American Fisheries Society
Student Subunit at UIUC
About Us
We are a group of undergraduate and graduate students that are passionate about fisheries, the environment, outreach, and education. We are affiliated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an RSO and the American Fisheries Society as a student subunit. We seek to promote fisheries science and conservation on campus, engage with the public through outreach events, and increase our own knowledge and skills through field sampling workshops. If you are interested in becoming involved with our group, join us at our next meeting!
Events Coming Up
First Meeting of the Semester!
We've had our first happy hour and now it's time for our first official RSO meeting of 2022-23!Â
Come along to meet your fellow fisheries professionals, vote in the 2022-23 elections, and pitch your ideas for outreach. We're looking forward to a busy year.
Happy Hour!
AFS is back and hosting regular happy hour events! Come join us to socialize, meet new folks, and talk all things aquatic! Sign up to our mailing list to stay in the loop on locations.
Subunit News
Successful Outreach at Homer Lake
The AFS subunit was able to set up some outreach booths at the Free Fishing Day at Homer Lake Forest Preserve. We had the macroinvertebrate identification station, the angler fish craft party, and some tanks to show off the best catches of the day!
AFS ramps up fall outreach events!
The subunit has been busy this semester! We have been able to participate in several outreach projects, including the Douglas County Environmental Stewardship Day, Sangamon River Clean Up, clipping smallmouths at Jake Wolf Hatchery, and the Homer Lake Middle School Outreach!
AFS kicks off fall 2018 semester!
The 2018-2019 officers have been busy preparing for the upcoming year, and we spent some time with ACES undergrads talking about the subunit at the ACES Fall Festival! Thanks to everybody who signed up!
Busy April for AFS!
The subunit had a very busy April! In addition to our monthly meeting, we had a IL minnow identification class (and friendly competition) with the help of INHS. We also participated in the Boneyard Cleanup Day in early April by picking up trash from around the creek. Finally, members of the subunit got to meet with Dan Stephenson, the chief of fisheries for IL.
State AFS Meeting
The UIUC student subunit was well-represented at the Illinois AFS Meeting in Grafton in February! We contributed a subunit record to the raffle and several of our members gave riveting presentations. Congratulations to Toniann Keiling, Sarah Molinaro, and Emi Tucker on winning the Larimore Student Research Award!
Officers
2021-2022
George Balto
President
Master's Student
Jordan Hartman
Vice President
PhD Student
Favorite Fish: Sturgeon
Justin Lombardo
Secretary
PhD Student
Katie Strailey
Outreach Chair
PhD Candidate
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Caitlin Bloomer
Outreach Chair
PhD Student
Favorite Fish: Northern Hogsucker
John Bieber
Treasurer
Masters student
Amy Schneider
Social Chair
Masters Student
Logan Grimm
Social Chair
Undergraduate
"To improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals."
Mission Statement
