Dr. Todd Arnold and Dr. Jay VonBank add extensive waterfowl expertise and experience to The Duck Hunters Organization
BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — Delta Waterfowl bases all decisions on sound science, so we’re thrilled to announce two renowned Ph. D. waterfowl scientists have joined the organization’s research team.
Dr. Todd Arnold has been named senior scientist, and Dr. Jay VonBank is Delta’s scientific director.
“The addition of Dr. Jay VonBank and Dr. Todd Arnold to Delta’s science team will allow Delta to play a much bigger role in waterfowl management that is driven by cutting-edge science,” said Dr. Frank Rohwer, president and chief scientist of Delta Waterfowl. “These two guys represent the best when it comes to innovative field research, great analyses of the vast existing data sets in waterfowl, and research that benefits ducks and duck hunters.”
Arnold comes to Delta from the University of Minnesota, where he served as a distinguished teaching professor since 2002 in the Dept. of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology. He has also worked as a senior scientist for Ducks Unlimited Canada, scientific director for Delta Waterfowl, and as an assistant professor of wildlife management at Humboldt State University in California.
He earned a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Western Ontario in 1990, where he conducted dissertation research on reproductive rates in American coots. His master’s degree is from the University of Missouri—Columbia, where he studied mink predation on breeding waterfowl as a Delta Waterfowl research student.
“Delta has a long and illustrious history of training future waterfowl scientists and managers, and I benefited tremendously from that support in the 1980s when I completed graduate research at Delta’s Minnedosa (Manitoba) Field Station,” Arnold said. “I view my new role as senior scientist with Delta as an exciting opportunity to pay that forward to future generations of waterfowl professionals.”
Arnold has authored or coauthored 130 peer-reviewed papers and presented more than 150 papers at scientific conferences. He looks forward to continuing innovative scientific research about the role of hunter harvest in waterfowl populations, as well as investigations into the increasingly skewed sex ratios in puddle ducks, particularly mallards and pintails. He will also be involved in research to refine Delta’s Duck Production programs.
“As Delta continues to scale up the Million Duck Campaign, I see exciting scientific opportunities to both verify and improve progress toward achieving the goal of adding 1 million ducks annually to the fall flight,” Arnold said.
VonBank has served as a research ecologist since November 2020 for the U.S. Geological Survey at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in Jamestown, North Dakota. He has specialized in applied wildlife research that supports waterfowl ecology and management, habitat management, and sustainable hunting programs.
He earned his doctorate in wildlife science from Texas A&M University—Kingsville in 2020, studying migration, movement, and ecology of greater white-fronted geese. He obtained his master’s degree in 2015 from Western Illinois University studying aquatic invasive plants found in the Illinois River.
“I’m excited to conduct research that has impact at such a large scale — not just tied to a state, but nationally and internationally,” VonBank said. “What really fires me up about doing good research are outcomes when a waterfowl manager or state biologist can use that tool, those numbers, or that analysis to make decisions and take specific actions to improve waterfowl populations and hunting.”
He has 17 published scientific journal articles and has made dozens of presentations.
At Delta, VonBank will continue to study waterfowl movements, including timing and migration, using the latest innovations in tracking devices, drones and cameras, and other technology.
He also wants to continue working to help refine waterfowl harvest management models.
“So much of waterfowl management depends on waterfowl harvest numbers for population modeling,” VonBank said. “It’s important that we continue to research and evaluate how we collect and interpret harvest information.”
In hiring Arnold and VonBank, Delta Waterfowl is significantly adding to the pursuit of impactful waterfowl research for ducks and duck hunters, while also building on the organization’s longstanding legacy as the premier waterfowl research entity in North America.
Delta Waterfowl is The Duck Hunters Organization, a leading conservation group working to produce ducks and secure the future of waterfowl hunting in North America. Visit deltawaterfowl.org.
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