Spring 2023 EEB honors graduate Colton Adams received a Fulbright student award. Read about his plans here: https://news.utk.edu/2023/05/17/11-ut-students-receive-fulbright-awards/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=2023-24%20Fulbright%20student%20awards&utm_campaign=TN%20Today
Dr. Angela Chuang, formerly of the Riechert lab, was consulted for this NY Times article on Joro Spiders, and whether current research is in fact proving how shy the species can be.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/science/joro-spiders.html
The Jimmy and Ileen Cheek Graduate Student Medal of Excellence is awarded annually to an outstanding graduate student currently enrolled at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The award is given to a student pursuing a PhD and has completed at least four semesters of study. Nominees are considered for their high academic potential and achievement, leadership and community involvement, commitment to and passion for the chosen field of study, personal sacrifice for their education and effort above and beyond the call of duty.
Maryrose Weatherton, a PhD student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, was among the nominees honored last Thursday, April 27 in the Mary Greer room in Hodges Library. Maryrose was one of only four nominees from the College of Arts and Sciences. Maryrose works in Dr. Elizabeth Schussler’s lab, and her research interests include education research, student success, and resource use. The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology looks forward to celebrating Maryrose’s accomplishments at the Spring Semester celebration later this month.
https://artsci.utk.edu/dialogue/studying-the-mysterious-of-the-microbiome/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=noopener%20noreferrer&utm_campaign=TN%20Today
The Ecological Society of America is pleased to announce its 2023 Fellows. The Society’s fellowship program recognizes the many ways in which its members contribute to ecological research, communication, education, management and policy. This year, the ESA Governing Board has confirmed seven new Fellows and ten new Early Career Fellows.
Fellows are members who have made outstanding contributions to a wide range of fields served by ESA, including, but not restricted to, those that advance or apply ecological knowledge in academics, government, non-profit organizations, and the broader society. They are elected for life.
Read more here: https://www.esa.org/blog/2023/04/05/ecological-society-of-america-announces-2023-fellows/
Grad students Lauren Lyon and Sebastian Espinoza have both been selected to take part in the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Directorate Resource Assistant Fellows Program. (DFP)
DFP is a special hiring program the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) uses to diversify their workforce. The DFP is for students interested in conservation careers and positions that support the FWS mission to work with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The FWS goal is to promote and maintain a diverse and inclusive workforce that thrives in an environment accessible to all and free of employment discrimination. The DFP program is designed to attract highly talented and diverse students into Fellowships, with particular attention to women and groups underrepresented in our workforce.
In prior years, positions included work on species conservation planning, field surveys and monitoring for species, landscape-scale conservation partnerships, environmental law and policy, education and outreach, community engagement, digital communications, and other areas that support FWS’ mission. Selected students participate in a paid 12-week summer Fellowship program with a week-long orientation and 11 weeks of 40-hour work in remote or in-person positions.
Fungi have come to the cultural forefront with the new popular series, “The Last of Us” on HBO. The series, based upon the video game of the same name, is set in an alternate 2023, during which a mass fungal infection has caused societal breakdown. In this piece produced by CBS-affiliate WVLT, EEB graduate student Django Grootmyers discusses whether this fiction could ever become fact.
https://www.wvlt.tv/2023/03/05/growing-danger-your-backyard/
Three of EEB’s own faculty members, Nina Fefferman, Orou Gaoue, and Xingli Giam, were honored with awards at the recent College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Awards Night.
Nina Fefferman was recognized with the Academic Outreach Award for Service – she was not able to attend the ceremony, as she was doing more of the pandemic preparedness / response work for which she was honored.
Orou Gaoue was recognized with the Academic Outreach Award for Research and Creative Activity.
Xingli Giam was recognized with the Early Career Excellence in Research and Creative Achievement award.
Congratulations to these faculty members!
EEB Graduate Student Wieteke Holthuijzen received the best PhD poster award at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group and also received the Chairs Choice Award for assistance in organizing the conference. Per their website, “The Pacific Seabird Group (PSG) is a society of professional seabird researchers and managers dedicated to the study and conservation of seabirds…PSG members include biologists, wildlife managers, post-docs, students and conservation biologists from 16 countries including the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan. PSG annual meetings and publications provide forums where members can share their findings on all research topics related to Pacific seabirds, and discuss local and large scale conservation issues.”
Title: Determining arthropod consumption by Laysan Ducks to inform non-target mitigation efforts during rodent eradication
Authors: Wieteke Holthuijzen, Carmen Antaky, Beth Flint, Jonathan Plissner, Coral Wolf, Holly Jones
Abstract: The critically endangered koloa pōhaka (Laysan Duck, Anas laysanensis) in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands has wild populations on Kamole (Laysan Island), Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll NWR), and Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll). Although its population and distribution have increased since its listing in 1967, the koloa pōhaka faces a new risk on Kuaihelani: non-target poisoning via a pending House Mouse (Mus musculus) eradication. After mice were observed attacking and depredating mōlī (Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis) on Sand Island of Kuaihelani in 2015, plans to eradicate mice with rodenticide were quickly developed. To reduce exposure to rodenticide, ducks will be captured and translocated to Eastern Island (mouse-free) during eradication activities. Even so, ducks may risk secondary poisoning by ingesting arthropods that feed on brodifacoum bait. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor rodenticide residue in arthropods to determine when koloa pōhaka can be safely released post-eradication. Because duck diet is unknown on Kuaihelani, we used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to identify which arthropods ducks consume. We found that Sand Island’s ducks most frequently consume cockroaches (Blattodea), freshwater ostracods (Cyprididae), midges (Chironomidae), and isopods (Porcellionidae). Notably, Sand Island’s ducks consume entirely different arthropods from ducks on Kamole, which mainly eat flies (Diptera) and brine shrimp (Anostraca, Artemia sp.). Our study adds to the literature on the biology and ecology of translocated koloa pōhaka populations by using advanced techniques to uncover their diet with a high degree of taxonomic precision. In addition, our study serves as a model for risk mitigation during invasive rodent eradications.