spinydogfish.org - Contact Us

Lab Members Roger Rulifson, PhD: rulifsonr@ecu.edu Dr Roger Rulifson heads up the spiny dogfish research and a fishery ecology lab at East Carolina University's Institute for Coastal Science and Policy. Dr Rulifson advises students in the Department of Biology's M.S. and Ph.D program (Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Biological Sciences) and through the Coastal Resources Management Program.
Current Graduate Students Jennifer Cudney (migration, telemetry, GIS): jlc0213@ecu.edu Jennifer is a Ph.d student in the Coastal Resources Management Ph.D program at ECU. Her research includes both biological and sociological components. Jennifer's interests include the habitat selection, movement, and migration patterns of spiny dogfish adults and juveniles. She is combining data from multiple sources (survey data, trip report data, acoutic telemetry data, and interviews with commercial fishermen) to develop a better overall picture of dogfish behavior.
Garry Wright (population demographics, gear validation): glw0427@ecu.edu Garry completed research on reproductive female spiny dogfish (and unborn pups) as an undergraduate. As a graduate student in the ECU Department of Biology, Garry is 1) attempting to calibrate a gillnet for spiny dogfish, 2) comparing commercial fishing operations with scientific survey operations. Garry will work with North Carolina commercial fishermen to fish different depths in the water column.
Chuck Bangley (diet, behavior): cwb0319@ecu.edu Chuck is a M.S. student in the Department of Biology. He is interested in the diet of spiny dogfish, and the importance of prey presence / availability in habitat selection by dogfish. Chuck is experimenting with different methods of gastric lavage as a non-lethal method to sample gut contents. Chuck has been blogging about his research at: http://yalikedogfish.blogspot.com
Andrea Dell'Apa (migration, differentiation in male and female behaviors) Andrea is a Ph.d student in ECU's Coastal Resources Management program. Andrea is from Rome, Italy and has nurtured an interest in shark biology, conservation and management for years. Past research experiences include acoustic research in the Mediterranean, a study of Italy's shark fisheries, and tracking great white sharks off the coast of South Africa.
Previous Graduate Students Kelly Register (NC DMF; population demographics) Kelly completed intensive sampling of spiny dogfish populations along the North Carolina coast in order to develop population estimates. Tina Moore (NC DMF; population demographics) Tina's research in the Bay of Fundy included the development of the spiny dogfish reproductive stages, and a mark-recapture study.