Our 2007 Scholarship was awarded to Josh Perkin. We raised $2500 at the Christmas party last year and a few sponsors, like Michael Bristow (North Texas Fiberglass) and Monte Coon (Moritz Chevrolet helped us get over the $2000 mark. Special thanks to Jim Wetzel (Redfin) and a few others for their generous larger than average donations.

We are combining the Christmas this year and including an open invitation to the Texas Hunting Forum members. With both forums represented, we should be able to break $3500 for the 2008 scholarship. Please show up at the annual Christmas party. It's always lots of fun and a great way to put faces with names!

I would like to put together a committee for the 2008 scholarship decision making process - made up of 5 to 10 people. We'll look at getting volunteers soon. Dinner and drinks are on me when we meet to choose a recipient!

Below is some information on Josh and the letter he sent.

Letter:

----------------

I would like to express my interest in the Texas Fishing Forum / Texas Outdoor Writers Association scholarship. Bobby Whiteside, a former professor of Biology at Texas State University-San Marcos informed me of this excellent opportunity. With the combination of my experience during two internships with TPWD Fisheries Management Offices, a Bachelor’s of Science in Aquatic Biology and current graduate research with Guadalupe bass, I feel I am an excellent candidate for this scholarship.

Since first volunteering with the TPWD I’ve had a strong interest in the field of fisheries biology, especially fisheries management and conservation. The biologists that I worked with at the TPWD strongly guided my participation in their work as well as encouraged my attendance at SWT (now Texas State University) as it is known for producing exceptional fisheries graduates. I am confident that I have the drive and determination to become a fisheries biologist and believe that it will be a highly rewarding career. As a volunteer and intern with TPWD I learned valuable fisheries biology experiences and as a graduate student now have the opportunity to make use of those skills.

I will be presenting some of my findings at the Texas Chapter of the American
Fisheries Society meeting in Lake Jackson in March. I hope to learn more about the Texas Outdoor Writers Association and perhaps meet some of its members there.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Josh Perkin

------------------

Resume:

------------------

EDUCATION:
Texas State University-San Marcos – Expected graduation spring 2009
Master of Science, Aquatic Biology
Current GPA: 4.00

Texas State University-San Marcos – August 2006
Bachelor of Science, Aquatic Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Deans List: Fall 2005
Cumulative GPA: 3.16

Cisco Junior College- Abilene, Texas – May 2003
Associates of Arts
Deans List: Spring 2003
Cumulative GPA: 3.12


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Graduate Research, Texas State University-San Marcos (January 2007-Present) Chapter 1: Historical variation in fish assemblages of the Trinity and Guadalupe Rivers with analysis of flow implications; Funded by TWDB

Chapter 2: Radio-telemetry of Guadalupe bass movement in the Llano and Pedernales rivers.

Side projects: (1) Diet, reproduction and habitat use of a disjunct population of Ironcolor shiner, Notropis chalybaeus, in the San Marcos River. (2) Assist in field work on seasonal fish and macroinvertibrate assemblages in the Pedernales River. (3) Diet, reproduction, habitat association, current range and current status of the Burrhead chub, Macrhybopsis marconis, in the Guadalupe, San Antonio and Colorado drainages. (4) Research and conceptualization of riverine fish declines in Texas.

Manuscript composition: Conservation status and life history of the chub shiner in the lower Brazos River; By Joshuah S. Perkin, Casey S. Williams, and Timothy H. Bonner (In prep.).

Continued Volunteering with TPWD, (August 2006-Present)
Assisted with installment of fish attractors in Canyon Lake, Canyon City, TX with the use of SCUBA gear. Subsequently assisted in visually quantifying fish association with artificial versus natural fish attractors. Assisted with Striped Bass fingerling stocking (via boat) in Lake Travis, Austin TX; Striped Bass were raised at Possum Kingdom Fish Hatchery. Assisted with Striped Bass fingerling stocking (via boat) in Lake Buchanan, Burnet, TX; Striped Bass were raised at Dundee Fish Hatchery.

Biological Consulting Assistant, Trungale Engineering and Science/Caddo Lake Institute (Fall 2006- Spring 2007)
Researched, sorted and verified data on historical fish abundances in the Cypress Creek Basin, East Texas. Duties included researching museum collections as well as state and federal collections of fishes from water bodies within 10 counties in East Texas. Analysis of species included variation in relative abundance over time, classification into trophic and reproductive guilds, and construction of an Index of Biotic Integrity.

Grant Technician, Texas State University-San Marcos (Fall 2006 – Spring 2007)
Assisted in researching, sorting and verifying historical fish abundance data in the Lower Brazos, Lower Sabine and San Antonio rivers; in conjunction with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Water Development Board.

Continued research in Big Bend stretch of the Rio Grande River (from undergraduate research), sampling expanded into canyon areas and included experimental gill net settings.

Undergraduate Research Assistant, Texas State University-San Marcos (Fall 2005 – Fall 2006)
Assisted in fieldwork with graduate students including: fish assemblage and life histories in the Rio Grande River, Big Bend area. Field techniques include seining, identifying and preserving fishes, as well as habitat assessment, data recording and data entry.

Assisted in field research on diel movement of fishes in the lower Brazos River, fishes collected via seining and drift nets at three sites. Assist in laboratory research of larval fish and egg densities in the lower Brazos River.

Conducted laboratory research on the reproductive ecology and stomach contents of the chub shiner (Notropis potteri) and silver chub (Macrhybopsis storeriana) collected from the lower Brazos River.

Assisted with habitat, reproductive and diet analysis of suckermouth catfish in the San Marcos River by performing monthly fish collections through the use of dive gear and gig.
Participated in various field studies on the spatial and temporal distributions and assemblage structure of fishes in: Blanco, Canadian, Upper Brazos and Red rivers, Cypress Creek Basin, Independence Creek, Caddo Lake, Canyon Lake, and Lake Travis, TX.

Volunteer, Texas State University-San Marcos (Summer 2005-Fall 2005)
Assisted graduate students in the identification, analysis and data entry of aquatic macroinvertebrates collected in the Blanco, Guadalupe, San Marcos, Llano and Pedernales rivers.

Intern II, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – San Marcos, TX (Summer 2004)
Conducted creel surveys on Walter E. Long Lake, Austin, TX and Fayette County Lake, Fayetteville, TX; as well as the Colorado River and Guadalupe River. Assisted in fish collecting techniques including: electrofishing, gillnetting and trap netting. Assisted in the maintenance of small pond aeration systems, habitat restoration, and dam-leak control. Participated in hatchery pond management, harvesting fish transportation and fish stocking at A. E. Wood Hatchery, San Marcos, TX. Assisted in otolith removal and aging as well as growth analysis on largemouth Bass and white crappie. Assisted with two Kid-Fish sponsored fishing events.

Intern I, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – Abilene, TX (Summer 2003) Conducted creel surveys on two Abilene, TX area lakes. Assisted in two catfish studies in Lake Kirby, Abilene, TX; as well as one on Hordes Creek Reservoir near Coleman, TX. Was responsible for vehicle and boat maintenance. Assisted in fish collecting techniques such as electrofishing, gillnetting, hoop netting and trap netting. Assisted in catfish stocking rate study in Possum Kingdom Lake, Jasper, TX; as well a hatchery pond harvesting. Assisted in weekly kid fishing events at Lake Kirby, as well as touch tank presentations at several summer daycares.

Volunteer, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – Abilene, TX (Fall 2001-Fall 2003)
Participated in electrofishing surveys on Lake Sweetwater, Sweetwater, TX, Lake Cisco, Cisco, TX, Fort Phantom Lake, Abilene, TX as well as gillnetting surveys on Lake Kirby. Assisted in Rotenone application to Lake Abilene and vegetation surveys on Coleman Lake, Coleman, TX. Assisted in otolith removal and reading on largemouth Bass, white crappie and spine aging of Blue and Channel catfish.

Presentations:
American Fisheries Society National Meeting, San Francisco, California
September 2007 Presenting “Conservation Status and Life History of the Chub Shiner in the Lower Brazos River” (Poster Presentation)

Texas State University-San Marcos Student Colloquium
March 2007 Presented “Conservation Status and Life History of the Chub Shiner in the Lower Brazos River” (Oral Presentation)

Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society meeting, Lake Jackson, Texas March 2007 Presented “Conservation Status and Life History of the Chub Shiner in the Lower Brazos River” (Oral Presentation)

Caddo Lake Institute- Instream Flows Workshop, Jefferson, Texas
October 2006 Presented “Historical changes in fish assemblages of the Cypress Creek Drainage” (Oral Presentation)

Awards and Honors:

2007 Canyon Bass Club of San Marcos Scholarship. $400.00

2006 Undergraduate Student Scholarship Award-Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. $1250.00

2006 A. B. and Irene Rogers Aquatic Biology Scholarship- Texas State University. $750.00

Dean’s List Texas State University-San Marcos 2005

Dean’s List Cisco Junior College 2003


PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
American Fisheries Society
Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
National Association of Underwater Instructors – Master S.C.U.B.A. diver
Aquatic Biology Society of Texas State University-San Marcos

PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES:
Timothy Bonner – Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Texas State University-San Marcos, TX. (512) 245-3549
tbonner@txstate.edu

Craig Bonds - District Supervisor, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries District 1C, San Angelo, TX. (325) 651-5556
craig.bonds@tpwd.state.tx.us

Steve Magnelia - District Supervisor, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries District 2C, San Marcos, TX. (512) 353-0072
stephan.magnelia@tpwd.state.tx.us

Spencer Dumont - District Supervisor, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries District 1B, Abilene, TX. (325) 692-0921
spencer.dumont@tpwd.state.tx.us

That's awesome.

I would sincerely like to express my gratitude to the Texas Fishing Forum and its associated sponsors for the scholarship opportunity you have awarded me with.

Rest assured that the funds you so graciously awarded me will go to furthering the science of fisheries management and conservation. I plan to present my work on the lower Brazos River at the American Fisheries Society national meeting in San Francisco, California next month. Your financial contribution will cover the cost of preparing and printing a poster of the presentation as well as travel expenses.

Additionally, I plan to utilize a portion of funds for the collection of Guadalupe bass for radio telemetry tracking. Whereas electrofishing and seining are the most effective methods of fish collection; it may be necessary to use what biologists often call “hook and line sampling” to collect some of my specimens. A portion of the funds will be allocated toward “tools necessary for the collection of research specimens” or fishing tackle. I say this in good humor because I sincerely believe that a true passion for ones work often results in great success of not only the individual, but the cause for which the individual is working (Steve Irwin had great passion for his work); and I’m sure all of you share my passion for fish and fishing.

I intend to reserve the remaining funds for future projects that are not otherwise funded (e.g. I have side projects on the San Marcos and Guadalupe rivers); to further assure that all of the funds you contributed are indeed used in a manner that promotes fisheries science.

Once again, I thank you and look forward to future interactions on the Texas Fishing Forum.

Sincerely,

Josh Perkin

Josh..

You're welcome, and from what I have read an excellent choice.

Thanks for your dedication to Texas Fishing and conservation.

Salute

Bazz

Way to go Josh.

Congrats Josh.

Congrats Josh it sounds like you definately earned this Scholarship.

Congrats on the scholarship Josh and keep up the fine work.

I have to drag up an old thread, but........

I got the opportunity to meet and converse with Josh this week. He and his peers are indeed doing fine work currently. He's one of the brightest minds I've come across, and it it quite refreshing to see such interest and passion.

Good luck Josh, and I'm proud to be associated with the TFF.