Jacob T. Westhoff, PhD

Dr. Westhoff earned a master’s degree in Biology from Tennessee Technological University and a PhD in Fisheries and Wildlife from the University of Missouri.  He worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation for five years where he conducted research on of populations of rare fishes prior to joining the Missouri Coop Unit in 2021.  His research focuses primarily on the conservation of non-game fish, crayfish, and mussels in the midwestern and southeastern United States.  He combines laboratory and field data collection to investigate topics related to thermal ecology, aquatic invasive species, life history, movement, habitat associations, and species distributions.  Much of his research focuses on rare and endangered species and provides information to state and federal partners for species listing, recovery, and monitoring efforts.  He is also keenly interested in methods development and standardization related to both laboratory and field data collection.  Dr. Westhoff has taught courses on Global Change Ecology, Ichthyology, Fish Ecology, Fisheries Management, Ecology of Freshwater Crayfish and Mussels, and Invasion Ecology.