McNair Scholars
Robert Hogg
Robert Hogg is a 40-year-old native Northern Californian, third generation logger, and single father to a vibrant teenage son. Rob, as he prefers to be called, recently earned a Bachelor of Science degree in the Environmental Studies – Biology Program at Southern Oregon University (SOU) in Ashland. Through dedicated scholarship, Rob graduated Magna Cum Laude in June of 2008.
Driven by his passion for the conservation of biodiversity and his thirst for knowledge of natural history in the Pacific Northwest, Rob found SOU’s Environmental Studies curriculum intriguing and exciting, but stretched himself even further by participating in outside research projects. Rob participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) with the University of Idaho during the summer of 2007. At the water resources REU, Rob investigated the anadromous migration behavior of introduced American shad (Alosa sapidissima) in the Columbia and Snake River systems. Rob learned to utilize Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT tags) to monitor adult migration distance, while searching for correlations to energetic state (body lipid content) as detected with non-invasive Distell © probe, or age and recent growth history as estimated through the analysis of body scales collected at time of tagging. Rob continued this summer research throughout the 2007-08 school year by analyzing thousands of scales using methodology similar to a forester reading growth rings of a tree. Rob presented results from this project, which developed into his Senior Honors Capstone, at conferences of the Oregon Academy of Sciences in February 2008 and the American Fisheries Society in May 2008.
Prior to his SOU graduation, Rob volunteered with the Medford District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct an extensive seven-week Western pond turtle (Clemmys marmorata) monitoring project within the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Following his graduation, Rob devoted seven, forty-hour weeks, often camping on site while participating in this mark-recapture study. Rob submitted a formal report on his findings to the BLM in October of 2008, and hopes to have results ready for either publication or presentation within scientific community during the spring of 2009.
In August of 2008, Rob accepted an Experimental Biology Aid position with the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife’s (ODFW) Gold Beach office. Rob joined the Rogue River Salmonid Beach Seining crew where he learned to operate a twenty-foot boat while deploying a 300-foot seine across the Rogue River, capturing, measuring, and releasing migrating adult salmonids. The data collected by Rob’s crew was used by the agency for future fisheries management decisions. Rob found this work very gratifying and was sad to see the seasonal position come to a close at the end of October 2008.
Rob has aspirations for eventually earning a PhD in Fish and Wildlife Resources and envisions himself as a bridge between natural resource policy and application. Utilizing his experience in the forest resources industry in conjunction with higher education, Rob remains convinced that he can contribute in today’s multidisciplinary approach to effective resource management.
Mentor: Dr. Michael Parker, Biology