Rate My Professor Keith Gibbs

Keith Gibbs is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resources at Western Carolina University, a position he has held since August 2019. Previously, he served as an Instructor in the Department of Biology at Tennessee Technological University from August 2011 to July 2019. He holds a Ph.D. and specializes in research assessing fish and macroinvertebrate responses to anthropogenic perturbations and restoration efforts. His academic interests encompass stream ecology, watershed restoration, conservation biology, biodiversity, ecology and evolution, species diversity, and zoology. Gibbs' work promotes the protection and restoration of aquatic systems in western North Carolina through improved water quality, strengthened ecological integrity, and regional partnerships. As a 2021 WRRI faculty researcher, he led a project evaluating land use and stream health in the Upper Little Tennessee River Basin to develop scoring criteria for subwatershed ecological integrity and identify human impacts on aquatic ecosystems.

Gibbs has secured significant funding, including a nearly $40,000 grant in January 2025 for research on the sicklefin redhorse, a rare sucker fish, reflecting his focus on endangered aquatic species. His influential publications include 'High and dry in days gone by: Life-history theory predicts Appalachian mountain stream fish assemblage transformation during historical drought' (2021), 'Temporal trajectories in metacommunity structure: Insights from interdisciplinary research in intermittent streams' (2021), 'Riverscape correlates for distribution of threatened spotfin chub Erimonax monachus in the Tennessee River Basin, USA' (2019), 'If you build it, they will go: A case study of stream fish diversity loss in an urbanizing riverscape' (2019), 'Effects of Antimycin and its Neutralizing Agent, Potassium Permanganate, on Aquatic Macroinvertebrates in a Great Smoky Mountains National Park Watershed' (2015), 'Habitat Use and Dispersal of a Reintroduced Etheostoma sitikuense (Citico Darter) Population' (2014), 'Summer habitat use and partitioning by two reintroduced rare madtom species' (2014), and 'Capture Efficiency of Underwater Observation Protocols for Three Imperiled Fishes' (2011). These contributions advance understanding of stream communities, habitat dynamics, and conservation strategies in Appalachian riverscapes. Gibbs is a candidate for leadership in the North Carolina Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.