President:

Justin R. Wolbert

Email: jrwolbert@tva.gov

Phone:  (910) 978-5907

Tennessee Valley Authority
129 Pine Rd.
Norris, TN 37828

 

Justin Wolbert is a Fisheries Biologist at the Tennessee Valley Authority in Norris, TN. He has been involved in AFS since 2009 and was a two-term President of the student sub-section of AFS at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville from 2010-12. Prior to that, he served in the US Air Force for 6.5 years as a Staff Sergeant in Security Forces. He developed his passion for anything aquatic at a young age while growing up in the Allegheny National Forest of Pennsylvania. His love for aquatic insects has grown to be as big as his passion for fish! His favorite fish is the Lake Sturgeon and favorite aquatic insect is the Armored Mayfly (Baetisca).

 

President-Elect:

Meredith Harris

Email: Meredith.Hayes.harris@gmail.com

Rock Spring, GA 30739

 

 

 

Meredith Harris has been a member of TNAFS since 2015. She completed her Masters in Fisheries Science at the University of Tennessee in 2017, where she explored the antimicrobial benefits of paternal care in madtoms as well as habitat competition between madtoms and invasive crayfishes. She specializes in rare and endangered native fish propagation and reintroduction and has worked at facilities like Conservation Fisheries, Inc. and the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. She has worked with many species of darters, shiners, madtoms, Southern Appalachian Brook Trout, and Lake Sturgeon. Her favorite fish is the Tangerine Darter. She is passionate about Tennessee natives and wants to share that passion with current and future TNAFS members!

 

Past President:

Cole Harty

Email: cole.r.harty@tn.gov

Phone:  (615) 741-9364

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
5107 Edmondson Pike
Nashville, TN 37211

 

Cole Harty works as the Aquatic Nuisance Species Coordinator for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). He has been involved with AFS since joining the Iowa State University Student Subunit in 2011, and his involvement has continued through his time at Tennessee Tech, Florida Fish and Wildlife, and TWRA. Cole enjoys the networking and collaborative atmosphere at TNAFS. Of all the fish out there, he can’t pick one favorite; however, family trips to Ontario bring back fond memories of chasing big Northern Pike and eating Walleye.

 

Secretary-Treasurer:

Shawna Fix

Email: shawna@southeastaquatics.net

Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership
Murfreesboro, TN 37128

 

 

 

Shawna Fix is the Aquatic Connectivity Teams Facilitator at SARP (Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership). She works with partners across the Southeast to inventory, prioritize, and replace barriers for aquatic organism passage. Her background is in threatened and endangered freshwater fish and has a passion for conservation. Shawna was first involved in TNAFS in 2016 when she became the social media chair. She was elected in 2018 as the treasurer-secretary and re-elected for a second term in 2021. Her favorite fish is the Laurel Dace, a federally endangered minnow only found in Tennessee! Shawna’s favorite part about working with TNAFS is mentoring students as they are the next generation of fisheries biologists and conservationists.