University of Tennessee

Dr. Brian Alford is a native of Vicksburg, MS and is an Assistant Professor of Fishery Conservation and Management in the Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries at the University of Tennessee. His lab focuses on five research areas, including 1) restoration of native aquatic fauna to the Pigeon River and Little Tennessee Rivers in Tennessee and North Carolina, 2) population ecology, habitat mapping, and diet of the federally threatened Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in the Tennessee and Cumberland River systems, 3) assessing land use impacts on fish and benthic invertebrate community structure, 4) conservation of imperiled mussel fauna in Tennessee 5) developing a low-cost, indoor tilapia aquaculture system to enhance urban and rural sustainability.

He earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences (1997) and M.S. in Environmental Biology (2005) from the University of Southern Mississippi. In 2008, he completed his Ph.D. in Forest Resources at Mississippi State University, emphasizing in Fisheries Management. From 2008-2013, Brian worked as a fisheries research biologist for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in Baton Rouge. He conducted research on recreational and commercial fisheries, in freshwater and marine ecosystems, as well as non-game freshwater species of conservation concern throughout Louisiana.