Student News
UGA Ecology “Parasite Ladies” Take Second Place in NSF Graduate Education Challenge
Dara Satterfield, Sarah Budischak, and Sara Heisel, doctoral students in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, have taken second place honors in the National Science Foundation Innovation in Graduate Education Challenge, the NSF announced on June 13, 2013.
Social networks could help prevent disease outbreaks in endangered chimpanzees
Many think of social networks in terms of Facebook friends and Twitter followers, but for recent University of Georgia doctoral graduate Julie Rushmore, social networks are tools in the fight against infectious diseases. Rushmore, who completed her doctorate in the Odum School of Ecology in May, analyzed the social networks of wild chimpanzees to determine which individuals were most likely to contract and spread pathogens. Her findings, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology on June 5, could help wildlife managers target their efforts to prevent outbreaks and potentially help public health officials prevent disease in human populations as well.
Four Ecology students, alumni among ten at UGA awarded NSF fellowships
Ten University of Georgia students and alumni—including four from the Odum School of Ecology—were among received graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation to conduct research while working on their master’s and doctoral degrees.
UGA Ecology Honors student to present research findings on Capitol Hill
University of Georgia Honors ecology student Theresa Stratmann will discuss her research with members of the Georgia and South Carolina congressional delegations as part of the Council for Undergraduate Research Posters on the Hill Program.
Two UGA Honors ecology students named 2013 Udall Scholars
UGA Honors students Sara Black, an ecology and anthropology double major, and Ian Karra, an economics and finance double major pursuing an ecology minor, were among 50 students nationwide who were awarded 2013 Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation Scholarships.
Short Film by Ecology Ph.D. Student Virginia Schutte to Screen at Beneath the Waves Film Festival
A short film by Odum School doctoral student Virginia Schutte has been accepted into the Beneath the Waves Film Festival, which kicks off in Savannah, Georgia, from March 20-24.
UGA awards sustainability grants to seven student projects
Ecology graduate student Greg Skupien, along with Aaron Joslin and Holly Campbell of the Warnell School, was awarded a Campus Sustainability Grant from the Office of Sustainability for “Composting of Organic Waste in Academic Building on Campus: Pilot Project for Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources.”
Fish have enormous nutrient impacts on marine ecosystems, two new studies find
Fish play a far more important role as contributors of nutrients to marine ecosystems than previously thought, according to research by Odum School doctoral student Jacob Allgeier and Florida International University associate professor Craig Layman.
Ecology's Rushmore Receives ARCS Foundation Award
Julie Rushmore, a doctor of veterinary medicine/Ph.D. candidate in ecology, received one of nine ARCS Foundation Awards presented to UGA doctoral students in 2012.
Ecology student a finalist in National Science Foundation research video contest
Virginia Schutte, a doctoral student in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, is a finalist in a video contest sponsored by the National Science Foundation. To view Schutte’s video, see https://grf2012.skild.com/skild2/grf2012/viewEntryDetail.action?pid=40357.
Searching for a silver bullet: Measuring biodiversity to inform species conservation
Ecologists in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology have found that evolutionary diversity can be an effective method for identifying hotspots of mammal biodiversity.
Insect Olympians: Students ask what makes horned passalus beetles so strong
All eyes are turned to London as the world’s top athletes compete for Olympic glory, but a humbler competition has been taking place in Andy Davis’s lab at the University of Georgia this summer, featuring some unlikely competitors—horned passalus beetles.
Rebeca de Jesús Crespo receives Fulbright Scholarship
Ecology Ph.D. student Rebeca de Jesús Crespo was one of four UGA recipients of a 2012 Fulbright Scholarship, which she will use to confinue her assessment of the impact of the Rainforest Alliance's certification program on the health of streams that flow into coffee plantations in Costa Rica.
Incoming, current and former Ecology students receive four of ten 2012 UGA NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
Four of the ten University of Georgia students and alumni who received graduate research fellowships this spring from the National Science Foundation to conduct research during their master’s and doctoral studies are from the Odum School of Ecology.
Ecology undergraduate Saunders wins NOAA Hollings Scholarship
University of Georgia Honors ecology student Scott Saunders has received an Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of only 115 awarded nationwide in 2012.
Haram wins NOAA NERRS Fellowship
Linsey Haram, a Ph.D. student in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, has received a three-year National Estuarine Research Reserve System graduate research fellowship, one of only nine awarded in 2012.
Gehman competes in the #SciFund Challenge
Alyssa Gehman, who is pursuing her Ph.D. in ecology at the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, is participating in the second round of the #SciFund Challenge, an experiment in crowdfunding for scientific research. Her proposal is proposal is online at http://www.rockethub.com/projects/7476-a-climate-for-castrators.
Ecology students receive Udall scholarships
Ecology students Malavika Rajeev and Theresa Stratmann were among the three University of Georgia Honors students—a record number—awarded 2012 Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation Scholarships.
Pierson receives National Geographic Young Explorers grant
Ecology major Todd Pierson has received a National Geographic Young Explorers grant to travel to China to study what may prove to be a new species of giant salamander.
Ecology students awarded Goldwater Scholarships
Ecology majors Theresa Stratmann and Buck Trible have been awarded 2012 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, two of the four received by UGA students this year.
UGA Honors student Christina Faust awarded 2008 Harry S. Truman Scholarship
Christina Faust, a University of Georgia Honors student from Athens, has been awarded a 2008 Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a prestigious national honor recognizing outstanding juniors who are preparing for public service careers.
Study extends the ‘ecology of fear’ to fear of parasites
Squirrels and raccoons will give up food to avoid ticks
A recent paper by Ph.D. student Alexa Fritzsche sheds light on the interaction between ticks and host animals. The study is based on research conducted while Fritzsche was a research technician at Washington University in St. Louis.
Ecology undergraduate presents research at Sigma Xi conference
Undergraduate Ecology Honors student Erin E. Froetschel received a Scientific Research Society Certificate of Recognition during the Eleventh Annual Sigma Xi Student Research Conference in Raleigh, NC.
Ecology undergraduate one of nine 2011-2012 Crane Scholars
Ecology undergraduate Malavika Rajeev was one of nine University of Georgia students awarded the William Moore Crane Leadership Scholarship for the 2011-2012 academic year.
Odum School's Julie Rushmore one of nine UGA students to receive 2011-2012 Atlanta ARCS Foundation award
The Odum School's Julie Rushmore was one of nine UGA graduate students to receive a 2011-2012 Atlanta ARCS Foundation award. Rushmore, a joint DVM/Ph.D. candidate, studies the behavioral and ecological factors that affect disease transmission in African great apes.
Grant from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will fund study of disease transmission in apes
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded a grant to UGA researchers studying social and ecological factors that affect disease transmission in wild chimpanzees. This is the second grant the scientists have received from the USFWS Division of International Conservation for their work.
“Think globally, act locally” also applies to extinction
Study finds considerable regional variation in the impacts of extinction on biodiversity
When a species becomes extinct, its loss has an impact on global biodiversity. But a new study by University of Georgia researchers has found that species extinctions may have even greater impacts at the regional level, depending upon how closely related the lost species are to others nearby.
Ecology Alumna Carrie Futch awarded fellowship with American Society for Microbiology/Centers for Disease Control
Carrie Futch, Ph.D. '10, a post-doctoral researcher with the University of Georgia College of Public Health, has been named a recipient of a post-doctoral fellowship in infectious disease and public health microbiology through the American Society for Microbiology and Centers for Disease Control.
Wright receives Georgia Academy of Science award
Odum School of Ecology undergraduate Alexander Wright received a commendation from the Awards Committee of the Georgia Academy of Science for the most outstanding paper presented in the Biological Sciences Section at the group's 89th annual meeting.
Moree receives public policy internship from American Society of Mammalogists
Graduate student James Moree has been awarded the American Society of Mammalogists-American Institute of Biological Sciences Public Policy Internship for fall 2011.
Odum School graduate Brian Watts receives Fulbright grant
Honors student Brian Watts of Douglasville, Georgia, who graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology in May, has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Grant. Watts will spend the 2011-2012 academic year in South Korea.
Odum School researchers find a keystone nutrient recycler in streams
Researchers from the Odum School of Ecology have found that certain neotropical stream ecosystems rely almost entirely on a single fish species known as the banded tetra for the critical nutrient phosphorus. In a paper recently published in the journal Ecology, the researchers, led by Gaston E. “Chip” Small, Ph.D. '10, explain why this particular species plays such a crucial role—and why these stream systems are vulnerable as a result.
Ecology students receive CURO summer fellowships
Ecology undergraduates Melanie Fratto and Theresa Stratmann are among 35 UGA students awarded 2011 CURO summer fellowships.
Two UGA students awarded 2011 NSEP David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarships for international study
Ecology major Rosemary Gay of Douglasville is one of two UGA students to receive a National Security Education Program David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarship for international language study during the 2011-2012 academic year.
Ecology well represented at 2011 CURO Symposium
Ecology was well represented at the UGA Honors Program’s 2011 CURO Symposium, with seven Odum School undergraduates presenting papers and six presenting posters. Associate Professor John Drake received the Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Early Career Faculty Award, and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory received the Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program Award.
Chip Small, Ph.D. '10, receives Graduate Student Excellence in Research Award
The University of Georgia Graduate School honored Gaston “Chip” Small with its 2011 Graduate Student Excellence in Research Award in Life Sciences. Small received his doctorate from the Odum School of Ecology in 2010.
Ecology undergraduates Pierson and Stratmann inducted into Blue Key Honor Society
Ecology undergraduates Todd Pierson and Theresa Stratmann were inducted into the Georgia chapter of the national Blue Key Honor Society on April 10, 2011.
UGA Honors undergraduate Todd Pierson receives 2011 Udall Scholarship
Ecology major Todd Pierson, a second-year Honors student, is one of 80 recipients nationwide of the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation Scholarship, which recognizes sophomores and juniors who are pursuing careers in environmental or Native American issues.
As coastal fisheries decline, major source of nutrients for entire ecosystem is lost
A new study by researchers at the UGA Odum School of Ecology and Florida International University has found that the elimination of large marine predators through overfishing and habitat alteration removes a vital source of nutrients for coastal ecosystems.
Ecology Ph.D. student Athena Anderson redesigns field lab experience
Ecology Ph.D. student Athena Rayne Anderson described her redesign of the Ecology 3500 field lab curriculum to incorporate team- and inquiry-based learning methods in an article published in the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America.
Ecology undergraduate Elizabeth Nixon wins statewide art competition
Undergraduate ecology and scientific illustration major Elizabeth Nixon won first place in the State Botanical Garden of Georgia 2010 art competition sponsored by the J.A. and H.G. Woodruff, Jr. Charitable Trust.
Julie Rushmore receives Atlanta ARCS Foundation scholarship and Global Impact Grant
The Atlanta chapter of the Achievement Rewards for College Students Foundation recently awarded $55,000 to seven outstanding UGA doctoral students in the biomedical and health sciences, including Ecology student Julie Rushmore, who also received a special $10,000 grant for global health research abroad.
UGA researchers unlocking the secrets of cross-species rabies transmission
Like most infectious diseases, rabies can attack several species. However, which species are going to be infected and why turns out to be a difficult problem that represents a major gap in our knowledge of how diseases emerge. A paper just published in the journal Science by a team of researchers led by Daniel G. Streicker, a Ph.D. student in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, has begun to close that knowledge gap.
Ethell Vereen featured as one of UGA's Amazing Students
Ecology PhD student Ethell Vereen is featured as UGA's Amazing Student for the week of August 8, 2010.
Odum School awards degrees at spring 2010 commencement
Seventeen students graduated from the Odum School with degrees in ecology on May 8, 2010.
Ecology Ph.D. students receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
Two Ecology Ph.D. students, Carolyn Keough and Virginia Shcutte, are among 13 UGA students and alumni awarded Graduate Research Fellowships by the National Science Foundation.
Undergraduate ecology and scientific illustration double major recognized at joint UGA-MCG exhibition with two awards
Elizabeth Nixon, an undergraduate double major in Ecology and Scientific Illustration, won two awards at the 17th annual Science and Medical Illustration Exhibition, held from Feb. 23 - March 8 at the UGA Lamar Dodd School of Art. The exhibition showcases the work of undergraduate scientific illustration students from UGA and graduate medical illustration students from the Medical College of Georgia, and is juried by faculty from both institutions.
UGA Ecology PhD candidate receives three-year NOAA graduate research fellowship
Virginia Schutte, a Ph.D. student in the UGA Odum School of Ecology, has been awarded a highly competitive three-year National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) graduate research fellowship. She will study the effects of nutrient pollution on red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) in Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico.
New collaboration between UGA Odum School of Ecology and the Rainforest Alliance to monitor Green Certification Program
A new collaboration between the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology and the international nonprofit Rainforest Alliance aims to ensure that the Rainforest Alliance’s Green Certification Program for tourism, timber and agricultural products meets its sustainability goals.
Chip Small featured in JNABS “Article Spotlight”
Chip Small, a PhD student at the Odum School of Ecology, is featured in the “Article Spotlight” in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of the North American Benthological Society. The article by Small, OSE doctoral student Ashley Helton, and Caner Kazanci, Assistant Professor in the UGA Department of Mathematics and Faculty of Engineering, is entitled “Can consumer stoichiometric regulation control nutrient spiraling in streams?” The article explores how consumers affect the downstream movement of different elements in stream ecosystems.
UGA Odum School of Ecology graduate student receives Fulbright Scholarship
Julie Rushmore, a joint Ph.D. and DVM candidate at UGA’s Odum School of Ecology and College of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded a 2009-10 Fulbright scholarship to pursue her study of how behavior affects pathogen transmission among great apes in Uganda. Her work has implications for wildlife conservation and public health.
UGA Odum School of Ecology to hold annual student symposium
The University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology will hold its fifteenth annual symposium showcasing student research Jan. 23-24. The free public event will feature graduate student oral presentations, an undergraduate poster session and a keynote address given by Evelyn Gaiser, UGA alumnae and associate professor at Florida International University.
UGA Odum School of Ecology graduate student receives Wildlife Disease Association Award
Nicole Gottdenker, Ph.D. student at the University of Georgia, recently received the Wildlife Disease Association Graduate Student Scholarship Award. The $2,000 award was presented for leadership, scholarship and service at the 57th annual meeting of the Wildlife Disease Association held in Alberta, Canada.
UGA Honors student Christina Faust receives 2009-2010 George J. Mitchell Postgraduate Scholarship
Christina Faust, a University of Georgia Honors student from Athens, is one of 12 national recipients of the 2009-2010 George J. Mitchell Postgraduate Scholarship. She will use her fellowship to study immunology and global health at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
Student Comment: Sustainable Seafood
When Ph.D. student Jake Allgeier realized the information gap between sustainable seafood research and the public, he wrote a letter to the Flagpole. Read more to find out which fish are overfished so that you can make smart eating choices to protect the global fish population.
UGA study reveals ecosystem-level consequences of frog extinctions
Streams that once sang with the croaks, chirps and ribbits of dozens of frog species have gone silent. They’re victims of a fungus that’s decimating amphibian populations worldwide.
Such catastrophic declines have been documented for more than a decade, but until recently scientists knew little about how the loss of frogs alters the larger ecosystem. A University of Georgia study that is the first to comprehensively examine an ecosystem before and after an amphibian population decline has found that tadpoles play a key role keeping the algae at the base of the food chain productive.
UGA Odum School researcher creates tool demonstrating profitability of organic farming
Research at the Agroecology Laboratory at the UGA Odum School of Ecology has led to the creation of organic farming enterprise budgets. Prior to this development, the economic decision-making tool used to estimate profitability was not widely available for organic production.
“Centuries of extensive tillage have caused much of our native topsoil to be washed into rivers,” said Krista Jacobsen, a recent Odum School Ph.D. graduate. “Many farmers in the Southeast inherit these degraded soils and it is important to develop and study farming practices that can restore soil and allow it to be farmed profitably at the same time. That’s where enterprise budgets come in.”
Shallow-water corals more resistant to bleaching than deeper water corals
Stressed corals lose the symbiotic algae that help them survive in a process known as bleaching, but University of Georgia researchers have discovered that one subtype of the symbiotic algae that live mostly in shallow-water corals of the Caribbean provide resistance to environmental stress.
The researchers, who include plant biologists Gregory Schmidt and Brigitte Bruns and ecologists William Fitt and Jennifer McCabe Reynolds, showed for the first time that clade A Symbiodinium has complementary mechanisms for surviving in its coral hosts during periods of warmer-than-normal water temperatures and intense late-summer sun.
Undergrads provide game day recycling
When seeing a need to provide recycling for UGA football games, the Odum School's Ecology Club quickly stepped up to the plate. Clearly, this group of undergraduates is passionate about recycling and respecting the UGA campus. Student volunteers pair up with the Athens-Clarke County Recycling Division, who provides supplies. Every game, the aluminum cans are separated and donated to Habitat for Humanity and the Ronald McDonald House Foundation. For more information on the Ecology Club's recycling efforts, please visit the official site of UGA Game Day Recycling.
Parasites might spur evolution of strange amphibian breeding habits
Parasites can decimate amphibian populations, but one University of Georgia researcher believes they might also play a role in spurring the evolution of new and sometimes bizarre breeding strategies.
Dead zones
A pioneering study on the effects of nitrate, a form of nitrogen, in streams was recently published in Nature, with a team of 31 researchers including major contributions by Ashley M. Helton, a graduate student in the university's Odum School of Ecology.
The study demonstrated how varying amounts of nitrate are biologically processed in streams. And with the push for development of alternative fuels, it is important to note that excessive amounts of nitrogen may be created during the process of producing corn-based ethanol.
