Dr. Matt Kenworthy

Post Doctoral Research Associate, Ecology, Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences
Savannah State University (SSU)

Phone: (912) 358-4289 | Email: kenworthym@savannahstate.edu| 

Curriculum Vitae

Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Moorehead City, USA (2019 )
PhD, Ecology

University of South Alabama, Mobile, USA (2011)
M.S. Marine Science

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA (2007)
B.S., Biological Oceanography

Research Interests

  1. The behavioral ecology of fish and crustaceans in coastal North Carolina and Alabama.
  2. The natural and restored habitats along the North Carolina Coast and specifically within the Rachel Carson National Estuarine Research Reserve. 
  3. The behavioral response of two species of crabs to temporally varying predation risk and their subsequent impacts on the resources they consume.

Selected Publications:

  1. Kenworthy, M.D., Bell, G.W., Grabowski, J.H., Layman, C.A., Peterson, C.H., Fodrie, J.F. Comparing acoustic telemetry and traditional gears to maximize spatiotemporal resolution in estuarine fish research at individual, species, and community levels (In Prep)
  2. Kenworthy, M.D., Grabowski, J.H., Gittman, R.K., Danielle A. Keller, Scharf, F.S., Hollensead, L.D., Scheffel, T.K., Fodrie, J.F. Restoration goals, spatial-scale, and species identity influence how cultch shell enhancement and artificial reefs provide habitat subsidies for estuarine fishes (In Prep)
  3. Kenworthy, M.D., Grabowski, J.H., Layman, C.A., Sherwood, G.D., Powers, S.P., Peterson, C.H., Fodrie, J.F. Spatial configuration of habitat within an estuarine seascape more influential than identity and availability in determining selectivity by a mobile predatory fish. (In Prep)
  4. Keller, D.A., Gittman, R.K., Brodeur, M.C., Kenworthy, M.D., Ridge, J.T., Yeager, L.A., Rodriguez, A.B., Fodrie, J.F. (2019) Salt marsh shoreline geomorphology influences the development of constructed oyster reefs and use by associated fauna. Restoration Ecology. DOI:https://doi.org/10.111/rec.12992
  5. Kenworthy, M.D., Grabowski, J.H., Layman, C.A., Sherwood, G.D., Powers, S.P., Peterson, C.H., Gittman, R.K., Keller, D.A., Fodrie, J.F. (2018). Movement ecology of mobile predatory fish reveals limited habitat linkages within a temperate estuarine seascape. CJFAS, 75(11), 1990-1998. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2017-0308
  6. Mahoney, R.D., Kenworthy, M.D., Geyer, J.K., Hovel, K.A., Fodrie, J.F. (2018). Distribution and relative predation risk of nekton reveal complex edge effects within temperate seagrass habitat. JEMBE, 503, 52-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2018.02.004
  7. Gittman, R.K., Fodrie, F.J., Baillie, C.J., Brodeur, M.C., Currin, C.A., Keller, D.A., Kenworthy, M.D., Morton, J.P., Ridge, J.T., Zhang, Y.S. (2018). Living on the Edge: Increasing Patch Size Enhances the Resilience and Community Development of a Restored Salt Marsh. Estuaries and Coasts, 41, 884-895. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0302-6
  8. Ajemian M.J., Kenworthy M.D., Sanchez-Lizaso J.L. Cebrian J. (2016). Aggregation dynamics and foraging behavior of striped red mullet Mullus surmuletus in the western Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Fish Biology, 88, 2051-2059. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.12932
  9. Fodrie J.F, Yaeger L.A., Grabowski, J.H., Layman C.A., Sherwood G.D., Kenworthy M.D. (2015). Measuring individuality in habitat use across complex landscapes: approaches, constraints, and implications for assessing resource specialization. Oecologia, 178, 75-87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3212-3
  10. Fodrie J.F., Rodriguez A.B., Baillie C., Brodeur M.C., Coleman S.C. Gittman R.K., Keller D.A., Kenworthy M.D., Poray A., Ridge J.T., Theuerkauf E.J., Lindquist, Niels. (2014). Classic paradigms in a novel environment: Inserting food-web and productivity lessons from rocky shores and saltmarshes in to biogenic reef restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology, 51, 1314-1325. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12276
  11. Rodriguez A.B., Fodrie F.J., Ridge J.T. Lindquist N., Theuerkauf E.J., Coleman S.E., Grabowski, J.H., Brodeur M.C., Gittman R.K., Keller D.A., Kenworthy M.D. (2014). Oyster reefs  can outpace sea-level rise. Nature Climate Change, 4, 493-497. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2216
  12. Johnson M., Powers S., Hightower C. & Kenworthy M. (2010). Age, Growth, Mortality, and Diet Composition of Vermilion Snapper from the North-Central Gulf of Mexico. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 139, 1136-1149. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1577/T09-179.1
  13. Fodrie F.J., Kenworthy M.D. & Powers S.P. (2008). Unintended facilitation between marine consumers generates enhanced mortality for their shared prey. Ecology, 89, 3268-3274. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/07-1679.1

Biosketch

Dr. Matt Kenworthy is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at Savannah State University. After receiving a B.S. in Biological Oceanography from North Carolina State University in 2007, he worked in the Fisheries Ecology Lab at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab prior to starting his graduate studies. His M.S. research at the University of South Alabama investigated the behavioral response of two of estuarine crab species to temporally varying predation risk and their subsequent impacts on the resources they consume.

Following completion of his M.S. in 2011, Matt joined the Fish Ecology Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute of Marine Sciences (UNCCH-IMS) in Morehead City, North Carolina. Serving as Lab Manager and Research Specialist, he worked on a variety of studies exploring linkages between the abundance and characteristics of coastal estuarine habitats and fish populations that rely on these habitats. In 2015, he began a dissertation at UNCCH-IMS and earned a Ph.D in Ecology in 2019. During his Ph.D, he used acoustic telemetry to monitor spatiotemporal patterns of fish behavior to better understand their dependence on a variety of estuarine habitats.

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