Dr. Patterson is a marine fisheries ecologist in the Department of
Biology at the University of West Florida where he, his graduate
students and their collaborators employ a variety of techniques to
examine fish population dynamics, population structure, and habitat
requirements. His doctoral research at the University of South Alabama
(USA) examined the population ecology of red snapper, Lutjanus
campechanus, associated with artificial reefs in the north central
Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). He then worked as a Post-Doctoral Scientist with
Dr. Chuck Wilson at Louisiana State University (LSU) following the
completion of his PhD. While at LSU, Dr. Patterson examined the
population structure of northern Gulf red snapper with otolith
microchemistry, developed natural tags of king mackerel,
Scomberomorus cavalla, stocks in the US south Atlantic and Gulf
based on otolith microchemistry, and began a study of red snapper
recruitment potential among northern Gulf shelf habitats. After his
time at LSU, he returned to the USA as a Research Assistant Professor.
Studies he conducted while at USA included further examination of
juvenile red snapper essential fish habitat, estimating winter mixing of
Atlantic and Gulf king mackerel off south Florida in winter with natural
tags developed from otolith shape analysis and otolith chemistry, and
developing estuarine-specific natural tags of juvenile striped mullet,
Mugil cephalus, in northern Gulf estuarine systems.
Currently, Dr. Patterson is an
Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of
West Florida. His teaching duties include introduction to oceanography
and marine biology, marine vertebrate zoology, and fisheries biology.
He, his graduate, and their collaborators continue to examine the
essential fish habitat of juvenile red snapper and other fishes on the
northern Gulf shelf, as well as population structure and mixing in red
snapper and king mackerel. Most recently, Dr. Patterson received
funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to
examine community structure, site fidelity, and movement of reef fishes
associated with artificial reefs constructed off north west Florida. As
an acknowledgment, funding for studies cited above include the Alabama
Department of Conservation; the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration’s Marine Fisheries Initiative, National Sea Grant,
Louisiana Sea Grant, and Mississippi/Alabama Sea Grant; the
Environmental Protection Agency; and, the Minerals Management Service.
Dr. Patterson will
serve as the principal investigator for the marine vertebrate component
of the project. The overall goal of this component will be to document
the utilization of deepwater shipwrecks as habitat by fishes. Dr.
Patterson and his graduate student, Nicole Morris, will examine the
community structure of fishes associated with shipwrecks and adjacent
seafloor through analysis of ROV-collected video and fish catches made
with fish traps and a suction device associated with the ROV. They will
estimate age and growth of trap-caught and ROV-sampled fishes via
examination of otolith microstructure. Last, gut content analysis and
analysis of C and N stable isotopes of fish flesh will be performed to
examine trophic structure within the fish community. |
