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Dan Isermann, PhD

Unit Leader - Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit

Before his employment with USGS, he was an assistant professor of fisheries at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and worked as a fisheries biologist and research scientist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Minnesota DNR.

Research Interests

Dan's research focuses on the population dynamics and management of exploited fish populations, with special emphasis on the estimation of fish age and growth and the evaluation of harvest regulations and stocking. Most of his research endeavors are direct collaborations with state and federal resource agencies that are designed to address agency questions related to management of recreational and commercial fisheries. Specifically, he serves as co-director of the Fisheries Analysis Center, which was established to provide the Wisconsin DNR and other agencies with analysis of fish population dynamics and demographics as they relate to fisheries management and environmental variability.

Teaching Interests

Dan teaches graduate level courses covering fish population dynamics, fisheries management, and applied statistical methods that are frequently used in the assessment of fish populations.

Professional Experience

  • Unit Leader, Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, 2015-

  • Assistant Unit Leader, Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, 2013-2015

Education and Certifications

  • PhD, North Carolina State University, 1990

  • MS, Tennessee Technological University, 1988

  • BS, Delaware State College, 1985

Science and Products

The roles of antimicrobial resistance, phage diversity, isolation source, and selection in shaping the genomic architecture of Bacillus anthracis

Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax disease, is a worldwide threat to livestock, wildlife and public health. While analyses of genetic data from across the globe have increased our understanding of this bacterium’s population genomic structure, the influence of selective pressures on this successful pathogen is not well understood. In this study, we investigate the effects of antimi
Authors
Spencer A. Bruce, Yen-Hua Huang, Pauline L. Kamath, Henriette van Heerden, Wendy Christine Turner
By
Cooperative Research Units

Hippopotamus movements structure the spatiotemporal dynamics of an active anthrax outbreak

Globally, anthrax outbreaks pose a serious threat to people, livestock, and wildlife. Furthermore, environmental change can exacerbate these outbreak dynamics by altering the host–pathogen relationship. However, little is known about how the quantitative spatial dynamics of host movement and environmental change may affect the spread of Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax. Here, we
Authors
Keenan Stears, Melissa H. Schmitt, Wendy Christine Turner, Douglas J. McCauley, Epaphras A. Muse, Halima Kiwango, Daniel Matheyo, Benezeth M. Mutayoba
By
Cooperative Research Units

Disease or drought: Environmental fluctuations release zebra from a potential pathogen-triggered ecological trap

When a transmission hotspot for an environmentally persistent pathogen establishes in otherwise high-quality habitat, the disease may exert a strong impact on a host population. However, fluctuating environmental conditions lead to heterogeneity in habitat quality and animal habitat preference, which may interrupt the overlap between selected and risky habitats. We evaluated spatio-temporal patter
Authors
Yen-Hua Huang, Hendrina Joel, Martina Küsters, Zoe R. Barandongo, Claudine C. Cloete, Axel Hartmann, Pauline L. Kamath, J. Werner Kilian, John K.E. Mfune, Gabriel Shatumbu, Royi Zidon, Wayne M. Getz, Wendy Christine Turner
By
Cooperative Research Units

The roles of environmental variation and parasite survival in virulence–transmission relationships

Disease outbreaks are a consequence of interactions among the three components of a host–parasite system: the infectious agent, the host and the environment. While virulence and transmission are widely investigated, most studies of parasite life-history trade-offs are conducted with theoretical models or tractable experimental systems where transmission is standardized and the environment controll
Authors
Wendy Christine Turner, Pauline L. Kamath, Henriette van Heerden, Yen-Hua Huang, Zoe R. Barandongo, Spencer A. Bruce, Kyrre Kausrud
By
Cooperative Research Units
link
Image Collage of Landsat, pollinator, and volcanologist

Walleye Fisheries: Bright Spots in a Changing Climate

Habitat loss, pollution, species introductions, and overfishing have been impacting inland fisheries for decades. Climate change threatens to compound the factors that lead to fisheries decline. Walleye, an ecologically, economically and culturally important cool-water sportfish, have been declining in the Upper Great Lakes Region since the early 2000s. Yet while many inland walleye populations ha
By
Climate Adaptation Science Centers
link

Walleye Fisheries: Bright Spots in a Changing Climate

Habitat loss, pollution, species introductions, and overfishing have been impacting inland fisheries for decades. Climate change threatens to compound the factors that lead to fisheries decline. Walleye, an ecologically, economically and culturally important cool-water sportfish, have been declining in the Upper Great Lakes Region since the early 2000s. Yet while many inland walleye populations ha
Learn More

Zebra anthrax carcass site pathogen and soil data from Namibia, 2010-2021

Datasets collected from monitored zebra anthrax carcass sites in Etosha National Park, Namibia, 2010-2021. One data file describes the anthrax mortality, soil characterization of the carcass sites and details on the types and timing of different sampling efforts at these sites. The other data file is counts of Bacillus anthracis spores in surface soils collected annually at these carcass sites.
By
Cooperative Research Units

White-tailed deer necropsy data from Wisconsin, 2017-2021

Necropsy data collected from naturally-occurring white-tailed deer mortalities in southwestern Wisconsin from 2017-2021. Hunter-harvest mortalities are not included.
By
Cooperative Research Units

Science and Products

The roles of antimicrobial resistance, phage diversity, isolation source, and selection in shaping the genomic architecture of Bacillus anthracis

Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax disease, is a worldwide threat to livestock, wildlife and public health. While analyses of genetic data from across the globe have increased our understanding of this bacterium’s population genomic structure, the influence of selective pressures on this successful pathogen is not well understood. In this study, we investigate the effects of antimi
Authors
Spencer A. Bruce, Yen-Hua Huang, Pauline L. Kamath, Henriette van Heerden, Wendy Christine Turner
By
Cooperative Research Units

Hippopotamus movements structure the spatiotemporal dynamics of an active anthrax outbreak

Globally, anthrax outbreaks pose a serious threat to people, livestock, and wildlife. Furthermore, environmental change can exacerbate these outbreak dynamics by altering the host–pathogen relationship. However, little is known about how the quantitative spatial dynamics of host movement and environmental change may affect the spread of Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax. Here, we
Authors
Keenan Stears, Melissa H. Schmitt, Wendy Christine Turner, Douglas J. McCauley, Epaphras A. Muse, Halima Kiwango, Daniel Matheyo, Benezeth M. Mutayoba
By
Cooperative Research Units

Disease or drought: Environmental fluctuations release zebra from a potential pathogen-triggered ecological trap

When a transmission hotspot for an environmentally persistent pathogen establishes in otherwise high-quality habitat, the disease may exert a strong impact on a host population. However, fluctuating environmental conditions lead to heterogeneity in habitat quality and animal habitat preference, which may interrupt the overlap between selected and risky habitats. We evaluated spatio-temporal patter
Authors
Yen-Hua Huang, Hendrina Joel, Martina Küsters, Zoe R. Barandongo, Claudine C. Cloete, Axel Hartmann, Pauline L. Kamath, J. Werner Kilian, John K.E. Mfune, Gabriel Shatumbu, Royi Zidon, Wayne M. Getz, Wendy Christine Turner
By
Cooperative Research Units

The roles of environmental variation and parasite survival in virulence–transmission relationships

Disease outbreaks are a consequence of interactions among the three components of a host–parasite system: the infectious agent, the host and the environment. While virulence and transmission are widely investigated, most studies of parasite life-history trade-offs are conducted with theoretical models or tractable experimental systems where transmission is standardized and the environment controll
Authors
Wendy Christine Turner, Pauline L. Kamath, Henriette van Heerden, Yen-Hua Huang, Zoe R. Barandongo, Spencer A. Bruce, Kyrre Kausrud
By
Cooperative Research Units
link
Image Collage of Landsat, pollinator, and volcanologist

Walleye Fisheries: Bright Spots in a Changing Climate

Habitat loss, pollution, species introductions, and overfishing have been impacting inland fisheries for decades. Climate change threatens to compound the factors that lead to fisheries decline. Walleye, an ecologically, economically and culturally important cool-water sportfish, have been declining in the Upper Great Lakes Region since the early 2000s. Yet while many inland walleye populations ha
By
Climate Adaptation Science Centers
link

Walleye Fisheries: Bright Spots in a Changing Climate

Habitat loss, pollution, species introductions, and overfishing have been impacting inland fisheries for decades. Climate change threatens to compound the factors that lead to fisheries decline. Walleye, an ecologically, economically and culturally important cool-water sportfish, have been declining in the Upper Great Lakes Region since the early 2000s. Yet while many inland walleye populations ha
Learn More

Zebra anthrax carcass site pathogen and soil data from Namibia, 2010-2021

Datasets collected from monitored zebra anthrax carcass sites in Etosha National Park, Namibia, 2010-2021. One data file describes the anthrax mortality, soil characterization of the carcass sites and details on the types and timing of different sampling efforts at these sites. The other data file is counts of Bacillus anthracis spores in surface soils collected annually at these carcass sites.
By
Cooperative Research Units

White-tailed deer necropsy data from Wisconsin, 2017-2021

Necropsy data collected from naturally-occurring white-tailed deer mortalities in southwestern Wisconsin from 2017-2021. Hunter-harvest mortalities are not included.
By
Cooperative Research Units