Connor Fiolek

My name is Connor Fiolek and I am a Master's student studying Fisheries Biology under Dr. Michael Weber. I grew up on a river in Mount Pleasant, Michigan where my love for the outdoors first started. In December 2020, I graduated from Central Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and concentrations in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation. During my undergraduate education, I was involved in research pertaining to the age and growth dynamics of Smallmouth Bass and Yellow Perch. After graduation, I spent a year working at the University of Illinois under the Illinois Natural History Survey as a fisheries technician. In this position, I obtained a lot of valuable experience aging fish, electrofishing, and analyzing age and growth data. At Iowa State, I am using acoustic telemetry to study movement and population dynamics of Hybrid Striped Bass in Rathbun Lake, Iowa. One of the goals of this project is to compare movement patterns of the two strains of Hybrid Striped Bass (Palmetto and Sunshine).