2012 Annual Meeting

Chamberlain, South Dakota

The Dakota Chapter‟s annual meeting was held in Chamberlain, South Dakota from February 21 through 23, 2012.  There were 84 participants, 21 paper and 13 poster presentations. The meeting started with a continuing education course introducing before after control impact (BACI) analysis by Dr. Dan James and Dr. Steve Chipps on February 21. Papers and posters were presented on the 22nd and 23rd.

The awards ceremony and banquet were held on the evening of the 22nd.  Awards were presented for recognition of professional service and contributions toward improving the appreciation and use of aquatic resources in their communities. Dr. Steve Chipps won the Robert L Hanten Distinguished Professional Service Award. Dr. Brian Graeb won the Outstanding Young Professional Award. The Aquatic Resource Conservation Award was presented to Woody Tiggelaar for his work with South Dakota Walleyes Unlimited. Jacob Davis won the Best Student Paper for his presentation “Genetic origins of naturally reproduced rainbow trout in the Deerfield reservoir system”. The Best Poster was awarded to Mark Kaemingk, for his poster titled, “Priority effects among young of the year fish: reduced growth of bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) caused by yellow perch (Perca flavescens)”.  Michael Weber won the Best Professional Paper for his presentation “Potential for compensatory responses of common carp to commercial exploitation”.

 

The meeting was highlighted with our awards ceremony and banquet where we recognized a number of individuals and groups who have made a tremendous positive difference for fishery resources across the Dakotas.

 

Each year, Sauger Scholarships are presented to undergraduate students to cover registration and travel expenses at the annual Dakota Chapter meeting. This year, five Sauger Scholarships were awared to Aaron Andrews, Austin Galinat, and Kyle Behl from SDSU and Aaron Burgad and Matt Klein from VCSU.  Additionally, the Alven Kriel scholarship provided a one-year membership to the American Fisheries Society to Aaron Burgad and Alexander Letvin. New chapter officers were elected at the meeting. Tyler Berger (Secretary/Treasurer), Rick Nelson (Vice-President) and Dan Dembkowski (President-Elect) join President-Elect Mike Olson as incoming officers for 2012.