UPDATED: See photos from GSS

Jan. 16, 2019
Athens, Ga. – The twenty-fifth annual Odum School of Ecology Graduate Student Symposium, showcasing the latest research from University of Georgia ecology students at all levels, will take place Jan. 25-26 in the Odum School auditorium.

This year’s symposium features oral presentations by graduate students in ecology, conservation ecology and sustainable development, integrative conservation and the IDEAS doctoral program, as well as undergraduate research posters. It will conclude with a keynote address by alumna Virginia Schutte. The symposium is free and open to all.

Organized and run by Odum graduate students, the symposium reflects the depth and breadth of ecological research at UGA. Topics range from the influence of wildfire on soil chemistry to the impacts of temperature on Zika virus transmission and from the overwintering health of snakes to policy strategies for state water recycling programs.

The symposium opens with an informal breakfast from 9-10 a.m. on Friday, with oral presentations from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a poster session from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday’s oral sessions run from 2 to 4:30 p.m., followed by Virginia Schutte’s keynote address at 4:45 p.m.

Schutte, an award-winning science communicator, received her doctorate in ecology in 2014 and has five years of science media experience. She has worked with Springer Nature to deliver training workshops and run their digital scientific networking website; created her own blog for publishing audio, video and written articles; and has been pioneering new institution-based science communication techniques since founding the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium’s Science Media Program in May 2017.

Her talk, “A witty pop culture reference: but actually I’m a respectable person,” will address the science of science communication—a growing area with relevance for all scientists, who are increasingly being urged to get out of the ivory tower and onto social media.

For more about the Odum School of Ecology, see www.ecology.uga.edu. For more about GSS, including the complete schedule, see http://gsa.ecology.uga.edu/gss-2019/#more-540.