Paul Venturelli

Research in my lab combines experimentation, field data, modeling, and theory to examine the role that life history traits play in shaping the population dynamics of fishes that are of interest to management or conservation. We then use this information to evaluate and propose different options for species management, recovery, or control. For example, can northern populations sustain more fishing mortality than southern ones? Which fishing regulation is most sustainable in populations in which large fish are more reproductively valuable than small ones? On which life stage(s) should we focus in order to maximize our impact on the population dynamics of an endangered or invasive species? Ongoing projects include the use of degree-days to describe life history and predict sustainable harvest across a landscape, the growth and mortality in sea turtles and sharks, induced nest failure as a mechanism for controlling invasive smallmouth bass, the impact of an emerging disease (Heterosporosis) on yellow perch, and data collection via angler smartphone apps.