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Current graduate students and postdoc fellows
- Andre Lai (MSc student, co-advised with Francesco Ferreti)
- Jared Gladbach (MSc student)
- Iman Pakzad (PhD student)
Student achievements/awards
- Iman Pakzad, 2nd place Best Student Presentation Award, Virginia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, 2025
- Jon Low, Burd Sheldon McGinnes Graduate Fellowship, 2022
- Houston Chandler, Outstanding PHD student, Virginia Tech, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, 2022
- Corbin Hilling, Massey Award, Virginia Tech, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, 2020
- Rujia Bi, Dwight Chamberlain Graduate Wildlife Fellowship, 2020
- Rujia Bi, AFS student travel award, 2019
- Corbin Hilling, Virginia Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellowship ($80,000). 2018–2020
- Corbin Hilling, Best Student Poster Award, Virginia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, 2018
- Corbin Hilling, Dwight Chamberlain Graduate Fellowship, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, 2018
- Min Li, Ph.D. student study abroad fellowship from Chinese Scholarship Council, 2017-2019
- Corbin Hilling, Department Nominee, Virginia Tech Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award. 2018
- Corbin Hilling, Catfish Management Technical Committee Scholarship. 2017
- Corbin Hilling, Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, 2017
- Corbin Hilling, Burd Sheldon McGinnes Graduate Fellowship, 2017
- Corbin Hilling, Robert D. Ross Graduate Scholarship Award, Virginia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, 2017
- Qiuyun Ma, Ph.D. student study abroad fellowship from Chinese Scholarship Council, 2015-2017
- Baochao Liao, Ph.D. student study abroad fellowship from Chinese Scholarship Council, 2015-2016
- Matt Vincent, NMFS-Sea Grant Graduate Fellowship 2013 (fund returned back because Matt accept another PhD student position offer before the award came)
- Yan Li, Massey Award, Virginia Tech, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, 2012
- Yan Li, GSA (Graduate School Association) travel award, Graduate School, Virginia Tech, 2012
- Man Tang, GSA (Graduate School Association) travel award, Graduate School, Virginia Tech, 2012
- Irene Ballesta, TALENTIA Fellowship, 2010-2012
- Man Tang, GSA (Graduate School Association) Graduate Research and Development Program (GRDP) Research Award, Virginia Tech, 2011
- Yan Li, Outstanding Master Student, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, 2011
- Yan Li, International Student Award, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, 2011
- Hao Yu, International Association of Great Lakes Research-Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Student Travel Award, 2010
- Hao Yu, International Student Award, 2009
- Robert Leaf, Robert D. Ross graduate scholarship, Virginia Chapter of American Fisheries Society, 2009
- Robert Leaf, Massey Award, Virginia Tech, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, 2009
- Qing He, American Fisheries Society Equal Opportunities Section Travel Award, 2009
- Chris Hayes, NOAA-Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, 2007
- Robert Leaf, NMFS-Sea Grant Graduate Fellowship, 2006-2009
- Hao Yu, Sussman Summer Environmental Fellowship, 2007
Past graduate students
|
|
Name |
Year Graduated |
Thesis/dissertation |
Current positions |
|
|
Chris Hayes |
2008 |
Investigating single and multiple species fisheries management: stock status evaluation of hammerhead (Sphyrna spp.) sharks in the western North Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. |
National Sea Grant College Program, NOAA |
|
Master students |
Qing He |
2010 |
Investigating the performance of process-observation error estimator and robust estimators in surplus production model: a simulation study |
first Ph.D. student, Department of Statistics, Emory University; then Data Scientist at Samsung SDS, AI R&D Lab |
|
|
Yan Li |
2010 |
Investigating ecosystem-level effects of gillnet and trap-net bycatch in Lake Erie: implications for commercial fisheries management |
first Ph.D. student under my supervision, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech; then postdoc University of California, Davis; then postdoc University of Pennsylvania; now Stock Assessment Scientist, Division of Marine Fisheries, NC Department of Environmental Quality |
|
|
Man Tang |
2012 |
Bayesian population dynamics modeling to guide population restoration and recovery of endangered mussels in the Clinch and Powell rivers, Tennessee and Virginia |
Ph.D. student, Department of Statistics, Virginia Tech |
|
|
Joshua Hatch |
2012 |
Ageing error of Atlantic weakfish and its influence in fisheries stock assessment through a simulation study |
Research Biologist, Woods Hole, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, NOAA |
|
|
Matt Vincent |
2013 |
The estimability of natural mortality in the age-structured models: a simulation study |
Ph.D. student, Michigan State University |
|
|
Irene Ballesta |
2013 |
Comparison of estimators for scalloped hammerhead shark stock assessment |
Ph.D. student Researcher, ARAMACC, Royal Netherland Institute for Sea Research |
|
|
Min Li |
2015 |
|
Ph.D. student, Department of Fisheries, Ocean University of China |
|
|
Yafei Zhang |
2016 |
Influence of nonstationary models on the management strategy evaluation — An example based on weakfish along western Atlantic Ocean |
Ph.D. student, Department of Statistics, Virginia Tech
|
|
|
Allison White |
2017 |
Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in life history and productivity trends of Atlantic Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) and implications to fisheries management |
Ph.D. student, Florida International University |
|
Chad Wong |
2023 |
Design and Model-based Approaches for Estimating Abundance of American Horseshoe Crab |
LGL Limited, Seattle, WA (Blue Leaf Environmental) |
|
|
Jon Low |
2023 |
|
||
|
Josephine Oakley |
2024 |
Striped bass and summer flounder population dynamics in the Chesapeake Bay: an ecosystem based evaluation |
|
|
|
|
Robert Leaf |
2010 |
The evolutionary effects of fishing and implications for stock management and rebuilding |
first Postdoc, NOAA; now Assistant Professor, The University of South Mississippi |
|
PhD students |
Hao Yu |
2010 |
The spatial and temporal dynamics of Lake Erie yellow perch fisheries |
first Postdoctoral scientist, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory; Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, Tusculum College; Research Professor, University of Michigan |
|
|
Yan Li |
2014 |
Spatial dynamics modeling for data-poor species using examples of longline seabird bycatch and endangered white abalone |
first postdoc University of California, Davis; then postdoc University of Pennsylvania; now Stock Assessment Scientist, Division of Marine Fisheries, NC Department of Environmental Quality |
|
|
Dan Hua, |
2015 |
Assessment of the restoration of freshwater mussels in the Clinch and Powell Rivers in Virginia and Tennessee |
Senior Scientist, Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency; Adjunct Faculty, Middle Tennessee University |
|
|
Fan Zhang |
2015 |
Ecological modeling in a non-stationary world: factors affecting recruitment of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in Lake Erie |
first postdoc, University of Guelph; now Assistant Research Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland |
|
|
Baochao Liao |
2016 |
Bayesian aspect in fish population dynamics |
Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics, Shandong University, China |
|
|
Qiuyun Ma |
2018 |
Random Effects in Life History and Population Dynamics |
Assistant Professor, Shanghai Ocean University, China |
|
|
Min Li |
2019 |
Role of space in the population ecology of migratory whitespotted conger (Conger myriaster) |
Assistant Professor, LuDong University |
|
|
Corbin Hilling |
2020 |
Population Dynamics Modeling and Management Strategy Evaluation for an Invasive Catfish |
First Postdoc, U Toledo, then USFS, Maine Then USGS, |
|
|
Rujia Bi |
2020 |
Bayesian hierarchical approaches to analyze fish spatiotemporal dynamics
|
Postdoc University of Wisconsin-Madison; then ICCAT
|
|
|
Houston Chandler |
2023 |
Amphibian and reptile conservation in a changing environment: Case studies from the southeastern United States |
The Orianne Society |