Although dogs and cats are the most recognizable pets in the United States, did you know, freshwater fishes are the most popular pets by number?
Author: Solomon R David
Aquatic Ecologist
Stalking the Elusive Shoal Bass
Guest Author: Amy Cottrell Editor: Solomon David The sun began creeping up over the tree tops and casting morning shadows and specks of daylight on the water surface, slowly lighting up more and more of the heavily vegetated creek bank. We paddled the quiet corridor, antenna rotating side to side in front of me as…
SciComm, the Next Generation: #GARkansas
Science communication is surprisingly diverse, a necessity in order to be effective. “Scicomm’ers” engage diverse audiences (e.g. students, stakeholders, other scientists) using diverse methods (e.g. journals, social media, town hall meetings), but communicators themselves come from a variety of backgrounds, including ages. Over the past year I’ve been inspired by one of the next generation’s…
A Conference Angle: From Socialization to Publication
Conference season is upon us, and the national meeting of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) is fast approaching! Here at The Fisheries Blog, we’ve shared posts on the value of professional conferences, as well as a student’s guide to networking at conferences (I recommend reading both prior to your next conference). I’d like to share…
Jurassic World Fishes [Swimming Today]
Sharp teeth, bizarre shapes, gargantuan sizes, and a family tree that dates back over 100 million years…I’m not talking about dinosaurs, but ancient freshwater fishes! Twenty-five years ago today (June 11, 1993), Jurassic Park debuted in theaters. That date is fossilized in my mind because I recorded the trailer on VHS (wow, talk about ancient)…
World Fish Migration Day – Geaux Fish!
“Connecting fish, rivers, and people” is the overarching theme of World Fish Migration Day, a global event on April 21, 2018. Among the primary goals of World Fish Migration Day (WFMD) are to raise awareness of the importance of migratory fishes, as well as calling for action to safeguard and restore free-flowing waterways. This Saturday…
Fisheries Science “Unplugged”
If a sturgeon leaps from the water and no one’s there to tweet about it, does it make a splash? Earlier this week, fellow Nicholls State University biology professor Dr. Gary LaFleur Jr. sent me photos from his biomarkers class after they “went off the grid”. Students took pirogues (a type of canoe) to a…
Blog Biodiversity: Related Species in the Scicomm Ecosystem
It’s my first semester teaching Evolution & Ecology at Nicholls State University; with plenty of challenging and complex topics to tackle, I’ve also been given the latitude to integrate more science communication (scicomm) into this upper-level biology course. We’ve included Twitter and popular science articles alongside analyses of natural selection, genetic drift, and traditional scientific…
Birds vs Fish
These days, many scientists stand unified on several topics, including the defense of science itself. But it’s also good to know that scientists still have a sense of humor, and that some scientific debates can be entertaining, educational, and accessible, all at the same time. Enter “Birds vs Fish”, an ongoing feud largely played out…
A Breath of Fish Air
I recently migrated from Michigan to Louisiana to join the faculty at Nicholls State University as assistant professor. Moving from the Great Lakes to the bayou is inevitably laced with logistical concerns; in this case they included mobilizing myself, my wife, all our stuff, and…my fishes. That’s a two-day trip across ~1200 miles, but I…
