STARKVILLE — A former Mississippi State Alumnus is coming home to take the co-director position at the MSU Deer Lab. Eric Michel, former Deer and Elk Research Scientist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, will step into the role after Steve Demarais retired. 

Michel moved to Starkville on December 13.. It is a homecoming for the Wisconsin native who earned a masters and PHD from Mississippi State University working in the deer lab. 

“I never thought I would have that opportunity,” Michel said. “My wife is from South Dakota so moving is kind of a big deal for us. We are moving across the country for the opportunity… For me personally, it will be fun to have my family exposed to a new culture. I can’t wait to go to a crawfish boil. It is about engulfing ourselves in the opportunity and a new place. It will be a lot of fun for us.”

Professionally, Michel said he was excited for the unique opportunity as the MSU Deer Lab enters a new chapter. He started his academic career as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point before going to Mississippi State where he earned a masters degree and PHD. 

Michel said he pursued a career in wildlife management and research after combining his interests in deer hunting with a love for biology and science. He described himself as a traditional hook and bullet guy when he first started. 

Michel is following in the footsteps of Demarais, who has dedicated his entire life to conservation and research. MSU Deer Lab Co-Director Bronson Strickland will also soon be retiring although it is unknown who will fill his role. 

“It was a unique opportunity. You look at what Steve and Bronson have done with the deer lab, there is nothing else quite like it,” Michel said. “It is the premier research lab in the country and I’m excited to get back there and get back to research.

Michel says he wants to get settled in before taking on new research projects. It is unknown who will be hired to replace Strickland which is one reason he is unable to answer specific questions about what research projects he has planned. 

Past research at MSU

Michel’s masters project looked at the dominance behaviors of does. The PHD project he worked on looked at the effects of generational nutrition on body condition and antler size in deer. 

According to MSU’s report published in 2017, yearling bucks who were raised on a 16 percent protein diet grew antlers twice as large as yearling bucks on an eight percent protein diet. The difference over four years resulted in a 20 inch difference in the Boone and Crocket score. There was also a genetics factor as deer whose ancestors had better nutrition saw an increase in antler growth. 

Hunters in Mississippi in the 2000s complained about the size difference between bucks harvested in the Delta and those harvested in the Lower Coastal Plains region (LCP) . Delta bucks were on average 41 pounds heavier and 25 inches larger in Boone and Crockett score than the LCP bucks at 3 years of age. MSU’s Deer Lab set a mission to find the cause of this pattern and get a full understanding of why it was so. 

According to the report, the deer lab expected the soil quality and land use decisions impacted the deer growth potential. Delta land is mostly used to grow crops such as soybeans which are high in protein whereas the LCP is used for pine plantations which do not have as many quality forages or browse for deer. 

MSU’s Deer Lab recognized there were two subspecies of white-tailed deer with most of the state having Virginia white-tailed deer but the southern part had Odocoileus virginanus osceola which is a smaller size. MSU set to capture deer from pregnant does from the delta, lower coastal plains and thin-loess regions, brought them to Starkville where they could conduct research on nutrition in a controlled environment. The hypothesis was if the bucks were fed a high nutrition diet and body size and antler size remained different it must be a genetics issue, however if the deer from the LCP caught up to the delta deer in size then they could conclude it was a nutrition issue. 

The first generation showed a moderate growth in size. Antler and body size increased by six percent but it was not consistent. LCP bucks remained unchanged compared to the other two region deer in weight but had increased antler growth along with the thin-loess bucks while delta bucks saw no growth. Second generation deer saw an increase in body size and antler size. Deer from the LCP caught up to the delta bucks in size. All of the second generation deer saw an 18 percent increase in growth meaning they all benefited from increased nutrition. 

“It was a cool study. They had a whole suite of grad students. I was able to stick around and wrap it up,” Michel said. “We got great data from it.”

Continuing research

At Minnesota’s DNR, Michel led research efforts studying both deer and elk. He said not much was understood about Minnesota’s small elk population. They started with a telemetry study on a population of 200 elk. 

He will continue to advise a couple of students in Minnesota. One of his PHD students is studying elk while a masters student is studying fawn survival. A student of his is also studying camera traps as Minnesota tries new methods to compare deer density from private and public lands. 

Once he gets settled in at Mississippi State’s Deer Lab with the new co-director he plans to take off and expand their research. Michel said he has a goal to continue MSU’s relationship with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. 

Mississippi State University is the unofficial research arm of MDWFP and works to answer a wide range of questions regarding wildlife and habitat management. 

“My goal is to continue serving the state and the southeast,” Michel said. 

MSU and the University of Minnesota have collaborated on research projects regarding Chronic Wasting Disease. Michel said he is hoping to continue collaborating with the University of Minnesota. 

Research will continue to try and answer questions about CWD and Mississippi State has a few projects they are wrapping up. Michel said due to the nature of the disease it will always be at the forefront of the work they are doing. 

Mississippi State University’s Deer Lab currently has a podcast titled Deer University where deer researchers discuss projects and studies about deer and any management implications. Michel said he hopes to continue the podcast. 

“It is exciting but scary to replace two new people. They have been so successful and it is up to us to keep it going,” Michel said. “I don’t know what it will look like but we will stick to the principle of management based research to serve Mississippi and the southeast.”