Lecture: The Fishes of Mississippi: Treasures in Our Backyards

If you love fish, Mississippi is a truly special place to be. Home to around 1/5th of all of the fish species in North America, Mississippi is gifted with an incredible diversity of fishes.

In this talk Dr. Loren Stearman will explore the fishes of Mississippi and what makes them special.

Along with Dr. Loren Stearman we will:

• discuss how the unique environments of the Gulf Coastal Plains have shaped the fishes who call them home.
• investigate how Mississippi fishes include some outstanding (and unexpected) parents, and how the lives and actions of many fishes engineer the environments they live in.
• examine Mississippi’s tremendous commercial and recreational fisheries and what they mean to us economically and culturally.
• visit how two centuries of change to the landscape around us have changed the fishes of the state, and how those lessons teach us about future management and conservation choices not just in the state, but across the world.
   

COST: Included with Museum admission or Mississippi Museum of Natural Science Foundation Membership.

ABOUT DR. STEARMAN:
 

Dr. Loren Stearman is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern Mississippi.

He studies the interaction between changing landscapes and fishes, with a focus on finding restorative conservation solutions for both.

He caught his first fish (a bluegill) at 18 months old. According to those who know him best, it’s been downhill ever since.

While studying for his Bachelor's degree at Oklahoma State University he discovered that there were career paths in catching fish. Against better advice he followed that dream and has been fortunate to study fish all over the country.

He has called Mississippi home for the past five years.

When he’s not catching fish for science, he enjoys fishing, tying flies, hiking, woodworking, and gardening.