EEB had its annual awards ceremony on Friday, May 6, 2011. Past EEB outstanding undergrad Jessica Welch took photos; department head Gary McCracken modified trophies for the recipients. Here are links to all the relevant posts:
Monday, May 9, 2011
EEB awards (summary)
EEB had its annual awards ceremony on Friday, May 6, 2011. Past EEB outstanding undergrad Jessica Welch took photos; department head Gary McCracken modified trophies for the recipients. Here are links to all the relevant posts:
Excellence in progress towards degree
The awards for excellence in progress towards a degree went to Romina Dimarco [not pictured], Mark Genung, and Katie Stuble.
Jim Tanner award for outstanding dissertation
The Jim Tanner award for outstanding dissertation was given to Premal Shah. One of Premal's dissertation chapters (coauthored with advisor Michael Gilchrist) will be appearing in a future issue of PNAS.
Biology GTA award
The award for a biology GTA was given to Lauren Wilmoth for her teaching and leadership as a teaching assistant in biology classes.
Cokinnius grad student awards
This year's recipients of the Cokinnius grad student awards were Melissa Cregger and Phillip Hollingsworth.
Outstanding teaching award
The outstanding teaching award was named the Sandy Echternacht award in recognition of his many years of excellent teaching here. This year's recipient was Mackenzie Taylor.
Outstanding EEB undergraduate
The award for outstanding EEB undergraduate went to Lauren Breza. Lauren started research at UTK just after high school, and worked in the Boake, Sanders, and, most recently, Classen labs.
Gary McCracken took pains to note that competition for this award was intense this year, with several other excellent nominees, especially Sarah Wood, Matt Letre, and Heather Tran, all graduating this spring.
Science alliance awards
The UT-ORNL Science Alliance gives awards to outstanding graduate students. This year, half the awards to biologists across three UTK biology departments went to EEB graduate students: Emily Austin, Matt Niemiller, and Graham Reynolds.
Staff awards
Staff members Marva Anderson, Jaime Call, Pearl Kirkland-Smith, Cheryl Lynn, and Anne Mintz all received awards for their service to the department.
Marva Anderson receiving an envelope from Dept. Head Gary McCracken
Jaime Call receiving an envelope from Dept. Head Gary McCracken
Cheryl Lynn receiving an envelope from Dept. Head Gary McCracken
Friday, April 29, 2011
Other greenhouse damaged
The remaining greenhouse has had many of its windows broken, apparently through hail or wind from the storms of April 27. There was no loss of human life. Below is a photo of that damage, which also shows the cleanup of the the first destroyed greenhouse.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Greenhouse destroyed
Fred Norris Greenhouse 4, attached to the Hesler building, was destroyed in a windstorm on April 25. Below are photos of the damage. There is a local news story and video here. The other greenhouses appear undamaged. No response plan has been announced yet.
Wildflower pilgrimage begins
The Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is an annual five-day event in Great Smoky Mountains National Park consisting of a variety of wildflower, fauna, and natural history walks, motorcades, photographic tours, art classes, and indoor seminars. Most programs are outdoors in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while indoor offerings are held in various venues throughout Gatlinburg, TN. Many UTK faculty, staff, and students participate in and organize these events.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal awarded NSF DDIG fellowship for work on invasion ecology in Patagonia
EEB grad student Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal was just awarded an NSF DDIG fellowship for his PhD work on invasion ecology in Patagonia:
DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Direct and indirect effects of invasive species on plant-seed disperser mutualisms.
Many plants rely on fruit-eating animals to disperse their seeds. This interaction benefits both the plant and the animal and is therefore termed a mutualism. Because seed dispersal can determine the abundance and range of the plant, seed dispersal mutualisms can benefit other species that use the plant for food or shelter and thus affect patterns of biodiversity across the landscape. The introduction by humans of new species into a habitat can disrupt seed dispersal mutualisms, but we know little about such disruptions may affect other, interrelated species. This project will test the larger ecological effects of disruption of an important seed dispersal mutualism in the northern temperate forests of Patagonia in Argentina. The mistletoe Tristerix corymbosus is the sole winter nectar source for the hummingbird Sephanoides sephaniodes, which remains in the region year-round and is in turn responsible for the pollination of nearly 20% of the endemic woody flora in the region. The seeds of the mistletoe are dispersed exclusively by the marsupial Dromiciops gliroides. After passing through the gut of the marsupial, most of the defecated seeds stick to branches of maqui, Aristotelia chilensis, the most abundant understory shrub in the forest and the most common host for the mistletoe. Because of these close ecological relationships, exotic species that reduce the density of maqui could also reduce the abundances of the mistletoe, the hummingbird, and the marsupial, changing the forest as a whole. This project will test the effects of the exotic wasp Vespula germanica and of exotic ungulates on maqui populations and on the linked species in the forest.
Conservation of biological diversity is important to human society, and one of the major threats to biodiversity are the accidental and intentional introductions of new species around the world by humans. This research will further our understanding of how introduced species can affect biodiversity and help guide management to conserve diversity. The research will also strengthen international scientific collaboration and training.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Grad student Melissa Cregger invited to climate change colloquium
Classen lab graduate student Melissa Cregger was one of only a few graduate students invited to attend the National Academy of Sciences, Arthur M Sackler Colloquium on climate change in Washington, DC.
Undergrad summer research
EEB undergraduate Heather Tran will be an REU student at the Sevilleta LTER this summer.
Undergrad Sarah Wood received a $4500 scholarship to work at the Rocky Mountain Biological lab (RMBL).
Undergrad Sarah Wood received a $4500 scholarship to work at the Rocky Mountain Biological lab (RMBL).
EEB undergrads in science writing workshop with Nature editor
EEB undergraduates Sarah Wood, Danny Lusk, and Alix Pfennigwerth were invited to attend a science writing workshop with 'Nature' Magazine Editor M. Mitchell Waldrop.
Incoming Classen lab student
Relena Ribbons will join the department as a PhD student in the Classen lab this fall and was awarded a Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education (CIRE) fellowship.
American Association of University Women postdoc fellowship to Lara Souza
Classen lab postdoc Lara Souza was recently awarded an American Association of University Women (AAUW) post doc fellowship.
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