fisheries & wildlife sciences · tool sets, and vacation rentals. the fund - raising event was...

INDEXSouthern ASF meeting 3Upcoming frog workshops 4More snow in Triangle 6 Purchase wildlife photos 7

Banding oystercatchers 5NCWF scholarship winners 7Nyeema Harris wins emerging leader conservation award 7

Asia Murphy wins Thomas L. Quay Award 8Student publications and presentations 10-11

Bull Neck tour

Early successional habitat at Bull Neck Swamp.

Department and Program Information and Faculty AchievementsFisheries & Wildlife Sciences

oNliNe at http://cNr.Ncsu.edu/fer/fishwild/fwNews.html Volume 7, issue 1 march 1, 2010

NC STATE UNIVERSITY

Photos courtesy of Colter Chitwood Aimee Rockhill and Dr. Chris DePerno lead a tour of Bull Neck Swamp Research Forest during the 2010 NC TWS meeting.

Aimee Rockhill (Ph. D. student)and Dr. Chris DePerno led a tour of the Bull Neck Swamp Research For-est at the 2010 North Carolina Chap-ter of The Wildlife Society Annual Meeting. Approximately 30 people attended the tour, which focused on wildlife and habitat management of

the property. Management activities discussed included prescribed fire and timber harvest. Challenges of managing the property were dis-cussed and included maintenance of the roads and gates, preventing tres-passing, and working with local hunt clubs.

InsIde: Colter Chitwood receives Ken Wilson Memorial Award. Page 2

The North Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society 2010 Ken Wilson Memorial Award for a student is presented to an outstanding wildlife students at NCSU and Haywood Com-munity College.

For NCSU, this year’s Ken Wilson Memorial Award was pre-sented to M. Colter Chitwood in recognition of his past activi-ties, his initiative at the academic and professional level, and his commitment to wildlife conservation. Colter is an excellent stu-dent and is presently pursuing a Master’s degree, working on a white-tailed deer project in Hoffmann Forest. He is a member of The Wildlife Society, the North Carolina Chapter of The Wild-life Society, and the Leopold Wildlife Club. His work is charac-terized by professionalism, thoroughness, and enthusiasm. He

has demonstrated supervisory skills, communication skills, and a keen ability to interact with biologists, landowners, and students at all levels. He offers assistance to others with their fieldwork. For several years, he has been an important liaison between the Leopold Wildlife Club and the Quality Deer Management As-sociation. Some of his other activities include helping organize a middle school scavenger hunt at the Dixie Deer Classic; plan-ning and conducting a deer survey in Chapel Hill; actively par-ticipating in Conclave competition; serving as teaching assistant in a summer camp; supervising volunteers in research projects; reviewing manuscripts for professional journals; and helping the Leopold Wildlife Club function smoothly and effectively.

2Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences

chitwood receives ken wilson awardClay Heafner (left) and Colter Chitwood (right) are presented their Ken Wilson Memorial Award by Mark Baranski from Catawba College.

Other awards presented at the TWs ConferenceDr. Chris DePerno took over as President of the NC Chapter of The Wildlife Society.The Ken Wilson Memorial Award for a Haywood Community College student enrolled in the Fish and Wildlife Management program, was presented to Clay Heafner. He displays strong leadership to the entire student body at his school, constantly encouraging his classmates to become actively involved, and is currently serving as Student Chapter President. He has volunteered on numerous field projects, particularly working with biologists of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and coming to be recognized by them for his strong work ethic, positive attitude, and “down to earth” personality.Emily Blackman won the Best Student Presentation at the NCTWS Award Meeting.

The North Carolina Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) hosted the Southern Division meeting for AFS from February 25-28, 2010 in Asheville, North Carolina. Fifteen states attended the meeting with 200+ registered guests which included six faculty and 15 students from the NCSU Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Program. The NCSU Student Subunit of AFS (aka the Student Fisheries Society; SFS) was awarded the 2009 Out-standing Student Subunit Award from the Southern Division of AFS. This marks the third consecutive year that SFS has re-ceived this distinction, and highlights how active the group continues to be in the society, on campus, and with public outreach. Congratulations to all mem-bers, including past presidents Dana Sackett and Zach Feiner and the entire executive committee for all their efforts and superb leadership.

SFS played an integral role at the South-ern Division meeting, participating on all levels. There were seven student present-ers, and numerous volunteers that helped coordinate audio/visual setups, break room preparation, and oral presentation sessions. SFS printed and sold the official meeting t-shirts, a beautiful Asheville trout stream setting designed by Dana Sackett. Also, SFS organized a fundrais-ing raffle and silent auction, chaired by Sarah Friedl, of numerous desirable items including a kayak, rod and reel combos, tool sets, and vacation rentals. The fund-raising event was quite successful, raising over $5000. These funds will serve as the operating budget for community outreach activities, and student travel awards from both SFS and NC AFS. Thanks to the


fw students and faculty shine at southern division afs meeting

SFS members (from left to right, Lindsay Glass, Dana Sackett, Katie Pierson) displaying raffle items.

FW undergraduates Stephen Poland (left) and Kyle Rachels (right) present their research at the poster session.

Please see, afs Page 7

UPCOmIng frOg Call WOrkshOPsHow many frogs and toads call North Carolina home? How do their calls differ? Want to hone your frog ID skills as well as your frog call ID skills? Interested in learning more about the North Carolina Calling Amphibian Survey Program (CASP)? Then plan to attend one of these frog call workshops! 2010 CasP Workshops:

· February 20 - Davidson College, Davidson· March 22 - Core Sound Waterfowl Museum, Harkers Island· March 25 - Cool Springs EE Ctr, New Bern· April 15 - NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island, Manteo· April 26 - Halyburton Park, Wilmingtonmore online: http://www.ncparc.org/casp/casp-wrkshps.htm

for more InformationJeff HallPartners in Amphibian & Reptile Conservation BiologistNC Wildlife Resources Commission405 Lancelot DriveGreenville, NC 27858cell: 252-917-1683http://www.ncparc.org


members, donors, ticket buyers, and bid-ders for making this event a huge success. Our condolences to those who did not win, which includes us, but remember there is always next year!

In addition to the group award and fund-raising success, individuals were honored at the Southern Division meeting. Mi-chael Fisk (MS student advised by Dr. Kwak) earned the Jimmie Pigg Memorial Outstanding Student Achievement Award from the SDAFS Warmwater Streams Technical Committee. Marybeth Brey (PhD student advised by Drs. Rice and Aday) received the Robert M. Jenkins Memorial Reservoir Research Scholar-

ship from the SDAFS Reservoirs Com-mittee. Dan Weaver (MS student ad-vised by Dr. Kwak) was a Runner UP for the Best Student paper Award from the Southern Division AFS for his presenta-tion entitled Effects of Stocked Trout on Native Nongame Riverine Fishes that he

coauthored with his advisor. Ryan Heise (NC Wildlife Resources Commission and Adjunct Assistant Professor in Fish-eries and Wildlife) received the W. Don Baker Award for best professional pre-sentation by the NC AFS for his presen-tation entitled Techniques for Restoring Imperiled Aquatic Species: Assessing the Effects of Dam Removal on a Fresh-water Mussel Assemblage. Drs. Cope and Kwak (FW professors) were Ryan’s coauthors, as well as Chris Eads from the NCSU Vet School.

We encourage membership of SFS (no charge) at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our club builds strong re-lationships not only in academia, but within the community. To learn more about SFS, please visit us on the web at (http://clubs.ncsu.edu/sfs/).

Michael Fisk (right) accepts the Jimmy Pigg Award from Southern Division president Dr. Cecil Jennings.

afs Continued from page 3

Submitted by Ted Simons Professor, Department of Biology

Dr. Steve Dinsmore (MS Zoology NCSU 1994) was visiting from Iowa where he is now a professor at Iowa State. He was joined by another former NCSU student, Gordon Brown (PhD Statistics NCSU 2001), a statistician at the Research Triangle Institute, for some birding on the Outer Banks. Steve was photographing American Oystercatch-ers (Haematopus palliatus) at Cape Hat-teras National Seashore when he no-ticed two color-band birds. Aware that my students and I had been studying Oystercatchers in coastal North Caroli-na for the past 15 years, he emailed some photos wondering if I knew anything about the birds. Since 2000, we have been marking Oystercatchers with unique color bands and collaborating with researchers from Massachusetts to Florida to learn more about these spec-tacular shorebirds whose populations have been declining along the Atlantic coast in recent years. Steve observed Red A3 and an un-banded bird foraging together in the surf, and a third bird, Green 96, nearby. My students, Shiloh Schulte and Jessica Stocking, quickly got to work searching the banding data-

base to determine what we knew about the bird’s history. Shiloh is a PhD can-didate who is completing his disserta-tion on the breeding biology of Ameri-can Oystercatchers and Jessica is a new Master’s student who will carry on the research on the Outer Banks for the next couple of years. They determined that Red A3 was banded as an adult in Geor-gia in 2004 but has been breeding on a dredge spoil island in Oregon Inlet since 2005. Green 96 was the offspring of an-other pair from the same dredge island

who was banded there as a chick in 2006. Green 96 wintered on Anna Ma-ria Key in Tampa Bay last winter, and apparently has been prospecting for a territory on Bodie Island for the past two summers. It is likely that all three birds will depart shortly for wintering areas farther south. Birds from the Out-er Banks have been observed on winter grounds as far away as Cedar Key, Flor-ida, on the Gulf Coast. So the day proved a reunion of sorts for all in-volved.


Reunion at the beachDr. DINsmorE PhotogrAPhs BANDED oystErCAtChErs AloNg thE outEr BANks

Photo courtesty of Dr. steve DinsmoreDr. steve Dinsmore photographed some banded American oystercatchers on the outer Banks.

PhD candidate Shiloh Schulte and M.S. student Jessica Stocking band American Oystercatchers on the Outer Banks.Green 96 wintered on Anna Maria Key in Tampa Bay last winter.


it’s snowing ... again

The Triangle received three snowstorms this year. Following one of the storms, Dr. Nils Peter-son took these photographs of the the paths and native landscaping around Turner House.

Photos courtesy of Dr. Nils Peterson


Ncwf scholarships aNNouNced The North Carolina Wildlife Federation makes several scholarship gifts each year to college and graduate students majoring in environmental science, wildlife, fishery or forest management, and conservation.

mary e. TalleyMary Talley is working on a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife at North Carolina

State University with a concentration in Wildlife. She would like to pursue a grad-uate degree in Entomology and focus on the relationship between insects and ani-mals as it relates to the diversity of ecosystems.

kevin BrownAn undergraduate at North Carolina State University, Kevin Brown is pursuing a

degree in Wildlife Science with a minor in Forest Management. He wishes to gain a career as a wildlife biologist and become a certified forester. He has a keen interest in the outdoors and is a sportsman who volunteers with many youth events teaching hunting ethics, ecology, and wildlife-specific plants

Timothy a. ellis

Timothy Ellis is a Fisheries and Wildlife Ph.D candidate at the NCSU Center for Marine Sciences and Technology. He seeks a career in fisheries science conduct-ing high quality research for fisheries management and conservation. Ellis has conducted marine research of the Albemarle Sound fisheries and serves as a scien-tific advisor to the NC Marine Fisheries Commission on the Spotted Sea trout Fishery Management Plan Advisory Committee.

amy raybuckA graduate student who desires a career in wildlife research and monitoring,

Amy Raybuck is pursing a Master’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on herpetofauna and small mammal population responses to silvicultural practices aimed at oak regeneration in the Southern Appalachians. The research is being conducted on Cold Mountain Gameland in Haywood County, North Carolina.

Charles J. Plush

Charles Plush is a M.S. candidate in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at North Carolina State University. He is studying wildlife use of planted field borders in organic agricultural ecosystems at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The research focuses on native vegetation plantings for beneficial pollinating insects while improving habitat for bobwhite quail and other songbirds.

Please consider donating $10, $15, $25 or more to The nCWf to support wildlife conservation and habitat protection.

harris wiNs emergiNg coNserVatioN leader award from pa. zoo

Nyeema states that experiences early in her life have confirmed her conviction to pursue a career in conservation and ecology. Her single most life-changing event was traveling to Kenya in high school through the Junior Zoo Apprentice Program (JZAP) at the

Philadelphia Zoo. Since graduating high school in P h i l a d e l p h i a , Nyeema has received a B.S. from Virginia

Tech in 2004 and an M.S. from the University of Montana in 2007, both in Wildlife Biology. She has studied species from piping plovers to black bears, from elk to black-footed ferrets.

Nyeema is a Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State University and is working with threatened and endangered carnivores and their associated parasites. Recently, Nyeema has been invited to present her novel and exciting research at conferences in Mexico and China. Currently, she works part-time to evaluate effects of habitat modifications and climate on plant and animal species of conservation concern for the Eastern Region of the US Forest Service. In addition to her scholastic achievements, Nyeema remains active in mentoring and recruiting efforts aimed to increase minority participation in ecology. Nyeema knows her passion for conserving biological diversity will continue as she travels the world studying rare species and disseminating information to the public.

murphy receives 2010 Quay award

Asia Murphy, sophomore student in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, was awarded the 2010. The award honors Professor Emeritus Quay, a leader in conservation in North Car-olina. This summer, Asia plans to work on a project in Guam studying the role of birds in forest regeneration on the Mariana Islands. Also, she plans to fine-tune her ideas for an un-dergraduate research project on the relationships between butterfly di-versity and patch habitat quality.


purchase wildlife priNts Now you can purchase matted 8x10 wildlife prints to benefit the Leopold Wildlife Club. All photos are high-quality prints matted in white 11x14 photo mats suitable for framing. The images are taken by Fisheries & Wildlife students and faculty, donated to our online gallery to benefit the Leopold Wildlife Club. Also, you can send us your best photos to add to our online gallery. PrICes: each print is $20 for local pick-up. $25 for all mail orders. Contact Steve Allen at [email protected] for more information.

http://fisheriesandwildlifedesign.blogspot.com/

fiNd out more aBout scholarships oNliNePlease see the NC State Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences website for additional scholarship opportuni-ties. http:www.cnr.ncsu.edu/fer/fishwild/fwschol.html

Asia Murphy is a sophomore in the Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Program.


Bat Boxes aNd wood duck Boxes

enhance wildlife habitat

wildlife stickers show your support for the N.c. state leopold wildlife club by purchasing a sticker for all of your vehicles. stickers are $7.

If interested contact Dr. Chris DePerno ([email protected])

$50

ProCEEDs BENEFIt thE lEoPolD WIlDlIFE CluBif interested contact dr. chris deperno ([email protected])

$35

research publicationsAyers, C. R., C. S. DePerno, C. E. Moorman, and F. H. Yelverton. 2010. Canada goose weed dispersal and nutrient

loading in turfgrass systems. Online. Applied Turfgrass Science doi:10.1094/ATS-2010-0212-02-RS.

Midway, S. R., T. J. Kwak, and D. D. Aday. 2010. Habitat suitability of the Carolina madtom, an imperiled, en-demic stream fish. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 139:325-338.


publications & presentations

research presentationsAnderson, C. J., M. N. Peterson, D. Cobb, E. Sills, E., and H. Bondell. 2010. Assessing willingness of North Caro-

lina hunters and anglers to increase license fees. Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Eastern 4-H Conference Center, Columbia, North Carolina, February 10-11.

Blackman, E. B., C. S. DePerno, C. E. Moorman, and M. N. Peterson. 2010. Wintering habitat as a limiting factor for American woodcock in the Southeast: 30 years of agroecosystem change. Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Eastern 4-H Environmental Education Conference Center, Columbia, North Carolina.

Chitwood, M. C., M. N. Peterson, and C. S. DePerno. 2010. A matter of life and death: dog hunting in coastal North Carolina. Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Eastern 4-H Environmental Education Conference Center, Columbia, North Carolina.

Chitwood, M. C., C. S. DePerno, and S. Kennedy-Stoskopf. 2010. Physiological analysis of white-tailed deer in coastal North Carolina. Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Eastern 4-H Environmental Education Conference Center, Columbia, North Carolina.

DePerno, C. S., C. R. Ayers, C. E. Moorman, F. Yelverton, and S. Kennedy Stoskopf. 2010. Chemical control of resident Canada geese and a survey of fecal contaminants. 2010 North Carolina Turfgrass Conference, Celebra-tion, & Show, North Raleigh Hilton, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jacques, C. N., J. A. Jenks, C. S. DePerno, J. D. Sievers, T. W. Grovenburg, T. J. Brinkman, C. C. Swanson, and B. A. Stillings. 2009. Evaluating ungulate mortality associated with helicopter net gun captures in the Northern Great Plains. 70th Annual Meeting Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, Hilton Springfield Hotel, Springfield, Illinois.

Palamar, M. B., C. S. DePerno, M. Correa, N. Peterson, and M. Levi. 2010. Reducing the burden of zoonotic dis-eases associated with raccoons in urban environments: program development feasibility study. Presented to 35 individuals of the Guilford County Board of Health Department, Guilford County, North Carolina.

Peterson, N. C. S. DePerno, C. E. Moorman, K. A. Cunningham, J. P. Milrad, J. D. Riddle, and T. Steelman. 2010. Hunting and non-hunting college student’s perceptions of wildlife and each other. Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Eastern 4-H Environmental Education Conference Center, Co-lumbia, North Carolina.


Publications & Presentations

Raybuck, A., C. Moorman, C. DePerno, C. Greenberg, D. Simon, and G. Warburton. 2010. Small mammal and herpetofauna response to silvicultural treatments for oak regeneration in the Southern Appalachians. Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Eastern 4-H Environmental Education Conference Center, Colum-bia, North Carolina.

Rockhill, A. P., C. S. DePerno, and R. A. Powell. 2009. The effect of moon phase on movement of bobcats (Lynx rufus). Felid Ecology and Management in the Midwest Symposia, 70th Annual Meeting Midwest Fish and Wild-life Conference, Hilton Springfield Hotel, Springfield, Illinois.

extension and outreach presentationsChitwood, M. C., C. S. DePerno, and S. Kennedy-Stoskopf. 2009. Physiological analysis of free-ranging white-

tailed deer in pocosin habitat. Presented to 40 members of Leopold Wildlife Club, Jordan Hall, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Palamar, M. B., C. S. DePerno, M. Correa, N. Peterson, and M. Levi. 2010. Reducing the burden of zoonotic dis-eases associated with raccoons in urban environments: program development feasibility study. Presented to 20 individuals of the Raccoon Working Group, North Carolina Division of Public Health Raleigh, North Carolina.

Palamar, M. B., C. S. DePerno, M. Correa, N. Peterson, and M. Levi. 2010. Reducing the burden of zoonotic dis-eases associated with raccoons in urban environments: program development feasibility study. Presented to 60 individuals of the Guilford County Environmental Health Department., Guilford County, North Carolina.

Rockhill, A. P., and C. S. DePerno. 2010. Tour of Bull Neck Swamp. Presented to 30 individuals of the North Caro-lina Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Columbia, North Carolina.

Sherrill, B. L., A. Snider, and C. S. DePerno. 2009. Movement, home range, and population estimate of white-tailed deer on Bald Head Island, North Carolina. Presented to 11 individuals at The Bald Head Island Conservancy, Bald Head Island, North Carolina.

awards2010 Blackman, E. B., C. S. DePerno, C. E. Moorman, and M. N. Peterson. Best Student Presentation. Wintering

habitat as a limiting factor for American woodcock in the Southeast: 30 years of agroecosystem change. An-nual Meeting of the North Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Eastern 4-H Environmental Education Conference Center, Columbia, North Carolina.

2010 Chitwood, M. C. The Ken Wilson Memorial Award. Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Eastern 4-H Environmental Education Conference Center, Columbia, North Carolina.

Christopher s. dePerno, Ph.d.Assistant Professor, Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences

the Newsletter Compiled and edited by:

department of forestryCollege of natural resourcesnorth Carolina state UniversityTurner House, Box 7646Raleigh, NC 27695-7646919-513-7559 (office)

919-334-8935 (cell)919-515-5110 (fax)[email protected]

steve allen Fisheries and Wildlife studentdesign and editing336-209-5093 (cell)[email protected]

got a story idea or a great photo?Send your article submissions or pictures of North Carolina’s native wildlife to [email protected].

scholarships aNd opportuNitiesPlease see the NC State Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences website for ad-ditional scholarship opportunities. http:www.cnr.ncsu.edu/fer/fishwild/fwschol.html

Bull Neck swamp scholarship

The Bull Neck Swamp Scholarship will provide $2,000/semester ($4,000 an-nually) to a qualified Fisheries and Wildlife student. This scholarship will be awarded to students who have demonstrated strong academic achievement. For incoming freshmen, a high school grade point average of at least 3.5 and a total SAT score of 1150 are required. For transfer students and current students at NC State, a total grade point average of at least 3.2 is required. Applications are due 1 May 2010.

giViNg Back

summer camp studeNt eNdowmeNts

You may consider giving to our two Summer Camp student endowments. These endowments help undergraduate students attend the Fisheries and Wild-life Summer Camp. For more information on how to contribute, contact Dr. Chris Moorman at 919-515-5578 or [email protected]

phil doerr eNdowmeNt fuNd

Also, you may consider giving to the Phil Doerr Endowment Fund. The en-dowment, established with the North Carolina Natural Resources Foundation, will be used to fund an annual award to assist undergraduate or graduate student(s) in gaining valuable field experience. For more information on how to contribute, contact Dr. Chris Moorman at 919-515-5578 or [email protected]

read Back issues oNliNeIf you missed the last issue of the Fisheries and Wildlife newsletter you can catch up on back issues on the department’s Web site under the news tab.

http://www.cnr.ncsu.edu/fer/fishwild


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