Marisol Sanchez-Garcia (PhD 2016), former Matheny Lab member and now a postdoc at Clark University, landed a paper on ectomycorrhizal diversification on the cover of Evolution for January 2017.
Also, Biz Sheedy, a visiting grad student to the Matheny Lab from Melbourne, has a paper on the diversification of truffle-forming fungi in Australia on the cover of Australian Systematic Botany (Volume 29 numbers 4-5).
EEB adjunct professor and alumna Colleen M. Iversen (PhD 2008) has been named as an Ecological Society of America Early Career Fellow for 2017. Fellowships are awarded to young scientists who advance the science of ecology and show promise for continuing contributions.
Iversen is a Senior Staff Scientist at the Climate Change Science Institute and Environmental Sciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She was elected for her leadership and creativity in linking experimentation and modeling to advance ecological understanding of the influence of fine plant roots on the fate of vast pools of carbon and nutrients held in the soils of diverse biomes.
Kimberly Sheldon was recently featured in Entomology Today for her work on climate and thermal limits in beetles. This is a cool example of outreach to a broader population (many entomologists are not focusing on evolution and ecology).
The feature was based a study Sheldon published in 2014:
This year marks the 20th year of Darwin Day celebrations at UT! Mark your calendars for the following events, and view the flier!
For more details please see http://darwindaytn.org/
A recent article in Ecosphere on “Academic productivity in the field of ecology” lists UT at #21 out of over 250 institutions.
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.
Associate Professor Brandon Matheny received an award from the Daniel E. Stuntz Memorial Foundation to revise the taxonomy of species of Inocybe (a genus of mushroom-forming fungi in the order Agaricales) published by Dan Stuntz between 1947 and 1984. A revision of these species will facilitate a new floristic and monographic treatment of Inocybe in North America, a cosmopolitan genus represented by some 350 species in North America alone.
Prof. Karen Hughes has been named as a 2016 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Hughes was recognized for her contributions to research on biodiversity, biogeography, and the impact of climate on certain organisms. Her best-known focus is on the global distribution of fungi through DNA-based research. Hughes is also a leading expert on the diversity, spread, and growth of fungi in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The UT Herbarium (TENN) is now on social media! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to hear about more happenings at your herbarium!
https://www.facebook.com/UTKHerbarium/
https://twitter.com/utkherbarium
This semester we are posting about plant identifications, helping Bio 115 students with their herbarium collections, and curating bryophyte specimens from the 1800s.
Prof. Gordon Burghardt’s research is highlighted in the cover story of the November 2016 issue of the Association for Psychological Science’s journal, Observer. The title of his subsection is “Can Turtles Play?” Read the article here.
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/2016/nov-16/science-on-the-wild-side.html