James M. Long, PhD
Unit Leader - Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
In 2009, moved to Oklahoma as an Assistant Unit Leader and became Unit Leader in 2016. Jim's research focuses on management-driven questions related to the process of fisheries management, social dimensions, early-life history of fishes, and effects of invasive species on aquatic communities. Over the past decade, Jim has been particularly engaged in issues related to black bass diversity, highlighting the conservation needs of these endemic and iconic species. Jim uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and side-scan sonar technology to address research needs in a wide variety of aquatic ecosystems. Jim is also actively engaged in applying novel tools to better understand otolith morphology and composition to elucidate age, growth, and development in fishes. Jim teaches a graduate level course in Social Dimensions in Aquatic Ecology.
Jim grew up in the Ozarks of southwest Missouri and received a PhD from Oklahoma State University in 2000. Afterward, he went to South Carolina as a Fisheries Research Biologist investigating fish community structure in tidal freshwater wetlands. From 2002 to 2009, Jim worked with the National Park Service as the Fishery Biologist for the southeast region.