Martha Mather's Service to Professional Societies
Subject Editor, Wetlands Ecology and Management 2008-current
Co-Chair, Kansas Chapter, American Fisheries Society, Membership Committee 2012-2020
Most Promising Undergraduate Student Selection Committee, KSU, May 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Invited Speaker WSFR Field Trip. Kansas Division of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Parks, May 2018
Organizer and Participant, North Central Division, American Fisheries Society Symposium, 2019. Using Assessments to Evaluate Harvest Regulations: Advancing Science-based Fisheries Management, 79th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Meeting, January, Cleveland, OH.
Judge, Kansas State University Graduate School Research Forum, 2017, 2018
Presenter, Faculty Data Blitz, Student Recruitment, 2018, 2020
Faculty Host, David Crook, Oz to Oz Seminar Speaker, October, 2018
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Committee, National, American Fisheries Society, 2019-2022
Organizing Committee, 2023 Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference
Northeastern Division, American Fisheries Society
1991-1992, Newsletter editor
Best Student Paper Award Committee, American Fisheries Society
1993, 1995-96, Member, 1997, Chair
Audit Committee, Northeastern Division, American Fisheries Society
1993, 1995, 1997, Member, 1994, Chair
Board of Directors, Southern New England Chapter, American Fisheries Society
1994-2001, Member
Southern New England Chapter, American Fisheries Society
1995-1996, President, Past-President
Nominating Committee, American Fisheries Society
1995, Member
Marine Fisheries Section, American Fisheries Society,
2004-2010, Northeastern Division Representative
Best Student Paper Committee, Education Section, American Fisheries Society
2007, Member
Publications Overview Committee, American Fisheries Society
2006-2009, Member
Student Paper Award, Northeastern Division, American Fisheries Society
2010, Committee Chair
Student Affairs Committee, North Central Division, American Fisheries Society
2012, Chair
Meeting Organizing Committee, North Central Division, American Fisheries Society, Wichita, KS
2012, Member
President's Committee on Improving Fisheries Education, American Fisheries Society
2013-2015, Member
Membership Committee, Kansas Chapter American Fisheries Society
2012-2013, Member
Expert Advice Given
Reviewer
Scientific journals, 1991-present
NSF proposals, 2010-2014
Panel Member
National Undersea Research Review Panel, NOAA-NURP, Storrs, CT 2001, monterey, CA, 2002
Invited Expert and Panelist
Restore America's Estuaries, Coffeehouse panel on Integrating natural and social sciences, Providence, RI, 2008
Maine Atlantic salmon research scoping and evaluation, Gulf of Maine Institute, Portland Maine, 2008
Invited expert
Workshop, Assessing River Herring Declines, Providence, RI, 2008
Workshop, Resilience of North Atlantic Diadromous Fish Assemblages, University of Maine, Orono, 2010
Subject Editor
Wetlands Ecology and Management, 2008-present
Guest Editor
Northeastern Naturalist, Striped bass winter movements, 2009
Invited Participant
National Science Foundation proposal review panel (Population and community ecology), Arlington, VA; 2010
National Science Foundation pre-proposal review panel (Population and community ecology), Arlington, VA, 2013
National Science Foundation proposal review panel (Population and community ecology), Arlington, VA, 2014
Invited Panelist
USGS Research Grade Evaluation panel, Minneapolis, MN, 2010
Expert Advice Provided
Town of Scituate, Massachusetts, Water release timing to facilitate river herring outmigration, 2012
Expert Review
NOAA River Herring Climate Change Workshop report (part of the ESA listing Petition), 2012
Proposal Reviewer
Sea Grant, 2014-2015
Technical Assistance Given
Facilitator
Round table discussion between fisheries biologists associated with two cooperators, MDFW and UMASS, to discuss mutual interests, 1995
As SNEC-AFS President, I instituted a continuing education program that included two workshops in 1995/6. Using video technology for fisheries biology, attended by 29 biologists: 7-UMASS, 4-MDMF, 8-NBS, 3-USFWS, 3-URI, 1-RIFW, 3-Other, and a Fish Aging Workshop, attended by 46 biologists: 15-UMASS (10 students), 6-MDMF, 2-MDFW, 2-NBS, 3-USFWS, 13-Other agencies (CTDEP, RI, NJ, NY, DE, NH), 5-Other
Technical adviser
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant, Administrative and technical committee, 1993-1997
External Reviewer
Memorial University, Department of Biology, M.S. Defense, Steve Sutton, The Mystery Fish of Bonavista Bay, September, 1997
Technical Assistance
Member, Massachusetts stream flow task force, 2004-2005
Invited Presenter. Northeast river herring workshop, New Bedford. MA, 2006
Member, Institutional animal care and use committee, UMASS, 1998-2004
Member, Graduate admissions committee, School of Marine Sciences, UMASS, 1998-2010
Campus Coordinator, Steering committee, School of Marine Sciences, 2006-2007
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism (Tetracycline marking of largemouth bass, Genetic markers, PIT tagging equipment), 2012
Presenter
USFWS Webinar, Conservation science web conference series CSP3900, Striped bass movements and diets in coastal Massachusetts, 2009
Planning Committee Member
Conte Refuge education and outreach collaborative venture with Robert Muth (UMASS), Ken Sprankle (USFWS), Sarah Bevilacqua (USFWS), Sarah Wells (undergraduate, UMASS). Goal: To explore opportunities for undergraduate and graduate outreach and field research experience in the Connecticut River, 2010
Organizer
Demonstration on video camera set-up, 2010
Mini-Missouri trawl demonstration, Participants were from Kansas State University, Emporia State University, Fort Hays University, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, 2012
Workshop on best practices in species distribution modeling (SDMs). Participants originated from Kansas State University and Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, 2012
Fragstats workshop, Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Manhattan, KS. Approximately 25 researchers from the state of Kansas and Kansas State University signed up for a 2-day workshop to learn about these landscape scale ecological tools, 2015
Member
Search committee, Research coordinator position, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, 2012
Invited Speaker
Annual meeting, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, 2012, 2013
Member
Wildlife ecologist search committee, Kansas State University Division of Biology, Winter-Spring, 2011-2012
Outreach and Information Transfer
Stakeholder Briefing
River herring restoration: thoughts on how alewife and blueback herring use freshwater. Working Group, Coonamessett River Restoration, Falmouth, MA, 2004
Co-Leader
Gulf of Maine Institute workshop, Striped bass, 12 high school students (2 days), 2007
Co-leader
Curriculum development using striped bass in Plum Island Estuary, 10 middle school teachers, 2008
Stakeholder Briefing
Striped bass in the Great Marsh: where are they and what are they doing there? The Great Marsh Symposium, Newburyport, MA, 2008
Outreach
In collaboration with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, I worked with UMass faculty (Dr. Robert M. Muth, Dr. Jack Finn), former graduate students (Sarah Pautzke, Kristen Ferry), selected high school teachers, and the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole, MA (Dr. Linda Deegan) to develop a striped bass curriculum for implementation in public schools in coastal Massachusetts. This curriculum, entitled Striper Science, consists of a set of lesson plans and resources for students at the middle and high school levels, and it is based on our collaborative socio-ecological research on striped bass conducted in Plum Island Sound as part of the Plum Island Sound Long-term Ecological Research Site. Resources include PowerPoint presentations, inquiry lessons based on databases, field studies, and online videos. These lesson plans and resources are based on Massachusetts Science Curriculum Frameworks. The curriculum is currently being used in selected schools in coastal Massachusetts and can be accessed via the worldwide web at http://www.massaudubon.org/saltmarsh/striper. This curriculum is important because of the call to action among environmental scientists to promote environmental literacy by providing science-based information to the non-scientific public at all levels.
Application of Research Results
In collaboration with UMass faculty (Robert Muth, Jack Finn), current graduate students (Holly Frank, Joe Smith) the State Division of Marine Fisheries, and the Marine Biological Lab, Woods Hole, MA (Dr. Linda Deegan), I assisted with developing the Ipswich River Herring website. This website(http://sites.google.com/site/ipswichriverherring/)was the basis for our successful Adopt-A-Herring outreach program, and it provided information to community groups and stakeholder organizations. It describes the research we conducted on river herring biology and management that uses radiotelemetry, and it includes information on river herring behavior and habitat use. It also provides opportunities for individuals, organizations, and schools to be involved in river herring restoration efforts.
Outreach
Our striped bass research was featured in an issue of Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary magazine, 2009
Guest Lecture/Field Trip
Konza Long Term Ecological Research Site, provided overview of crayfish movement research using pit tagging to gifted high school students who spent a week at Kansas State being immersed in ecological research, 2011
Guest Lecture/Field Trip
Junction City High School Students, Provided overview of crayfish movement research using pit tagging, 2012
Outreach
Contributed to "Data nuggets," a nationwide initiative to incorporate current research data into middle school curricula (http://datanuggets.org). Data on striped bass movement will be included into a widely used lesson plan for New England schools (Collaborator Liz Duff, Massachusetts Audubon), 2015
