Lab members

Principal Investigator:

Postdocs:

Dr. Kasey C. Pregler

Kasey is the Assistant Unit Leader of the USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Fish, Wildlife, & Conservation Ecology department at New Mexico State University. Kasey completed her undergraduate and MS degrees at the University of Connecticut, and received their Ph.D. from Colorado State University (2019). Prior to arriving at NMSU, Kasey was a Chancellor’s postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Contact: kpregler@nmsu.edu

Kadie Heinle

Kadie is an applied fisheries scientist whose research is generally focused on native fish conservation and management in rivers and streams. Kadie earned her B.Sc. in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana and her Ph.D. in Fish and Wildlife Biology at Montana State University in 2025, where she investigated cumulative threats to native cutthroat trout populations. As a postdoctoral researcher at NMSU, Kadie is working with New Mexico Game and Fish to investigate the feasibility of using YY brown trout as a population control method in New Mexico through conservation genetics approaches and models of population dynamics.

Casey Wagnon

Casey is a wildlife ecologist whose research focuses on conserving, restoring, and managing wildlife in a rapidly changing world. He began his academic journey at New Mexico State University, earning a BS in Wildlife Science, and later obtained an MS in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from Frostburg State University. His dissertation research at the University of Illinois brought him back to southern New Mexico, where he investigated the trophic and behavioral ecology of desert mammals in response to landscape change. As a postdoctoral researcher at NMSU, he co-leads the development of conservation decision-making tools to aid the recovery of the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow.

Ryan Rimple, PhD student

Ryan is a PhD student in the Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Ecology, & Biology departments at NMSU who joined the lab in May of 2024. Originally from Northeastern Pennsylvania, he earned his B.S. from Juniata College and M.S. from the University of Georgia. His master’s research focused on the demographic and genetic effects of repatriating eastern box turtles seized from the illegal wildlife trade. His dissertation work will focus on Gila trout conservation genetics, specifically focusing on the genetic and fitness outcomes of an ongoing genetic rescue project. His research interests are broadly focused on conservation interventions for at-risk species and their outcomes.

Paul Fedorowicz, MS student

Paul is a Master’s student studying conservation genomics of Pecos pupfish, a small desert fish distributed in New Mexico & Texas. His thesis will focus on characterizing population structure and potential hybridization with the non-native sheepshead minnow in isolated NM desert springs. Inferences from these analyses will help guide future translocation efforts and inform a genetic monitoring plan. He received a BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Michigan, where he worked on fish biodiversity projects. He has also worked on conservation projects on salmon in Alaska and coregonines (whitefishes) in the Great Lakes Region.