Dr. Jesse Filbrun – Faculty
Associate Professor of Biology
Dr. Jesse Filbrun is an associate professor of biology and the advisor for SAU’s Marine Biology degree option. He is a broadly trained freshwater and marine ecologist. He earned his B.S. in Biology from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, and his Ph.D. in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology from the Ohio State University. He served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory and as their summer field program marine biology instructor since 2019. He served SAU (2014–2017) and Eastern New Mexico University (2017–2021) as an assistant professor of biology before returning to SAU in fall 2021. Dr. Filbrun teaches Ecology, Biostatistics, and a variety of “watery” courses, including Ichthyology (study of fishes), Marine Biology, and Oceanography. Dr. Filbrun has completed diverse research projects to explore how early-life feeding, development, and growth of fishes impacts recruitment to adult populations. He has worked to improve production efficiency of catfishes in aquaculture ponds, mitigate water quality issues in ponds and reservoirs, understand how larval Red Snapper in the northern Gulf of Mexico responded to the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and quantify drifting fish egg and larval assemblages in the Pecos River, New Mexico. Dr. Filbrun has a steadily busy lab of talented undergraduate students who are trained in the field and laboratory to quantify ecological interactions among early life stages of fishes, their zooplankton prey, and their physical environments. Currently, Dr. Filbrun’s lab is focused on conducting experiments to test the effects of predators, competitors, and environmental conditions on the success of the local invasive planktonic crustacean Daphnia lumholtzi.
Mr. Cledis Stuart – Staff
Associate Dean of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity
Mr. Cledis Stuart is the associate dean of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. He has worked in higher education for thirty years (twenty-eight with SAU) primarily with students of color in all facets of student development. Stuart has developed and implemented programs for the retention and graduation of students, including but not limited to, Brother-To-Brother, Sister-To-Sister, the Project Pal Peer Mentoring Program and most recently the Southern Arkansas University Diversity Initiative. He has helped to establish two of the living/learning communities (Leadership College and Residential College), while also advising the National Pan-Hellenic Council groups, the Black Students Association, the Genesis Ministry Choir, and Latinos Unidos. He has conducted diversity workshops in public school, university, and corporate settings for almost 30 years.
Additionally, Stuart has served as an adjunct instructor at Southern Arkansas University in the Student Affairs graduate program, Behavioral and Social Sciences, and Freshman Seminar. He has served on numerous University committees including the University Strategic Planning Committee and the Presidential Search Committee. He served as President of the Arkansas College Personnel Association (ArCPA). Also, with ArCPA, he has served as the newsletter editor, the State Minority Affairs Coordinator, and as a faculty member for The New Professionals Institute.
Stuart and his wife Ebonee have seven children. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Grambling State University and a masters in Agency Counseling from Southern Arkansas University. Most of all, he is a servant!
