Jay T. Hatch
Associate professor of biological sciences

• H. T. Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Biological Science
• Academy of Distinguished Teachers, University of Minnesota
• Associate Curator of Fishes, James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History
• US Fish and Wildlife Service National Recovery Team: Topeka shiner

Courses

• PsTL 1112—Nature in the City
• PsTL 1131—Principles of Biological Science
• PsTL 1133—Nature Study
• PsTL 1906—Rainforests and Reefs: What Will Our Children Inherit?

Education

• 1982 Ph.D., zoology: ecology of fishes, University of Minnesota
• 1973 M.A., zoology: aquatic ecology and pollution of aquatic ecosystems, DePauw University
• 1971 B.A. with honors, zoology, DePauw University

Graduate faculty memberships

• Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology
• Biology, Duluth

Research interests

• Distribution and ecology of fishes, especially early life history
• Technology enhanced learning and its role in developmental education

Biographical sketch

What I do for a living is not much like what I thought I would do when I entered DePauw University as a first-year student 35 years ago. My goal was to become a physician and to research the causes of and cures for cancer. I studied anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and philosophy diligently but continued to ignore academically the thing I loved most--the marvelous diversity of creatures that lived in the park land behind my parent's house in Greenhills, Ohio. These creatures were organized into forests, grasslands, lakes and streams, and I lost myself in their sights, smells, sounds, and textures every spare moment that came my way. I wrote poems and songs about them, I told others endless stories about them, but I somehow did not consider making the study of them my life's work. I find myself, even today, puzzled by the length of time it took me to realize that a marriage of my deep interest in and love of nature with my particular talents in science and in sharing my experiences with others would provide me with the most interesting and rewarding career I could imagine.

As a university scientist and educator, I find more than enough challenges inside and outside of the classroom and laboratory to keep me on my toes 365 days a year. I am constantly reminded by my students' questions that learning must be a life-long process and that understanding comes to each of us in a unique way. My position as a scientist has taken me to many places in the world where I have been able to observe and savor even more of this planet's fascinating diversity. At the sites of my sojourns and here at the University of Minnesota, I am daily reminded that nature's diversity extends to the human population as well, both biologically and culturally. Sadly, we humans have caused a great deal of biological and cultural impoverishment in our brief history. As I have become aware that I derive much of my vitality from life's diversity, I have aimed more of my teaching and research goals toward preventing its impoverishment.

At present I teach general biology, environmental science, and natural history courses on the Twin Cities Campus and at the Lake Itasca Forestry and Biological Station in Itasca State Park. I am also involved in the development and evaluation of science curriculum and teaching practices, especially for developmental students. For the past 26 years, I have been studying the distribution, ecology and natural history of fishes in Minnesota and elsewhere. More recently, I have been helping curate the nearly one million specimens of the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History Fish Collection, developing an electronic database of 68,000 collection records of Minnesota fishes, and a website about the natural history of our 162 fish species. When I am not in the classroom, in the water, under the water, or traipsing through the woods, I enjoy parenting my children, John-Carlos and Melana; gardening with native plants; photographing wildlife; folk dancing; and watching episodes of Star Trek with my best friend and favorite artist, my wife, Susan.