BFHOF: What was your primary motivation to pursue a degree in wildlife and fisheries?

Natalie: Mostly to satisfy a genuine curiosity about many of the things I love in the outdoors. Plus, fisheries research and management is stimulating and challenging, while also allowing me to have an active hand in conservation.

BFHOF: What’s the average cost for a year of tuition, as well as rent?

Natalie: Tuition, rent, utilities, and health insurance total about $16,000 a year, and my graduate student salary from Auburn is $20,000.

BFHOF: Were you surprised to learn you had been chosen by the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame to receive a $2,500 scholarship?

Natalie: Absolutely! Before I moved to Auburn to study largemouth bass under the Sportfish Restoration Act, I primarily worked with cold water species such as salmon and trout. I took this graduate position in the South to diversify my foundation early in my young career. This is my first time working in the South with such a popular sport fishery and its stakeholders. I’ve worked hard to immerse myself in this fishery and the management goals of ADCNR. So, this award from the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame serves as gratification that I’m on the right track.

BFHOF: What is your biggest challenge, toughest class, or most time-consuming task?

Natalie: Mostly just dealing with the travel expense associated with attending the funerals of more than one family member this past year. So, taking extra time and money as a busy student to take care of myself, and assure my success at both home and work.

BFHOF: Tell us about what you’re working on currently.

Natalie: The objectives of this current study are to evaluate the trade-offs between fishing quality and economic benefits across a gradient of increasing black bass tournament fishing effort at Neely Henry Lake, a 4,500-hectare reservoir within the Coosa River Basin in northeast Alabama.

We utilize a dynamic age structured simulation model that includes a sub model for fishing-related economic expenditures. The model is informed by a current intensive reward/telemetry tagging study being conducted on Neely Henry as well a tournament and nontournament bass angler survey.

The angler survey utilizes a mixed methods approach including access point and roving creel survey methods with contingent behavior questions to further understand the angler effort and behavior of both groups of anglers in several hypothetical management scenarios.

In summary, we came up with a framework to evaluate tradeoffs between fishing quality and the economic performance of tournament angling. Agencies can utilize this information to construct management regulations that maximize the benefits of the tournament fishing industry as well as support a high-quality fishery with desirable catch rates and size structure.

I just finished the last of my fieldwork at Neely Henry Reservoir; While I’ll miss the boat time, I look forward to traveling across the country to communicate with other biologists at conferences about the complex bass fishery at Neely Henry Reservoir.

I will be attending Midwest Fish and Wildlife in Sioux Falls, SD, Southern Division in Chattanooga, TN, and AL-AFS in Guntersville, AL. And the generous contribution from the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame helps make this travel possible.