Prior to joining GVSU in 2002, Ruetz was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Florida International University where he conducted research on population dynamics of Everglades fishes. As a native of Michigan, Ruetz graduated from the Lake Superior State University, Sault Sainte Marie, Mich, USA with a B.S. degree in biology in 1994. He pursued graduate studies at the University of Georgia, Athens, Ga, USA earning the M.S. degree in forest resources in 1997, and the University of Minnesota, earning a Ph.D. degree in fisheries in 2001. He also served on the Books Editorial Advisory Board for the American Fisheries Society. Ruetz’s research interests broadly include population and community ecology of freshwater fishes and benthic macroinvertebrates.