Athens, Ga. – Richard Hull, an undergraduate pursuing a bachelor of science degree in ecology with a minor in plant biology, has received the 2019 Laerm Award for Undergraduate Research from the Georgia Museum of Natural History.

The $1,000 award supports studies in natural history and may be used for supplies, equipment, publication, travel or other costs associated with field or collection-oriented research and the dissemination of results. It is named for the late Joshua Laerm, a professor of ecology and the curator of the museum’s zoological collections from 1977 until his death in 1997.

Hull, from Roswell, Ga., was nominated for the award by Wendy Zomlefer, a professor of plant biology and curator of the UGA Herbarium. For his award-winning project, he developed a checklist of the vascular plants of Cherokee County, Ga., based on holdings at the UGA Herbarium and Reinhardt University and his own field work. He will use his award for travel to the Association of Southeastern Biologists annual meeting where he will present his findings, and he is preparing a report on his results for publication.

As well as his study of plants, Hull has also documented the biodiversity of Cherokee County’s lampyrids (fireflies). His research has been supported by both the Plant Biology Undergraduate Research Support awards and a CURO research assistantship, and he presented his work at the 2019 Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities Symposium.