My career has primarily addressed technology development for the study, maintenance, and distribution of genetic resources of aquatic species. This has included years of work in the areas of reproduction and genetic improvement for aquaculture species, and germplasm repository development for aquatic species relevant to culture, wild fisheries, biomedical models, and imperiled species. Over this time, we have collaborated extensively throughout the various aquatic species communities in the USA and abroad. We have collaborated with other scientists, fish hatcheries and farmers, and state and federal agencies including, USDA, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and NOAA. Included in our collaborators are long-standing relationships with biomedical stock centers such as the Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center and the Zebrafish International Resource Center. We have become established as a world authority in aquatic germplasm and genetic resources preservation.
Education
B.S., Biology, 1981, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY
M.S., Comparative Physiology, 1986, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID
Ph.D., Molecular Genetics, 1991, Memphis State University, Memphis TN
Honors
1996, 2003 & 2005- LSU Distinguished Dissertation Award in Science, Engineering and Technology (major
advisor)
2004- Sedberry Graduate Teaching Award, LSU College of Agriculture
1999- LSUAC Annual Research Excellence Award
1997- Outstanding Researcher Award -- LSU chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta
1988-90- Van Vleet Memorial Graduate Fellowship
1982- Whittenberger Graduate Fellowship
Positions
2018- Chairman, National Genetic Resources Advisory Council, United States Department of Agriculture,
Washington D.C.
2017- Committee Member, National Genetic Resources Advisory Council, United States Department of
Agriculture, Washington D.C.
2014- Director, Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center, School of Renewable Natural
Resources, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge
2005-08 Adjunct Professor, Zheijiang Ocean University, Marine Fisheries Institute, Zhoushan, China
2005-08 Visiting Scientist, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
2003- Chairman, Aquatic Species Committee, USDA National Animal Germplasm Program
2002-04 President, Louisiana Chapter, American Fisheries Society
1999-14 Professor, Aquaculture Research Station, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State
University Agricultural Center, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, Baton Rouge
1997-00 Associate Editor, genetics and reproduction, Journal of the World Aquaculture Society
1997-00 Adjunct Faculty, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Mississippi State University
1997-98 Associate Editor, aquaculture, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
1997-98 President, Genetics Section, American Fisheries Society
1996-01 Adjunct Faculty, Department of Biology, University of Southwestern Louisiana
1996-99 Associate Professor, School of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, LSUAC, LAES
1995- USDA, CSREES and ARS, National Steering Committee, Aquacultural Genetics and Breeding
1994-96 Editorial Board, genetics, Copeia
1992-96 Assistant Professor, School of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, LSUAC, LAES
1991-92 Postdoctoral Research Associate, USDA-ARS, Stoneville, Mississippi
1990-92 Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tennessee
1988-90 Van Vleet Fellow in Molecular Genetics, Department of Biology, Memphis State University
1987-89 Research Fellow, Center for Reproductive Biology, Collierville, Tennessee
Selected Publications
Tiersch TR and Green CC (editors). 2011. Cryopreservation in Aquatic Species, 2nd edition. World
Aquaculture Society, Advances in World Aquaculture, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1003 pages.
Yang H, Wang Y, Guo X and Tiersch TR. 2015. Production of inbred larvae through self-fertilization using
oocytes and cryopreserved sperm from the same individuals after sex reversal in eastern oyster
Crassostrea virginica. Aquaculture Research 46:2153-2165.
Hu E, Childress W and Tiersch TR. 2017. 3-D printing provides a novel approach for standardization and
reproducibility of freezing devices. Cryobiology 76:34-40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cryobiol.2017.03.010
Tiersch NJ and Tiersch TR. 2017. Standardized assessment of thin-film vitrification for aquatic species. North
American Journal of Aquaculture 79:283–288. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15222055.2017.1339153
Torres L, Liu Y, Guitreau A, Yang H and Tiersch TR. 2017. Challenges in development of sperm repositories
for biomedical fishes: Quality control in small-bodied species. Zebrafish 14:552-560.
https://doi.org/10.1089/zeb.2017.1426
Liu Y, Torres L and Tiersch TR. 2017. Quality evaluation of sperm from livebearing fishes: standardized
assessment of sperm bundles (spermatozeugmata) from Xenotoca eiseni (Goodeidae). Theriogenology
107:50-56.
Liu Y, Yang H, Torres L and Tiersch TR. 2018. Activation of free sperm and dissociation of sperm bundles
(spermatozeugmata) of an endangered viviparous fish, Xenotoca eiseni. Comparative Biochemistry and
Physiology, Part A 218:35-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2018.01.006
Torres L and Tiersch TR. 2018. Addressing reproducibility in cryopreservation of aquatic species, and
considerations necessary for community development in aquatic genetic resources. Journal of the World
Aquaculture Society 49:644-663. https://doi.org/10.1111/jwas.12541
Beckham JE, Alam F, Omojala F, Scherr TF, Guitreau AM, Melvin A, Park D, Tiersch TR and Monroe WT.
2018. A microfluidic device for motility and osmolality analysis of zebrafish sperm. Biomedical
Microdevices 20:67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-018-0308-2
Liu Y, Cheng H and Tiersch TR. 2018. The role of alkalinization-induced Ca2+ influx in sperm motility
activation of a viviparous fish Redtail Splitfin (Xenotoca eiseni). Biology of Reproduction 99:1159-1170.
https://doi.org/10.1093/biolre/ioy150
Hagedorn M, Varga Z, Walter R and Tiersch TR. 2019 Workshop report: Cryopreservation of aquatic
biomedical models. Cryobiology 86:120-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cryobiol.2018.10.264
Research Support
Active:
2018-2022
Principal Investigator: T. Tiersch
NIH R24OD010441
Development of germplasm resources for preservation of aquatic models.
The Specific Aims are to:
1) Develop and test microfabricated devices that can be used by research
laboratories at low effort and cost to improve assessment and study of sperm concentration and motility with
respect to the effects of these factors on reproducibility and the overall success of cryopreservation.
2)
Develop and test 3-D printed devices that can be used to improve the reproducibility of the freezing process.
2016-2020
Principal Investigator: T. Tiersch
United States Department of Agriculture, National Animal Germplasm Program
Standardization of sperm evaluation across gene banks.
Objective is to standardize evaluation of sperm quality for aquatic organisms and enhance repository
development for genetic resources of aquatic organisms.
2016-2020
Principal Investigator: T. Tiersch
United States Department of Agriculture, Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit
Cryopreservation of catfish sperm samples for use in the Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit’s breeding
program.
Objective is to create a repository of important genetic resources from the USDA Warmwater Aquaculture
Research Unit.
2017-2018
Principal Investigator: T. Tiersch
LSU LIFT2
Objectives are to develop a small, inexpensive, self-contained, electromagnetic apparatus for monitoring and
control of ice formation to directly address existing problems and revolutionize research, commercial
application, and QA-QC programs.
Completed within the past 3 years:
2016-2019
Principal Investigator: R. Walter
NIH (Texas State Univ. San Marcos) R24OD011120
Enhanced development of the xiphophorus model system.
Objectives are to use basic and applied research to develop procedures for cryopreservation of sperm and
production of offspring from live-bearing fishes of the genus Xiphophorus to support the activities of the Stock
Center.
2016-2018
Principal Investigator: T. Tiersch
Western SARE
Cryogenic Preservation of Oyster Gametes to Improve Hawaii and West Coast Oyster Stocks.
Objectives are develop techniques for preserving sperm from Pacific oysters and begin development of a
repository of genetic resources for the Pacific oysters.
2017-2018
Principal Investigator: T. Tiersch
Clear Springs Foods, Inc.
Objectives are to perform preliminary work on the transport and cryopreservation of neomale trout sperm and
to develop harmonized methods for using frozen sperm in a commercial breeding program.
2017-2018
Principal Investigator: T. Tiersch
LSU/ACRES
Objectives are to use 3-dimensional printing to design, prototype, fabricate, test and make widely available
standardized freezing devices that can be used with nitrogen vapor shipping dewars for on-site freezing,
sample storage, and transport.