Faculty Profile

Keith Perkins, III, M.S.

Faculty Emeritus

Keith Perkins III is associate professor of biology at the University of Sioux Falls, having been appointed in October 1975. His family comes from Colombus and Richland, Neb., and Perkins was born in Freemont, Neb., but he grew up in Sioux Falls. He graduated from Washington Senior High School in 1965. He served in the U.S. Army from 1969-71, including one year in RVN and attained the rank of Sergeant, E-5.

Perkins earned his bachelor's degree in English from then Sioux Falls College. He received his master's degree in biology from the University of South Dakota, and he is a doctoral ABD in zoology from The Ohio State University. Throughout his master and doctoral programs, he served as lab, researching and teaching assistants in vertebrate anatomy and development histology, malacology and physiology. He also was a visiting associate professor in zoology at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

Education

Doctoral Candidate, All But Dissertation, Zoology, 106 qt. hours, The Ohio State University, 1984
M.S., Biology, University of South Dakota, 1975
B.A., English, Sioux Falls College, 1969

Courses Taught

BIO100 - General Biology
BIO315 - Human Physiology
BIO380 - Immunology
BIO204 - General Zoology
BIO402 - Developmental Biology
BIO203 - General Botany

Professional Memberships

North American Benthological Society

The Nature Conservancy, South Dakota Chapter
Board of Directors, Past Chair

South Dakota Academy of Science
President, 1992-1993

Research

Perkins, Keith III. 1975. Distribution and Relative Abundance of the Unionid Mussels in the Vermillion
River, SD. MS Thesis, University of South Dakota, Vermillion

EIS for the James River Pilot Dredge Project. 1984. Mollusc Section. Dept. of Water and Natural Resources. Pierre, S.D.

Freeman, P.W. and Keith Perkins III. 1992. Survey of the Mollusks of the Platte River: Final Report. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Grand Island, Neb.

Freeman, P.W. and Keith Perkins III 1997. Survey of the Mollusks of the Niobrara River: Final Report. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Grand Island, Neb.

Perkins, Keith III, 2007. Final Report: Unionid Mussels-Species Distribution and Responses to Changes in Discharge along the Fifty Nine Mile Perch of the Missouri National Recreational River
from Gavin's Point Dam to Ponca Neb. National Park Service, Yankton, S.D.

Perkins, K. III, D. Skadsen and D. Backlund, 1995. A survey for Unionid Mussels in Day, Duel, Grant and Roberts Counties, S.D. Unpublished Report for South Dakota Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks.

Perkins, K. III and D. Backlund, 1995. List of Freshwater Mussels (Unionidae) Known Historically or Recently from South Dakota Streams, Rivers and Lakes. South Dakota Dept of Game, Fish and Parks. Pierre, S.D.

Perkins, K. III and D.C. Backlund. 2000. Freshwater Mussels of the Missouri National Recreational River below Gavin's Point Dam, S.D. and Neb. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Report 2000-1.
Pierre, S.D.

Skadsen, D.R. and K. Perkins III. 2000. Unionid Mussels of the Big Sioux River and Tributaries: Moody, Minnehaha, Lincoln and Union Counties, S.D. GFP Rport 2000-09. South Dakota Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks, Pierre, S.D.

Courses I have taught:

General Biology
General Zoology
General Botany
Anatomy and Physiology
Human Anatomy
Human Physiology
Histology
Ecology
Developmental Biology
Field Entomology
Field Botany
Aquatic Vascular Plants
Aquatic Zoology
Intertidal Zoology
Immunology
Cardiopulmonary Anatomy and Physiology
Endocrinology
Neurology
Cardiopulmonary Pathology Seminar

Didactic Science Courses Completed:

General Biology, UNL
General Zoology, UNL
Animal Anatomy and Development, USD
Evolution, USD
Genetics, USD
Invertebrate Zoology, USD
Comparative Plant Morphology, USD
Limnology, USD
Ichthyology, USD (2 qtrs.), OSU
Cellular Physiology, USD
General Chemistry (2 sem.), USD
Chemical Equilibrium, USD
Organic Chemistry (2 sem.), USD
General Physics (2 sem.), USD
Astronomy, USD
Statistics, USD
Field Zoology, OSU
Aquatic Zoology, OSU
Field Entomology, OSU
Aquatic Entomology, OSU
Field Botany, OSU
Aquatic Vascular Plants, OSU
Nuclear Engineering, OSU
Advanced Aquatic Entomology, OSU
Advanced Invertebrate Zoology, OSU
Immunology, OSU
Biochemistry, OSU
Calculus (2 qtrs.), OSU
Medical Microbiology, OSU
Plankton Analysis, OSU
Human Parasitology, OSU
Wildlife Parasitology, OSU

Scholarships and Creative Work

Reports

Perkins, K. III. Fragile Heelsplitter: Nebraska Fauna. Nebraskaland. Vol. 68, No. 7, Sept. 1990.
Freeman, P.W. and K. Perkins III. Water- Nymphs of the Platte. Nebraskaland. Vol. 72, No. 3, April, 1994.
Myers, Thomas P. and Keith Perkins III. Mussels and Morginal Utility, Central Plains Archeology, V. 8- n.1, 2pp69, 2000.

Service/Volunteer Work

Selected Academic Administration Participation

Nominating Committee- 2 yrs.

Academic Policies Committee - 6 yrs.

Faculty Athletic Representative - 6 yrs.

Faculty Status Committee - 2 yrs.

Student Affairs Committee - 2 yrs.

Faculty Personnel and Welfare Committee - 2 yrs.

Chairperson, Natural Sciences Area - 1989-1996

"Cool It" Coordinating Committee (Earth Day Activities)

"Managing Our Earth" in Symposium Committee

Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees - 1990-1992

Chairperson, Faculty Association - 1999-2001

Administrative Council - 2000-2001

USF Foundation Board - 2 yrs.

Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees - 2000-2001

Teacher Education Committee, USF - 4 yrs.

CLAE, USF - 2 yrs.

Community Service

- South Dakota Department of Water and Natural Resources, Consultant

- Wrote Unionid component of EIS for James River Restoration Project

- Wall Lake Restoration Project, Science Advisor

- Mary Jo Wagner Arboretum Society Board, Vice President, 2008- present