Travis Kirk

I am interested in the trophic ecology amongst deep-sea fishes. My Master's thesis project will be looking at the diet of a deep-sea genus fish known as, Chiasmodon (Scombriformes; Chiasmodontidae). I will be conducting a trophic study using stomach content analysis aiming to answer the questions of what, when/where, and how often these fish feed in the Gulf of Mexico. During my undergraduate studies, I was involved in herpetology research under Dr. Sean Sterrett, involving diet studies and population surveys of local freshwater turtles, along with the habitat distributions of various salamander species. I am also a co-author on a published paper, describing a shift in the diet of the Barbour's Map turtle after the introduction of an invasive bivalve.

Publications: Sterrett, S.C., Kirk, T.J., and L.L. Smith. 2020. Evidence of a dietary shift in female Barbour's Map turtle (Graptemys barbouri) to exploit and exotic mollusk. Chelonian Conservation and Biology. Special Issue on Graptemys Biology. doi: 10.2744/CCB-1431.1.