OT--There's a doctor in the house!

[mytmouse]

WOOHOOOOO!!! Well I know who's buying next time! lol

[ictalurus]

Thanks for the kind wishes, gents.

Matt--I landed a grant for what's called a post-doctoral position to buy me some time to find a real job. I've been applying to various fish-related government agencies since January but can't seem to make it past the first cut. Applying for federal jobs is tricky with the screening questions they use. I'm trying to stay in the mid-Atlantic area but might have to widen my search. I've got a series of back-up plans, so we'll see how things go.

Don--I can only catch fish with a bottom trawl. Especially this year.

Dave--Hmmm... Maybe we can write a grant for that: "The relationship between the spatial distribution of summer flounder and recreational fishing mortality."

Tufnik--Yeah, I've been buried in the books for most of the year. I'm starting to dig myself out now.

bd--I looked at the seasonal, annual, and decade-scale variability in the size structure and species composition of fish communities in the Chesapeake Bay and Pamlico Sound. The most interesting part was that there were decreases in abundance of several species in the Virginia portion of the Bay and its tributaries that decreased in abundance even though they aren't harvested. Species like bay anchovy, hogchokers, tonguefish, and some gobies and blennies. I couldn't find a definitive answer why they decreased, but I have my suspicions and a few more things to look into. Unfortunately, I only had access to the data from 1991 to 2003, so I don't know if things improved in the past 8 years.

MYT-- My salary hasn't been upgraded yet.

[toadfinger]

Congratulations on your PhD. It's tough enough to do a doctorate but being a fish junkie makes it all the harder. I'm sure the northwest salmonids delayed my studies by a solid year or more. Congrats again.

[Shady]

Good work and Congrats!

[Redfish12]

Congrats!!! Good thing you finished when you did, best time of the year is right now!

Have you checked into NOAA? They were hiring quite a bit last year.

[kevinfry]

Way to go Dr. Bill!........I'm planningto take the shorter route to wisdom, staying in a Holiday Inn Express soon.

BTW, Doc, I have this bum knee..........

[Sun]

Congratulations, Doctor Ictalarus! Haha.

[Rockchaser]

Well done, well done indeed.

[jffoley]

Big congrats, Bill! Nice job, indeed. Hope you can get out and fish the fall season now. Look forward to seeing you out there...

[rol716]

Congrats!

[mmanolis2001]

Well done my friend. Well Done.

[chimo]

Congrats!

[OBX_RAT]

Way to go Bill, great job

[joemac]

Not sure if you are looking for fresh water fisheries, but over the summer one of my professors told me about WV looking for someone to run their fisheries program. She had just returned from there at that time. It came up because I have interests in natural resources as well. Might check there for a luke warm lead.

[ictalurus]

Not sure if you are looking for fresh water fisheries, but over the summer one of my professors told me about WV looking for someone to run their fisheries program. She had just returned from there at that time. It came up because I have interests in natural resources as well. Might check there for a luke warm lead.

Very cool. Thanks for the heads up.