NANFA Board of Directors
 Bruce (right) with Steven Ellis during a regional gathering at the Sipsey River, AL. Bruce developed the NANFA Conservation Research Grant You can read about the grant and past recipients HERE. |
Bruce Stallsmith, President, NANFA Research Grant
Chair Huntsville, AL Email: fundulus hotmail com (fill in the blanks with a @ and a . and help us combat spammers) I have served on the NANFA Board of Directors for the past two years in the role of President. We have an important mission as advocates for the husbandry and general protection of the native fishes of North America. I have a PhD in Environmental Biology from the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and I currently teach biology at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. My personal and research interests are the freshwater fishes of North America, especially Fundulus killifish; early life history of fishes; short-term acidification processes in freshwater ponds; and saltmarsh ecology. |
 Rob spending the day canoeing while doing bird counts and seining during a survey of the West Fork of the Trinity River, TX. Rob is Chair of the Gerald C. Corcoran Education Grant Committee. Read about this grant program HERE. |
Robert Denkhaus,
Vice President, Gerald C. Corcoran Education Grant
Chair Fort Worth, TX Email: Robert.Denkhaus fortworthgov org Since joining NANFA, I have become a Texas Regional Representative and have used my position as a professional naturalist to introduce hundreds of people to the wonders of our native fishes, both in the aquarium and in the wild, while also informing them of the opportunities that NANFA provides. I am Chair of the Gerald C. Corcoran Education Grant. In the future, I would like to see NANFA become even more proactive in educating its members and the general public regarding native fish issues. I feel that NANFA has the potential to be a real educational force by providing opportunities for everyone to become better acquainted with our fish fauna. NANFA's current activities are a great start but I would like NANFA to provide additional materials that would be of use in the classroom and in the field. NANFA members across the country would then become the "go to" people for helping teachers to incorporate aquatic ecology and native fish into the curriculum. |
 Peter (right) at the 1999 NANFA Convention in Illinois. As a NANFA regional representative in Arizona and Nevada, Peter has performed much valuable work towards protecting the rare desert fishes of his area. You can read more about his efforts and NANFA's new regional outreach program HERE. |
Peter Unmack,
Board Chair, Web Page Server Administrator Tempe, AZ Email: peter.unmack asu edu I am originally from Melbourne, Australia, and since 1994 have lived in California, Texas, and Arizona. I was first attracted to fishkeeping in 1979 and angling in 1982. For a long time I have been interested in Australian native fishes, especially nongame and desert species, which has since transcribed to include North American desert species. I have served on the boards of several fish organizations and am presently most involved with the Desert Springs Action Committee (DSAC) and NANFA. My academic interests are broad and include desert spring conservation and ecology, biogeography, systematics, ecology, and just about anything to do with freshwater fishes. I am attending Arizona State University where I am working on my Ph.D. on the historical biogeography of Australian freshwater fishes. My work for NANFA includes being chairperson for the Board of Directors, maintaining the server that runs NANFA's website, and contributing to general discussions regarding NANFA's programs and future. I am also a regional representative for Arizona/Nevada. I organize at least two field trips per year in conjunction with the Desert Springs Action Committee, undertaking conservation work and research in springs in southern Nevada. My goals are to try and help NANFA grow and help fish in their struggle for survival. |
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Jan Jeffrey Hoover, Librarian Vicksburg, MS Email: hooverj wes.army mil I have been a NANFA member since 1997, and Librarian and Educational Grant Committee member since 2000. My vocation as "research fishery scientist" and my avocation as "volunteer naturalist" provide me with opportunities to promote our organization at meetings of professional biologists and at outreach programs for the general public. They also provide me with insight into NANFA's dual role as an organization for biologists and for hobbyists. I believe that NANFA has tremendous potential to benefit both groups of members by facilitating interaction among them. As such, I enjoy developing and making available presentation materials that illustrate the NANFA mission and recent activities of its members. I also encourage greater involvement of NANFA members in environmental monitoring and habitat restoration efforts. |
Jan holding an exotic sailfin catfish from the San Antonio River. |
 Bob with a Tilapia destined for the dinner table. The specimen is probably a blue tilapia, Oreochromis aureus, an introduced species believed to compete heavily with native fishes. Many states have laws against transporting or possessing live specimens of such exotic species, so it's a good idea to check with state and local authorities before collecting them for the aquarium. For Bob's take on the hazards presented by introduced species, check out his article, "What To Do About Introduced Species" on the American Currents articles page HERE. |
Bob Bock Kensington, MD Email: bockhouse earthlink net I've been a NANFA member for several years, and have served as a regional representative, organized numerous collecting trips, and co-edited American Currents with my friend and fellow Board member Chris Scharpf. My interest in native fishes dates back to my childhood in New Jersey, where I collected sunfish, killies and catfish in local park lakes. Since then, I've collected fish in the Florida Everglades, the mountains of West Virginia, the creeks of Tennessee and Ohio, the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, and the North Carolina Coast. I write a column on native fishes for beginners, which appears in American Currents, and in aquarium club magazines around the country. I've observed numerous species of both freshwater and marine fish in my home aquariums. My greatest interest is in the Lepomis sunfish and the sailfin mollies of the Southeastern U.S. and Mexico. I'm trained in public relations, and I spend a lot of my free time trying to let the public know about native fish in general, and NANFA in particular. Last summer, I served as a spokesperson for NANFA on the plans to eradicate the introduced snakehead from a pond in Maryland. I commented on the topic for national and local media, and tried my best to make the best of a bad situation by underscoring the dangers of releasing captive species into the wild. |
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Leo S. Long Troy, MI Email: lscalong gatecom com
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I am a native Michigander and grew up in Dearborn. I
have always loved the outdoors and wildlife of
all kind. I began college with the thought of
working toward a degree in Wildlife Management but was sidetracked by
another love: Wildlife Art. I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree
with a Secondary Teaching Certificate from
Eastern Michigan University. I work as a
freelance artist and teach classes in conjunction with the UAW. My wife
Carol also shares my enthusiasm for the outdoors and passion for
animals. I really got involved with fish in 1996
when we joined our local aquarium club, where I
have been active on their board and am current
president. I started keeping fish as models for
my artwork, and then began to get interested in
how they breed. Most of the fish I now keep are natives.
I joined NANFA after attending the 1999 Convention in
Champaign, Ill. It was the first time that I
went "fishing" for something other than
gamefish. The experience inspired me to ask
about being a Regional Representative for
Michigan. As Michigan rep I have tried to get the word out about our
native fishes and the problems they face, and
the enjoyment that one can have by observing the
wildlife they have in their own backyard. In 2002 I
co-hosted the NANFA Convention in Ann Arbor.
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 Todd with a Lake Erie largemouth bass |
Todd Crail, Project Database Manager Toledo, OH Email: farmertodd buckeye-express com
I've been a keeper of fish since I was eight years old. I
don't really know what the reasons were for
wanting an aquarium instead of the latest in GI
Joe or Star Wars gadgetry. Perhaps it was a secondary manifestation of my
curiosity of what lies under the water's
surface at my Grandparents' cottage. I'm pleased
to say that now, 20 years later, I still have that
curiosity.
I first discovered (and consequently joined) NANFA on
the Internet back in 1997 when I was curious if
anyone else thought bluegill and crappie were
appropriate specimens for aquaria. I wanted to watch how the animals I
angled for lived and to help hone my skills as a fisherman. I
remember coming home and telling my wife that
there were people "out there" who
thought like me. Little did I know how far those people would take
me into and beyond the realm of the little creek
running through town. My vocation is
Internet software development. I find that the
virtual world I live in at work inexhaustibly
drives my passion for nature during my free
time. That passion is often shared with many people in snippets of
discussion when appropriate, or from a Web page where people can
take a break and look at something more real
than cube walls. The ability to distribute
native creatures through digital media to a large audience with
such ease is perhaps my greatest asset I can share with NANFA.
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Member Services
 Stephanie, formerly of the Tennessee Aquarium, reintroducing captive-raised spotfin chub, a federally threatened species, into Abrams Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN. Stephanie Scharpf, Treasurer Baltimore, MD Email: ichthos comcast net
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 Charlie in the University of Michigan Museum at the 2002 NANFA Convention Charles Nunziata, Regional Outreach Program Coordinator Largo, FL Email: epiplaty tampabay.rr com
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