Robert E. Colombo II

Department of Zoology
Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Degree Program

Advisor: Dr. James Garvey

Program: Ph.D. Zoology

Specialty: Fisheries Ecology and Management

Research Work Abstract

The majority of marine fisheries are fully or overexploited. This has led to an increase in the harvest of inland fisheries stocks. The impact of harvest on these systems is poorly understood. My research focuses on the impact that commercial exploitation has on the population demographics of large riverine fishes. More specifically I have been looking at how commercial exploitation affects growth, survival and recruitment of the shovelnose sturgeon in the Middle Mississippi River and channel catfish in the Wabash River. Finally, the effects of Marine Reserve has received a large amount of research and their impacts have been widely documented; however, these trends are poorly understood in large river ecosystems. I have been studying how a fishery reserve influences yield in a large river system.

Highlights

Publications:

DeGrandechamp, K.L., J.E. Garvey, and R.E. Colombo.  In Review.  Using habitat selection to predict establishment of invasive Asian carps in a large river.  Submitted to Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.

Colombo, R.E., J.E. Garvey, N.D. Jackson, B.T. Koch, R. Brooks, D.P. Herzog, R.A. Hrabik, and T.W. Spier.  In Review.  Harvest of Mississippi River sturgeon drives abundance and reproductive success: a harbinger of collapse? Submitted to the Journal of Applied Ichthyology.

Colombo, R.E., J.E. Garvey, and P.S.Willis.  In Press.  Gonadal development and sexual demographics of the shovelnose sturgeon, Scaphirhyncus platorhynchus, in the Middle Mississippi River.  Journal of Applied Ichthyology

Jackson, N.D., J.E. Garvey, and R.E. Colombo.  In Press.  Comparing aging precision of Calcified structures in shovelnose sturgeon.  Jornal of Applied Ichthyology.

Colombo, R.E., P.S. Wills, and J.E. Garvey.  2004.  Use of ultrasound imaging to determine sex of shovelnose sturgeon.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 24:322-326.

Work Experience:

Research Assistant, Southern Illinois University, Department of Zoology, Fisheries and Illinois Aquaculture Center.  2001 – present

Teaching Assistant, Comparative Vertebrate Histology, Southern Illinois University, Department of Zoology.  Spring 2006 (Winner of the Foote and Foote Award for Outstanding TA in the Department of Zoology 2006)

Fish Pathologist / Quarantine Aquarist.  John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL.  1999 – 2001

Field Supervisor, Lake Sturgeon in the St. Lawrence River. New York Research Foundation.  1997-1998.

Education:

B.S., magna cum laude, 1998, State University of New York, College of the Environmental Science and Forestry. New York.  Who is Who Among Students at American Colleges and Universities, 1998.

M.S., 2004, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.  Illinois.  Thesis title:  Reproductive demographics and early life history of the shovelnose sturgeon in the Middle Mississippi River.  Major Advisor: James Garvey, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Expected May 2007, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.  Illinois.  Dissertation title:  Population demographics and the ecological role of the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in commercially exploited and un-exploited reaches of the Wabash River.  Major Advisor:  James Garvey, Ph.D.

Contact Information

E-mail:  rcolombo@siu.edu

Office Number and Phone:  Fisheries Annex, Room 106a   Tel: 618-453-2608

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Last updated: 10 July 2006 / ghw