2011 Graduate Laerm Award Winners

The recipient of the 2011 Joshua Laerm Academic Support Award for Graduate Students is Rachel Katz. Rachel is conducting her doctoral research under the direction of Dr. Mary Freeman, US Geological Survey. Rachel is investigating the natural history of stream fishes and how hydrologic processes affect dispersal, connectivity, and population persistence within and among tributary systems. She is examining the genetics of the yellowfin shiner (Notropis lutipinnis) to explore the population structure of this non-migratory fish and the relative importance of distance, topology, geomorphology, stream flow, migration, and gene flow on this fish within the Upper Flint River Basin, Georgia. The objective is to determine how populations persist despite hydrologic variability and fragmentation.