My affinity for natural resources became apparent early in life with family outings of fishing (particularly emphasized), hunting, and just simply being outside doing family related activities.  From that point forward, I decided that a career in fisheries was what I wanted to do with my life.  As such, I began working in fisheries with Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism in 1998 while completing an Associates of Science Degree at Coffeyville Community College. In 2001, I attended South Dakota State University to complete my Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science and obtain valuable fishery experience and education with new people. After completing my undergraduate work, I continued my education by also completing a Master of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at SDSU.   Because of the passion and enthusiasm I have for teaching and research, I continued on to gain more experience and education at Southern Illinois University where I completed my Ph.D.  Since completing my formal education, I acquired a fisheries research position with the Missouri Department of Conservation.  The focal point of my research uses both basic and applied techniques to answer important management questions.  Specifically I concentrate my efforts in fisheries management and ecology with primary interests in stream ecology, biostatistics, invasive species, endangered species, pond management, population dynamics, animal movement patterns, life history attributes, trophic ecology, and stable isotope technology.  Ultimately, my research merges ecological theory across disciplines (e.g., ecology, biometry, and fisheries) to thoroughly understand ecosystem dynamics on broad spatiotemporal scales.  With all of the cool research that I have been involved with, I possess more than 60 peer reviewed publications in text books and refereed ecological/fisheries journals, grant experience/assistance (from several state fish and wildlife agencies, the Corps of Engineers, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Geological Survey, and recently NSF), mentoring undergraduate and graduate students (I currently mentor several students), presenting at national and international conferences, and possess real-world knowledge from my time working with several state/federal agencies and academic institutions. I would love the opportunity to become more involved with the Fisheries Management Section. Over the course of my fisheries career, I have been intimately involved with the American Fisheries Society and have provided service to AFS, including, subunit vice-president, subunit president, Fisheries Management Section Newsletter Editor, Illinois AFS Newsletter Editor, AFS book editor, Early-life History Section co-representative, Governing Board mentee, North Central Division student chair, Fisheries Management Secretary-Treasurer, and Fisheries Management Section Young-Professional Committee Chair.  I am also an associate editor for North American Journal of Fisheries Management and a reviewer for Fisheries and Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. To this end, I hope that the Fisheries Management Section will consider me as a candidate for President of the section.  I believe that I have a diverse background in fisheries management/ecology, have provided much service to AFS (particularly to FMS), and possess unique professional experiences that would strengthen and provide further exposure to FMS.