Dr. Ronald Oldfield
Dr. Ronald Oldfield, Department of Biology lecturer, currently uses the farm for two primary areas of research on the biology of fish: first, as a base of operations for a study on habitat use in native Ohio brook trout; and second, for a laboratory study of growth and development.
The brook trout research aims to study stream characteristics that allow brook trout to establish new populations. Since 2008, his research team has mapped three trout streams to identify sections of riffles, runs and pools.
Dr. Oldfield’s second area of research is studying the response of fish growth and development to social behavior in Midas cichlids. In lab conditions, fish were raised either alone or in pairs, and were sampled regularly over a two-month period. Primarily, they are interested in finding out if a self-induced growth reduction is the mechanism responsible for growth inhibition in non-group-living fishes as it is in group-living fishes. Laura Gibbons, undergraduate student and Karen Hoang, research assistant, used the histology laboratory in the Main Barn to analyze the gonads of the fish used in the experiment to identify the sex and assess the stage of reproductive development of each individual.