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Research Faculty, Staff and Students

This page contains brief biographies of the multifaceted individuals who make up the "Crew." It takes a unique combination of talents to achieve continued success, and that is exactly what these people have contributed.

Dr. Robert Cashner along with being Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs for the University of New Orleans, is also Dean of the Graduate School, Director of information Technology, and a Research Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. His research interests include systematics, ecology, and zoogeography of freshwater and marine fishes.

Dr. Martin O'Connell is the director of the Nekton Research Laboratory, as well as the graduate student advisor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department. He is the principal investigator for our current Chandeleur Island, Lake Pontchartrain and rare and diadromus fishes surveys. He earned his Ph.D. from The University of Southern Mississippi where his dissertation research addressed the exploitation of inundated floodplains by fishes of low order, blackwater streams. His research interests include fish ecology, fish behavior, and the conservation of freshwater fishes and mussels.

Fish Assemblage Stability Over Fifty Years in the Lake Application of a diffusion model to describe a recent invasion: Observations and insights concerning early stages of expansion for the introduced Rio Grande Cichlid

Chris Schieble "Chief" is the Senior Research Biologist for all the current research projects including, the Chandeleur Islands, rare and diadromus fishes, and Lake Pontchartrain surveys. He has conducted field sampling for nekton, benthos and phytoplankton on Lake Pontchartrain since 1996, while completing over 2600 collections in that estuary. He earned his B.S. from The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 1993 and his M.S. from UNO in 1998. His research interests include: life histories of freshwater and marine fishes, hurricane impacts on saltwater seagrass fish assemblages, and temporal and spatial patterns of fish distribution in an estuary.

Use of hurricane generated wash-over corridors by fishes at the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana: preliminary data on potential ecological impacts and fish interactions FACTORS AFFECTING HIGH YIELDS OF FISHES IN DIURNAL AND NOCTURNAL TRAWLS OF THE LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN ESTUARY: GEAR AVOIDANCE AND NOCTURNAL BEHAVIOR. New occurrences of fishes in Lake Pontchartrain: a comparison with historical data over the last half-century Impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Ivan on the Fish and Invertebrate Assemblages in Seagrass Communities of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana.

Jeffrey VanVrancken is a Research Associate III and former graduate student who worked on the rare and diadromus fishes project. Jeff's thesis research included electrofishing surveys of various streams and bayous that enter Lake Pontchartrain to discover which species of fish are utilizing both habitats before and after Hurricane Katrina. Jeff is also incorporating a more detailed and exhaustive survey of Bayou Lacombe to look for long term trends in the fish assemblage. In particular the instability of that system and the possible extirpation of two freshwater minnow species, Cyrinella venusta and Notropis texanus. Below are some of his research presentations:

Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the fish assemblage of Bayou Lacombe, Louisiana Fish assemblage dynamics of four Lake Pontchartrain Basin streams: responses to hurricane impacts Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the fish assemblage of Bayou Lacombe, LA. Short and Long-term Changes in the Fish Assemblages of Bayou Lacombe, Louisiana.

Tom Lorenz is a graduate student working on the Rio Grande Cichlid project. He received his bachelors degree at Western Michigan University in 1994 and then spent most of the next four years as a field biologist. Two of those years were spent on the Kissimmee River Restoration project where he monitored populations of herpetofauna, small mammals, and insects. From 1998 to 2001 he worked on his Master's degree at Southeastern Louisiana University. Tom worked on projects with protected species such as the dusky gopher frog (Rana sevosa) and the yellow blotched map turtle (Graptemys flavimaculata) and ultimately studied the reproductive cycle of the Southern water snake (Nerodia fasciata). From 2001 to 2003 he taught basic biology and comparative anatomy at Southeastern Louisiana. From 2003 to the present he has been teaching with Upward Bound at the university as well. Presently he is working towards his PhD in Conservation Biology at the University of New Orleans, studying the invasive Rio Grande cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus).
Sunny Brogan is a master's student in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. She earned her B.Sc. from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2003. Sunny's thesis research investigates the spatial and temporal distribution of redfish (Sciaenops ocellatus) introduced into Bayou St. John, a semi-artificial water-body in the heart of New Orleans. To determine where the redfish are she tracks them using a sonar hydrophone which detects signals from external sonic telemetry tags attached to the animals. The goal of her research is to assess the ability of these introduced gamefish to survive in an urban fishery like Bayou St. John. Results from her research will help decide the direction of future management efforts within this system. Sunny's other interests include land loss issues in Louisiana and related impacts on local fisheries.

Chad Ellinwood is a Master's student in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department who is interested in Assemblage change, transgressive movement, and recruitment of fishes of the Chandeleur Islands pre/post Katrina ; Ecology of fishes of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin and Northern Gulf of Mexico ; Ecology of seagrass beds ; Physiological and ecological effects of hypoxia on estuarine fauna ; evolution, ice ages and extictions, astronomy, natural sciences and history. Chad received his bachelors of science from Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond Louisiana. Below are some of his research presentations;

Use of hurricane generated wash-over corridors by fishes at the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana: preliminary data on potential ecological impacts and fish interactions.

 
Scott Eustis is a Master's student in Earth and Environmental
Sciences, and a recently re-introduced species from the University of
Georgia. His interests include adaptive management, population
modelling, and ecosystem and restoration ecology. He is currently
working on a project to assess the impact of fisheries by-catch on the
fish assemblage of the Lake Ponchartrain system, and does outreach for
the New Orleans chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology.
 
Lissa Lyncker is a graduate student working on the early life history and larval recuitment of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, within the Pontchartrain estuary system. Lissa is utilizing satellite imagery and remote sensing techniques to better understand the role that wind and currents play on the movement patterns and settling areas for larval blue crabs. Lissa earned her bachelors of science from Loyola University, New Orleans.