Seeing how this goes on the new platform — does anyone know of a company that will make stream-side rearing tanks for fish? I’m interested in doing some in-situ toxicology trials using river water, but I don’t know where to start. Has anyone designed these themselves? TIA!

😂

Red maple in front of old barn

I get a ton of joy each fall from this red maple in my backyard in Pittsboro. It has really shined since I killed the English ivy that was suffocating it before I bought the property

Year 2 of my climbing-asters-in-hanging-basket experiment. The bumble bees couldn’t be happier 🌺 🐝 😎

Important update: I found 18 monarch caterpillars this morning! Not bad for year one 🐛 🎉

Monarch butterfly caterpillar on purple milkweed

Monarch butterfly feeding on orange milkweed

Post-installation of wildflower garden

Pre-installation of wildflower garden

If you build it …

Last fall I installed 250-ft of edging & native plants around my house, replacing existing ornamentals. One year later, I’ve got my first batch of monarch butterfly caterpillars 🌼 🌱 🐛 🦋 😊

I developed Missouri’s river/fish monitoring protocols for my PhD research while at Mizzou. I got to work on the Meramec from Steelville to the mouth. Spent dozens of nights camping on the gravel bars — what a dream

For over 20 years, the Big Rock fishing tournament has donated its prizewinning fish to NC State to be utilized for critical research. 🎣🔬

Learn more about the partnership: ncst.at/KOKU50We6Us

Wyoming deer are heading to the high country, some will travel up to 150 miles. Amazing - and necessary - movements across vast swaths of YOUR public lands. Follow along for weekly updates!

Need some help — does anyone know of a national dataset that georeferences caves and/or major springs?

Particularly interested in the Southeastern US.

TIA!

Wild Pink (foreground), Mouse-eared tickseed (background)

Carolina Lupine (bushpea)

Small’s Penstemon (beardtongue)

Green & Gold

Some spring native plant #bloomscrolling entries from my garden in central North Carolina: Wild Pink, Mouse-eared tickseed, Carolina Bushpea, Small’s Beardtongue, Green & Gold 🌸🌼🐝

As Leader of the North Carolina Coop Unit, I can attest the model is unchanged. We lead high-impact projects for our state agency partner on reservoir fisheries, whitetail deer, black bears, elk restoration, alligators, etc, all while training the next generation of biologists

Cooperative Research Units Program Unveils Two Informative Fact Sheets The Cooperative Research Units Program is excited to release two new fact sheets: “A Hawk’s View of 2024” and “10-Year Overview.” The fact sheets highlight our program’s success in training of the nex...

Fam — here’s a nice overview of the 43 nationwide Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Units, which have been a lasting model for wildlife research since the 1930s, created by wildlife science pioneers such as Aldo Leopold & Ding Darling. 🐟🦌🦆🦃🦎

Link: wildlifemanagement.institute/outdoor-news...

My master’s was on the New River endemic fishes, so let me know if you ever want any tips on where to snorkel

Lots of hypotheses for richness but leading ones are,
- not being glaciated
- stream captures & re-routing
- relatively stable geologic history
- lots of different rocks types
- topographic diversity
- really big river networks that all come together near Memphis
- abundance of water thru time

More:
- Why does freshwater fish species richness differ between Pacific & Atlantic drainages of the Americas? (2018)
- Fishes of the Central Appalachians (1972) by Bob Jenkins.

The “New” River drainage is fascinating. It’s a time capsule for coolwater endemics, including 3 endemic darters

Lots of them:
- Intro of Fishes of VA (1994)
- Zoogeography of freshwater fishes of the SE US (1986)
- A diverse & endangered aquatic ecosystem of the southeast US (1995)
- Conservation of stream fishes: patterns of diversity, rarity, & risk (1988)
- species & speciation in phylogenetic systematics

First blooms of the year, Robins Plantain

Y’all — I went in an absolute native plant bender last fall having planted >75 native wildflowers & shrubs species in gardens around my house in Chatham Co, NC. First bloom of the year is … Robin’s Plantain — a hardy ground-cover that can even grow in dry-shade micro-habitats 🌱 😎

Climbing aster

Climbing aster

Climbing aster

Got way into native plant gardening in 2024. Pleased to see my Carolina Climbing Aster still blooming Jan 1. Here’s to happy plantings & tons of pollinators in 2025 🐝 🦋 🐦

I caught this interview on my commute in yesterday morning. Super insightful. Nice job!

A conversation with Ryan Emanuel, author of 'On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice' Ryan Emanuel is a member of the Lumbee Tribe and a professor of hydrology at Duke University. He talks with Jeff Tiberii about his book, On the Swamp, in a wide-ranging and also personal conversation ...

ICYMI (like I did, since I'm at #AGU24)

Interview w/ Jeff Tiberii on WUNC's Due South is online! We had a wide-range conversation about climate change, colonialism, #Indigenous survival, & resilience - threads that run throughout my book, #OnTheSwamp

@wunc.bsky.social
www.wunc.org/show/due-sou...

North Carolina State University is hiring a tenure track assistant or associate professor of watershed hydrology! This is a great place to work and live. Details below. 👇
jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/210... #academicJobs #academicSky #PhdChat #AGU24 #NCSU #Forestry #NaturaResources

For the love of suckers: scientific benefits of engaging volunteers to monitor migrations and advocate for native non-game fishes - Environmental Biology of Fishes Suckers (Catostomidae) are the most abundant migratory fishes in the Laurentian Great Lakes region, but they are understudied and underappreciated given their important roles in ecosystems. To overcom...

Hey everyone - thanks for joining me here. I'd love to take the opportunity to share my most recent publication. Check out the power of volunteers to collect critical information on our most abundant group of migratory fishes in the Great Lakes! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I think that’s a Flathead Chub in the upper right. Wild that this was among the most abundant fish in the pre-channelization lower Missouri River. Now it’s extirpated from the lower Missouri R post channelization. The historical fish collection at Mizzou has jars of these but I’ve never seen one IRL

Northern pikeminnow, a cool native fish that is often made a scapegoat for declining salmon runs.

Salmon running this morning in Carkeek Park, Seattle. There was quite a crowd gathered to cheer them on (because how can you not).

Conceptual diagram showing our funded research plan, from ecosystem ecology to population and organismal ecology, focused on understanding the influence of climate change and deforestation on reach/microhabitat biogeochemistry, hellbender population density and age structure, and individual hellbender fitness and behavior (parental self-care vs. self-maintenance, cannibalism). Images show reach-scale river microhabitats that support fish, mussels, and hellbenders with dissolved oxygen sensors deployed at the stream bottom and within the water column; different ages of hellbenders in a population; different life stages of hellbenders; and predictive plots for how dissolved oxygen will vary over space and time due to respiration, declines in population density and increasing % of old adults with cannibalism, the trade-off between self-maintenance and parental care with changes in dissolved oxygen due to predicted increases in cannibalism with decreasing oxygen levels.

Are you or someone you know looking for a funded MS or PhD position in freshwater ecology starting August 2025? Consider applying to work with me & collaborate on a project linking river oxygen dynamics with freshwater biodiversity. More info/how to apply: www.hotchkisslab.com/opportunitie... 💧🌎👩‍🔬

striped phase Fantail darter resting on gravel near a large cobble in an aquarium

infant watching stream fishes in an aquarium, including minnows, suckers, and darters

What would you like to see in a new version of the Habitat Evaluation chapter of Analysis and Interpretation of Freshwater Fisheries Data? #TeamFish
The term "habitat" is used in myriad ways...keen to make this revision a useful reference for students and practitioners! Reskeet please!

Pleasant Mother’s Day walk along the Eno River, NC ❤️❤️