MSU graduate students honored for deer research

Contact: Vanessa Beeson

From left, Bronson Strickland, Caleb Hinton, Eric Michel and Steve Demarais at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Deer Study Group.
From left, Bronson Strickland, Caleb Hinton, Eric Michel and Steve Demarais at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Deer Study Group.
Photo by: submitted

STARKVILLE, Miss.--Two graduate students in Mississippi State University's College of Forest Resources received recent honors for deer research.

Eric Michel and Caleb Hinton placed first and second, respectively, in the Student Oral Presentation competition at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Deer Study Group this spring in Little Rock, Arkansas. They competed against 19 students from nine universities. The meeting was hosted with the support of the directors of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Approximately 350 biologists attended the event.

"The meeting serves as a forum for sharing research results, management strategies and discussions that facilitate the timely identification of and solutions to problems relative to management of white-tailed deer," said Steve Demarais, Dale H. Arner Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management in the MSU College of Forest Resources.

Both graduate students are under the direction of Demarais and Bronson Strickland, associate extension professor in wildlife ecology and management in the Forest and Wildlife Research Center.

"We select only the most qualified candidates for our graduate program, provide them with interesting research projects and mentor them to develop excellent communication skills," Demarais said. "Dr. Strickland and I love being part of the MSU Deer Lab and the ability to mentor fine graduate candidates like Eric and Caleb is a big part of our enjoyment."

Michel, a doctoral student in forest resources, presented research on causes of antler size and body mass variation of white-tailed deer in Mississippi. A native of Ithaca, Wisconsin, he earned his undergraduate degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and his master's degree in wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture from Mississippi State.

Hinton, a master's student in wildlife science at Mississippi State, presented on the estimation of deer damage to soybean production in Mississippi. A Beaumont, Mississippi, native, Hinton earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from William Carey University.

Find more information about the MSU Deer Lab at http://www.msudeer.com.

MSU is Mississippi's flagship research university, available online at www.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate and twitter.com/msstate.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - 12:00 am