Gretchen Hansen
Graduate Student
Contact:
Gretchen Hansen
UW - Madison
Center for Limnology
680 N. Park St.
Madison, WI 53706
Email: ghansen2@wisc.edu
Phone: (608)262-3014
Fax: (608)265-2340
Office:
Education:
2006, M.S., Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University
2003, B.S., Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Interests:
I am committed to conducting science that is of use in the real world that is at the same time intellectually innovative and interesting. My main research interests focus on invasive species, their effects on native ecosystems, and the development of effective management strategies for reducing their ecological and economic impacts. I am also generally interested in designing effective management strategies that meet ecological goals under economic constraints. For my Ph.D. research, I will examine the effectiveness of a long-term invasive species removal project, while at the same time develop tools for predicting areas where invasive species are likely to have the greatest impacts so prevention and monitoring can be focused on these high-risk locations.
Past Research:
Most recently, I worked as a research specialist for Mike Jones and the Quantitative Fisheries Center at Michigan State University on a variety of research projects. One of my main projects involved examining the value of ecological assessments in designating marine reserves in the Philippines, in collaboration with Project Seahorse. I also worked on the development of a management strategy evaluation (MSE)-style model for the invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes.
I conducted my master's research at Michigan State University, where I studied larval assessment of sea lampreys, an invasive fish species in the Great Lakes. My research examined the trade-off that exists between resources allocated to assessment and those allocated to control efforts aimed at maintaining sea lampreys at low population levels, and showed that management of sea lampreys would be more effective if fewer resources were devoted to assessment and more were devoted to control. The results of this research led to a change in the management of sea lampreys beginning in 2008.
Publications:
Hansen, G.A. and M.L. Jones. 2008. A rapid assessment approach to prioritizing streams for control of Great Lakes sea lampreys: A case study in adaptive management. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 65: 2471–2484.
Hansen, G.A. and M.L. Jones. 2008. The value of information in fishery management. Fisheries 33: 340-348. (Click for PDF)
Personal:
I am originally from Minneapolis, MN, where I hope to return some day. I enjoy canoeing, hiking, lawn games, most team sports (especially hockey), cooking, running, and playing with my dog.