Aquaculture & Fisheries

MASTER OF SCIENCE & DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREES IN AQUACULTURE/FISHERIES

School of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Human Sciences

Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

1200 N. University, Mail Slot 4912

Pine Bluff, Arkansas 71601

Telephone: (870) 575-8968

Website

Rebecca Lochmann, Ph.D.

Chair

lochmannr@uapb.edu

(870) 575-8124

Lin Xie, Ph.D.

Graduate Coordinator

xiel@uapb.edu

(870) 575-8157

AQUACULTURE/FISHERIES CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

The Aquaculture/Fisheries Center at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) was created in 1988. It combines resident instruction, research and Extension responsibilities into one comprehensive unit. Currently, the Center has a total of 34 faculty and staff including 14 Ph.D. scientists, 10 M.S., 4 B.S.-level staff and 6 secretarial and maintenance personnel.

The research component of the Aquaculture/Fisheries Center is supported by a 116-earthen pond facility that also includes a 40-pool unit. The 5,400 sq. ft. hatchery houses holding, spawning, and experimental tanks along with a small recirculating culture system. Additional buildings provide storage areas for feed, chemicals, tools and seines. The S. J. Parker Agricultural Research Center building provides laboratory space that includes a 1,300 sq. ft. wet laboratory for aquarium studies, a water quality laboratory, and a 1,000 sq. ft. nutrition laboratory. The 1890 Extension building houses the state-of-the-art fish health diagnostics laboratory that is fully equipped to conduct microbiological, viral, and histopathological analyses of fish. The Aquaculture Equipment Development Building provides facilities for research and development of aquaculture equipment. The Hatchery Research and Development Building was completed in 2005 for hatchery fish and water quality research. It is divided into two dry labs and two wet labs that can be combined or separated with independent temperature/light control. The Fish Shop, the Applied Sciences Building, and the Boat Barn provides approximately 7,000 sq. ft. of laboratory, wet-lab, offices, and equipment storage for natural fisheries research. This research program has available two electrofishing boats, three backpack shockers, one barge shocker, seven aluminum boats ranging in size from 10 to 18 ft., outboard motors from 7.5 to 70 hp, a state of the art fish-aging laboratory, and additional equipment (nets, seines, trawls, and traps) necessary to support recreational fisheries research needs.

Aquaculture research conducted at UAPB focuses primarily on pond and hatchery production technologies, fish nutrition, water quality, fish health, and economics and marketing of aquaculture products. Much of the work is devoted to catfish, sportfish, and baitfish production. UAPB aquaculture researchers developed new fish spawning and hatching technologies that dramatically improved hatch rates and survival, lowered production costs, and reduced groundwater usage. The UAPB fish nutrition program developed new feed formulations that lowered costs of production, improved growth, and feed conversion. New catfish farming equipment developed and patented at UAPB reduced harvesting labor, removed undersized fish from harvesting nets and effectively sorted other species from catfish. Aquaculture research includes work with new “split-pond” systems. UAPB research develops guidelines that help farmers select the most efficient and profitable management strategies.

Water quality research has focused on the effects of filter-feeding fish in catfish ponds and the effects of aerial applications of common herbicides on pond plankton populations and water quality.

UAPB natural fisheries research is focused on improving recreational fishing in Arkansas. Research includes evaluating stocking success of largemouth bass and crappie in rivers, oxbow lakes, and reservoirs; identification of appropriate species, impacts of stocking programs, and management options in farm ponds; program evaluations of community fishing programs; impacts of invasive species, aquatic habitat assessment and management, and studies that are designed to gain a better understanding of floodplain river ecosystem function and its importance for maintaining and enhancing fisheries resources.

Aquaculture Extension programming in Arkansas is administered through the Aquaculture/Fisheries Center at UAPB. Disease diagnostics, water quality testing, and aquatic vegetation identification support is provided through four laboratories in Lonoke, Pine Bluff, Lake Village, and Jonesboro, Arkansas, and the APHIS-certified Fish Health Inspection Laboratory in Lonoke, Arkansas. Extension efforts have included intensive in-service training of county agents in fish production, producer workshops, problem solving, publication of the quarterly newsletter Arkansas Aquafarming, bilingual farm labor training, farm demonstrations, an innovative Catfish Research Verification Program, farm pond management, and a Fish Farm Safety Program.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries offers post-baccalaureate training for careers in aquaculture (hatchery management, fish farming and related support industries) and natural fisheries (management of fish populations, fish habitat, and user groups, as well as related support areas of study).

Graduate Student Load

A full-time graduate student load is six (6) graduate credit hours during a regular semester and two (2) graduate credit hours during the summer. A full-time graduate student’s load may not exceed fifteen (15) credit hours per regular semester (including any undergraduate courses). A full-time graduate student’s load may not exceed eight (8) credit hours during the summer term. Students who wish to enroll in a course at another campus must file a Concurrent Enrollment Form, signed by their advisor, department chair and dean, with the Registrar prior to enrolling on another campus. There is a separate concurrent enrollment form to be filed by international students with the Office of International Studies. Students must maintain full-time student status to maintain their assistantship. Students who are not enrolled full-time are not eligible for graduate assistantships. Students not on assistantships but finishing their dissertation must maintain graduate student status by registering for one credit of Research and Thesis or Research and Dissertation each semester of the academic year and during one of the summer sessions. International students will need to contact the Office of International Studies for a course reduction form and will need a letter from their advisor to maintain graduate student status with one credit.

Advisory Committee

Each student must satisfactorily pass a series of milestones throughout their program of study leading to the graduate degree. These milestones have been developed to ensure that students have a clearly defined path to follow and understand the direction needed for steady progress towards their degree. However, the program also includes mechanisms that allow students to adapt to changing circumstances that arise throughout many research projects, to change research projects, and to change advisors. The first milestone is establishment of an advisory committee.

M.S. Advisory Committee

A student’s advisor must be a faculty member of the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries. During a student’s first semester an advisory committee must be assembled (Form 04). This is the responsibility of both the student and the advisor. Failure to complete this requirement will result in receiving an “F” in Graduate Seminar GAQF 5195-5196. The advisory committee should consist of three to five members including the advisor. Faculty from the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries must compose the majority of the committee members and must have UAPB graduate faculty status. UAPB faculty from other departments must also have UAPB graduate status to serve on thesis committees. Students are encouraged to seek professionals from outside of the department to serve on their committee. These professionals must be eligible for UAPB Adjunct Graduate Research Faculty status. The graduate coordinator will maintain a list of possible external committee members. External committee members should complete the Graduate Faculty Status form, submit a CV or resume and receive approval from the department chair, dean of the School and the chair of the Graduate Council before serving on an advisory committee. Switching advisors is allowed during the first two years of study with permission of the current advisor, the prospective advisor, the graduate coordinator, and the department chair (Form 05). Changes in a committee member (Form 06) must be approved by the student’s advisory committee, the graduate coordinator, and the department chair. All forms must be filed with the graduate coordinator. Copies will be forwarded to the registrar’s office by the graduate coordinator.

Ph.D. Advisory Committee

A student’s advisor must be a faculty member of the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries. During a student’s first semester an advisory committee must be assembled (Form 04). The advisory committee must meet during the first semester to review and unanimously approve the student’s program of study and to discuss preliminary plans for the research to be undertaken. This is the responsibility of both the student and the advisor. Failure to complete this requirement will result in receiving an “F” in Graduate Seminar GAQF 5195-5196. The advisory committee should consist of at least five members including the advisor. Faculty from the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries must compose the majority of the committee members and must have UAPB graduate faculty status. UAPB faculty from other departments must also have UAPB graduate faculty status to serve on advisory committees. Students are encouraged to seek professionals from outside of the department to serve on their advisory committee. A Memorandum of Agreement with the Graduate School of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences provides for UAMS doctoral faculty to serve on advisory committees of Ph.D. candidates in Aquaculture/Fisheries. These professionals or other external advisory committee members must be eligible for UAPB Adjunct Graduate Research Faculty status. The graduate coordinator will maintain a list of possible external committee members. External committee members should complete the Graduate Faculty Status form, submit a CV or resume and receive approval from the department chair, dean of the School and the chair of the Graduate Council before serving on an advisory committee. Switching advisors is allowed during the first two (2) years of study with permission of the current advisor, the prospective advisor, the graduate coordinator, and the department chair (Form 05). Changes in a committee member (Form 06) must be approved by the student’s advisory committee, the graduate coordinator, and the department chair. All original forms must be filed with the graduate coordinator. Copies will be forwarded to the registrar’s office by the graduate coordinator.

Program of Study

The second milestone is creation of a unique program of study. Specific courses to be taken by each student will be specified in a program of study approved by the advisor and the advisory committee. This program of study will ensure that the student possesses the expected knowledge base prior to standing for the comprehensive or preliminary examinations. We expect students who enroll in the program to bring varied backgrounds and levels of preparation in aquaculture and fisheries; thus, the committee will assist the student to tailor an appropriate program of study.

The program of study must be finalized by the end of the first full semester of graduate course work in a committee meeting (Form 07). This meeting should be arranged by the student and attended by the advisor, all committee members, and the graduate coordinator and/or the department chair. Conference call arrangements should be made for committee members unable to attend the meeting. The advisory committee, the graduate coordinator, and the department chair must sign programs of study, indicating their approval.

M.S. Program of Study

The M.S. program of study includes courses to be taken by semester over the generally 2.5-year period of enrollment. Coursework must include a minimum of 34 credit hours. At least 26 credit hours must be core courses, including Research Methods and Scientific Writing, and one graduate level course in statistics. In addition to the 26 credit hours of core courses, two credit hours of Graduate Seminar are required. A student’s committee may require further course work. One (1) credit hour of Graduate Seminar must be taken in the first full semester of study. Failure to complete the requirement of establishment of an advisory committee and creation of a program of study by the end of the first full semester will result in receiving an “F” in Graduate Seminar.

Changes in the program of study (Form 08) must be approved by the student’s advisory committee, the graduate coordinator, and the department chair. All original forms must be filed with the graduate coordinator to be forwarded to the registrar’s office, with copies kept on file by the graduate coordinator.

Ph.D. Program of Study

The Ph.D. program of study should include a minimum of 42 credit hours beyond the M.S. degree. A student’s committee may require further course work. Each student must complete a minimum of 24 hours of core coursework in the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries. Within this minimum requirement, one hour of an ethics course will be required and up to eight additional hours of appropriate external coursework may be substituted, with the approval of the advisory committee, graduate coordinator, and department chair. A memorandum of Agreement has been signed with the Graduate School of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to allow Ph.D. students from UAPB to enroll in graduate-level courses that add depth to the aquaculture/fisheries coursework offered at UAPB. In addition to the 24 hours of core coursework, students will also take two hours of Graduate Seminar, at least one hour of a teaching/extension practicum, Research and Dissertation credit hours, and possibly additional advanced coursework in biological, chemical, and social sciences. One (1) credit hour of Graduate Seminar must be taken in the first full semester of study. Failure to complete the requirement of establishment of an advisory committee and creation of a program of study by the end of the first full semester will result in receiving an “F” in Graduate Seminar.

Committee Meetings

Committee meetings are essential to a successful and positive graduate student experience. This format brings members of the student’s support team together to exchange ideas, work through research problems and changes, and monitor the student’s academic and research progress. Students are required to have a program of study committee meeting their first full semester. Students are strongly encouraged to schedule additional committee meetings during their tenure in the department.

Proposals and Proposal Defense

Graduate students must prepare a written thesis/dissertation proposal concerning original research early in their tenure in the graduate program. The thesis/dissertation proposal should include the proposal signature page, introduction with goals and objectives, literature review, methods, literature cited, tables with headers, and figures with captions. The proposal should follow the AFS Publication Style Guide and pages should be numbered with Arabic numerals.

The thesis/dissertation proposal should be presented and defended in a seminar. The proposal must be approved by the advisor and the advisory committee prior to scheduling a public proposal defense. At least one week’s notice (email and paper announcement) to all faculty, staff and students is required. The defense should be scheduled in a major auditorium. Following the defense of the proposal, the advisory committee will meet to discuss any changes to the proposal. The proposal must have unanimous approval from the advisory committee. The advisory committee, the graduate coordinator, and the department chair must sign the thesis/dissertation proposal. The original must be filed in the department office with the graduate coordinator.

M.S. students must defend their proposal and acquire approval from all advisory committee members within the first 200 days in the program (counted from a student’s official start date). Doctoral students must defend their proposal and acquire approval from all advisory committee members within the first 300 days in the program.

Failure to complete the proposal, (i.e., public presentation and defense of proposal, and submission of approved thesis proposal by all committee members) by the specified deadline will trigger a mandatory meeting between the student, the advisor, and the department chair. During this meeting, the student will explain the reasons for not reaching the deadline. The student, advisor, and chair will create a plan for completion of the proposal defense requirement. Appropriate corrective actions necessary to get the student back on schedule will be identified at the meeting.

If a student must conduct research prior to the approval of their proposal, then a second meeting of the advisory committee must occur (note: program of study is finalized during the first advisory committee meeting). The student will present the goal(s) of the research, explicitly state the objectives for each goal, and outline the general approaches/procedures to be used in achieving each objective. This second advisory committee meeting should occur before the initiation of research. Students may begin their research after the second advisory committee meeting and general approval of research goal(s), objectives and research design by all members of the advisory committee. The overall intention of the second advisory committee meeting is to have the entire committee assist the student, to have student and advisory committee in accord regarding methodology, and to avoid fatal flaws in the research.

All graduate students are required to print, read, sign, and submit (to the graduate coordinator) the Student Employment and Research Misconduct Form (Form 20) upon entering the graduate program and at the beginning of each academic year thereafter.

Comprehensive and Preliminary Examinations

M.S. Comprehensive Examinations

M.S. students must pass a comprehensive examination prior to defense of their thesis. The comprehensive examination will test a student’s overall competence and ability to think critically and synthesize information. The examination will include written and oral components. The student’s graduate committee will be responsible for constructing, administering, and grading the examination. The format of the exam is at the committee’s discretion. Students should meet with each committee member to determine the exam format and content to prepare properly.

The comprehensive examination must be successfully completed no later than the semester prior to the semester a student wishes to graduate. Passing the comprehensive examination requires a unanimous committee vote. Students who do not successfully complete the comprehensive examination on their first attempt will be notified in writing by their advisor and may be required to conduct more course work or independent study prior to attempting the exam a second time. Students who fail the comprehensive examination twice will be dismissed from the program. Notification of successful completion of the comprehensive examination must be made known to the department and to the registrar by the committee (Form 09).

Ph.D. Preliminary Examinations

When the Ph.D. student completes his/her core coursework, he/she will schedule his/her preliminary examinations. The student must pass his/her preliminary examinations at least one (1) year prior to graduating. The preliminary examinations will test a student’s overall competence and ability to think critically and synthesize information. Students should meet with each committee member to determine the content covered by the preliminary examinations to prepare properly. The preliminary examinations will include written and oral portions. The written portion of the preliminary examinations will consist of five separate 0.5-day exams. One 0.5-day exam will be the departmental exam. The Ph.D. student and his/her advisory committee will jointly decide on the topics the other four 0.5-day exams. The departmental exam will be graded by two members of the departmental exam committee and by the advisor. Each of the remaining four 0.5-day exams will be graded by one committee member and the advisor. Grading will be pass/fail.

The oral portion of the preliminary examinations will take place with the student’s advisory committee after the five written exams have been completed. While there is no specific timeframe for the oral portion, it should be completed within two weeks of completing the written portion. Following the oral portion, each committee member will indicate an overall pass or fail of the preliminary examinations (both written and oral portions). One dissenting vote (other than that of the advisor) from the committee is allowed for the student to pass his/her preliminary examinations. Students who do not successfully complete the preliminary examinations on their first attempt will be notified in writing by their advisor and may be required to conduct more coursework or independent study prior to attempting the preliminary examinations a second time. Students who fail the preliminary examinations twice will be dismissed from the program.

Notification of successful completion of the preliminary examination must be made known to the department and to the registrar by the committee (Form 09).

Residence Requirements

Masters and doctoral candidates must complete a minimum of 28 hours in residence to receive the degree from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Foreign Language

There is no formal requirement for a foreign language for the Masters or Doctoral degrees in Aquaculture/Fisheries. However, the department recognizes the international nature of aquaculture and fisheries research and the increasing frequency with which international collaboration is occurring. For this reason, we encourage students to become familiar with at least one foreign language.

Preparation of the Thesis/Dissertation

The thesis/dissertation should follow the UAPB Thesis and Dissertation Guide found on the Division’s website. Students should follow the AFS Publication Style Guide as the appropriate journal publication guide. If specific formats are not covered by the manuscript preparation instructions, students must follow the style and conventions espoused in the CBE Style Manual (Council of Biological Editors, Chicago).

Thesis/Dissertation Seminar, Defense, and Submission

After making the recommended changes to the thesis/dissertation, the student will secure written approval from each committee member (signature page). Signatures of each committee member, the graduate coordinator, and the Aquaculture and Fisheries Department Chair are required on the signature page. After receiving the proofread thesis/dissertation with completed signature page, the advisor notifies the graduate coordinator that the thesis/dissertation requirement has been fulfilled (Form 11) and provides a copy of the cover and signed signature page. Notification that the thesis/dissertation is complete must be made two (2) weeks prior to commencement to be included in the program.

Exit Interview Form

Prior to graduation, graduating students must fill out and submit an exit interview (Form 16). The form is available online under the graduate program and should be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator.

Registration Status of Students

Students should always be enrolled, i.e., be registered until graduation. When a student completes all requirements of credit hours for coursework, Research and Thesis/Dissertation, and Graduate Seminar, but has yet to complete the thesis/dissertation, the student is required to register for one (1) credit hour in “Research and Thesis/Dissertation”. If any graduate student is not registered at any time during the regular semesters of fall and spring and one (1) summer term, the student will be considered to have withdrawn from the program and cannot graduate.

Note about Courses

Students in the Ph.D. program in Aquaculture/Fisheries may also take courses outside of the areas of aquaculture and fisheries, to provide additional overall depth. Such courses may include graduate courses currently offered by other departments at UAPB or graduate courses available at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. These campuses are located within one (1) hour’s drive of UAPB. In addition, the existing Special Topics class provides a mechanism to cover specific study areas of interest to students, but not offered as full courses on campus. These may include topics such as population or conservation genetics, bioinformatics, behavioral or stress physiology, physiology of disease, epidemiology, bioenergetics, fatty acid signatures, otolith microchemistry, or isotope analysis.

Forms

Click HERE to access the list of forms as outlined below for the Aquaculture and Fisheries graduate degree programs. The application for admission form can be found below.

Application for Admission

Forms are as follows:

00- Application for admission to UAPB Graduate School

03- Approval of credit transfer

04- Formation of graduate advisory committee

05- Change of advisor

06- Change of graduate committee

07- Declaration of program of study

08- Change in program of study

09- Notification of successful completion of comprehensive/preliminary examination

10- Approval for thesis/dissertation defense

11- Notification to registrar of thesis/dissertation completion

12- Graduate research problems outline approval

13- Graduation clearance breakage fee form

14- Application for graduation

15- Request for concurrent enrollment

19- Exit interview of graduate student form

20- Student Employment