NRM’s Barnes, Grisham take top leadership posts in scientific societies
By: Norman Martin
In a one-two combination of good news, officials with Texas Techs Davis College of
Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources noted today that two of the academic units
faculty members are set to take on presidential duties within their professional organizations:
The Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society and the Texas Academy of Science.
Matthew Barnes, an associate professor within Techs Department of Natural Resources Management, was elected to a four-year leadership track within the Texas Academy of Science. In his first year, Barnes served as vice president and has now started his term as president-elect. Next year he takes his post as president, followed by a year as immediate past president.
An expert in aquatic invasive species who joined the Texas Tech faculty in 2014, Barnes research and teaching interests are rooted in community ecology, predicting and explaining species distributions and dispersal in aquatic systems.
He is particularly interested in forecasting biological invasions, the movement of species beyond their historic native ranges, and conducting research that advances methodologies for the study and management of invasive species and the communities they impact. The Plano natives doctorate is from the University of Notre Dame.
Recently, Barnes was part of a NRM research team focusing on eDNA. The work with airborne eDNA represents one of the first projects aimed at detection of plant environmental DNA from airborne samples. In addition, Barnes is part of a Hispanic-Serving Institution Education Grants Program looking into supporting the university's interdisciplinary Program in Inquiry and Investigation (Pi2).
Blake Grisham, director of the Llano River Field Station and an associate professor in Techs Department of Natural Resources Management, was named president-elect of the Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society for 2022-2023, and will become president in 2023-2024. The selection was announced at the groups annual meeting earlier this semester at the Horseshoe Bay Resort in Marble Falls, Texas.
Grishams research centers on incorporating weather and climate data into ecological field studies with an emphasis on ground-nesting birds, and more recently disease ecology of upland game birds and ungulates. He has secured funding to study multiple species, including Sandhill Cranes, Lesser Prairie-Chickens, Northern Bobwhite, Scaled Quail, Axis Deer, and waterfowl. Recent honors for Grisham include the Texas Tech Alumni Association New Faculty Award (2017). His doctorate is from Texas Tech. He joined the Texas Tech faculty in 2014.
Grishams field station duties focus on facilitating and coordinating research on the Junction campus in and outside of the Texas Tech System, in addition to overseeing the facilitys Outdoor Education Program. The 400-acre Llano River Field Station, located some 140 miles west of Austin, is the largest inland field station in Texas.
CONTACT: Warren Conway, Chair, Department of Natural Resources Management, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-6579 or warren.conway@ttu.edu
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Davis College NewsCenter
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Address
P.O. Box 42123, Lubbock, Texas 79409-2123, Dean's Office Location:Goddard Building, Room 108 -
Phone
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Email
kris.allen@ttu.edu