College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Alumni, Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability

Dr. Joe Nohner works for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the Fisheries Division’s Habitat Management Unit. He coordinates the Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership, which conducts research, education and outreach, and conservation projects to understand and benefit fish habitat in the inland lakes of the Upper Midwest, US. He also serves as the inland lake habitat expert for the DNR, which includes developing statewide inland lakes habitat guidance on issues like large woody debris restoration, aquatic nuisance control, watershed management, and climate change. Joe serves as the Fisheries Division’s lead on climate change, its liaison to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and its representative to numerous partnerships focused on inland lake management throughout the state.

Joe’s research interests focus on the relationships between fish, fish habitats, and people on inland lakes at multiple spatial scales. He received his M.S. from the University of Michigan, publishing a GIS-based model predicting the locations Muskellunge spawning habitat. His Ph.D. research at MSU's Center for Systems Integration an Sustainability focused on relationships between the recruitment and habitat of Largemouth Bass using both mesocosm and population-level analyses, as well as an economic survey characterizing the willingness of shoreline property owners to participate in conservation of lake shorelines and littoral areas.