Kevin Pope

Kevin earned a B.S. from Texas A&M University, an M.S. from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. from South Dakota State University. Prior to joining the Nebraska Unit, he was a tenured Associate Professor at Texas Tech University. Kevin and his students conduct research designed to further understanding and enhance management of complex social-ecological systems, especially inland recreational fisheries. A fishery, by definition, is a complex social-ecological system in which there are continual feedbacks between social and ecological components, and in which there are multiple states for both social and ecological components, with unknown thresholds between states. Kevin and his students focus on interactions, and associated thresholds and feedback mechanisms, between recreational-angler behavior and fish behavior on multiple scales. Quantifying and understanding these interactive influences will allow for more informed management of recreational fisheries. Kevin teaches a graduate-level Quantitative Fishery Assessments course and co-teaches a graduate-level Managed Aquatic Systems course; both courses are intended to enhance critical-thinking skills of students. He is particularly interested in exploring ways to facilitate and enhance transboundary and interdisciplinary research and education because he believes these activities will ultimately produce science-based management actions that benefit our natural resources and ensure sustainable use.