Every fall and winter, Brian Peterson is in the woods hunting deer or mentoring new hunters.
Peterson and his family harvest numerous deer each year, allowing them to give venison to others who enjoy it. The coordinator of UNK’s online master’s program in biology also opens his garage to students who need a place to clean their deer.
Peterson’s passion for the outdoors extends to his research, as well.
The Omaha native graduated from UNK in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology and 2002 with a master’s degree in biology. He enjoys providing the same research opportunities he had as a student.
“While a student at UNK, several faculty members and mentors – and now friends – provided me with several opportunities that I could not pass up,” Peterson said. “Though my goals were to work full time in the fish and wildlife field, my current position primarily focuses on helping online students, as well as helping on-campus graduate students working in fisheries and wildlife. So, I still get the opportunity to get my hands slimy and dirty.”
Currently, Peterson’s research is focused on white-tailed deer behavior, antler growth and morphology. After 15 years of hiking in the woods, he’s collected a “substantial” dataset of naturally cast antlers, which his students investigate. If students need to complete a project during a shorter time frame, they utilize camera traps to passively collect data while limiting the time required in the field.
Tell us more about your research:
The focus of my position at UNK is to assist graduate students, so I am not required to conduct research. However, I have a passion for the outdoors and investigating wildlife-related research questions. Therefore, I rely on collaborations with fellow UNK biologists to assist graduate and undergraduate students. I’ve mentored students in the Undergraduate Research Fellows, Summer Student Research and Thompson Scholars programs.
The focus of my research has changed over the years from investigating fisheries, zooplankton, soils biology, endangered and exotic species, water quality, genetics and herpetology to range expansions and white-tailed deer. Many studies resulted in peer-reviewed publications for more than 20 undergraduate and graduate students. It is important the students share their research findings with the field, and many of these students present their work at Wildlife Society, American Fisheries Society and UNK Research Day conferences and meetings.
Each year current and former students assist me at the Fort Kearny Outdoor Expo, where we teach fourth and fifth graders the difference between horns and antlers, conduct our very own shed hunt and investigate our findings. I share a lot of our findings in popular articles written for Nebraskaland Magazine and the Quality Deer Management Association’s Quality Whitetails Magazine. Most recently, I discussed 15 years of research findings on the National Deer Association’s “Coffee and Deer Podcast.”
Discuss your role as coordinator of the online master’s program in biology:
As coordinator of the online master’s in biology program, I serve as the first point of contact for prospective students inquiring about the program. My job is to advise, reassure and guide these students through the process from application to graduation. Through conferences and word of mouth, I also work to recruit new students into the Master of Science in Biology program or other related online master’s programs at UNK. Additionally, I assist 10-15 thesis-based, on-campus graduate teaching and research assistant students seeking their master’s degrees within the biology department.
What sets UNK’s online biology program apart from other colleges and universities?
UNK’s fully online master’s in biology program was the first of its kind, and in 2023 we celebrated its 20th year of offering high-quality graduate courses. I assisted with the launching of the program, and at that time we were sending students boxes of VHS tapes that contained course lectures for the semester. We evolved with the times and shiftied to CDs and DVDs and finally to streamed videos on demand.
Our variety of course options, program flexibility and availability of faculty and coordinators sets us apart from other online biology programs. We are always available, and just a phone call or email away. Biology is a broad subject and our students come from a variety backgrounds, with some being teachers and others working in the medical or ecological fields. We try to meet them where they are as we understand many of them may be nontraditional students with full-time jobs, families or other life obligations. We keep in regular contact with many of our graduates, and this summer we will graduate our 1,000th fully online MS in Biology student.
What do you most enjoy about your job?
Foremost, I love working with our distance students. It is rewarding meeting graduates in person on graduation day. Prior to that point, many times they are a name, an email or a voice on the phone. Tracking these alumni through the years and hearing their testimonials regarding the program lets us know we are providing them the education and the service they need to reach their career goals.
I also love the biology department where I work because I earned my degrees from the same department at UNK. Many of the faculty have moved on or retired, but all of them were an integral part of where I am today. There are still a few faculty around who I have taken courses from and still collaborate with on research.
I enjoy Kearney and the UNK campus. It is a true family affair. My wife Holly also is a UNK graduate and is the student support and project specialist for the associate vice chancellor of student affairs. We have two sons – Tyler will be a junior art education major at UNK, and Trevor will be a freshman at UNK, studying industrial distribution and working with the football team this fall.
Share a fun fact about yourself:
While I am not as young as I once was, my free time is typically spent playing sports – disc golf, pickleball, softball and basketball. During and following graduate school I played disc golf professionally. I have over 40 holes-in-one, was the director of several tournaments and assisted in the designing of several Nebraska courses.
