Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

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April 2016

Archives for April 2016

Division of Biology 2016 Grad Student Awards

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The Division of Biology has announced the winners of the 2016 Graduate Student Awards!  Congratulations, all!

Alexander Hollaender Graduate Fellowship:

  • The Alexander Hollaender Graduate Fellowship is made possible through an endowment fund contributed by Dr. and Mrs. Alexander Hollaender. In 1944, Dr. Hollaender established the Division of Biology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and was its director until 1967. Hollaender had close ties to East Tennessee and expressed the wish that strong preference in awarding fellowships be given to students from this region. The Fellowship Committee will consider academic qualifications, geographical origin, and scientific/ professional promise.  The Fellowship awardees receive $6,000 for one academic year.

Rachel Wooliver (EEB, Schweitzer Lab)
Ian Ware (EEB, Bailey Lab)

Fite Award:

  • This $1000 award recognizes an outstanding graduate student in the Division of Biology who demonstrates professional promise through an excellent academic record and interest in research and scholarship.

Zach Marion (EEB, Fitzpatrick Lab)
Kristin Holbrook (BCMB)
Caroline Rempe (GST)

Cokkinias Award:

Arkadipta Bakshi (BCMB)

Biology Teaching Award:

Chelsi Cassilly (Micro)

 

NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship for Heberling

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Postdoc J. Mason Heberling (Kalisz Lab) has been awarded a two-year National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship.  The proposal, entitled “Leveraging ventures of herbarium data to track plant invasion processes: trait shifts, local adaptation, and rapid evolution,” was funded by NSF’s Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, Interdisciplinary Research Using Biological Collections program.

The host institutions for this fellowship are the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and the sponsoring scientists are Dr. Stephen Tonsor (Carnegie) and Dr. Susan Kalisz (UT).  Heberling will use herbaria worldwide to track trait shifts of invasive plants in the Eastern US through space and time.

For more information, please read his abstract, below.  Congratulations, Mason!

ABSTRACT:

The globalization of human activities has reshuffled plant communities across the world, resulting in substantial environmental damage and economic losses. This research leverages centuries of biological collections alongside recent advances in functional trait ecology to understand fundamental plant invasion processes. The frequency and importance of trait shifts following plant introductions, the direction and rate of these potential trait changes, and the degree to which local adaptation influences invasion success remain largely unknown. This project utilizes the extensive collection of the herbarium of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, supplemented with specimens from other herbaria worldwide. These specimens of introduced and native Eastern US species, collected from early 1800s to today, are being used to measure traits relating to carbon gain, resource-use, reproductive/dispersal ability, and phenology across space and time. This novel approach allows the ability to track species trait shifts through space and time – a task that would otherwise be impossible without collections. Main research objectives include using these data to track phenotypic change through the course of plant invasion and assess the role of local adaption to understand and predict species success. Advancing the use of herbaria to the rising field of trait-based ecology will substantially expand existing global trait databases to facilitate research on fundamental biological questions at a large scale.

The training objectives of this fellowship include the development of skills associated with herbarium methods, recent statistical advancements, geographic information systems (GIS), and software development for efficient specimen georeferencing. Career development activities include building research collaborations, expanding past research to include herbarium data and evolutionary analyses, and encouraging diverse participation to highlight the importance of biological collections as a vital source of knowledge to the broader community. Despite availability and relevance, collections-based science has been reported on the decline. This project addresses this disconnect through interaction with community organizations in Western PA, including local elementary education programs and museum docent training.

McKenzie Receives Honorable Mention for Prestigious Scholarship

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Undergraduate Patrick McKenzie received an honorable mention in the highly prestigious Goldwater Scholarship program.  Students cannot apply directly for the scholarship; they must be nominated by their institution.  To be selected among all his peers at UT and then to receive an honorable mention at the national level is a testament to his promising research career potential.

Patrick also received an REU position at the Harvard Forest Summer REU program, working on a forest simulation modeling project.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years of service in the U.S. Senate.  The purpose of the Foundation is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue research careers in these fields.

Curt Richardson (PhD 1972): Alumni Update

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Curt Richardson (PhD 1972) is the second person ever to graduate from UT with a PhD in Ecology, and his career after graduating has been impressive!  This is what he had to say:

No question UT put me on the path to a remarkable career, first at the University of Michigan and then at Duke University for the past 38 years.  Tennessee in 1972 was only one of two Universities offering a PhD in Ecology, and with their strong program and ties to Oak Ridge National Lab it presented me with an unbelievable opportunity to do research in the NSF funded International Biological Program (IBP).  After completing my degree in physiological plant ecology with a minor in soils I was hired directly out of graduate school as an Assistant Professor of Ecology in the School of Natural Resources in Michigan. Postdocs were not required in ecology in those days as the number of graduates were few and the field was growing rapidly.  It was a wonderful school and unlike today money was readily available from NSF, so grants were readily available for research, especially in ecology.  While I was at Michigan, I moved from forestry research and  became interested  in wetlands ecology.  I  worked on one of the first major studies in the U.S. on the ecological and biogeochemical  effects of  waste water additions to wetlands at Houghton Lake Michigan.  My research, I can proudly say, showed that wetlands cannot  efficiently remove phosphorus from the water and that the natural wetland communities were greatly altered by the invasion of cattails.  Importantly, this research stopped EPA from approving the use of natural  wetlands for waste water treatment and thus the field  of constructed wetlands  was born.

After five years at Michigan I was offered a wonderful position to head up the ecology program at Duke’s School of Forestry and Environmental  studies.  This school later became the Nicholas School of the Environment in 1991.  While at Duke, I have been a Professor of Resource Ecology but have also  taken my turn at administrative duties.  Over the years I have been Ecology Program Chairman, Division chair of Ecosystem Science and Policy and even acting Dean of the School.  However, my first love is teaching and research where I have mentored over 150 masters more than 20 PhD students. Twenty-five years ago I founded the Duke University Wetland Center and currently still direct its research activities.  There is no doubt the ecological training and experiences given to me at UT by my professors while a graduate student in the Ecology Program at UT gave me the entree into a wonderful academic and research career in ecology at two great institutions.  

My  major research efforts have focused on wetlands as nutrient sinks and chemical transformers on the landscape.  Fortunately, I have  directed research on some of the most important wetland issues of our time, including long-term studies on the effects of nutrient phosphorus additions in wetlands in Michigan, Pocosin peatlands losses in North Carolina, the restoration of the Everglades of Florida and more recently scientific assessment of wetland restoration potential in the Iraq marshes. Since 2000 I have focused on restoring all the wetlands and streams on the Duke University campus and in 2007 the University dedicated 25 acres of the campus as SWAMP (Stream Wetland Management Assessment Park).  Currently, I  direct  research on  a large multi-institutional DOE grant on carbon sequestration and GHG losses in peatlands (Minnesota to Panama), and I am  a CO-PI in the nanomaterials project (NSF CEINT Center) where I  direct research on nanomaterial effects on wetland plants and water chemistry.

I have  authored or co-authored  over 175 peer-reviewed papers.  Recent books include “Methods in Biogeochemistry of Wetlands in 2013 and  “The Everglades Experiments: Lessons for Restoration in 2008. I have  been listed in Who’s Who in Science annually since 1989 and was elected President of the Society of Wetland Scientists in 1987-88. In 2006, I  received the National Wetlands Scientist of the Year Award from the Environmental Law Institute.  I am an elected  Fellow of the Society of Wetland Scientists, the Soil Science Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I  received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of wetland Scientists in 2013.  Importantly,  these career achievements  cannot outshine the real value  of having the opportunity to work  with great students and people over the past four decades.

John Reynolds (PhD 1973): Alumni Update

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John Reynolds (PhD 1973) was the third person to receive a PhD from the Ecology program at UT.  It is thanks to his input that the department has an alumni blog!  This is what he had to say:

The attached article captures my scientific research up to 2012.  In April, I published a major paper on Tennessee earthworms and will publish another in about one year.  Earthworm research is only one of 12 disciplines in which I have published and these have been published in whole or in part in 51 languages in 55 different publications totaling over 350 articles and books.  Earthworm research has been a family affair as I have co-authored 3 papers with my wife (Wilma), one with my eldest daughter (Kristin) in French, 10 with our middle daughter (Deborah) (9 in Spanish and one in English and Japanese), and one with our youngest daughter Jennifer.  Wilma and I have been married for over 50 years and we returned to Canada in 1973 from Knoxville where our eldest daughter was born. The next two daughters were born in Fredericton, New Brunswick; each daughter has two children.

After graduation from UT I worked for Tall Timbers Research Station for three years. Then I was an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Forestry at UNB Fredericton for 3 years.  I sold my earthworm collection to the Canadian National Museum (six countries bid for the right to purchase it).  With the proceeds we bought a house and I retired for 3 years to complete a law degree.  After which I joint the Fredericton Police Force for 10 years, 5 as a Constable and 5 as an Inspector where I taught at all the Police Academies across Canada.

I was then asked to apply for the position of Dean of Resource Technology at Sir Sanford Fleming College. I won the competition as served for 6 years until the government changed and education and health budgets were severely reduced.  For a year I consulted on various projects in Canada, Bermuda, Argentina and the United States.  Consulting on short term projects was stressful, wondering where the next job would arise.

I studied for a commercial licence and went to work for Schneider National in Green Bay, one year as a driver, 6 months as a trainer and then 7 and a half years as a manager.  At the age of 65, I decided it was time to stop working for others and we used the office and lab in our house for consulting which I am still doing today. 

Aside from my research work, I have been very active in the various Masonic Orders serving as the District Deputy Grand Master in all Orders.  During the non-winter months, I am an avid lawn bowler.

Teaching Award for Hendy

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Justin Hendy (Small Lab) received an award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching during the 2016 Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week at UT.  He received the award for his work as the BioLit 150 head teaching assistant. To quote the program from the award ceremony:

“Justin has taught Biology 150 discussion sections and has served as the head teaching assistant for the last three semesters.  His leadership extends to not only preparing the GTAs each week, but also to making revisions and changes to the curriculum as needed.  He is a caring and thoughtful teacher and an excellent organizer / leader.”

Congratulations, Justin!

Lash Receives Mountain Lake Biological Station Fellowship

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Chloe Lash (Kwit Lab) has been awarded a fellowship to conduct research on ant seed dispersal this summer at Mountain Lake Biological Station (MLBS) through the University of Virginia’s Horton H. Hobbs, Jr. Endowment Fund. The fellowship provides up to $3,500 towards room, board, and user fees at the station. There, Chloe will also be serving as a mentor for MLBS’s long-running NSF-supported Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, where she will advise an undergraduate awardee’s work on ant seed dispersal.