Latest News
MSU Kennedy Chair produces 2022-2023 annual report
Download the 2022-2023 Kennedy Chair Annual Report.
Kennedy students participate in 25 year study
Kennedy students were able to participate in a 25 year study led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Alaska District and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region.
This year's research team was composed of two scholars from Mississippi State University—Riley Porter, graduate student, and George Williams, undergraduate student.
Read more at https://www.army.mil/article/259604
Students
Ph.D. Students
Stephen A. Clements - Ph.D.
Hometown: Mt. Pleasant, SC
Previous Education: Mississippi State University, Master of Science (M.S.), Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture (2019)
Clemson University, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Environmental and Natural Resources (2016)
Dissertation: Waterfowl Diets and Winter Foraging Habitat in South Atlantic Coastal and Inland Wetlands: Improving Inputs for Bioenergetics Modeling for Regional Conservation Planning
Stephen is evaluating diets of migrating and wintering waterfowl using South Atlantic wetlands and estimating the forage biomass and energetic density provided to waterfowl by those wetlands. This work will improve carrying capacity modeling efforts by the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture and its partners, who strive to meet population-based habitat objectives set by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.Masters Students
Avery J. Wissmueller - M.S.
Hometown: Detroit, MI
Previous Education: Grand Valley State University, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Natural Resources Management (2021)
Avery is part of the development of an ecological monitoring and assessment framework for the NRCS Wetland Reserve Easement program. For her thesis, she is assessing water quality and phytoplankton presence from 38 study sites. She is measuring several infield water quality indicators and analyzes nutrient concentrations and algae presence from water samples in the lab. Before her time at MSU, Avery worked for Ducks Unlimited as a GIS Intern to update the National Wetlands Inventory for Michigan and West Virginia.Sharilyn Taylor - M.S.
Hometown: Jacksonville, FL
Previous Education: University of North Florida, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Biology (2013)
Sharilyn has a diversity of experience including monitoring tortoise populations in Florida, trapped snakes and sampled blood, participated in various marsh ecology work in Ponte Vedra, FL, and designed undergraduate honey bee research project while an undergraduate student.Riley Porter - M.S.
Hometown: Athens, GA
Previous Education: Brigham Young University, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation
At MSU, Riley is studying nesting ecology of the Common Goldeneye and other cavity nesting waterfowl of the Boreal Forest in Central-Interior Alaska.Hunter Mentges - M.S.
Hometown: Trappe, MD
Collaborating with the Poultry Science unit at Mississippi State, Hunter is measuring egg strength and thickness of 3 different species of cavity nesting waterfowl (Wood duck (Aix sponsa, Hooded merganser Lophodytes cucullatus, and Black-bellied whistling ducks Dendrocygna autumnalis) to better understand nest box ecology of all 3 species.Madelyn B. McFarland - M.S.
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
Previous Education: Louisiana State University, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Natural Resource Ecology and Management (2017)
I was born and raised in south Louisiana where I attended LSU for my undergraduate degree. After graduation, I worked as a technician on a nesting Brown Pelican research project in Southwest Louisiana. From there I left home and traveled to Michigan to begin my new role as Conservation Intern with Ducks Unlimited in the Great Lakes/Atlantic Region. I assisted in the delivery of DU's conservation program across the 21-state region, but I was particularly fond of our work in the coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes. I knew I wanted to continue working in coastal wetlands, so when I was offered a position to assess marsh terrace restoration in south Louisiana, I jumped at the bit. I am assessing the restoration benefits of marsh terraces for coastal Louisiana's avifauna (wintering waterfowl and breeding secretive marsh birds). I have recently accepted a position as a Biologist with DU Illinois in the Big Rivers Initiative. I am excited to continue my work with DU and to apply what I've learned as a master's student at Mississippi State University.Haley M. Hughes - M.S.
Hometown: Hattiesburg, MS
Previous Education: Mississippi State University, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture (2018)
"My research will be assessing how native bee communities respond to seasonal wetland management that has been historically used to promote food sources for migrating waterfowl. I will also be assessing how the presence of red imported fire ants affects native, ground nesting bee communities. Before returning to MSU for my master's degree, I worked a variety of internships and jobs across the eastern United States. My experiences include working with white-tailed deer, red-cockaded woodpeckers, gopher tortoises, dusky gopher frogs, and black pine snakes. While working with these diverse species, I developed an interest in habitat management and prescribed fire. I am excited to be working with wetlands and native bees and the broader wildlife conservation field."Kara Hall - M.S.
Hometown: Rocky River, OH
Previous Education: Virginia Tech, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Wildlife Conservation (2019)
My research involves an ecological monitoring framework and assessment of wetland reserve easements in Mississippi and Louisiana. Specifically, I am focused on monitoring waterbird, songbird, and aquatic macroinvertebrate abundance and diversity across 38 study sites. Prior to joining the team at MSU, I spent a few years as a seasonal biotechnician in several regions of the United States, working on research projects that included black brant, mallards, trumpeter swans, grey fantails, and sagebrush songbirds.Duncan Fraser - M.S.
Hometown: Rolesville, NC
Previous Education: North Carolina State University, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology (2021)
My research at Mississippi State studies the response of shorebirds and other migratory waterbirds to wetland restoration actions in various National Wildlife Refuges and Wildlife Management Areas in the Mississippi Delta. Between graduating from NC State and joining MSU, I worked on a variety of avian monitoring projects. After graduating, I worked in the Florida Keys conducting Roseate Spoonbill and Reddish Egret nest surveys with Audubon. Following that, I conducted avian point counts on multiple projects in Fort Bragg, NC, and in southern Indiana. Most recently, I worked for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, serving as the Coastal Plain crew lead for the North Carolina Bird Atlas.