Rate My Professor Bruce Dugger

Bruce Dugger is a Professor and Associate Department Head in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at Oregon State University, a position he has held since joining the institution in 2002. He also serves as Director of Online Programs for the Wildlife Management Graduate Certificate and advises both undergraduate and graduate students in the department. Dugger earned his B.S. in Fish and Wildlife from the University of California, Davis in 1986, an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1990, and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1996. In 2009, he was appointed to the endowed Bob and Phyllis Mace Watchable Wildlife Professorship, a five-year term in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife focused on research and education in wetland birds and habitats.

Dugger's research centers on avian ecology, including factors limiting populations of wintering waterfowl, biological theory supporting conservation plans, avian behavioral ecology and life history evolution, ecology and conservation of rare waterbirds, and wetland management and restoration to support waterbird communities. He teaches courses such as FW 251 Principles of Wildlife Conservation, FW 311 Biology of Birds, FW 479/579 Wetland Ecology, and FW 488 Problem Solving in Fisheries and Wildlife. His service contributions include Agricultural Sciences Faculty Senator from 2019 to 2021, Graduate Council from 2019 to 2022, chair of the Distance Education Committee in 2010, Search Advocate since 2015, and various roles on curriculum, assessment, and university committees. Key publications include 'U.S. Pacific coastal wetland resilience and vulnerability to sea-level rise' (2018), 'Avian botulism is a primary, year-round threat to adult survival in the endangered Hawaiian Duck on Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, USA' (2022), 'Endemic koloa maoli (Hawaiian Duck, Anas wyvilliana) shows preferential social associations, but not based on plumage or genetic relatedness' (2026), 'No Evidence that Camera Monitoring Affects Nest Survival of Hawaiian Gallinule (Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis)' (2025), and 'Incorporation of uncertainty to improve projections of tidal wetland elevation and carbon accumulation with sea-level rise' (2021). Dugger has mentored numerous graduate students who have gone on to positions such as Science Coordinator for Joint Ventures and waterfowl biologists.