Dr. Richard S. Fulford
Assistant Professor, Quantitative Fisheries Science
Phone: (228) 872-4282
Fax: (228) 872-4204
Richard.Fulford@usm.edu
Coastal Ecosystems Group
Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
My work involves the application of quantitative analytical techniques and numerical modeling to relevant questions in fisheries science with the objective of improving our ability to manage fishery resources. My work covers a wide range of interest areas including habitat assessments, age and growth of fishes, larval recruitment dynamics, predator-prey interactions and bioenergetics. I work at the population, community and ecosystem level, but I am most interested in ecosystem-level questions. My recent work has involved food web modeling and what we can learn about managing whole systems by studying the effect of human activities on trophic dynamics and energy flow. My research group is working to apply a food web approach to investigations in the Gulf of Mexico coastal ecosystem, as well as pursue more traditional quantitative analysis of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. I am also interested in comparative work between natural populations of the same species that reside in coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic coast, and the quantitative assessment of ongoing stock enhancement programs.
Note on Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded resulting in as much as 60,000 barrels of crude oil leaking into the northern Gulf of Mexico each day. The ecological effects of this spill are unknown, but are likely to be significant. My research group is working to both adapt our ongoing research to this environmental catastrophe and work with our state and federal partners to assess the medium and long-term effects. Our primary interest is the disruption of the northern Gulf of Mexico foodweb particularly at lower trophic levels; and using quantitative models to examine how such disruptions will impact ecosystem resilience and recovery.