Alligator Research in SE Oklahoma

Tim Patton with a Gator

There is a small but growing population of American Alligators in SE Oklahoma, and my collaborators and I have been monitoring the population since approximately 2005. In 2022, we received funding from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation to conduct a more thorough population assessment. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the ecology of alligators, our research objectives, and the preliminary results of our research.

Tim Patton, Biography:

I am a native of Arkansas, and I received a BS in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Arkansas tech University. After that, I completed my MS and PhD in Zoology at the University of Wyoming, and worked for a while as a Research Associate for the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. I have been a Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife Science at Southeastern Oklahoma State University since 1998. My research has focused on aquatic ecosystems, ichthyology, and herpetology. My current focus is on the ecology and population status of American Alligators.