Educational and Professional Experience

Trent Sutton conducted his undergraduate education at Michigan State University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries and Wildlife in 1991.  He received a Master’s of Science degree in Biological Sciences from Michigan Technological University in 1993 under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Bowen.  His master’s thesis was entitled, “The importance of organic detritus in the diets of larval sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus and northern brook lamprey Ichthyomyzon fossor in the Great Lakes basin”.  Trent moved on to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University as an Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Fellow under the supervision of Dr. John Ney.  He received his Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences in 1997, completing his dissertation which was entitled, “Early life history dynamics of a stocked striped bass Morone saxatilis population and assessment of strategies for improving stocking success in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia”. 

In 1996, Trent accepted a position at Lake Superior State University where he served on the faculty in the Department of Biology (75% time) and as Director of Fisheries Research and Culture at the Aquatic Research Laboratory (25% time).  Teaching responsibilities for Trent included the following courses: Biology and Management of Fishes, Introduction to Fish and Wildlife, Natural History of the Vertebrates, Fish Culture Practicum, Ichthyology, Fish Ecology, Freshwater Fish Culture, Junior Seminar, Fisheries Management, and Senior Thesis.  As lab director, he was responsible for Atlantic salmon and coaster brook trout rearing programs in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.  In addition, Trent also was involved in population assessments of pink salmon, Chinook salmon, hybrid Chinook salmon x pink salmon, Atlantic salmon, steelhead, lake sturgeon, and yellow perch.  Since joining the faculty in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University in 2001, Trent and his graduate students have been involved in numerous studies to evaluate habitat use, population dynamics, and stock structure on freshwater fishes in lotic and lentic environments.  Most of this research has focused on lake sturgeon, sea lamprey, lake herring, lake whitefish, brook trout, shovelnose sturgeon, western mosquitofish, flathead catfish, and blue sucker, with an additional focus on warmwater fishes of the upper Wabash River basin.  His teaching responsibilities at Purdue University include Aquatic Sampling Techniques, Natural Resources Practicum, Fisheries Management, Fish Ecology, Advanced Ichthyology, and Fishery Stock Assessment and Modeling.