{"id":74598,"date":"2026-02-16T12:59:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T17:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=74598"},"modified":"2026-02-16T13:08:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T18:08:57","slug":"best-fishes-utc-students-take-home-awards-at-southeastern-fishes-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/best-fishes-utc-students-take-home-awards-at-southeastern-fishes-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Best fishes: UTC students\u00a0take home awards at Southeastern Fishes Council\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

UTC students, accompanied by Dr. Rich Walker, attended the Southeastern Fishes Council last fall. From left: Will Meyer, Rio Palmeria, Tyler Davis, Olivia Daugherty, Dr. Rich Walker, Levi Wright and Drew Wildman.<\/p><\/div>\n

On the first day of his junior year, Tyler Davis was walking to class when a poster with a fish on it caught his attention.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a trout on a piece of paper and I like fly fishing. So I was like, \u2018Oh, fly fishing club or something,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a poster for Dr. Walker\u2019s freshwater ecology. It has nothing to do with trout at all, really. It just caught my eye.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was the first student to approach Dr. Rich Walker to learn more about the program.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Two years later, Davis received a student travel award for the work he did in Walker\u2019s research lab at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Davis, a senior environmental science major from Gallatin, Tennessee, was one of four UTC undergraduates who presented at the 51st annual meeting of the Southeastern Fishes Council last fall in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The conference features researchers who study non-game freshwater fish species\u2014the darters, minnows and other small fishes that often receive less attention than bass and trout.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis conference is really a place where people who study non-game fishes can get together and talk about the fun and exciting research and aspects of things that they\u2019re working on with these non-game fishes,\u201d said Walker, assistant professor in the UTC Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Walker brought four undergraduates to present posters: Davis, Olivia Daugherty, Levi Wright and Drew Wildman.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All four students presented research connected to Walker\u2019s ongoing work examining the ecological effects of periodical cicadas on freshwater streams. The team focused on how major cicada broods in 2024 and 2025 influenced fish feeding behavior.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Davis\u2019 research focused on fish stomach contents from streams sampled across multiple states. The group originally hypothesized that mouth size might determine whether fish consumed cicadas. This year, Davis changed his focus.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it had more to do with life history and where they are in the water column,\u201d Davis said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because cicadas float, he expected surface-feeding fish to consume them most frequently.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I found was that it\u2019s not the case at all,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s like the middle water column<\/span> that is completely outcompeting the top water column. The bottom feeders are catching what\u2019s left over.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the conference, Davis received a Bosuchung Student Travel Award, which helps with the travel costs for undergraduate presenters.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Olivia Daugherty, a senior environmental science major and Brock Scholar, walked away with the Bob and Fran Casher Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation for her honors thesis titled \u201cSound Versus Silence: Investigating Fish Foraging Behavior in Relation to Cicada Sex Differences.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Daugherty\u2019s project focused on what happens when cicadas fall into streams and whether fish prefer males or females. Female cicadas are typically larger and carry eggs, while males are smaller and produce the loud buzzing associated with brood emergences.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Walker said the goal was to determine whether fish are selectively foraging based on those differences, including whether the males\u2019 sounds change how fish respond when a cicada hits the water.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Olivia Daugherty<\/p><\/div>\n

The four UTC posters at the conference complemented one another, which Davis said made for an even more interesting presentation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDrew Wildman was to my right and he would point at my poster,\u201d Davis <\/span>explained, \u201cand<\/span> then when they got to me, I\u2019d give them my whole spiel. I\u2019d talk about how this directly correlated to Levi\u2019s poster and how his poster and my poster directly correlated to Olivia\u2019s poster.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Walker said that Chattanooga\u2019s location along the Tennessee River makes it a perfect site for fish ecology research.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have over 320-plus species,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a very diverse group of animals to study.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That biodiversity gives students access to a \u201claboratory\u201d just minutes from campus. For students like Davis, who changed his major from chemistry to environmental science after his freshman year, the setting was a big bonus.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cChattanooga is a massive hub for environmental science and everything that has to do with that,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThere\u2019s not a ton of other schools like ours where there are so many opportunities. We have the Tennessee River. We have the Tennessee Aquarium right beside us.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all these different organizations that work pretty closely with us and honestly give us a great environment to learn.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more<\/h4>\n

Visit UTC<\/a><\/p>\n

Biology, Geology and Environmental Science<\/a><\/p>\n

How to apply<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the first day of his junior year, Tyler Davis was walking to class when a poster with a fish on it caught his attention.\u00a0 \u201cI saw a trout on a piece of paper and I like fly fishing. So I was like, \u2018Oh, fly fishing club or something,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a poster… <\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2000,"featured_media":74615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[661,70,123865,12746,61,122493,122313,7712,12745,64],"tags":[123827,126697,123828,126696,124776,126695,123829,125708,126693,126694],"class_list":{"0":"post-74598","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-biology-geology-and-environmental-science","9":"category-brock-scholars-honors-college","10":"category-college-of-arts-sciences","11":"category-education","12":"category-experiential-learning","13":"category-faculty-and-staff","14":"category-honors-college-2","15":"category-news","16":"category-students","17":"tag-creating-the-mocs-experience","18":"tag-drew-wildman","19":"tag-leveraging-our-special-place-as-chattanoogas-university","20":"tag-levi-wright","21":"tag-mocs-learn-mocs-do-mocs-lead","22":"tag-olivia-daugherty","23":"tag-operating-with-excellence","24":"tag-rich-walker","25":"tag-southeastern-fishes-council","26":"tag-tyler-davis","27":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nBest 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