Contact: Sarah Buckleitner

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A U.S. Geological Survey fisheries research biologist who also teaches at Mississippi State is receiving a major international recognition.

Hal Schramm recently was designated a Fellow of the American Fisheries Society in tribute to his four decades of service. Specifically, he was cited for excellence in leadership, research, mentoring, resource management and public outreach.

In addition to leading USGS’s Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (Mississippi Co-op Unit), he is adjunct fisheries professor at the university. His current research focuses on the shovelnose and pallid sturgeons—the latter of which is an endangered species.

“Our goal is to restore populations so that they’re sustainable,” Schramm explained. “We’re gathering data on movement and habitat use, and using that to provide guidance for river managers.”

AFS is the world’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to strengthening the fisheries profession, advancing fisheries science and conserving fisheries resources.

“The society is important to me,” Schramm said. Beyond opportunities to serve in several leadership roles, he thanked the organization for “providing me with learning and growing opportunities over the years.”

With offices in Bethesda, Maryland, the society’s more than 8,000 members include fisheries managers, biologists, higher education faculty members, ecologists, aquaculturists, economists, engineers, geneticists, and social scientists. For more, visit www.fisheries.org.

A Southern Illinois University doctoral graduate, Schramm was among nine members formally awarded the prestigious rank during the society’s annual meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. He previously was inducted into the AFS Fisheries Management Hall of Excellence and selected for the Excellence in Public Outreach Award.

Andrew Kouba, fisheries, wildlife and aquaculture department head, expressed high praise for Schramm’s latest major honor, as well as for his record of service to the university, state and nation.

“The Mississippi Co-op Unit and Mississippi State University have had a long, productive partnership under Dr. Schramm’s leadership, which has helped us to place Mississippi State students in competitive fisheries biologist positions around the country,” Kouba said.

“We are incredibly excited for this recognition of his accomplishments in fisheries management and conservation throughout his career at Mississippi State and with the USGS C-Unit,” Kouba added.

For complete information on the College of Forest Resources and its partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, see www.cfr.msstate.edu/wildlife/partners.asp.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.