2025 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference

2025 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference

1:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Effects of Flow Variation on Recruitment in a Central Missouri Stream Fish Assemblage TBAConnor Church Fisheries Track: Identifying Walleye and Lake Whitefish Spawning Habitat to Inform Habitat Improvements for Lake Sturgeon in the Lower Fox River below De Pere Dam TBABraden Lensing

2:00pm CST

Fisheries Track: Diet and Niche Overlap of Blue Catfish and Resident Reservoir Sportfishes to Inform Stocking Decisions TBAJacob Bentley Fisheries Track: Identifying Spawning Sites and Fidelity of Ogaa (walleye Sander Vitreus): Implications for Fishery Stewardship TBAKayla Lenz

2:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluating the influence of climate change on walleye and largemouth bass consumption rates in a northern Wisconsin lake TBAJeston Hassler Fisheries Track: Zooplankton in the Upper Mississippi River System TBAMolly Sobotka

2:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: First occurrence of American Brook Lamprey (Lethenteron appendix) in the Cuyahoga River, OH TBAZane McAdams Fisheries Track: Movement of Walleye and Sauger assessed using acoustic telemetry in Lewis and Clark Lake, a Missouri River reservoir TBAWill Radigan

3:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Environmental changes lead to reduced Walleye production in Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota TBATom Jones Fisheries Track: Spatial and temporal resource use of the Upper Mississippi River TBAShaley Valentine

3:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluating the distribution of fish community production in northern Wisconsin lakes with different walleye recruitment histories TBAMaxwel Wilkinson Fisheries Track: Macroinvertebrate Assemblages Using Live Freshwater Mussels as Habitat TBAMadison Dunlap

4:00pm CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluation of otolith and eye lens chemistry for identifying stocked Walleye TBAJoshua Fluur Fisheries Track: Spectaclecase Mussel Detection in the Upper Mississippi River Using eDNA TBATariq Tajjioui

4:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Addressing the Data Need to Manage Future Change in Fisheries TBAMadalyn Siller Fisheries Track: Mille Lacs Lake Walleye: Changes in Body Condition Over Time in Relation to Biotic and Environmental Changes TBALevi Suchla

4:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Assessing Habitat Quality Changes for Cool- and Warm-Water Fishes TBAMadalyn Siller Fisheries Track: Evaluating Data-limited Population Assessment Tools for Walleye TBACaleb Branam

10:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Apples and Oranges? Using radio and acoustic telemetry to evaluate restoration success. TBASeth Fopma Fisheries Track: Determination and Comparison of Morphometrics and Meristics Used to Identify River and Shorthead Redhorse TBADevon Oliver

10:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Enhancing the science of age estimation: the creation of fishage.org TBAMark Pegg Fisheries Track: Using GPS and Side Scan Sonar Data to Track Yearly Electrofishing Path Variation and Fish Community Assemblages TBADrew Holloway

11:00am CST

Fisheries Track: A Wide Net: Identifying Habitat Across Species and Age Groups of Fish for a Holistic View of the Ecosystem TBAKayla Lenz Fisheries Track: Big River Bluegill: How and why bluegill population dynamics vary along a large river gradient TBAKristen Bouska

11:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Long-Term Angling for Black Bass During the Spawning Season Reduces Nest Defense and Responsiveness to Lures TBAJustin Lombardo Fisheries Track: Microplastic Abundance in Fish Species with Differing Feeding Habits in a Large Midwestern River TBAMichael Louison

11:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Flow and temperature impacts on catfish populations in two Missouri River tributaries TBABJ Schall Fisheries Track: Thermal Tolerances and Heat Shock Protein Regulation of Bigmouth Shiners TBAElla Humphrey

1:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Age and Growth Analyses on a Stunted vs. Non-Stunted Population of White Perch in Southeastern Nebraska Reservoirs TBACali Engel Fisheries Track: Impacts of Habitat Enhancement on Fish Assemblage Integrity in Several Midwestern Streams TBARyan Skowronski

1:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Response of Fish Communities to Backwater Restoration in the Upper Mississippi River TBAHannah Lenning Fisheries Track: Smallmouth Bass Demographics in the Kaskaskia and Vermilion Rivers TBAEthan Scott

2:00pm CST

Fisheries Track: Characterizing Riverine Habitat through the Use of UAS and Side-Scan Sonar TBATyler Hessler Fisheries Track: Exploring Assessment Techniques for Minnesota's Newest Sport Fish: the Burbot TBAKristen Patterson

2:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Built to Last? Evaluating the Condition of Fish Habitat Structures in Missouri’s Ozark Reservoirs TBATyler Ham Fisheries Track: Recruitment of Channel Catfish stocked as advanced fingerlings and yearlings in Ohio reservoirs TBAStephen Tyszko

2:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Assessment of Channel Catfish Population Demographics in Illinois Impoundments and Evaluation of Spawning Boxes TBADanielle Shubat Fisheries Track: Trends in Population Status and Range-Wide Geographic Patterns of Genetic Variation for the Federally Petitioned Bluestripe Darter TBABrittany Harried

3:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Identifying potential sources of natural recruitment of muskellunge in Green Bay, Lake Michigan TBARyan Eastman Fisheries Track: Linking Stream Fish Thermal Ecology and Adaptive Capacity to Prioritize Watershed Areas with Greatest Value for Conservation TBABrittany Harried

3:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Examining stunted Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) population in River Reservoir TBAKaden Ball Fisheries Track: Navigating the Currents: Investigating Environmental Cues for Pallid Sturgeon Immigration and Emigration for a Missouri River Tributary TBAJenna Ruoss

4:00pm CST

Fisheries Track: Applications of Environmental DNA Metabarcoding to Fish Biodiversity Assessments of Missouri Ozark Stream and Mississippi River Lowland Habitats TBADavid Duvernell Fisheries Track: Dispersal of Juvenile Lake Sturgeon Stocked in the Saginaw River Basin TBAMaxwell Majinska

4:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Benefits and pitfalls of using time-lapse-photography to collect urban angler information TBALewis Bruce Fisheries Track: Reproductive Characteristics of a Vulnerable Riverine Specialist in the Unchannelized Missouri River TBABJ Schall

4:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Lessons and advice on the development of a mobile-entry platform TBAKeith Hurley Fisheries Track: Native Rough Fish Management Progress in Minnesota TBAShannon Fisher

8:00am CST

Fisheries Track: Conserving "native rough fish" through fisheries management in the Midwest TBASteve Herrington Fisheries Track: Population Characteristics of Buffalo in Wisconsin: Contribution and Resiliency to Bowfishing Harvest TBADaniel Isermann

8:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluating Lake Sturgeon Spawning Site Use and the Relative Contribution of Spawning Tributaries to Harvest in the Lake Winnebago System TBASamantha Embersits Fisheries Track: Looking Towards the Future: Individual Identification Tag Exploration on Bigmouth Shiners for use on Small-bodied At-risk Fish in Nebraska TBAJoe Spooner

8:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Assessing Age and Incremental Growth Rates in Cedar River Shovelnose Sturgeon through an 18-year Mark-Recapture Dataset TBAJuliana Kaloczi Fisheries Track: Taxonomic and Functional Shifts in Riverine Fish Community Assemblages Across Midwest National Parks TBALily Thompson

9:00am CST

Fisheries Track: If at First You Don’t Succeed: The Evolution of Capture Methods in Great Lakes Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) Control TBARobert Mapes Fisheries Track: Molecular Sexing of Lake Sturgeon Allows for Determination of Sex Ratios and Sex-Specific Growth Rates in the St. Clair – Detroit River System TBAAndrew Briggs

9:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Alternative Data Sources Predict (Dis)similar Connectivity Networks Among Minnesota Lakes TBAAaron Muehler Fisheries Track: Intraspecific variation in stable isotopes provides insight into adfluvial migrations and ecology of brook trout in Lake Superior tributaries TBABrandon Gerig

9:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Tracking the Spread of Invasive Mollusks in the Illinois River Watershed TBANicho Iacaruso Fisheries Track: Using Eye Lenses to Identify Rearing Origin of Large, Fingerling Walleye TBABJ Schall

10:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Assessing Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) Abundance Dynamics in Tailwater Habitats Using Side-scan Sonar Techniques TBAAdam Jones Fisheries Track: History of Fish Production and Design in North America TBAMatt Cochran

10:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Bioprogramming: A Tool to Help Guide Hatchery Design into the Modern Era TBABaylee Thornton Fisheries Track: Evaluating juvenile Grass Carp behavioral responses to sound TBAChristina Mackey

11:00am CST

Fisheries Track: Using Side-Scan Sonar and N-Mixture Models to Estimate the Abundance of Invasive Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) in the Lamine River, MO TBACade Roach Fisheries Track: Variation in Fatty Acid Composition of Channel Catfish and Blue Catfish in Two Central Ohio Reservoirs TBASteven Gratz

11:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Enhancing proactive aquatic nuisance species management by developing a standardized risk screening workflow TBALindsey LaBrie Fisheries Track: Influence of Thermal Variation on Paddlefish Thermal Tolerance, Recovery and Post-Release Behavior TBAShasta Kamara

11:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Spatial and Temporal Variation of Invasive Carp Spawning Activity in the Illinois River Basin TBABraden Whisler Fisheries Track: Understanding fecal microbiome of Pallid Sturgeon TBAIsrat Jahan