Fluvial Fishes Lab Year in Review, by Don Orth

Before the calendar changes, let's look back on 2019.  Long ago I adopted Author D.S. Mixell's  New Year's resolution: “...to never make New Year's resolutions. Hell, it's been the only resolution I've ever kept!”   I am required to create an electronic Faculty Activity Report (eFAR), not to make resolutions. Most colleges and universities have an electronic data base designed to make reporting as tedious and uninteresting as possible.  While it serves for annual merit review purposes, it's format and requirements are annual reminders of the creeping and creepy corporatization of the university. 

"The corporate university's language of new findings, technology transfer, knowledge economy, grant generation, frontier research, efficiency, and accountability dominates how academic scholarship is now framed both within the institution and outside it." Berg and Seeber (2017)

Calvin, from Calvin and  Hobbes, has plenty to say about resolutions.  Watterson (1988).

Two years ago while working on my eFAR, I took a break to visit Virginia Tech's Animal Hospital carrying a dead Freshwater Drum Aplodinotus grunniens. It was destined for the x-ray machine. My Ichthyology students had an easy time finding the lucky stones with the help of this radiograph (below), showing the large ear bone behind the eye socket and under the brain case. Large otoliths in the Freshwater Drum are called lucky stones, which are often found washed up on the river banks or lakeshores.  I have no lucky stones in my pocket, but do keep a lucky fish scale in my wallet.

Lateral view of Freshwater Drum radiograph. 

The Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia chapters of the American Fisheries Society met in Blacksburg for a joint annual meeting.  The first-day workshop focused on R3 Initiatives to Recruit, Reactivate, and Retain anglers.  John Arway, retired Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, was our keynote speaker. John shared his experiences and questioned whether the North American model of conservation is still relevant for the 21st century (hint: it's not).  Ever since this session, I've had the word "relevance" buzzing around in my head.  Can I find messages of relevancy for my eFARS?  Jane Lubchenco, Tyler Laureate and former NOAA administrator and distinguished University professor,  wrote that:  “Scientists need to make their research more relevant, more understandable, more connected to people's lives. I believe this is part of the way to address our ‘post truth’ world.”  Science and society are linked and making work relevant is not as easy as it sounds. Many debate how scientific findings should be shared and by whom.  

John Arway presents keynote address to AFS chapters meeting in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Hae Kim, BS 2017, won the coveted fertility fish hat at the annual chapter raffle. 

I hope my teaching and scholarship is relevant beyond the classroom.  Virginia Tech Ichthyology is a public Facebook group that has topped 1,020 group members this year.  Members greatly enrich novice student experiences in Ichthyology.  Students are reminded daily of how others are making a living and finding enrichment through fishes.  Students posted relevant assignments to Facebook, including the Ichthyologist of the Week.  Virginia Tech Ichthyology class blog is viewed by people around the world each day and provides an outlet for relevant student writings.  Please share these outlets with others who may find them relevant.   

Ichthyology class, spring 2019, with Mahi Mahi Coryphaena hippurus.

Andrew Bartee (left) and Emma Hultin (right) are excited about capturing a colorful Luxilus!

Hanna Moreland (right) and Emma Hultin (left) examine live fish in a photo box.  We can never have enough field trips to learn more about the fishes.

Ichthyology class at the wet and sweaty end-of-semester field trip. 

Relevance in Virginia Tech’s strategic plan means commitment to a comprehensive global land grant mission and transdisciplinary learning and engagement.  Every day we connect with students in ways that transcend the classroom experience. It's called the Virginia Tech Difference, which relies on a globally relevant campus experience that has a life-long influence on students. At the annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Reno, Nevada, I was honored to receive the 2019 Excellence in Public Outreach Award.  Relevance depends on writing for many audiences, and not just for the few scientists in my own narrow field of interest. Even introverts can do public outreach and I hope my students will be inspired to explore innovative methods to reach a broader audience.

Executive Director of AFS, Doug Austen, congratulates me on 2019 Excellence in Public Outreach Award, in Reno, Nevada. Photo by Valerie Orth.

The long-awaited Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia was released by Johns Hopkins University Press in September.  Many relevant lessons were learned while creating this new book. Ben Aaronovitch wrote, “There’s nothing quite like Latin for disguising the fact that you’re making it up as you go along.” Seriously, getting all the scientific and common names correct and up-to-date was harder than we expected.   New fish facts are discovered each day and we may not learn about them unless and until we attend fish conferences.  Get a copy and learn what's new in the world of Virginia's freshwater fishes.  Book reviews by Matthew L. Miller,  Bruce Ingram, and Scott Smith (2019) suggest that you shouldn't collect fish without it.

Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia was published in September 2019.   Photo by Pat Cooney. 

Even the Hokie Bird needs a copy of the Field Guide. Photo by Valerie Orth.

I wrote a 38-page letter (March 15, 2019) to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in response to their request for input on study plans for re-licensing the Byllesby-Buck Dam Hydroproject Pre-Application Document (FERC NO. 2514). There's no place to put this in the eFAR--it's "other professional activities." However, environmental effects of the hydroproject operations will be altered because the power company installed new gates that allow more control of water levels.  Consequently, new studies are needed during the re-licensing process so that FERC may balance environmental protection and power production.  These two dams block the upstream migrations of many fishes, including the Walleye, a unique strain and the target of restoration. Walleye eggs from this unique river-spawning population have 65% larger volume, an adaptive trait for living in less productive waters. Byllesby and Buck dams flood presumed historic spawning habitats and block their migrations.  For more relevant background on the New River ecosystem, read this conference paper from the 2019 New River symposium. 

Buck Dam and bypass reach. Photo taken March 20, 2019 by Don Orth.

Former and current lab members are moving on. Corbin and Lindsey Hilling were blessed with the birth of Penelope Hilling (photo below).  Rebecca Bourquin defended her Master's thesis, Genetic Diversity and Population Fragmentation of Chrosomus sp. cf. saylori (Clinch Dace). Ryan McManamay, PhD 2011, left his position at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and moved to become an Assistant Professor at Baylor University in August.  Zach Moran, BS 2015, began a PhD program at Baylor University.  Hunter Hatcher, BS 2016, left Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to take a Fisheries Biologist position with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in Farmville.   Skylar Wolf, BS 2017, completed his MS at Oklahoma State University and begins a new job as fisheries biologist at the Utah Division of Wildlife in Logan, Utah.

Penelope Hilling was born on October 30.  Congratulations to Corbin and Lindsey. 

The top viewed blog post of 2019 was How Old Do Flathead Catfish Get? This post was relevant to over 1,700 viewers.  In June, Timmy Dixon posted a photo (below) of a 62 pound Flathead Catfish caught on a trotline in the New River.  This photo generated much interest because Smallmouth Bass, not Flathead Catfish, are the top targeted sport fish in the upper New River.  Flathead Catfish are targeted by trotline fishers in a hidden fishery.  Corbin Hilling removed the otolith and counted 25 annual rings. The hidden population of Flathead Catfish is well known by trot liners and those who SCUBA dive in the New River.  Watch this short underwater video by SCUBA divers in the deep whirl hole in Eggleston, Virginia (video posted by Charles Horton).  Many other relevant writings for the general public were posted in ChesapeakeCatfish.com.

Flathead Catfish caught in July 2019 from New River near Fries, Virginia. For comparison, Timmy Dixon (pictured here) stands 6 feet, 4 inches

Finally, the Fluvial Fishes Lab was renovated in 2019.

BEFORE photo of Fluvial Fishes Lab. I'm ready to move out so renovations can begin. Last renovation was a drop ceiling and upgraded electrical. Otherwise plumbing, air, water and paint is original from 1970 s when Cheatham Hall was opened @vt_fishwild @HollyKindsvater pic.twitter.com/cxudyLglYO

— Fluvial Fishes Lab (@donaldorth) July 19, 2019

Here is a photo during the renovation.

Fluvial Fishes Lab in September.

Relevant Publications in 2019 (I can pluck these right into my eFARS!)

Bugas, P.B., Jr., C.D. Hilling, V. Kells, M.J. Pinder, D.A. Wheaton, and D.J. Orth. 2019.  Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia.  Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland.  200 pp.  

Hilling, C.D., A.J. Bunch, J.A. Emmel, J.D. Schmitt, and D.J. Orth. 2019. Growth and mortality of invasive Flathead Catfish in the tidal James River, Virginia. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 10(2):641-652.

Orth, D.J. 2019. Socrates opens a Pandora’s Box of Northern Snakehead issues. Pages 203-221 in J.S. Odenkirk and D.C. Chapman, editors.  First International Snakehead Symposium. American Fisheries Society Symposium 89, Bethesda, Maryland. 

Orth, D.J. 2019. Fish, fishing, and ecosystem services and dysfunctions in the New River.  New River Symposium. Boone, North Carolina.  18 pp.

Schmitt, J.D., B.K. Peoples, L. Castello, and D.J. Orth. 2019. Feeding ecology of generalist consumers: a case study of invasive blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, USA. Environmental Biology of Fishes 102:443-465.  

Schmitt, J.D, J.A. Emmel, A.J. Bunch, C.D. Hilling, and D.J. Orth. 2019. Feeding ecology and distribution of an invasive apex predator: Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris in subestuaries of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, USA. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 39:390-402.  

Schmitt, J.D., B.K. Peoples, A.J. Bunch, L. Castello, and D.J. Orth. 2019. Modeling the Predation Dynamics of Invasive Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus in Chesapeake Bay. Fishery Bulletin 117(4):277-290.  

Stang, S.A., C.D. Hilling, and D.J. Orth. 2019. Lessons learned from 35 years of students organizing the mudbass classic. Fisheries 44(3):115-117.

  

There are so many ways to disseminate research findings so that they are are relevant to broader segments of society (below).  The bewildering number of options may discourage one from the activities entirely. However, it is our personal responsibility to make choices about the audience and mode of communications to be used.   

Possible approaches to research dissemination arrayed by size of audience and mode of communication.  From Gould et al. (2019).

So it's time to celebrate the end of 2019 and the end of the decade of the 2010s. This 'Slow Professor' plans many more timeless times, detours, and delays in 2020.  Timeless times are needed for me to think critically and creatively. These slow times counteract the notions of efficiency, productivity, and speed that creep into the corporatized university.  Things may not go as hoped, but that's okay.

from Berkeley Breathed

References

Berg, M., and B.K. Seeber. 2017. The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy. University of Toronto Press. 136 pp.  

Gould, R.K., K.J. Coleman, D.H. Krymkowski, I. Zafira, T.Gibbs-Plessl, and A. Doty. 2019. Broader impacts in conservation research. Conservation Science and Practice DOI: 10.1111/csp2.108

Smith, S. 2019. Review of Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia. American Currents 44(4):27. 

Watterson, B. 1988. The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury.  Andrew McMeels Publishers, 256 pp.