Latest News
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
MSU Kennedy Chair produces 2020-2021 annual report
Download the 2020-2021 Kennedy Chair Annual Report.
What's the buzz?
A new paper is out from our research describing an uncommon bee in Mississippi. It is the first record of a specimen from this species displaying morphological characteristics of both males and females. And perhaps most unique about this finding is that the bee was found using sunflowers (mid-June 2016) planted for dove or other hunting the following fall.
Faculty
Dr. J. Brian Davis
Brian joined Mississippi State’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Aquaculture in August 2009. Brian grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and began hunting ducks and Canada geese as a youth in northern Missouri. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a B.S. Degree in Wildlife Management in 1986. Brian gained wetland management experience during summers and immediately upon graduation with the Missouri Department of Conservation. From 1988-1994, Brian worked for the California Waterfowl Association on wintering and breeding duck research, a statewide wood duck nest box program, writing management plans for private duck clubs, and conducted other educational outreach. Brian attended Mississippi State University from 1994-2001, and earned M.S. (1998) and Ph.D. (2001) degrees studying breeding and brood rearing wood ducks and other aspects of wood duck ecology. After departing Mississippi State in 2001, Brian worked as a Regional Biologist for Ducks Unlimited in Little Rock, Arkansas, and more recently in Lafayette, Louisiana (January-July, 2009). Brian helped deliver various conservation programs that restored and protected bottomland hardwood forests and other wetlands. Brian also frequently spoke publicly on behalf of DU conservation programs and assisted private landowners with wetland management, wrote NAWCA proposals, and participated in major gift fundraising. Brian’s research interests are broad yet focused on waterfowl and wetland ecology and management in the Lower Mississippi Valley and elsewhere in North America. Brian has published a number of articles in The Journal of Wildlife Management, Wetlands, and other scientific outlets, as well as numerous popular articles based on his and other scientists’ research. Additionally, Brian has presented numerous invited and contributed papers at scientific and outreach venues, has helped garner several million dollars in research and conservation grants, and has played primary roles in organizing and conducting youth waterfowl hunting workshops for DU and MSU in the past. Brian will be responsible for teaching Waterfowl Ecology and Management, Wetlands Ecology and Management, and Wildlife Techniques and developing a productive research and service program in the department and in association with the James C. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation.
Melanie R. Boudreau
Dr. Melanie Boudreau is a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture at Mississippi State University. A native from New Brunswick, Canada, she has had a passion for wildlife since a young age thanks to her dad, who frequently took her out camping, fishing, and hunting; activities she still enjoys doing to this day. She obtained her BSc from the University of New Brunswick, and went on to study community interactions in Atlantic intertidal systems, with a particular focus on common Eiders, as part of her MSc work at Mount Allison University. Subsequently, her PhD research through Trent University focused on indirect predation effects and how they contribute to the iconic hare-lynx cycles in the Canadian boreal forest. Since then, she has worked at Mississippi State and now uses her experience working with large datasets, along with her broad quantitative skills, to create readily applicable conservation products for the wide variety of stakeholders she works with. Her current research has a strong focus on animal movement and distributions, invasive species mitigation, and understanding human-wildlife conflicts.