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Science Writing Award for Bush

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Graduate student Jordan Bush (Simberloff Lab) will receive the J. Paul Blakely Award of Excellence in the category of Science Writing, Graduate Division at an awards ceremony on May 4, 2017. This award from the East Tennessee Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC-ETC) recognizes students with an interest in technical/professional communication or science writing, from any accredited institution of higher education in East Tennessee.  Congratulations, Jordan!

Nature Ecology & Evolution paper for Van Nuland

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Finishing graduate student Michael Van Nuland (Schweitzer Lab) has a new paper out in Nature Ecology & Evolution with Joe Bailey and Jen Schweitzer:

Divergent plant–soil feedbacks could alter future elevation ranges and ecosystem dynamics

Congratulations!  A pdf of the article can be viewed here.  Or, read a press release at Tennessee Today.

EEB Awards & Graduation Ceremonies May 1, 2017

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EEB will host the annual EEB Awards Ceremony at 3pm on Monday, May 1, in SERF 307.  Food and drink will be provided.

EEB will host the first EEB Graduation Ceremony in the same location, immediately following the Awards Ceremony, at 4pm.  The ceremony will last approximately one hour, and Department Head Susan Kalisz will recognize each graduating student at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

EEB faculty and graduate students will attend so that parents of graduating students will have an opportunity to get to meet the instructors.

2017 Chancellor’s Honors Awards for EEB

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Two members of EEB received awards at the Chancellor’s Honors Award Banquet on April 19, 2017: PhD candidate Cassie Dresser (Fitzpatrick Lab) & Associate Professor Beth Schussler

2017 Graduate Student Teaching Award
Cassie Dresser

Unlike many PhD candidates who focus solely on research, Cassie Dresser has wanted to teach since arriving in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2013. In fact, she’s been teaching throughout her academic career. As an undergraduate at Hartwick College in New York, she was a tutor. As a master’s student at Central Michigan University, she was a teaching assistant. Before starting her PhD, she worked as an environmental educator at a state park in Michigan. Here, she’s been a lecture assistant, a teaching assistant, and now head TA. She excelled when given the rare opportunity to be the sole instructor of a 200-level course, and she is one of the first graduate students to complete UT’s Certificate in College Teaching program. Dresser has not only sought to improve her own teaching but also enhanced the teaching of other TAs in her department by researching and sharing best practices and by developing research-based scientific literacy coursework.

2017 Excellence in Teaching
Elisabeth Schussler

Elizabeth Shussler, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is described by her students as excited, enthusiastic, and committed to their success. “Beth must engage students at all levels, and she is wildly successful,” a colleague said. She finds ways to “really engage her students in learning how to do science, rather than just memorizing what science has already learned.” Schussler has been a pioneer in using active learning techniques—everything from clickers and Learning Catalytics to small-group discussions—to keep students engaged during large science lectures. She serves as director of teaching and learning for the Division of Biology and has been instrumental in improving biology courses at UT. She received the 2016 UT Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2012 College of Arts and Sciences Junior Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award.

Graduate Student Senate Awards 2017

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Congratulations to the EEB grad students who won Graduate Student Senate awards this year. There are a few different categories:

Research: This award is presented to graduate students who have received national and/or international recognition in their fields and show professional promise in their areas of research and creative achievement.

  • Sam Borstein (O’Meara Lab)
  • Angela Chuang (Riechert Lab)
  • Aaron Floden (Schilling Lab)
  • Alanni-Grace Grant (Kalisz Lab)
  • Chloe Lash (Kwit Lab)
  • Brian Looney (Matheny Lab)
  • Margaret Mamantov (Sheldon Lab)
  • Austin Milt (PhD 2015, Armsworth Lab)
  • Morgan Roche (Kalisz Lab)
  • Michael Van Nuland (Schweitzer Lab)
  • Rachel Wooliver (Schweitzer Lab)

Service: This award is presented to graduate students who are extraordinary campus leaders or participate in service learning and other community initiatives.

  • Christine Dumoulin (Armsworth Lab)

Teaching: This award is given to graduate teaching assistants for extraordinary performance in teaching.

  • Amanda Benoit (Kalisz Lab)
  • Liam Mueller (Schweitzer Lab)
  • Tyson Paulson (Fordyce Lab)

 

Beyond Academia 2017

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EEB’s GREBE (Graduate Researchers in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution) collaborated with FOSEP (Forum on Science Ethics & Policy) to host the Beyond Academia: Environmental Edition forum on April 8.

The event consisted of Q&A sessions with panelists and networking sessions. There were a variety of panelists from government agencies, NGOs, the CDC, ORNL, science policy organizations, science communicators, the Knoxville Zoo, and more. The purpose of the event was to learn about careers for individuals with graduate degrees in environmental and related sciences beyond the traditional academic route.

There are several pictures of the forum available on the EEB Facebook page.

NSF-DDIG Grants for Grant and Borstein

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Alannie-Grace Grant (Kalisz Lab) and Sam Borstein (O’Meara Lab) have been awarded Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants from the National Science Foundation.  Congratulations to you both!

Grant’s dissertation research is entitled, “Selection, niche breadth and plant mating system evolution: Are wider niche breadths of selfing species shaped by water limitation?”

Borstein’s dissertation research is called, “Morphological consequences of trophic evolution.”

Evolution Grant for Benoit

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Amanda Benoit, a grad student in Susan Kalisz’s lab, has received a Rosemary Grant Award for Graduate Student Research from the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE-RGA). The goal of these grants is to identify and support innovative and potentially high impact research by beginning graduate students. Congratulations, Amanda!!!

Bush Authors Scientific American Blog Post

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Graduate student Jordan Bush (Simberloff lab) wrote a guest blog post for “Not Bad Science” on the Scientific American blog network.  It features some of Gordon Burghardt’s studies on play behavior and some of Todd Pierson’s photography.

Read the post, titled “Looking Past the Scales: The Truth about Reptilian Behavior,” here.