Education

• Ph.D.  Texas A&M University – Kingsville. Wildlife Science.
• M.S.  Saint Louis University. Biology: Ecology, Evolution & Systematics. 
• B.A.  Blackburn College. Biology Major and Spanish Major.

About Me

At Blackburn College, I am a Professor of Biology & Ecology, and I teach many animal or environmentally-based courses. I serve as an Academic Advisor in Biology, an Advisor to the Sustainability Club and Bat Program (when active), and I am a Blackburn College alumnus. I supervise the Blackburn College Vivarium, and train the student workers in the areas of animal care and vivarium management. 

AREA OF EXPERTISE:  Ecology, Conservation Biology, Regional Planning and Management of Wildlife, Invasive Species, Wildlife Risk Assessment, Herpetology, Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management, Road Ecology, Animal Behavior, Field Biology

Learning & Teaching

Courses

• BI 201 – Zoology 2023-Present. Fall Semester, Annually.
• BI 208 – Environmental Science 2020-Present, Fall Semester, Odd Years.
• NS 220A – Invasive Species Biology, 2022-Present, Fall Semester, Even Years
• NS 220B – Intro. To GIS (Geographic Information Systems), 2022-Present, Fall Semester, Even Years
• BI 305 – Animal Behavior, 2021-Present, Fall Semester, Odd Years
• BI 307 – Ecology, 2020-Present, Fall Semester, Annually
• BI 308 – Field Biology, 2021-Present, Spring Semester, Odd Years
• NS 320 – Wildlife Biology & Management, Spring Semester, Even Years
• BI 399 – Independent Study: Animal Husbandry
• BI 399 – Independent Study: Science Grant Writing
• BI 402 – Animal Physiology, 2021-present, Spring Semester, Odd Years
• BI 499 – Biology Senior Seminar, 2020-present. Lead Instructor 2021/2022, 2024/2025. Offered Semesterly.

Professional Development & Service

Organizations

• Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society; 2008 to 2010, and 2013 to present. Lifetime Membership.
• The Wildlife Society; 2012 to present
• Illinois Chapter of The Wildlife Society; 2020-present. President-Elect 2023/2024. President 2024/2025. 
• National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science. 2021-present.

Professional Works

Publications

Book Chapters:

Aldridge, R. D., Jellen, B. C., Siegel, D. S., and Wisniewski, S. S. 2011. The sexual segment of the kidney. In Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of the Ophidia. Volume 9 of Series: Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny. R.D. Aldridge and D.M. Sever, (eds) Science Publishers, Inc. Enfield, NH. P. 477-509.

Kahl, S. S., S. E. Henke, D. Britton, and G. Perry. 2020. Brown tree snake risk assessment. Problematic Wildlife: Volume 2. Springer Publishing. New York, NY. 22pp.

Selection of Scientific Publications:

Wisniewski, S.S. 2009.  Book Review: Australian Natural History Series. Journal of Wildlife Management. 73(4): 626-627.

Aldridge, R.D., S.R. Goldberg, S.S. Wisniewski, A.P. Bufalino, and C.B. Dillman. 2009.  The reproductive cycle and estrus in the Colubrid snakes of temperate North America.  Contemporary Herpetology. 4:1-31.

Aldridge, R.D., D.S. Siegel, A.P. Bufalino, S.S. Wisniewski, and B.C. Jellen. 2010. A multiyear comparison of the male reproductive biology of the brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) from Guam and the native range. Australian Journal of Zoology. 58:24-32.

Kahl, S.S., S.E. Henke, M.A. Hall, A.R. Litt, G. Perry, and D. Britton. 2012. Examining a potential brown treesnake transport pathway: shipments from Guam. Human-Wildlife Interactions 6:204-211.

Kahl, S.S., S.E. Henke, M.A. Hall, and D.K. Britton. 2012. Brown treesnakes: a potential invasive species for the United States. Human-Wildlife Interactions 6:181-203.

Kahl, S. S., and G. Perry. 2016. Book Review: Texas Lizards, A Field Guide by T. D. Hibbits and T. J. Hibbits. 2015. Texas Natural History Guides, University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas. 333 pp. Herpetological Review 47:326.

Duncan*, N.P., S.S. Kahl, S.S. Gray, C.J. Salice, and R.D. Stevens. 2016. Pronghorn habitat suitability in the Texas panhandle. Journal of Wildlife Management. 80:1471-1478.

Harryman*, S., B. Grisham, C. Boal, S.S. Kahl, R. Martin, and C. Hagan. 2019. Multiscale habitat selection of lesser prairie chickens in an agriculture/conservation reserve program land matrix. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 10:126-136.

Henke, S.E., S.S. Kahl, G. Perry, D. Britton, and A. Litt. 2019. Efficacy of an online native snake identification search engine for public use. Human-Wildlife Interactions. 13:290-307.

Jacobi*, C. B., and S. S. Kahl. 2020. Geographic Range Extension: Sonora episcopa. Herpetological Review 51:549.

Jacobi, C.B., and S. S. Kahl. 2021. Grouped basking increases flight initiation distance in the Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans). Herpetological Review 52:256-259.

Subedi, M. R., Portillo-Quintero, C.., Kahl, S. S., McIntyre, N. E., Cox, R. D., Perry, G. 2023. Leveraging NAIP imagery for accurate large-area land use/land cover mapping: A case study in central Texas. Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sens. 89 (9), 547–560.

Subedi, M.R., C. Portillo-Quintero, N.E. Mcintyre, S. S. Kahl, R. D. Cox, G. Perry, and X. Song. 2024. Ensemble machine learning on fusion of Sentinel time series imagery with high-resolution orthoimagery for improved land use/land cover mapping. Remote Sensing. Manuscript #3071806. Accepted, Awaiting Publication. 

Reviewed Technical reports and Other Publications:

Kahl, S.S., M. Kookogey, and F.T. vanManen. 2013. Assessing wildlife habitat, connectivity, and traversability of Highway 64 (Corridor K) alignment alternatives in Polk County, Tennessee. Wildlife Assessment Technical Report. Submitted to the Tennessee Department of Transportation and URS Corporation for review/acceptance and publication on the Corridor K website.

Kahl, S.S., D. Broman, W. Gann, J. Glasscock, D. Iraite, S. Kahlich, J. Killian, J. Kinsey, T. Korzekwa, M. Marshall, P. Pohler, R. Richter, T. Siegmund, T. Slack, R. Swanson, J. Timmons, and D. White. 2015. White Paper. James G. Teer Conservation Leadership Institute – Conservation of Carrizo-Wilcox groundwater: A white paper. Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society.

Kahl, S.S., W. Gann, M. Marshall. S. Kahlich, and J. Kinsey. 2015. Communicating the importance of rural working lands to groundwater conservation through education. James G. Teer Conservation Leadership Institute Technical Report. 

Clark*, L. and S.S. Kahl. 2015. Estimating food resources for migratory waterfowl in the Rolling Plains of Texas. TTU Wildlife Research News. TWA Magazine 34-37.