Willis receives national recognition for conservation work
South Dakota State University Wildlife and Fisheries Science Department head David Willis received the President’s Fishery Conservation Award from the American Fisheries Society at its 139th Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenn. in August. The award is given for an activity or accomplishment that advances aquatic resource conservation at the regional, national or international level.
Willis is recognized as a leader in freshwater fisheries management, both in the Great Plains region and throughout North America. His work on predator-prey interactions, reservoir and small impoundment management, and sport fisheries enhancement in the Upper Great Plains has served as a model for the nation according to the AFS.
Willis began his career as a district biologist and then a reservoir fisheries investigator for the Kansas Fish and Game Commission before becoming a professor at SDSU. These perspectives enabled him to produce detailed, relevant, practical and groundbreaking research
Publishing over 250 scientific articles and reports and 16 books and book chapters, as well as giving hundreds of presentations on fisheries management and biology has produced work used by management biologists and researchers throughout North America to improve fish populations and provide sportfishing opportunities.
His contributions to fundamental AFS texts such as “Fisheries Techniques” and “Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes” have been critical to providing freshwater fisheries information to students and fisheries biologists.
With over 8,000 members, AFS is the world’s largest and oldest society for fisheries scientists and managers. Its mission is 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.
Founded in 1881, South Dakota State University is the state’s Morrill Act land-grant institution as well as its largest, most comprehensive school of higher education. SDSU confers degrees from seven different colleges representing more than 200 majors, minors and options. The institution also offers 23 master’s degree programs and 12 Ph.D. programs.
The work of the university is carried out on a residential campus in Brookings, at sites in Sioux Falls, Pierre and Rapid City, and through Cooperative Extension offices and Agricultural Experiment Station research sites across the state.
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Photo: Wildlife and Fisheries Science Department head David W. Willis of South Dakota State University, right, accepts the President’s Fishery Conservation Award from AFS President Bill Franzin at the group’s 139th annual meeting.