Research Program                       

My research interests lie in four interrelated areas of fish ecology. These areas include the early life history of fishes, trophic foraging dynamics, fish bioenergetics and fisheries management.

By recognizing how environmental and physical properties influence the nutritional and physiological conditions of larval fishes, along with incorporating age, growth and feeding patterns into my research, I seek to augment understanding the science of recruitment dynamics. My second interest involves exploring the importance of indirect interactions in structuring benthic, pelagic and littoral food chains. It is my belief that the connectivity of foraging strategies to environmental conditions influences the structure of food webs. Additionally, I am interested in the role of predator-prey interactions on the overall health and physiology of fishes. The incorporation of foraging and energetics data into environmental assessments and single and multi-species models is important in management decisions.

Most importantly, I strive to structure my research such that it has real-world application. I aim to address the concerns of local, regional and national resource managers by working directly with them to develop strategies that enhance ecosystem resources. Lastly, fisheries and resource management have a strong social dimension, and my research strategies address the consequences of potential management decisions.

Courses Taught

BIOL 3660 Introduction to Marine Biology

BIOL 4550 Introduction to Fisheries Management

BIOL 7630 Fisheries Management and Ecology.

BIOL 6450 Statistical Applications in SAS for Ecologist

Recent Publications

Overton, A.S., F. J. Margraf, E. B. May. (In Press). Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity of Striped bass Foraging in the Chesapeake Bay: Predator Responses to a Changing Forage Base. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society

Overton, A. S, and R. A. Rulifson. 2008. Annual Variability in Upstream Migration of Glass Eels in a Southern USA Coastal Watershed. Environmental Biology of Fishes.84:29-37

Fitzpatrick , E.E. and A.S. Overton 2008 Age, Growth, Mortality and Fecundity of Yellow Perch in Yeopim River, Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 61:10-16

Okoye, A. O., A. S. Overton, M. Loeffler, and S. E. Winslow. 2008. White Perch Fecundity Relationships in Western Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. Journal of the North Carolina Academy of Science. 124:46-50

Overton, A.S. C.S. Manooch, J.W. Smith, and K. Brennan. 2008. Interactions between large adult migratory striped bass and their prey on the off the Virginia and North Carolina U.S. Atlantic Coast from 1994-2007. Fishery Bulletin 106 174-182.

Overton, A. S., J. Zabowski, and K. L . Riley. 2008. Release Mortality of Undersized Fishes from the Snapper-Grouper Complex off the North Carolina Coast. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 28:733-739

Overton, A. S, and R. A. Rulifson. 2007. Catch Comparisons Between Plankton Surface Pushnets And Oblique Tows For Diadromous Larval Fishes. Fisheries Research 86. 99-104.

Overton, A.S., and M.J. Van Den Ayvle. 2006. The effects of salinity on growth, mortality, and nutritional condition of juvenile striped bass: possible environmental factors effecting their distribution in Southeastern Estuaries. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 59-313-324.

Walter, J.F, Overton, A.S., K.H. Ferry, and M.E. Mather. 2003. Atlantic Coast feeding habits of striped bass: a synthesis of data supporting a comprehensive coast-wide understanding of the trophic biology. Fisheries Management and Ecology. 10:349-360.

Laboratory Personnel

From left to right: Kenneth Riley-PhD, Dave Cerino-MS, Dr. Anthony Overton, Samantha Binion-MS, James Edwards-MS, Jocelyn Kim-MS.]