Rate My Professor Tyler Bucinger

Tyler Buchinger, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University. His position is funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission as part of the Partnership for Ecosystem Research and Management (PERM), a collaboration with the GLFC, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and MSU. He earned a B.S. in Biology from Lake Superior State University in 2009, an M.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University in 2012, and a Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior from Michigan State University in 2015. His doctoral dissertation, advised by Weiming Li, focused on the evolution of sea lamprey mating pheromones.

Buchinger's research interests center on evolutionary biology, with a focus on animal behavior and reproduction. He uses techniques such as chemical analyses, physiological experiments, behavioral assays, phylogenetic comparisons, and gene editing. He oversees a new fish genome editing facility at Michigan State University. Key areas include pheromone signaling in invasive sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), aiding Great Lakes management, olfactory imprinting in lamprey embryos, and phenological responses in lake sturgeon. Select publications include "Chemical communication and its role in sexual selection across Animalia" (Communications Biology, 2023), "Evidence that male sea lamprey increase pheromone release after perceiving intrasexual competition" (Journal of Experimental Biology, 2020), "Pheromone pollution from invasive sea lamprey misguides a native confamilial" (Current Zoology, 2021), "Local diversity in phenological responses of migratory lake sturgeon to warm winters" (Oikos, 2022), "Behavioral evidence of olfactory imprinting during embryonic development in sea lamprey" (Conservation Physiology, 2023), and "Sensory trap leads to reliable communication without a shift in nonsexual responses to the model cue" (2024). Buchinger's work has received over 1,000 citations, demonstrating impact in behavioral ecology and fish biology. He advises graduate students, including fellowship awardees, and postdoctoral researchers.