Dr. Stefan Woltmann named director of APSU’s Center of Excellence for Field Biology

By: Colby Wilson March 8, 2024

Photo: Dr. Stefan Woltmann, a professor of biology at Austin Peay State University, is a noted conference speaker and researcher who specializes in ornithology.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University (APSU) has named Dr. Stefan Woltmann as the director of the Center of Excellence for Field Biology, effective Aug. 1, 2024. Woltmann has served as the center’s interim director since August 2022.

“We view the center as an outdoor research arm of the biology department; that’s the nature of the work we do,” Woltmann said. “We attract students from all over the country because they can come here to work with us on designing a project, performing their research and carrying it through to publication. I think we have tremendous opportunities ahead of us here.”

Woltmann earned his doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology from Tulane University in 2010, then worked with a team at Louisiana State University to study the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on marsh birds in the area. He has been an Austin Peay faculty member since 2013, was promoted to professor of biology in 2022 and has contributed to more than 30 peer-reviewed publications. His research interests include avian ecology, conservation genetics, mating systems and winter ecology of migrant birds.

Since 2014, Woltmann has served as a principal investigator for the CEFB. In this role, he has conducted field-based research and developed an externally funded field- and lab-based ornithology research program while training graduate and undergraduate students in field biology techniques and best practices.

Woltmann is also a noted speaker and has presented research at conferences for the Association for Field Ornithologists, the American Ornithological Society and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference, among many others.

As director, Woltmann looks to expand the center’s capacity and secure funding for unitwide grants to unite the CEFB’s principal investigators on larger collaborative research projects, among other initiatives.

About the CEFB

The Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay State University is dedicated to the study and preservation of biodiversity in the Southeastern United States. Center researchers use field-based methods, laboratory approaches and bioinformatics to address questions in ecology, evolution, systematics and conservation. The center provides environmental education to the public and research experience in field biology to undergraduate and graduate students.

For additional details about CEFB, visit apsu.edu/field-biology/ or contact Woltmann at woltmanns@apsu.edu.