Alix Pfenningwerth (EEB grad student) and Su’ad Yoon (EEB undergrad) both got NSF GRFP awards. Brian Looney and Katie Massana (EEB grad students) got honorable mentions. Across UT, only 5 students received NSF GRFP awards, and only 3 students received honorable mentions, so EEB had an excellent showing!
UPDATE: For information about all 5 UT awardees, please read the Tennessee Today press release.
EEB held its annual awards ceremony on Monday April 27. Congratulations to our departmental award winners!
EEB was well represented at the Chancellor’s Honors banquet on April 23!
Faculty member Susan Riechert – 2014 Notable UT Woman Award
Graduate student Cassie Dresser – 2014 Extraordinary Professional Promise
Undergraduate student Su’ad Yoon – 2014 Top Collegiate Scholar Award
Congratulations to you all!
EEB Undergraduate Kenna Rewcastle has won a highly-competitive Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research award. Only about 20% of applicants receive funding. Kenna is working with the Classen Lab in Copenhagen. She will be working on the Swedish gradient this summer.
The EEB website now has a page devoted to Undergraduate Research Opportunities (things like REU’s etc):
eeb.bio.utk.edu/undergraduate-research-opportunities/
To submit opportunities for inclusion on the page, use this Google Form.
A new paper by Gorman et al. has come out in AoB Plants, with 11 graduate and undergraduate student authors from EEB!
AoB PLANTS Chief Editor has designated this paper as an ‘Editor’s Choice’ article. The ‘Editor’s Choice’ section of AoB PLANTS highlights articles that the Chief Editor finds especially impressive and of broad interest to the scientific community. The article will be featured prominently on the website as one of a select group that have achieved this recognition.
This paper was the result of a class project in Field Ecology and is entitled “Species identity influences belowground arthropod assemblages via functional traits.” Click here to view the pdf.
Michael Van Nuland, along with other EEB grad students and undergrads just published a paper in PLoS One resulting from a Field Ecology Project. View the paper here!
Title: Fire Promotes Pollinator Visitation: Implications for Ameliorating Declines of Pollination Services.
Authors: Michael E. Van Nuland, Elliot N. Haag, Jessica A. M. Bryant, Quentin D. Read, Robert N. Klein, Morgan J. Douglas, Courtney E. Gorman, Trey D. Greenwell, Mark W. Busby, Jonathan Collins, Joseph T. LeRoy, George Schuchmann, Jennifer A. Schweitzer, Joseph K. Bailey.
Undergraduate student, Sarah Wood (Classen Lab), was awarded a Sigma Xi grant in aid of research (http://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/giar/) for her undergraduate thesis work on how ants in Colorado alter ecosystem processes. Only 30% of ecological applications are awarded and most of these go to graduate students. Sarah will be spending part of her summer in Alaska working as a summer researcher in microbial ecology, but will come back to finish up her work on ants.
nor
Undergraduate Nora Dunkirk, was awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation REU fellowship this summer to work at the Sevilleta LTER. Nora will be conducting part of her senior honors thesis at the SEV this summer.
Undergraduate Brandy Pieper (Classen Lab) was awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation REU fellowship this summer to work in Puerto Rico at the LTER Luquillo Forest site. You can follow Brandy’s summer field work on her blog: http://www.pieperstravels.blogspot.com.