Dan O'Keefe

Role
Works with coastal communities and businesses in southwest Michigan to apply science-based knowledge to address Great Lakes and southern Lake Michigan issues. The southwest district serves Mason, Oceana, Muskegon, Ottawa, Allegan, Van Buren, and Berrien counties.

Focus

• Assists Great Lakes charter boat, recreational, and commercial fishing industries in adapting to changing environmental, economic, and sociopolitical conditions.
  
• Promotes understanding of connections between watersheds, rivers, drowned river mouth lakes, and Lake Michigan to highlight impacts of inland communities on Great Lakes fisheries.
  
• Works toward development of emerging fisheries, fishing methods, and seafood products.
  

Education

• B.S. Michigan State University
• M.S. Central Michigan University
• Ph.D. Mississippi State University

Professional Interests

• Fisheries management
• Sport and commercial fishing
• Invasive species
• Environmental education

Professional Experience

• Developed a plan for conservation and management of paddlefish in Mississippi. The paddlefish is a commercially and recreationally utilized species that has declined in many areas of former abundance due to habitat alteration.
• Designed and procured funding for research projects involving assessment of gamefish populations in south Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina, restoration and ecology of paddlefish in the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway of Alabama and Mississippi, and distribution of redhorse suckers in Michigan streams.
• Seven years of on-the-water experience working for universities and consultants sampling fish populations using gill nets, trap nets, hoop nets, electrofishing equipment, and other gear types.
• Aquatic Education Specialist for Michigan DNR's Office of Information and Education.