George Spangler

I am especially interested in fish populations of the Great Lakes and the cool water fish communities of Minnesota's larger lakes. Impacts of exploitation on fish communities and the effects of exotic species on endemic fauna are also special interests. I anticipate that the "biochronology" of fishes, i.e. reading the environmental history of fish from growth increments in bones and otoliths, will provide insights into the effects of management and the ecology of freshwater fishes. My biochronology research group is currently exploring the use of this technology in interpreting the holarctic ecology of several species of freshwater fish. We are currently developing a new age determination method for fish using growth increments to define "temporal signatures" useful in studies of fish ecology and archaeometry. Most of my students do research that is quantitative or statistical in nature, sometimes including computer programming and simulation modeling. I am also interested in natural resources policy issues including Native American fish and wildlife management, conflict resolution, and the efficacy of freshwater fishery management. Further details of research in progress may be found on the Internet at my professional interests web site. 

Keywords

Population dynamics of fish in large lake systems, Native American fish and wildlife management, and biochronology of fishes