William J. Matthews
Chair and Professor, Department of Zoology
Professor, Biological
Station
e-mail: wmatthews@ou.edu
Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma in Zoology (Ichthyology, Ecology, Limnology), 1977.
Courses Taught:
Ichthyology, Principles of Ecology, Fish Ecology, Stream Ecology, Aquatic Biology, Vertebrate Morphogenesis, Fishes of the Midwest, Larval Fish Ecology, and Stream Fish Ecology.
Seminars:
Resource Use in Aquatic Environments, Stream Ecology, Fish Ecology, Larval Fish Ecology, Fish Faunas of North America, and Analysis of Fish Community Structure.
Research Interests:
My research is in ecology and systematics of North American freshwater fishes, with emphasis on long-term change in fish communities, and taxonomic problems in midwestern fishes. At present I am collaborating with Dr. Edie Marsh-Matthews on our mutual studies of stream fish communities in Oklahoma and Arkansas which I began in the 1970s. I am also working on syntheses of my other fish collections and studies from the last 30+ years in Oklahoma and surrounding regions. Because of my duties as Chair of the Department of Zoology, I am not currently taking any new graduate students.
Grants:
US Environmental Protection Agency. 2004-2007. Design, construction and evaluation of a passive treatment system for contaminated mine water. $2,982,000. B. Nairn, PI; W. Matthews and others, Co-PIs. (Matthews' portion of the award is $198,252 for evaluation of effects on fishes).
National Science Foundation. 2003-2004. Dissertation Research: Fish effects in stream ecosystems-a mechanistic approach. $6,980.00 (DEB-0308729). Dissertation improvement grant for Chad Hargrave.
Oklahoma Water Resources Board. 2002-2003. Sorting and identification of fish. $6,000. W.J. Matthews, PI; W. Marsh-Matthews, Co-PI.
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. 1999-2004. Development of protocols for assessing watershed assimilative capacity for chemical stressors in support of appropriate ecosystem management/restoration practices: Determination of aquatic and sediment eco-effects. (On Lake Texoma). $910,000. G.D. Schnell, PI; W.J. Matthews, Co-PI.
USDA Forest Service. 1999-2000. Assessment of movement of leopard darters in Oklahoma streams. $40,000.00. E. Marsh-Matthews, PI; W.J. Matthews, Co-PI.
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. 1999-2002. Identify, enumerate and determine biomass of fish samples. Not to exceed $10,000 per year. W.J. Matthews, PI; E. Marsh-Matthews, Co-PI.
Award and Honors:
George M. Sutton Conservation Award, Southwestern Association of Naturalists, 2001. (Best conservation paper in the Southwestern Naturalist during the past year).
Current Graduate Students:
Rachael Remington, PhD student at University of Oklahoma
David Gillette, PhD student at University of Oklahoma
Jeff Wesner. PhD student at U. Oklahoma.
Courtney Franssen. MS student at U. Oklahoma.