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Alumni Highlights
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| 2000s |
| Kudos to Sara Pilzer, MS CESD 2006, was awarded a Fulbright teaching scholarship for 2006-07. Pilzer's travels will take her to South Korea, where she will teach English. This follows international work she conducted in Summer 2004 and 2005, when she taught English in Thailand and conducted marine ecology fieldwork in Fiji. |
| Congratulations to Jeff and Heleen Bossuyt, PhD Ecology 2003, on the birth of their daughter Lenka Ami Schenck, born March 1, 2005. |
| Beginning Fall 2005, Kelly Crook, MS CESD 2005, will teach high school biology in her home town of Dallas, Texas. Kelly plans to spend time with her family and get involved in a fresh water initiative being developed by Conservation International. |
| In October 2005, Peter Esselman, MS Conservation Ecology & Sustainable Development 2001, was the recipient of an Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award at the University of Michigan. Peter is working on a PhD in Natural Resource Management and expects to finish in May 2008. |
The American Journal of Botany published a paper by Olga Tsyusko (PhD Toxicology 2001) in their July 2005 issue. The paper, "Genetic and clonal diversity of two cattail species, Typha latifolia and T. angustifolia (Typhaceae), from Ukraine", found higher diversity between two closely related cattail species than earlier studies have shown. "We hypothesized that the species with greater reproductive potential, T. angustifolia, should have higher genetic and clonal diversity than the other species, T. latifolia," Tsyusko wrote. Both species "showed substantial variation in levels of genetic and clonal diversities and high differentiation among populations," the report concluded, but "there were stronger correlations between genetic and clonal diversities in T. latifolia when compared to those of T. angustifolia. Both types of diversities seem to be more independent in the latter species, which may explain its higher genetic but lower clonal diversity." |
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| 1990s |
| Robert Smith and his wife, Kristin Ling Smith (M.S. Forest Hydrology, 1994), both members of the Institute of Ecology, have a new daughter, their first, Annika Ingrid Smith, born June 13, 2007. |
| Biologist Beth Shapiro, '99 Rhodes Scholar, has figured out a recipe for success in the field of ancient DNA research! |
| Matt Whiles, PhD ecology 1995, is primary author of the cover
story for the February 2006 issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the
Environment. Whiles reports in the journal on research findings which suggest that
recent dramatic amphibian declines will have a bigger impact than expected on life in and around the streams they inhabit. Co-authors include Odum School of Ecology faculty member Cathy Pringle, postdoc Becky Bixby and doctoral student Scott Connolly. Whiles is now an associate professor of zoology at Southern Illinois University. |
Sydney Bacchus, PhD Ecology 1999, was mentioned by the St. Petersburg Times twice this year. She can be seen examining a dead cypress tree in a photo gallery for report on wetland destruction that was published in May 2005, and is quoted in a September 19, 2005 article regarding the same failed wetland remediation project, which won Walmart of Oldsmar, Florida a 2005 Building With Trees Award of Excellence from the National Arbor Day Foundation. "If it's for the most absurd suggestion of mitigation, then yes, it would be an award-winner," Bacchus told the paper. Bacchus serves as a hydroecologist with Applied Environmental Services, Inc. of Oviedo, Florida. |
| In September 2005, Eric VanDeGenachte, MS CESD 1996, joined The Nature Conservancy in Georgia as Director of Protection after eight productive years with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources - Natural Heritage Program. He now resides in Atlanta. |
Stuart Whipple, PhD ecology 1995, is the primary author of "Colony growth and evidence for colony multiplication in Phaeocystis pouchetii (Prymnesiophyceae) isolated from mesocosm blooms," published in the Journal of Plankton Research on May 11, 2005. Phaeocystis is a marine algae which forms dense toxic blooms in the North Atlantic ocean. Stuart conducted his research in Norway.
"One of the goals of the project is evaluate how the Phaeocystis life cycle influences the trophic dynamics of fjord planktonic ecosystems," he explains. "Our hypothesis is that differences in the organisms feeding on solitary (mainly protozoans) versus colony (mainly mesozooplankton- copepods) forms will produce direct and indirect effects on organisms and non-living components of the ecosystem." The paper's co-authors are Bernard C. Patten, and Peter G. Verity. |
Nancy E. McIntyre, B.S. Zoology 1991 and M.S. Zoology 1993, was recently promoted to Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University and to the position of Curator of Ornighology at the Museum of TTU. |
Congratulations to Rodrigo Matta-Machado (PhD Ecology '93) and his wife Andriana on the birth of their daughter Tereza, born November 10, 2004. |
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| 1980s |
| Florencia Montagnini (PhD ecology 1985) is co-author of the new book "Tropical Forest Ecology: The Basis for Conservation and Management ," published in May 2005 by Springer Verlag. Florencia is currently a professor in the Practice of Tropical Forestry at Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and also holds honorary professorships at several universities in Latin America. |
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1970s
William G. "Bill" Cale, Jr. (PhD Zoology 1975) was inaugurated as the nineteenth president of the University of North Alabama on September 23, 2005. Cale comes to UNA after serving the past five years as CEO and Dean of Penn State Altoona, the second largest campus in the Pennsylvania State University system. Cale became president of UNA in January 2005. In January 2006 Cale gave the plenary address to the annual IoE ecology graduate student symposium. Cale majored in systems ecology under Bernard Patten. |
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James Maudsley, (PhD Ecology '70) was named Super Citizen of the week on April 8, 2005 by the Athens Banner-Herald. Maudsley is a boy scout troup leader in Athens.
Athens Banner-Herald Article
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