Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

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Shute (MS 1984) and Rakes (MS 1989) in National Geographic

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On pages 6-7 in the March 2015 issue of National Geographic, there is a shout-out to J.R. Shute (MS 1984, Zoology) and Pat Rakes (MS 1989, Zoology), two of Dave Etnier’s former Zoology graduate students.  They founded Conservation Fisheries, Inc., based in Knoxville, which is devoted to the captive rearing and, where possible, the release and re-establishment of  threatened and endangered freshwater fishes.  They are noted for their ability to develop artificial habitats and other aspects of husbandry which will encourage their finicky charges to spawn and for the young to survive to become breeding stock for future generations.  This is not easy, since many of the fishes with which they work inhabit cool, fast-flowing, highly-oxygenated streams and are picky about the substrate over which they will mate and in which to lay their eggs.  They have both spent many hours in wet suits making the observations that are often a major part of their success.

Grad Student Publications

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The McCracken Lab has a new paper in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases (online first).

Riley F. Bernard, Jeffery T. Foster, Emma V. Willcox, Katy L. Parise, & Gary F. McCracken. 2015. Molecular detections of the causative agent of white-nose syndrome on Rafinesque’s big-eared bats (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) and two species of migratory bats in the Southeastern USA. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 51(2).

Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2015

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The 65th annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is April 21 to 25, 2015. This event in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and nearby Gatlinburg features a variety of wildflower, fauna, and natural history walks, motorcades, photographic tours, art classes, and indoor seminars. Registration starts Feb. 14 and continues until April 11.

Darwin Day begins

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Darwin Day is an international, annual event to celebrate the science of Charles Darwin and promote science education. UT has been hosting one for nearly 20 years. This year’s event features talks on invasive species (by EEB Prof. Sandy Echternacht), a talk on bird evolution (EPS Assistant Prof. Colin Sumrall) and keynote on biogeography by author Alan de Queiroz. The full schedule of events is at http://darwindaytn.org.