A graduate student with Texas Tech's Department of Natural Resources Management received the 'Best Student Oral Presentation Award' at a meeting of the American Fisheries Society Arizona-New Mexico Chapter. Elizabeth Roesler, a master's student from Chicago, received the honor on Friday (Feb. 6) at the group's annual convention in Las Cruces, NM.

Roesler's research was titled, "Assessing habitat-use patterns and survey methodologies of the endangered snail, Peco Assiminea, at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge." Pecos Assiminea is an endangered, semi-aquatic snail endemic to two spring systems located in eastern New Mexico and west Texas.

She found that wooden tiles seem to be a cost effective method of determining Pecos Assiminea presence, but they may not be capable of generating reliable estimates of abundance or habitat use. The award was presented by James Dominguez, president of the AFS chapter.

Established in 1870 in New York, the American Fisheries Society is among the largest professional society for fisheries scientists in the world. Composed of more than 9,000 members from around the world, membership includes aquaculturists, biologists, ecologists, economists, engineers, fisheries managers, geneticists and social scientists.

Written by Norman Martin

CONTACT: Mark Wallace, Chairman, Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2841 or mark.wallace@ttu.edu

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