THE ODUM SCHOOL OF 2014 ANNUAL

The Water Issue Notes from the Dean

2014 Annual Issue

Dean John L. Gittleman Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Sonia Altizer JOHN GITTLEMAN Associate Dean for Administrative and External Affairs Laurie Fowler Editor and Writer Water, Water, Water Beth Gavrilles Contributing Writers nteresting scientific theorems often come via misconstrued lines or Lee Snelling phrases. One of the best, known as Aunt Jobiska’s theorem, comes from Katie Sheehan Ia poem by Edward Lear: “It’s a fact the whole world knows…” We know Graphic Designer the Earth is a watery place; water covers 71% of its surface. We know that Mary H. Andrews we must have water to live. And we know that continually and dramati- 706-542-2968 cally changing the flow, structure, sustainable supply, health, or 706-542-4819 fax just about any other measurable aspect of water will lead to trouble. www.ecology.uga.edu Whenever something is so obvious, it’s open for full-throttle debate— especially when it involves an intrinsically important natural resource www.facebook.com/odumschool that’s unevenly distributed: of all the freshwater on Earth, 68 percent is in

ice, 30 percent is in the ground, and, according to the U.N., over 780 mil- @UGAEcology lion people don’t have access to clean water. Dating back to the groundbreaking work of the Institute of Ecology, This publication is available in an over half of our faculty is dedicated to studying water-related issues. electronic format. Please contact Whether focused on species invasions along the coast, constructed the editor at [email protected] or wetlands for wastewater treatment, or the impacts of climate change and phone 706-542-7247. disease on coral reefs, the strength of our science is the collaborative ap- The University of Georgia is committed to principles of proach of our faculty and students. We are also fortunate to have creative equal opportunity and partnerships with facilities and administrative units like the River Basin affirmative action. Center, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, and the Joseph W. Jones Eco- logical Research Center, as well as with other UGA colleges. The challenges facing aquatic , , and politi- cal management are immense. As Leonardo da Vinci wrote, “Water is the driving force of all nature.” In this issue of EcoVoice we are proud to showcase the Odum School’s unique perspectives on this ecologically essential resource and the critical importance of our holistic approach to the science and applied management of water.

ABOUT THE COVER Water is at the center of some of the greatest challenges facing the world today. Odum School researchers, including the faculty, staff, and students of the UGA River Basin Center, are responding to these challenges in innovative ways. See story on page 2. CONTENTS 1 8 Feature Story 2 Blue is the New Green The UGA River Basin Center and a sampling of its projects Articles 8 Ecosystem Services 9 Climate Change 10 Coral Reef Ecology in the Caribbean and Pacific 2 10 Drought Affects the 9 Carbon Cycle in Georgia Blackwater Rivers 11 New Model to Assess Fish Passage 11 Improving Global Conservation Funding 12 Marlene Zuk Speaks at UGA 13 EcoFocus Film Festival 2014

10 Departments 14 Student Profiles 16 Alumni News 20 Spring Fling 21 Faculty Profile 22 Inside the School 27 Honor Roll of Donors 28 In Print

2 Blue is the New Green The UGA River Basin Center is meeting Georgia’s water challenges

By Beth Gavrilles

EORGIA, FLORIDA, AND ALABAMA have been fighting in court for over 20 years about how Gto share the waters of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin. CLIMATE CHANGE is altering rainfall patterns across the world, with climate models predicting increases in both flooding and drought in Georgia and the southeastern U.S., while coastal communities are threatened by stron- ger storms and rising sea levels. POLLUTION from industrial discharges, agricultural and residential runoff, inadequately or untreated sewage, and plastic and other trash is increasing worldwide, affect- ing streams, lakes, oceans, and the biodiversity they support. WATER is at the center of some of the greatest challenges facing the world today. In this issue of EcoVoice, we feature the work of the UGA River Basin Center where faculty, staff, and students are responding to these challenges through their research, teaching, and outreach. 3

The UGA River Basin Center Promoting Sustainable Management RBC Director of Policy Laurie Fowler and of Aquatic Resources and Ecosystems Senior Legal Fellow Katie Sheehan (r) offer legal research and outreach to local governments, state agencies, and NGOs (article on page 5).

he UGA River Basin Center, established Wenger joined the Odum School faculty ration, and pressing questions related to Tin 2000, is a unit of the Odum School as an assistant professor in January 2014 aquatic resources and ecosystems. that conducts interdisciplinary research, after five years as a research scientist for “This is an exciting time for the RBC, teaching, and outreach to help communi- Trout Unlimited, where he modeled the and I’m delighted to be back at UGA ties sustainably manage and protect their effects of climate change and invasive and be a part of it,” says Wenger. “Water water and related land resources. The past species on native cutthroat trout in the resource conflicts and concerns are increas- year has brought a number of exciting western U.S. Before that, as a postdoc- ing in Georgia and beyond, and the RBC is changes to the RBC. These include moving toral associate at UGA from 2007 to 2008, in a unique position to help resolve them. to a new home next to the Ecology build- he served as the RBC associate director. Although we’re part of the Odum School, ing and the appointment of Seth Wenger, He was a lead researcher on the Etowah our real strength is that we bring together MS CESD ‘99/PhD ’06, as director of Aquatic Habitat Conservation Plan, a faculty, staff, and students from across the science. multi-year, multi-disciplinary effort to university to address water issues in a truly help local governments in North Georgia’s interdisciplinary fashion.” Etowah River Basin design development Along with Wenger and Fowler, RBC standards, based on rigorous scientific core faculty and staff include Professor research, to protect the basin’s nine im- Emeritus Ron Carroll, much of whose cur- periled fish species. During that time he rent work involves constructed wetlands also organized the Second Symposium for wastewater treatment and biofuel on Urban Stream Ecology, an interna- production in the developing world, and tional meeting held in 2007 to establish a Senior Legal Fellow Katie Sheehan, whose research agenda for studying the effects of work chiefly focuses on developing legal on freshwater ecosystems. and policy solutions to water quality and The Third Symposium took place in Port- quantity issues for local governments and land in May 2014. state agencies. With Director of Policy Laurie Fowler, Much of the RBC’s work is conducted the Odum School’s associate dean for ad- by graduate student assistants and other ministrative and external affairs, Wenger students who perform internships and has worked with the RBC advisory board, participate in the interdisciplinary Director of Science Seth Wenger at faculty, staff, and alumni to re-envision graduate-level Environmental Practicum the River Basin Center co-organized and expand its program and define future course. Following are examples of recent this year’s Third Symposium on Urban areas of focus. These will build on existing RBC projects. Stream Ecology (article on page 6). strengths, new opportunities for collabo- 4

The Flint River was named one of America’s most endangered rivers for 2013. Photo: Philip Juras

Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Stakeholders Water Management Plan

ow to fairly allocate the waters of the sity Collaborative, involving institutions various options available for a transbound- HApalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint from all three states. ary water management institution in the River Basin between Georgia, Florida, and Working with faculty and students from ACF, and presented a draft of this docu- Alabama is a question that has been tied Albany State, Auburn, Florida State, Geor- ment to the ACF Stakeholders at an orga- up in the courts for over 20 years. When gia Tech, Troy University, and the Univer- nizational meeting in Eufaula, Alabama, a group of stakeholders, frustrated at the sity of Florida, the RBC’s Fowler, Senior in June. The final report will be presented lack of progress, decided to come up with Legal Fellow Katie Sheehan, and students in September, and Fowler says she expects their own solution, they turned to a team conducted a comprehensive study of suc- the ACFS will act on the recommenda- led by the River Basin Center for help. cessful trans-boundary water management tions soon. The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint institutions around the world—how they “Besides its value to the ACFS, the Stakeholders, Inc., formed in 2009, rep- are organized, how they make decisions, project has provided a fantastic oppor- resents diverse interests including water what functions they perform, and how tunity for UGA students to apply and and electric utilities, local governments, they do so. develop their science and policy research industries, agriculture, seafood, and en- In April, the University Collaborative skills,” says Fowler. She adds that to date, vironmental advocates. To help the group traveled to Apalachicola, Florida, to pres- more than 25 UGA graduate students have develop a sustainable water management ent a thorough analysis of the water man- contributed to the project, and it is the plan and an institutional framework for agement functions currently underway in subject of a doctoral dissertation by Odum administering it, RBC Director of Policy the basin, including potential gaps. The School/Integrative Conservation student Laurie Fowler organized the ACFS Univer- group is developing a report detailing the Shannon Bonney.

See more at http://t.uga.edu/Qp 5

Legal Research and Outreach By Katie Sheehan

ith attorneys Laurie Fowler and wetlands was not widely appreciated, and WKatie Sheehan on staff and access to human activities resulted in the loss of upper-level law students in the Environ- more than half of the nation’s wetlands by mental Practicum, the RBC offers legal the 1980s. Although federal policies and research and outreach to state agencies, laws introduced in recent decades have local governments, and nongovernmental slowed the rate of wetland loss, recent U.S. organizations on issues relating to land Supreme Court cases that appear to have use, water policy, and natural resource removed federal protection from so-called Wetlands in the Oconee River watershed. protection. “isolated” wetlands are cause for concern. Photo: Philip Juras Sheehan recently worked with the Geor- “Fortunately,” says Sheehan, “local gov- gia Environmental Protection Division to ernments have the authority to implement create a guidebook to help local communi- regulatory and nonregulatory programs ties protect their wetland resources, with that can stop wetland losses, and even in- funding resources; strategies for avoiding funding provided by the U.S. EPA. crease overall wetlands acreage. And since legal challenges; and 25 regulatory and In addition to being beautiful natural they are familiar with the resources within non-regulatory programs communities areas, wetlands provide services such as their communities and are used to mak- can implement. These include education flood control, water-quality improvement, ing land use decisions, they are uniquely and awareness initiatives, inventories, groundwater recharge, erosion prevention, qualified to craft effective protections.” acquisition, restoration projects, tax and fish and wildlife habitat, and recreational Local Wetland Programs: A Guide for other incentives, permit programs, buffers, opportunities—often at a fraction of the Georgia Communities contains background zoning standards, development practices, cost of comparable man-made structures. information on wetlands and on existing and special programs for climate change Until recently, however, the value of laws, programs, and policies; technical and adaptation and management. See more at www.t.uga.edu/Pl

AQUATIC ECOLOGY FACULTY AT THE ODUM SCHOOL

Kimberly Andrews, John Drake, Associate Professor Stephen Golladay, Joseph W. Jones J Vaun McArthur, SREL Senior SREL and Georgia Sea Turtle Population dynamics, computational Center Associate Scientist Research Scientist Center Research Coordinator ecology, infectious disease dynamics, Streams and wetlands, land use Aquatic microbial ecology. Reptile and amphibian conservation. biodiversity. impacts on water quality and aquatic http://t.uga.edu/QS http://wildlifelab.wix.com/jekyllresearch http://t.uga.edu/RV invertebrates. http://www.jonesctr.org James Porter, Josiah Meigs Ford Ballantyne, Assistant Professor Bill Fitt, Professor Distinguished Professor Metabolic scaling in river networks. Basic ecology of and impacts of climate Elizabeth King, Assistant Professor Coral reef ecology, ecology of war. http://t.uga.edu/QP change on corals and their symbionts. Salt marsh restoration, land use http://t.uga.edu/QR http://t.uga.edu/QC legacies and resilient futures. Jeb Byers, Professor http://kinglab.uga.edu Catherine Pringle, Distinguished Coastal marine ecosystems, species Laurie Fowler, Associate Dean for Research Professor invasions, marine parasites and disease, Administrative and External Affairs, Drew Kramer, Assistant Stream ecosystems, long-term ecosystem engineers. River Basin Center Director of Policy Research Scientist ecological research, conservation. http://jebyers.ecology.uga.edu Environmental policy and management Aquatic Population and community http://pringle-lab.org Ron Carroll, Professor Emeritus of aquatic resources. ecology, limnology; aquatic work Conservation biology, sustainable http://t.uga.edu/QB primarily in the Great Lakes. James Richardson, development, constructed wetlands http://kramer.ecology.uga.edu Undergraduate Coordinator for wastewater treatment. Bud Freeman, Senior Public Service Population ecology of sea turtles. http://t.uga.edu/QV Associate, Director of the Georgia Stacey Lance, SREL Associate http://t.uga.edu/QE Museum of Natural History Research Scientist Scott Connelly, Assistant Professor Distribution, abundance, and Effects of contaminants, disease, Amy Rosemond, Ecosystem effects of the decline of conservation of freshwater fishes. and other stressors on aquatic and Associate Professor amphibians in the neotropics. http://t.uga.edu/QA amphibian systems. Effects of anthropogenic change http://t.uga.edu/QQ http://www.srellancelab.com on stream ecosystems. Mary Freeman, U.S. Geological Survey http://t.uga.edu/QT Alan Covich, Professor Research Ecologist Erin Lipp, Environmental Health Impacts of disturbances on aquatic Linkages between hydrology, land use Science Professor Seth Wenger, Assistant Professor, food webs. and the ecology and distribution of Waterborne disease ecology, climate River Basin Center Director of Science http://t.uga.edu/QD freshwater fishes and invertebrates. change and human health. Effects of urbanization and climate http://on.doi.gov/1u6Vo98 https://sites.google.com/site/lipplab change on freshwater ecosystems, conservation, modeling. http://t.uga.edu/Qz 6

Third Symposium on Urban Stream Ecology

any streams in heavily developed mond helped organize a second interna- urban stream ecology,” Wenger says. “I Mareas suffer from “urban stream tional meeting, SUSE2, to plan and coordi- was particularly excited about the inter- syndrome”—a term encompassing a host nate an urban stream research agenda. national focus of this latest meeting. Most of problems including pollution, bank Wenger and colleagues (including Ecol- future urban growth will take place in the erosion due to high speed storm runoff, ogy alumni Krista Jones, MS ’07, Alonso developing world, but most urban stream and the exclusion of natural such Ramirez, PhD ’01, and Allison Roy, PhD studies have been done in the U.S., Aus- as leaves and twigs to serve as the basis of ’04) convened SUSE3 in 2014 to coincide tralia, and Europe. I think that the global the stream . The urban stream with the Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in perspective we heard at SUSE3, and the syndrome was described at the first Sym- Portland, Oregon. Drawing 127 partici- international connections that were estab- posium on Urban Stream Ecology, held in pants from 6 continents and 13 countries lished, will catalyze new ways of thinking Australia in 2003. That meeting resulted or territories and 23 U.S. states, the meet- about urban stream ecology, as well as the in several publications that summarized ing’s focus was on improving understand- threats and solutions.” the state of scientific understanding about ing of the mechanisms affecting urban A special issue of the journal Freshwater urban streams and identified important streams and identifying differences driving Science focusing on stream urbanization knowledge gaps. global variability in stream response to is planned for March 2016. It will feature In 2008, Seth Wenger—then a postdoc- urbanization. a series of papers based on topics raised at toral associate with the RBC—and Odum “The SUSE meeting series has been SUSE3. SUSE4 is in the works. School Associate Professor Amy Rose- invaluable in advancing the science of For more on SUSE3, see http://urbanstreams.wordpress.com

With the predicted extreme population growth, continued urbanization of the world is inevitable, severely impacting aquatic ecosystems by increasing degradation of our rivers and streams. Photo: Claudio Arnese 7

A replicated tidal-flow wetland like this one at Furman University could help UGA save money on wastewater treatment. Photo: Environmental Practicum

Environmental Practicum: Biological Water Reclamation

he University of Georgia purchases environmental problems. Practicum The students produced a 60-page report Tapproximately 482 million gallons of students participate in much of the work covering the history of the technology, potable water per year at a cost of over $5 of the RBC, gaining valuable knowledge the science behind it, case studies of other million. Of that, 80-100 million gallons and experience while doing so. universities using reclamation systems, are used for irrigation and in HVAC cool- In 2014 a group of Practicum students and an in-depth analysis of the feasibility ing towers—uses that don’t require treat- led by Ben Liverman, real estate and of doing such a project on the UGA cam- ment to drinking water standards and that space management coordinator for the pus, including financial costs and benefits. could be met by reclaimed wastewater at a Office of University Architects who is Projected savings could be in the mil- significant savings. The Office of Univer- enrolled in the Integrative Conserva- lions of dollars. sity Architects was interested in exploring tion doctoral program through the “The goal of this project is to provide alternatives—exactly the kind of complex Odum School, conducted a preliminary enough information so that UGA’s ad- question tailor-made for the Environmen- analysis of the feasibility of a large-scale ministrators can determine whether the tal Practicum. biological water reclamation system for projected benefits of such a wastewater The Environmental Practicum is a UGA. These water treatment systems reclamation system warrant the invest- graduate-level service-learning course led use biological organisms, such as plants ment of a professional feasibility study,” by Laurie Fowler. Students from programs and bacteria, instead of chemicals to write authors Ben Liverman, Sumner including ecology, law, environmental clean wastewater. They use significantly Gann, and Robert Abrunzo. The report is design, engineering, and forestry work less energy than conventional treatment currently under consideration by senior together in interdisciplinary teams, put- systems and tend to be more aesthetically UGA administrators. ting what they’ve learned in the classroom pleasing as well. to work helping clients solve real-world Read the report at http://t.uga.edu/RX 8 Ecosystem Services Report finds protecting natural areas makes good fiscal sense

rotecting natural resources and fiscal purification, flood storage, and carbon and serve as nursery grounds for coastal health may seem to be compet- sequestration that nature provides for free. fisheries. And forested wetlands provide Ping goals, but a recent study led by Schmidt was interested in both kinds of services like water filtration and storage, Odum School Assistant Research Scientist costs. “I decided to look for the win-wins,” flood control, carbon sequestration, and J.P. Schmidt, PhD ’06, provides a blue- he says. “How could development be cost- nutrient absorption. print for achieving both. The paper, in the effective for the county and at the same Both types of landscapes are in need of journal Landscape and Urban Planning, time protect areas that are most valuable protection. Although their timber does offers a new way to assess the financial in terms of ecosystem services?” not fetch a high price, landowners are and environmental costs and benefits Working with former UGA economist under pressure to harvest the trees from of development. Focusing on McIntosh Rebecca Moore and UGA Marine Insti- forested wetlands. And marsh edges are County, Georgia, the study offers recom- tute Director Merryl Alber, Schmidt first considered prime real estate for resort mendations to help keep down the costs of compared the tax revenue generated by housing, even though much of it is growth and also preserve the area’s natural different types of land uses—residential, within the 500 year floodplain—essen- resources and the services they provide. commercial, and rural—with the costs tially in harm’s way from the infrequent McIntosh County is one of the least to provide municipal services to each of severe storms that hit the coast. developed counties on the east coast of those development types. To estimate the Schmidt suggests that broadening the U.S., with forests and salt marshes value of ecosystem services provided by existing conservation incentive programs accounting for 95 percent of its land area. natural areas like forests, forested wet- to encourage landowners to forego Like other coastal areas, however, it is lands, and salt marshes, the team used harvesting timber in wetland forests poised for increasing growth as retirees figures from published studies. and limiting development within the and second-home buyers are attracted to Putting the two analyses together, they 500-year floodplain could make a big its scenic beauty and recreational oppor- ranked different landscape types by the difference. tunities. value of services provided and by net cost Schmidt says he hopes the study will Such residential development provides to the local government. Two landscape be useful not only to McIntosh County a new source of tax revenue, but it also types stood out as providing valuable ser- planners but to those in other rural areas comes with costs. These include provid- vices while costing the least, making them facing development pressure. ing services such as new roads and more logical targets for conservation. police and fire protection as well as the Salt marshes provide storm protection, lost value of ecosystem services like water nitrogen removal, and wildlife habitat, Read more at http://t.uga.edu/N9

Photo: Philip Juras 9 Study coauthor Drew Harvell in the Palmyra Atoll, Pacific Ocean, photographing giant plating Acropora coral colony with tumors. Climate warming is associated with the loss of coral symbionts and the proliferation of lethal coral diseases. Photo: B. Willis, Cornell University

the globe, and the structure of ecological communities.” At the organism level, climate change can alter the physiology of both hosts and parasites. Some of the clearest examples are found in the Arctic, where tempera- tures are rising rapidly, resulting in faster developing parasites. A lungworm that affects muskoxen, for instance, can now be transmitted over a longer period each summer, making it a serious problem for the populations it infects. Climate change is also affecting entire plant and animal communities. This is particularly evident in tropical marine environments such as the world’s coral reef ecosystems. In places like the Carib- bean, warmer water temperatures have stressed corals and facilitated infections. When corals, the framework builders of the ecosystem, succumb, the species that depend on them are also at risk. Where human health is concerned, there is not only the direct risk from pathogens like dengue, malaria, and cholera, all of which are linked to warmer Climate Change temperatures, but indirect risks from threats to agricultural systems and game As climate and disease links become clearer, species that are crucial for subsistence and cultural activities. study highlights need to forecast future shifts Altizer and her colleagues—Susan Kutz of the University of Calgary and Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre; Richard limate change is already affecting “For a lot of human diseases, re- T. Ostfeld of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem the spread of infectious diseases sponses to climate change depend on the Studies; Pieter T. J. Johnson of the University Cworldwide, with serious impacts wealth of nations, healthcare infrastruc- of Colorado, Boulder; and C. Drew Harvell to human health and biodiversity con- ture, and the ability to take mitigating of Cornell University—lay out an agenda for servation, according to an international measures against disease,” says Altizer. future research and action. team of disease ecologists led by Odum “The climate signal, in many cases, is “Because disease represents the product School Associate Dean Sonia Altizer. hard to tease apart from other factors of multiple interacting species, includ- Writing in the journal Science, they like vector control and vaccine and drug ing hosts, pathogens and other members propose that modeling the way disease availability.” of the food web, forecasting responses to systems respond to climate variables Climate warming is already causing ongoing climate shifts is a tremendous could help public health officials and changes in diseases affecting wildlife and challenge,” says Johnson. “Given the rising environmental managers predict and agricultural ecosystems. “In many cases, importance of infectious diseases not only mitigate the spread of lethal diseases. we’re seeing an increase in disease and for human health but also wildlife con- The issue of climate change and dis- parasitism,” Altizer says. “But the impact servation, it’s also a challenge for which ease has provoked intense debate over of climate change on these disease rela- we are in sore need of a solution. We hope the past decade, particularly in the case tionships depends on the physiology of our work contributes to that.” of diseases that affect humans. the organisms involved, the location on Learn more at http://t.uga.edu/if 10

Coral Reef Ecology in the Caribbean and Pacific

widespread thermally tolerant zooxanthel- lae Symbiodinium trenchii, which domi- nates coral communities across coastal Southeast Asia and at locales such as the extraordinary rock island habitats of Palau. With funding from the National Science Foundation, they are working at coral reefs off the Caribbean island of Cura- çao and the Pacific islands of Palau to study the tradeoffs that may occur when heat-sensitive algae are replaced by heat- tolerant algae. “We’re using the Pacific to predict potential consequences, positive or negative, in the Caribbean,” Kemp says. For more, see http://dustinwkemp.ecology.uga.edu Dustin Kemp (r) and Xavier Hernandez- Pech sample a healthy coral reef in the Caribbean. Photo: Bill Fitt Drought Affects the Carbon Cycle

illions of people around the world in Georgia Blackwater Rivers Mdepend on coral reefs and the services they provide, such as habitat roughts may be affecting how Georgia’s blackwater rivers process carbon, ac- for fisheries, protection of coastal areas Dcording to a recent study led by Andrew Mehring, PhD ’12. The paper, in the during storms, and attracting tourism Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, reports less carbon being transport- dollars. Corals, in turn, depend upon ed downstream, higher concentrations of carbon in the water, and increasing rates symbiotic single-celled algae, known as of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere in years following droughts. zooxanthellae, that inhabit them, provid- Mehring analyzed nine years’ worth of weekly measurements of streamflow, ing most of their food and giving them rainfall, temperature and dissolved organic carbon concentrations for a section of their color. Many species of these algae the Little River in Tifton. DOC serves as an important part of the river food web, are highly sensitive to temperature and feeding microorganisms that provide food for insects that are in turn eaten by are unable to survive as ocean waters larger animals such as frogs and fish. Some of the DOC is converted to carbon di- warm, but others have been found to be oxide by bacteria as they consume it and is released into the atmosphere. And some tolerant of warmer temperatures. of it remains in the rivers and is carried downstream where it makes a significant Postdoctoral associate Dustin Kemp, contribution to coastal waters. PhD ’10, is part of a team of ecologists Mehring says that understanding the impacts of drought on the carbon cycle with ties to the Odum School trying to in Georgia’s blackwater rivers is important because droughts may intensify in the find out whether heat-tolerant symbi- southeastern U.S. in the future. otic algae can play a major part in the For more, see: http://t.uga.edu/Pm response of reef corals to climate change. The study is led by Todd La Jeunesse of Pennsylvania State University, a for- mer UGA postdoctoral associate. Mark Warner, PhD ’98, of the University of Delaware, is a co-investigator. All three worked with Professor of Ecology Bill Fitt and Professor of Plant Biology Gregory Schmidt at UGA. Presently in the second year of a dual ocean experiment, they are using proven genetic and physiological techniques to assess the symbiosis ecology of the

Photo: Andrew Mehring 11

UGA and USACE Researchers Develop New Model to Assess Fish Passage Improving Global Conservation Funding

study led by former Odum School tries, also are some of the most poorly igratory fishes are in decline A postdoctoral associate Anthony funded. Mworldwide, often impeded by ob- Waldron identifies the worst and best Waldron and Gittleman say their find- stacles like dams and roads as they try countries in the world in terms of fund- ings contain a positive message. Most— to swim upstream to spawn. Research- ing for biodiversity conservation. The though not all—of the countries in great- ers from UGA and the U.S. Army study, published in the Proceedings of the est need of more funding are developing Corps of Engineers Engineer Research National Academy of Sciences, also sug- nations, and so important gains can be and Development Center (ERDC) de- gests how funding should change to help made at relatively low cost. And knowing veloped a new model that could help achieve the United Nations 2020 goals on where the need is greatest could help aid environmental managers determine reducing extinction. donors to direct their giving for immedi- the most cost-effective way to improve “It seems likely that the worse the ate impact. the fishes’ chances of reaching spawn- funding, the less chance we have of sav- “The world community is commit- ing grounds. Their work was recently ing biodiversity,” says Waldron, now at ted to reduce extinction rates by 2020,” published in the journal Ecological the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz Waldron says. “This paper provides a Applications. in Brazil. “However, there was extremely fast and urgent estimate of how to better Lead author Kyle McKay, PhD ’14, limited global information on where distribute global conservation funding to a research civil engineer with the funding levels were poorest. We urgently achieve that.” ERDC, and colleagues were tasked wanted to fill that information gap as best Gittleman adds that in terms of im- with developing a plan to improve as possible, with the next United Nations proving conservation effectiveness, “the migratory fish habitat in the Truckee deadline only seven years away.” fact that 40 of the most underfunded River in Nevada, where there are The researchers, who include Odum countries harbor 32 percent of all threat- more than 30 potential barriers to School Dean John Gittleman, created two ened mammal biodiversity indicates that upstream fish movement. They cre- new databases, one containing informa- a lot could be changed quickly by target- ated a mathematical model based tion about all traceable conservation fund- ing just these areas.” on network analysis to determine ing across the world from 1990-2008, and The study’s coauthors are Arne O. the level of a watershed’s connectiv- the other information on how steward- Mooers of Simon Fraser University, Can- ity—and therefore its suitability as ship of the world’s mammal biodiversity ada; Daniel C. Miller of the University of migratory fish habitat—then used it to is divided between countries. They then Michigan School of Natural Resources analyze potential actions, such as dam combined four existing global databases— and Environment; Nate Nibbelink of the removal or installation of fish ladders, on extinction risk, economic costs, politi- UGA Warnell School of Forestry and on eleven dams in the Truckee system. cal governance, and protected areas—with Natural Resources; David Redding of In all, they tested more than 1,000 po- the two new ones, to create a model that Simon Fraser University and University tential combinations, coming up with explains how conservation finance is College, London; Tyler S. Kuhn of Simon 20 cost-effective plans for improving allocated globally. The model points out Fraser University; and J. Timmons Rob- upstream fish passage. countries where biodiversity funding is erts of the Brown University Center for McKay is now working on turn- clearly lower than should be expected. Environmental Studies. ing the model into an online tool so The model shows that extreme levels of The study earned the authors the inau- that other environmental managers underinvestment are often concentrated gural Conservation Science Award from seeking to restore fish passage can use geographically. Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Royal Society for the Protection of it too. Australia, all extremely biodiverse coun- Birds in 2014. For more, see http://t.uga.edu/Pn Read more at http://t.uga.edu/Qo

Photo: Andrew Mehring 12

In this case, evolve. Zuk reported that most male crickets on the island of Kauai recently lost the ability to sing, which keeps them from being attacked by the parasitoids. These silent males find mates by intercepting females attracted by the song of the remaining singing males. “This is extraordinarily rapid evolution and one of the few documented cases of the loss of a sexual signal in the wild in real time,” said Zuk. Marlene Zuk, Gender, Science and professor of biological sciences Myths of Merit at the University of he next day, Zuk gave a second talk, Minnesota Tco-sponsored by the UGA Institute for Women’s Studies, the Graduate School, Photo courtesy of University of and the Center for Integrative Conserva- Minnesota tion Research. In “Gender, Science and Myths of Merit” she explored the reasons behind—and some possible solutions for—the disproportionately low numbers of women at higher academic levels in the sciences. Zuk said that there are two commonly expressed explanations for this disparity: either women don’t want to advance their careers as far as men do, even though they are capable of it; or else they don’t have the ability. Marlene Zuk: On Cricket Sex “I want to suggest that there’s actually a third way to look at it,” said Zuk. She and Gender Discrimination in presented data showing where the career bottlenecks occur, and talked about some of the reasons. These include unconscious Science gender biases that have been confirmed by numerous studies, most recently in a 2014 Odum Lecture: paper that appeared in PNAS in 2012. She mating preferences increase the finished with thoughts about steps institu- Rapid Evolution in Silence chance that offspring acquire genes tions can take to deal with the problem. arlene Zuk, professor of biological that confer higher survival. Zuk is a Fellow of the National Academy Msciences at the University of Min- Pacific field crickets were intro- of Sciences and the American Associa- nesota, delivered the twenty-ninth annual duced to Hawaii fairly recently, tion for the Advancement of Science and Odum Lecture on April 1. where they encountered another the recipient of many honors including Her talk, “Rapid Evolution in Silence: introduced insect, the parasitoid fly the Sigma Xi National Lectureship and Adaptive Signal Loss in the Pacific Field Ormia ochracea. Unfortunately for the National Science Foundation Young Cricket,” explored conflicting pressures the crickets, these flies attack and Investigator Award. on the evolution of sexual signaling. kill adult crickets, and find their Besides more than 100 peer-reviewed Zuk is a leading expert in behav- victims by honing in on the male papers, Zuk has written numerous articles ioral ecology and evolution. While still cricket’s mating song. and books for the popular press. Her a graduate student, she proposed, with “Female crickets prefer males that books include Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on W.D. Hamilton, a role for parasites in sing… so you’ve got this cruel bind Life, Love, and Language from the Insect supporting the “good genes” hypothesis for the males, where anything they World; Sexual Selections: What We Can of sexual selection, namely that females do that makes them less able to be and Can’t Learn About Sex from Animals; select mates based on showy traits such attacked by the flies also decreases and most recently Paleofantasy: What as bright plumage that indicate robust their mating success,” said Zuk. “So Evolution Really Tells Us About Sex, Diet, health and resistance to parasites. These what’s a male to do?” and How We Live. 13

FEATURED FILMS

Hidden Rivers of Southern Appalachia This short film offered an up-close look at the extraordinary biodiversity of Georgia’s streams. After the viewing, director Jeremy Monroe gave a seminar, “Sharing Deeper Water Stories,” about how to convey the beauty and importance of aquatic ecosystems and the need for conserving them. 2014

coFocus 2014 was the most successful festival yet, Ewith 25 inspiring environmental films over 11 days in March. Highlights included a number of films with a focus on water, featuring lively discussions with filmmakers and experts after many of the screenings. The second annual Ripple Effect Film Project, the local water conservation video competition cosponsored with the Athens-Clarke County Water Conservation Office, was Into the Gyre also a success, with 18 short videos by amateur filmmakers This film follows a team of volunteer scientists and students of all ages vying for the top prize. participating in the Sea Education Association semester who And for the second year, EcoFocus, in partnership sailed to the Sargasso Sea to study plastic pollution in the with Georgia Sea Grant, presented GreenScreen on Jekyll North Atlantic. It was co-sponsored by UGA’s Southeast Atlantic Marine Debris Initiative. Filmmaker Scott Elliott and UGA College Island. This year’s program featured Into the Gyre and of Engineering assistant professor Jenna Jambeck, SEA-MDI DisneyNature’s Wings of Life, and included presentations by principal investigator, led an engaging discussion after the film. UGA researchers working on Jekyll Island and throughout the Georgia coast. At the end of the festival, director Sara Beresford, MS CESD ’00, announced that she would be stepping down after seven years at the helm. “EcoFocus is the most exciting and gratifying work that I’ve ever done,” she wrote in an email to festival supporters. “It is a truly amazing thing to watch our audiences con- verge and grow around the festival and the themes that run through the featured films. The energy around this year’s festival was inspiring and exciting, and helps me to know that EcoFocus—in whatever form it takes—is an important part of our community.” Sara is working with the Odum DamNation School administration to ensure a smooth transition to the This documentary shows the growing movement to remove next chapter for EcoFocus. dams that have outgrown their usefulness. It was followed by An outreach initiative of the Odum School, EcoFocus a panel discussion with Duncan Elkins, postdoctoral research aims to inform and inspire audiences about environmental associate at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources; issues through film. Mark Cantrell, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Asheville Field Office, and April Ingle, director of Georgia River www.EcoFocusFilmFest.org Network. 14 student profiles

lated to management goals. New students interested in ecology and conservation should gain skills related to working with managers and putting ecology into a broader context of management by taking courses broadly related to conservation (i.e., see Integrated Conservation Program courses). What are the greatest challenges facing your area of ecological science? A challenge for the effective conservation of aquatic ecosystems includes under- standing how stream flow dynamics influ- ence the resistance and resilience of stream biota and ecological processes. Specifically, linking stream flow and network features to flow-related management actions (e.g., hydropeaking, water withdrawals, instream flow policies) remains diffi- cult because of the spatial and temporal complexities of the influence of flow on physical and biological processes. Link- ing management actions and ecological Graduate: outcomes can be more quickly achieved by using an adaptive management approach, Butler Fellowship Recipient Rachel Katz where alternative hypotheses can be tested within a management framework.

achel Katz graduated from the flows that aim to protect aquatic biota What’s next for you? Odum School with her doctorate in and processes in rivers. The fellowship After receiving my Ph.D. in May 2014, I R2014. Originally from Huntersville, facilitated my research by allowing me to accepted a postdoctoral research associate North Carolina, Rachel received her B.A. collect, process, and analyze field data to position with the Massachusetts Coopera- in biology from the University of North answer ecological questions regarding how tive Fish and Wildlife Research Unit the Carolina-Chapel Hill and first came to low flows caused by extreme drought and University of Massachusetts at Amherst. UGA to pursue a master’s degree, which water withdrawals influenced the aquatic My research is funded by the Northeast she received in 2009. She was the first benthic community in a river used for Climate Science Center and is focused recipient of the Butler Fellowship, funded municipal water supply in Athens. on developing a cooperative landscape by Columbus-based attorney Jim Butler decision framework with multiple land- in support of the River Basin Center and What guidance would you provide new managing agencies to address the conser- its work with graduate students. Develop- graduate students entering the Odum vation of headwater stream ecosystems. ment Director Lee Snelling talked with School? Headwater stream ecosystems are threat- Rachel about the impact of the Butler Fel- As an alumnus of the Odum School and ened by climate and land use change, and lowship, her advice to incoming ecology an ecologist who focuses on using ecol- many species (e.g. trout and salamanders) students, and what’s next. ogy to better inform conservation and are at risk for decline. I am collaborating management, I strongly suggest that new with agencies and managers from USGS, How did the Butler Fellowship help graduate students get involved with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National facilitate your research? River Basin Center. The resources and ex- Park Service, National Forest Service, as Receiving the Butler Fellowship was essen- pertise at RBC can help students incorpo- well as academic ecologists. I’m excited to tial for me to conduct my research, as it rate management-relevant questions into help create conservation-decision tools to supported me financially while I pursued their ecological research. Additionally, the better inform decisions of land managers my master’s degree at the Odum School. Warnell School of Forestry provides many to protect headwater stream communities. As a Butler Fellow, my research was courses and expertise in how to answer (see http://www.coopunits.org//Massachu- motivated by policy related to instream ecological questions that are directly re- setts/Research/Active/7.7846122496E10) 15

national nonprofit that tries to get univer- sities to direct 20 percent of their purchas- ing power toward vendors that meet a high standard of sustainability or ethics. I’ve been trying to build a student group that wants to push UGA to sign that com- mitment. That’s why I was so busy.” Sara combined her academic interests and organizing experience in her senior thesis, “And Justice for All: Scale, Solidar- ity and Integrational Organizing in the Climate and Immigrant Justice Communi- ties in Georgia.” “In Georgia I’ve been facilitating a participant action research project where I work with the Sierra Club and local immigrant justice organizations. They have an interesting and unique history of collaboration, where in the past they’ve done actions together that were mutually beneficial,” she says. Her thesis explored their efforts to expand that collaboration beyond its student-focused frame. She presented her work at the 2014 Dimen- sions of Political Ecology Conference, an important meeting for political ecologists and critical human geography scholars in February, winning the award for best student paper. Sara plans to move back to upstate New York to continue learning about small ag- Undergraduate: riculture and food systems after finishing a three-month internship at Broad River Scholar, Advocate, Activist Pastures, a heritage breed small livestock farm in Elberton. She’s also working with Sara Black, BS ’14 her thesis partners, geography professor Nik Heynen and Ph.D. candidate Richard Milligan, to publish an expanded version ’ve been an ecology major since my fresh- ogy. Along the way, she won a Udall of her thesis in the International Journal of man year, although I’ve taken a sort of Scholarship, Rotaract Student Service Urban and Regional Research. She intends Inontraditional route,” says Sara Black. “I Award, UGA Award of Excellence, to look into graduate programs in a year don’t know anything about turtles, but I and was elected to the Blue Key Honor or two. know a lot about mountaintop removal.” Society and Palladia Honor Society for Sara credits her time at the Odum School Sara Black is a scholar-activist, whose women. She spent a semester in Wash- with preparing her well for both pursuits. scholarship informs her activism, and vice ington, DC, and a summer working “I became an Odum student because of versa. Instead of focusing on laboratory- with farmers in upstate New York. That Todd Pierson, BS ’13. He told me about based research, she has pursued her inter- wasn’t all that kept her busy, however. it—that the student community was really est in environmental and social justice “I spent all my extra time organiz- exciting, and the faculty was great. I was movements in her studies and her extra- ing,” she says. “I’ve worked for Sierra really interested in learning more about curricular activities. Club, Southern Energy Network, climate change. And the more I did, the A Foundation Fellow and National Merit Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, more I also learned about how to be an Scholar from Birmingham, Alabama, UGA Beyond Coal, Athens Immigrant advocate and an activist and an organizer. Sara graduated magna cum laude in May Rights Coalition, Freedom University, I’ve been super grateful for my ecology with degrees in ecology and anthropol- and Real Food Challenge. That’s a education. It’s been a fertile foundation.” 16 alumni news September 2013–June 2014 1960s Left to right: Mary Craig Markham, MS ’68, retired in 2002 from Wagner, Associate a 30-year career as an environmental planner and wetlands mitigation and restoration Chief of the USDA ecologist for the Oregon Department Forest Service; of Transportation. Since then, he has William Walter expanded on his lifelong interest in nature Hargrove, Research photography. Examples of his work can be Ecologist, USDA found at http://cpmarkham.zenfolio.com. He Forest Service; is an active member of the Native Plant Thomas L. Tidwell, Society of Oregon as well as 1000 Friends Chief, USDA Forest of Oregon, a land use organization that Service; and Timothy advocates the protection of natural resource P. DeCoster, Chief of lands and farmland from haphazard urban Staff, USDA Forest development. He writes, “I have also enjoyed Service. the challenges of learning to play cello over the past 10 years, even though I have not proven to be a geezer prodigy.” 1970s Bill Hargrove, PhD ’88, Eastern Threat Center research ecologist with the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, recently accepted the 2013 Chief’s Honor Award for Preserving Richard L. Bailey, MS ’70, is the executive and Sustaining our Nation’s Forests and Grasslands on behalf of the ForWarn team. Hargrove director of the Lake Merritt Institute in is the lead researcher for ForWarn, a program that uses satellites to monitor and track forest Oakland, California, a nonprofit community disturbance and recovery. More information about ForWarn is at http://forwarn.forestthreats.org. organization dedicated to protecting the health of Lake Merritt. In 2013 he self- published Stormy, a Novel of Climate Change. He writes, “I could not have written this book Eric Hughes, MS ’80, writes, “I have had the Japan as a keynote speaker to talk about without the ‘big picture’ education I received good fortune to work for the US EPA for the ecology of invasive U.S. turtles and their at the Institute.” For more information, see 36 years now in Atlanta and Jacksonville, effects on Japanese turtles. Prior to that www.thelastcenturybook.com. Florida, working in wetlands regulatory and he was invited to the Galápagos to assist water quality protection and Everglades in development of a long-term strategy to ecosystem restoration issues. I got my M.S. repatriate and repopulate giant tortoises to 1980s in /estuarine ecology, doing my their former distribution and abundance. He fieldwork on Sapelo Island, working with continues his collaborative long-term research Dr. Larry Pomeroy and Dr. Evelyn Sherr. Dr. with turtles in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Odum was on my M.S. review committee; and Alabama as well. More information on what a wonderful person he was! Recently his research and publications can be found at reading the history of the UGA ecology http://profile.usgs.gov/jeffrey_lovich. program at your website was so enjoyable for me—lots of fond memories of and fellow grad students in the late 1970s.” 1990s Peter C. Griffith, PhD ’88, was one of 16 Scott Hitch, BS ‘96, was a member and honored by the University of Georgia graduate of the 2013 class of the Institute Graduate School with the 2013 Alumni of for Georgia Environmental Leadership Distinction Award for achieving exceptional (IGEL.) He is currently serving as vice chair success in their professional careers and of the board of directors for the Green in service to their community. Griffith, of Chamber of the South and will assume the Baltimore, Maryland, is the founding director role of chair next year. of NASA’s Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Kate McLaughlin banding a hummingbird. Office at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Jeff Lovich, PhD ’90, research ecologist Courtesy McLaughlin Environmental Services. As coordinator of the North American with the U.S. Geological Survey in Carbon Program, Dr. Griffith aims to quantify Flagstaff, Arizona, continues his research Kate Schumacher McLaughlin, BS ’95, continental-scale sources and sinks of carbon- on the effects of renewable energy runs her own consulting firm, McLaughlin based greenhouse gases in North America development on wildlife and the effects Environmental Services, in Prince William and adjacent oceans. He is a member of of climate change on desert tortoises. Sound, Alaska, where she also serves as the Science Definition Team for the Arctic One of his recent papers in Biological president and executive director of Prince Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, which is a Conservation documented the decline William Soundkeeper, a nonprofit citizen’s major field campaign planned for Alaska and of a desert tortoise population over 34 water quality advocacy group. From Western Canada. Currently, he is the chief years in Joshua Tree National Park and May through July she also operates the support scientist for Sigma Space Corporation the relationships among annual tortoise northernmost hummingbird banding station and previously was the lead support scientist survivorship, drought, and tortoise in the world. For more information, see http:// for Science Systems and Applications. predators. This winter he was invited to www.akenvironmentalservices.com. 17

Liesl Pimentel, BS ‘98, celebrates 10 years working for the Phoenix Zoo. As the manager of education she oversees all paid education programming including summer and winter Camp Zoo, Night Camp, outreach, school programs, and family programs. In collaboration with a coworker, she was awarded a staff conservation grant and will spend a month in Guyana this summer (working and vacationing too). The conservation work will be with a variety of research projects happening in the Rupununi, with an emphasis on jaguar population monitoring and social research (conducted by Matt Hallett, Ph.D. student at the University of Florida). Liesl is also in her third year working with National Geographic as an independent contractor coordinating the Giant Traveling Maps Program, which provides floor-sized map rentals as teaching resources to schools around the country.Liesl still swims every weekday (though she retired from competition in 2000), travels often, and enjoys hiking, camping, and kayaking with her dog.

Nicole Gottdenker, PhD ’09, is an assistant professor in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Pathology. She won the 2014 John M. Bowen Research Award for Excellence in Animal Research. Rebecca Haynes, MS CESD ’06, was named one of the South Carolina Midland’s “20 Under 40” by The State newspaper in 2014. Rebecca is the director of government relations for Conservation Voters of South Carolina. For more about Rebecca, see www.thestate.com/20-under-40. Tim Kelley, PhD ’02, is currently professor and graduate director of the masters of science in environmental health (MSEH) degree program at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He also serves as editor-in-chief of the international, peer-reviewed, online, open access journal, Environmental Health Insights, published by Libertas Academia Press (www. Lakes, which provides camp experiences for la-press.com/environmental-health-insights- 2000s Georgia children with serious illnesses or journal-j110). disabilities. The Center for Urban Ecology at Butler Emily Franzen Mills, BS ’00, reports that she Andrew Durso, BS ’09, is working on his University, led by Tim Carter, PhD ’06, was and her family have moved to Falls Church, doctorate in ecology at Utah State University, awarded a four-year, $2.9 million National Virginia, after four years overseas in Hungary studying snake and lizard physiological Science Foundation grant in 2013 to create and the Philippines. Emily, who received her ecology. He has published one paper this a science museum consisting of sites along JD cum laude from UGA in 2004 and was the year in Ethology and a second in Diversity six Indianapolis waterways where arts and first Legal Fellow at the River Basin Center, and Distributions, and his blog, “Life Is Short science will be used to educate the public recently joined the board of directors as but Snakes Are Long,” has almost attained about Indianapolis’s water system. For more secretary of Fair Shake Environmental Legal 175,000 hits. Follow Andrew at http:// information, see: http://bit.ly/1hJMe0p. Services. Fair Shake is a new nonprofit law snakesarelong.blogspot.com. firm representing clients of modest means Wyatt Cross, PhD ’04, received tenure in the in environmental matters. Emily reports Department of Ecology at Montana State that she and her husband Matt recently University, and has been named director welcomed their second daughter, Cecelia. of the university-affiliated Montana Water Center. The Center advances water research, Maia S. Mukherjee, PhD ’08, accepted the education, and partnerships throughout position of education administrator at the Montana and beyond, and is part of the Kennedy Space Center, in 2014. Maia writes National Institutes for Water Resources. “I am really excited about this opportunity. Once I get settled in, one of my goals for the Kacie Moreno-Schoen Darden, BS/MS first six months is to design a new exhibit CESD ‘05, broke the female two-person that showcases NASA’s (along with NOAA’s team world record in the 2013 Race Across and other agencies’) role in monitoring America, a 3,000 mile endurance bicycle race climate change and its impact.” from Oceanside, California, to Annapolis, Maryland. Kacie and her cycling partner Dani Doug Parsons, MS CESD ’00, became the Grabol completed the race in 8 days, 2 hours, North America policy director at the Society and 35 minutes, smashing the previous Andrew Durso with an Eastern for Conservation Biology in Washington, DC, record by more than 13 hours. Along the way Diamondback Rattlesnake on a in May 2014. He was previously the climate they raised more than $30,000 for Camp Twin beach in Florida, during field work. change liaison for the National Park Service. 18 alumni news 2010s Mark Milby, BS ’10, is managing Julie Rushmore, PhD ’13, is currently residential energy efficiency programs as pursuing a DVM degree in the UGA College a senior program associate at the Midwest of Veterinary Medicine. She received Energy Efficiency Alliance in Chicago, a the Volterra Award for the Best Student membership organization of state and local Presentation in Theoretical Ecology from the governments, energy utilities, research Ecological Society of America at the 2013 institutes, manufacturers, energy service ESA annual meeting in Minneapolis. Her providers, and advocacy organizations paper, “Network-based Vaccination Improves working collaboratively to advance energy Prospects for Disease Control in Wild efficiency in the 13-state Midwestern Chimpanzees,” was published in the Journal region. Mark earned a master of public of the Royal Society Interface in June, 2014. administration degree in sustainable development from Indiana University in Mindy Edelson Schwartz, MS CESD ’13, is the 2013. Mark also reports that he is engaged education program specialist at the California to be married to Heidi Knoblock, UGA Science Center in Los Angeles. She focuses BSFCS ‘09, in Athens next spring. on professional development for science teachers, including developing curricula Liz Nixon-Shapiro, BS ’10, is a professional and leading teacher training workshops. The Rachel Katz, PhD ’14, accepted a two-year medical illustrator. She received her M.S. in education program is designed to empower postdoctoral position at the Massachusetts Medical Illustration from Georgia Regents teachers to follow up on Science Center field Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research University (formerly the Medical College trips with classroom lessons that connect Unit at the University of Massachusetts at of Georgia) in 2014, where she was the what they’ve learned to the Next Generation Amherst. She will be working with several recipient of the William Stenstrom Award of Science Standards. Part of Mindy’s work is federal agencies (USGS, Fish and Wildlife Excellence in 2014 and an Award of Merit funded by a grant from NASA to provide Service, Forest Service, and National for Outstanding Medical Illustration in a space exploration and STEM-oriented Park Service) to develop a cooperative 2013. She married John Shapiro in January curriculum to teachers in grades four landscape management framework to 2014. She writes, “Together we have three through eight. Another grant was used to protect headwater stream ecosystems from crazy dogs, and a baby on the way! We’re create a professional development program threats associated with climate and land use both very excited about meeting our baby for third through fifth grade teachers on change using decision analysis. The project girl in the fall.” You can view her work at the subject of ecosystems. Mindy writes, “I focuses on two northeastern watersheds www.nixonmedicalmedia.com. like to think that my experience at Odum (Potomac and Merrimack) as case studies. is the real reason why they hired me—who She is collaborating with academics, research Tierney O’Sullivan, BS ’12, received a better to design an ecosystems curriculum scientists, and resource managers to develop Fulbright Scholarship to work on the island from scratch than a real-life, Odum-trained a framework that can be scaled to larger state of Tasmania, Australia, examining the ecologist??” landscapes for effective conservation of role the environment plays in the breeding aquatic ecosystems. success of the endangered Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle, the largest bird of prey in Australia. “In the future, I am interested in looking for answers to a fundamental dilemma in conservation—how to provide the most effective management of the entire ecosystem with limited funding and resources,” she says. “My work in Tasmania will serve as an ideal basis for these career goals by providing experience with not only academia, but also the management component of conservation.” Mindy celebrated her wedding to Avi Schwartz in November 2013.

Katherine Lacksen, BS ’13, received a Daniel Streicker, PhD ’11, currently a Research Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research Fellow in the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal in Darwin, Australia. She will study nutrient Health and Comparative Medicine at the pollution in the country’s tropical rivers, a University of Glasgow, Scotland, received a Sir subject about which there has been very Henry Dale Fellowship from the Royal Society little research. “I will collect data to analyze and the Wellcome Trust, awarded to outstanding which forms of pose the postdoctoral scientists working in the U.K. greatest threat to this iconic ecosystem,” addressing an important biomedical question. she says. A former member of UGA’s cross He was also the inaugural grand-prize winner country and track teams, Katherine is also of the new international Science and SciLifeLab looking forward to volunteering with the Prize for Young Scientists awarded at a ceremony Indigenous Marathon Program, which in Stockholm in December 2013. The prize, prepares Aboriginal community members to created by Science and SciLifeLab, a center for run the New York Marathon, while promoting molecular bioscience focused on health and the exercise and healthy lifestyles. environment, includes a $25,000 honorarium. 19

In March, more than 25 freshwater-focused Ecology alumni enjoyed a reunion when they returned to campus to offer advice about future direction for the River Basin Center.

BACK ROW: Duncan Elkins, MS ’05, Postdoctoral Associate at UGA; Professor Alan Covich; Wyatt Cross, PhD ’04, Assistant Professor of Ecology at Montana State University; Bob Hall, PhD ’96, Professor of Ecology at University of Wyoming; Katherine Baer, MS CESD ’96, Director of Conservation at the Triangle Land Conservancy in Durham, NC; Jon Benstead, PhD ’01, Associate Professor, University of Alabama; Nanette Nelson, MS CESD ’00, Associate Research Scientist at University of Wyoming; Professor of Geography David Leigh; Dave Walters, PhD ’02, USGS Research Ecologist; Brian Gregory, MS CESD ’97, Ecologist with the National Park Service; Doug Parsons, MS CESD ’00, North America Policy Director at the Society for Conservation Biology; John Davis, PhD ’09, US EPA Postdoctoral Fellow. CENTER ROW: Museum of Natural History Director Bud Freeman, PhD ’80; USGS Senior Research Ecologist and Adjunct Professor Mary Freeman; Emma Rosi-Marshall, PhD ’02, Associate Scientist, Cary Institute for Environmental Studies; Megan Hagler, MS ’06, Research Professional at UGA; Theresa Thom, MS CESD ’00/PhD ’05, US FWS Aquatic Ecologist; Kristi Minahan, MS CESD ’99, Water Quality Standards Specialist, Wisconsin DNR; Jamie March, PhD ’00, Associate Professor, Washington and Jefferson College; Josh Ness, PhD ’01, Associate Professor, Skidmore College; RBC Senior Legal Fellow Katie Sheehan; Associate Professor Amy Rosemond. FRONT ROW: Scott Pohlman, MS CESD ’98, Conservation Incentives Program Director, North Carolina DNR; Cathy Gibson, PhD ’04, Assistant Professor, Skidmore College; Marcia Snyder, PhD ’12, ORESE Fellow, EPA; RBC Director of Policy Laurie Fowler; Mike Paul, PhD ’99, Senior Scientist and Director, Tetratech; Jane Rogers Argentina, MS ’06, graduate student at Virginia Tech; RBC Director of Science Seth Wenger, MS CESD ‘99/PhD ’06; Jessica Melgey, former Freeman lab technician. Not pictured: Scott Connelly, PhD ’09, Odum School Assistant Professor; Joe DeVivo, MS CESD ’96, National Park Service Ecologist and Program Manager; Marirosa Molina, PhD ’01, US EPA Microbiologist; and Odum School Professor Emeritus Bruce Wallace. 20 spring fling rEvolutionary Photos: Beth Gavrilles

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR he theme of this year’s TSpring Fling, the Odum School’s annual end-of-the- year celebration and awards ceremony, was “The Bea/etles: You say you want a rEvolution,” inspired by the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four’s arrival in the U.S.—as well as a few notable figures in the history of science and the Odum School of Ecology. The Best Costume Emily Schattler (shown with Dean Gittleman) award went to Eleanor Rigby AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN OUTREACH and Father McKenzie, aka Jessica Chappell and Mo Sheikh.

SPRING FLING 2014 AWARDS

Sam Woolford BEST STUDENT PAPER: FACULTY INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR APPLIED AND BEST STUDENT Nina Wurzburger GRADUATE DIVERSITY AWARD PAPER: BASIC/THEORETICAL Joseph Colbert DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE STUDENT TEACHING AWARD JUDY MEYER–GENE HELFMAN Kristy Segal McDowell GRADUATE TRAVEL AWARD JOSH LAERM MEMORIAL OUTSTANDING ECOLOGY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD Kelly Murray ODUM GLOBAL SCHOLARS FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDY AWARD Zachary Holmes

Tad Dallas THELMA RICHARDSON–FRANK GOLLEY UNDERGRADUATE SUPPORT AWARD RON CARROLL & CAROL HOFFMAN Michael Holden and Kip Lacey COSTA RICA TRAVEL AWARD David Manning and Kaitlin Farrell FRANK GOLLEY MEMORIAL AWARD Douglas Hart, Audrey Miller, Kimberly Kellett PURPLE HEART AWARD and Meghan Tait Emily Schattler ROBERT A. SHELDON MEMORIAL AWARD DEAN’S AWARD Sara Heisel SOLITARY GLOVE SERVICE AWARD Sonia Altizer Sarah Budischak faculty profile 21

our study abroad ecology program offered through our Costa Rica campus. It’s the perfect combination. Q: What do you like—or find challeng- ing—about teaching undergraduates? A: Undergraduates have an incredible sense of excitement and enthusiasm to- ward the natural world that is sometimes lacking as folks progress in their career. Ecological concepts and natural phenom- ena stay fresh, and the students are always seeing the world through a new lens. Q: You’ve worked in Costa Rica for a while now. What is the program you’ve been running there? How does your new position relate? Will you continue your involvement there? A: I’m currently teaching and directing our Maymester Ecology program at our Scott Connelly San Luis campus. We offer tropical ecol- ogy, which is a field-based ecology course, n September 2013 Scott Connelly, PhD decided that wasn’t the career for me, and and ecological research, which is a hands- on tropical ecology class where students ’08, started a new position at the Odum I started investigating graduate programs related to biology. The programs offered design, implement, and present their own ISchool as assistant professor with an research while visiting and experienc- emphasis on instruction. Scott was most through UGA seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. ing the incredible diversity of ecosystems recently the director for tropical ecology found in Costa Rica. I anticipate continu- study abroad programs and resident sci- For my research I wanted to combine conservation, or at least applied ecology, ing my involvement in this program. entist at the UGA Costa Rica campus. His with ecosystem-level ecology. I’ve always Q: You are also continuing to conduct research concerns the ecosystem effects had an interest in amphibian biology of biodiversity loss, with a focus on the and natural history. Work examining the research. What will your research focus decline of amphibians in the neotropics. consequences of disease-driven declines be? His dissertation, “Effects of Catastrophic in the tropics that was beginning at UGA A: My research will continue to focus on Disease-Related Tadpole Declines on (through Cathy Pringle’s lab) was of par- the ecosystem-level effects of declining Upland Neotropical Stream Structure ticular interest to me. I combined experi- biodiversity, particularly with respect to and Function,” was based on research he ence I had working in tropical ecology at amphibian declines. I’m currently also conducted in Panama; he has also worked our Costa Rica campus with the ecosystem investigating aspects of captive amphib- in Ecuador and Trinidad. He spoke with consequences of on-going amphibian die- ian husbandry issues, in light of captive breeding efforts. I’m also interested in EcoVoice Editor Beth Gavrilles about his offs in the neotropics. stream-water quality and quantity issues new role in the Odum School. Q: What attracted you to the teaching in Costa Rica. emphasis faculty position? Q: How did you first become interested A: The teaching emphasis position allows Q: What made you want to stay at UGA? in ecology, and particularly your area me to develop and teach more undergrad- A: The combination of the Odum School’s of research? uate and graduate courses than I normally commitment to our undergraduate pro- A: I got into ecology after working in a would be able to at a large university, gram and the availability of resources (for couple of other fields. I originally obtained and still be able to conduct research and example, faculty expertise and our Costa a degree in business economics, and I mentor student research. The position also Rica campus) make UGA a great place to focused on accounting. After some time I allows me to continue to work closely with work. 22 inside the school Odum School Celebrates Carl Jordan’s Retirement and New Book

Guests line up after the festivities to have Carl Jordan sign his new book on sustainable agriculture. Photos: Kelly Goodwin

tudents, faculty, alumni, family, and Carl gave a seminar on the new book, University of Kentucky; and Justin Ellis, Sfriends packed the Ecology audito- which he was invited to write by the PhD ’13, executive director of the Soque rium on November 12, 2013, for a special publisher, Springer Verlag, as the first in a River Watershed Association in Clarkes- seminar and reception honoring Carl new Environmental Challenges and Solu- ville, Georgia—for an informal conver- Jordan, senior research scientist emeri- tions series. In it, he pulls together lessons sation about some of the major themes tus. The event marked the publication of learned over 40 years of his own research he and his students have explored—and his latest book, An Ecosystem Approach and that of the 35 graduate students he continue to explore—over the course of to Sustainable Agriculture: Energy Use mentored. The book is dedicated to them. his career. Efficiency in the American South, and He was then joined onstage by three of The discussion was followed by a series doubled as a belated celebration of his his former students—Bob Buschbacher, of video tributes from some of Carl’s 2009 retirement. A number of Carl’s for- PhD ’84, associate in tropical forestry in former students from around the globe mer students came back to Athens to join the Amazon Conservation Leadership who were not able to attend in person. in the festivities, which included a tour of Initiative at the University of Florida; The evening concluded with a reception his Spring Valley EcoFarm, where much Krista Jacobsen, PhD ’08, assistant profes- and book signing in the lobby. of his recent research has taken place. sor in the College of Agriculture at the Congratulations Carl! 23 Congratulations Graduates!

GRADUATE STUDENTS UNDERGRADUATES Sara Black, magna cum laude SNYDER, LANG FULLERTON Aaron Eilenfield,cum laude Summer 2013 Summer 2013 Katherine Evans Mindy Edelson, PhD Ecology Genevieve Dillon Caroline Fullerton, Joshua Egenolf, PhD Ecology Nathan Harvel magna cum laude Meredith Meyers, PhD Ecology Margeaux Maerz Ashley Lang, Malavika Rajeev, MS Ecology Malavika Rajeev, magna cum laude Ouida Stribling Stuber, magna cum laude Lara Mengak, magna cum MS Ecology with high honors laude with honors MENGAK MURRAY Natalie Woodall Kelly Murray, Fall 2013 magna cum laude Jason Lang, PhD Ecology Fall 2013 with high honors Brian Snyder, PhD Ecology Heather Abernathy Nicholas Richwagen, magna cum laude Spring 2014 Gregory Brooker, cum laude with high honors Don Christy, PhD Ecology Megan Chase Scott Saunders, Casey Harris, MS Ecology Elizabeth Kruckow magna cum laude with high honors Jessica Joyner, PhD Ecology Chelsea Krzyzewski RICHWAGEN SAUNDERS Chelsea Sexton, Rachel Katz, PhD Ecology Rebekah Lee, cum laude Brian McGann, cum laude magna cum laude Rachel King, MS Ecology with honors Kristy Segal McDowell, Spring 2014 Alexander Terry, PhD Ecology Meredith Barrett magna cum laude Kyle McKay, PhD Ecology with honors Jui Bhingarde Carrie Straight, PhD Ecology Shreyas Vangala, with honors

SEXTON VANGALA

Happy Birthday Dr. Odum! birthday Odum School Celebrates Founder’s Centennial

he Odum School marked what would have been founder ciplinary, collaborative community of scholars taking a holistic Tand namesake Eugene P. Odum’s 100th birthday on Sept. 17, approach to research, teaching, and service. 2013, with cake and ice cream. A program exploring the ongo- “I think that Gene would be really quite pleased with how the ing Odum legacy at UGA and beyond filled the auditorium to School has grown and changed. Its various foci have shifted over capacity with students, faculty, and friends from across campus the years consistent with new thinking and theories that have and the community. emerged, and new concerns about the environment, but the Betty Jean Craige, University Professor Emerita of Com- School continues to take a very holistic approach,” concluded parative Literature, Director Emerita of the Willson Center Professor Emeritus and former Institute Director Ron Carroll. for Humanities and Arts, and author of Eugene Odum, Ecosys- For more, see http://t.uga.edu/M4 tem Ecologist and Environmentalist, gave the keynote address, discussing Dr. Odum’s life and scholarship. Her remarks were followed by a panel discussion, “Ecology: The Next and Last 100 Years,” featuring Alex Patterson of Athens, a lifelong friend of the Odum family; Professor Emeritus Dave Coleman; and Assistant Professor Nina Wurzburger, and moderated by doctoral student Carly Phillips. The discussion was followed by a screening of the 2002 film “A Celebration of the Life of Eugene P. Odum.” As part of the celebration, the UGA Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library put together a special exhibition drawing from Odum’s papers, photographs and other memorabilia, which was on display from September through December, 2013. Although much has changed since Dr. Odum retired in 1984, the Odum School remains rooted in his vision of an interdis- 24 inside the school Gary Barrett Retires After Distinguished Career

ary W. Barrett, Eugene P. Odum Chair of Ecology Gand former director of the Institute of Ecology, retired 1 June 2014 after 20 years at the University of Georgia (UGA). Barrett will be known as the Eugene P. Odum Chair of Ecology Emeritus. COLBERT Barrett first came to UGA as a graduate student, where he studied under the direction of Eugene P. AWARDS AND Odum, receiving his doctorate in 1967. His disser- FELLOWSHIPS tation research focused upon the effects of insecti- Master’s student Erin Abernethy and doctoral students Rachel cide stress on a grassland ecosystem. Smith and Allison Williams were He returned to UGA in 1994 as director of the In- awarded NSF Graduate Research stitute of Ecology and Eugene P. Odum Chair of Ecol- Fellowships in 2014; doctoral student Davide Zailo received an ogy after serving 26 years at Miami University, where he honorable mention. held the position of Distinguished Professor of Ecology. He Doctoral students Alexa was the recipient of the Miami University Most Outstanding Fritzsche, Dara Satterfield, and and Effective Teaching Award in 1971, and the Sigma Xi Researcher of the Year Award Stephen Shivers all received NSF Doctoral Dissertation in 1986. During his tenure at Miami University he founded the Institute of Environmen- Improvement Grants in 2014. tal Sciences (IES) and the Ecology Research Center (IERC). Doctoral student Alyssa Among his accomplishments at UGA were the establishment of the HorseShoe Bend Gehman received a 2013 NSF Ecology Experimental Research Center, acquisition of the McGarity Wetlands Preserve Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER graduate assistantship and NSF as an educational research site, restoration of the Martha H. and Eugene P. Odum Spring LTER cross-site soft sediment Hollow Watershed, and creation of the bachelor of science and master of science in ecol- working group stipend. She was also awarded a 2013 M.K. ogy degree programs. Pentecost Ecology Fund Grant. Barrett’s research has focused on landscape ecology, terrestrial ecosystem dynamics, TheEcoFocus Film Festival, mammalian population dynamics, applied ecology, agroecosystem ecology, and career which has raised environmental trends in ecological research and education. His publications include more than 190 pa- consciousness in Athens through scores of high quality films, pers in peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as eight books, including Fundamentals received a 2014 Alec Little of Ecology Fifth Edition coauthored with Eugene P. Odum. Environmental Award. The award During his teaching career, Barrett served as major advisor to 48 graduate students is given in memory of John A. (Alec) Little, who worked and supervised four postdoctoral scholars. He has mentored countless undergraduates, closely with many environmental receiving the Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award from UGA in 2005. organizations in Georgia. It recognizes individuals and Odum School graduate students presented him with the Purple Heart Award for extraor- organizations for environmental dinary efforts in support of graduate education in 2009, and he was honored by the UGA responsibility in the Athens area. class of 2012 as a faculty member who contributed greatly to their career development. Doctoral student Daniel Harris Barrett’s service to the science of ecology extends far beyond UGA. He has played received a fellowship from the American Museum of Natural leadership roles within many scientific societies and organizations, including the History in conjunction with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where he was elected a Fellow Edward John Noble Foundation to in 1990; American Institute of Biological Sciences, where he served as president in 1998; conduct research on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. The fellowship American Society of Mammalogists; Association of Ecosystem Research Centers, where provides accommodation, he served as president from 1995–1996; Ecological Society of America; International access to a boat, and support for Association for Ecology; International Association for Landscape Ecology, where he undergraduate researchers. served as president of the U. S. Regional Association from 1988–1990; National Science Doctoral student Rebeca DeJesús Crespo received a Foundation, where he served as director of the ecology program; National Research Ford Foundation Dissertation Council; Ohio Academy of Science; and scientific honor society of Sigma Xi. Completion Fellowship in 2014; she was also selected for The entire Odum School community extends our thanks and congratulations to Dr. an American Association of Barrett, and wishes him a very happy retirement. University Women Dissertation Completion Fellowship. 25

DEJESUS GEHMAN HOLMES KHAN

Doctoral student Nick Undergraduate Sara Black, for her presentation at the 2013 interface platforms during the Marzolf was recognized for the BS ’14, won the award for best Blandy Summer Research Forum summer of 2014 in Montpellier, best graduate student poster paper at the Dimensions of at the University of Virginia’s France. at the 25th Annual Technical Political Ecology Conference Blandy Experimental Farm, Dean John Gittleman was Symposium of the Florida Lake at the University of Kentucky where she participated in a named UGA Foundation Management Society in Stuart, in February for her paper “And summer Research Experience Professor in Ecology in 2014. Florida, in June 2014. His poster, Justice for All: Solidarity, Scale, for Undergraduates program “Quantifying Effects of Invasive and Integrational Organizing in sponsored by NSF. Doctoral student Sarah Apple Snails (Pomacea maculata) the Climate and Immigrant Justice Budischak was appointed to the in a Large Reservoir: An Outline Movements in Georgia.” SCHOLARSHIPS UGA Graduate School Emerging for Research,” was coauthored by Leaders Program for the 2013- Professor Emeritus of Master’s student Erin Coughlin 2014 academic year. Steve Golladay and Alan Covich. Environmental Policy Jim was awarded the Hubert B. Owens Instructor and Undergraduate Kundell received the Outstanding Scholarship by the Garden Club of Doctoral student Alexa Coordinator Jim Richardson Civilian Service Medal from the Georgia in 2014. Fritzsche was a finalist in the UGA received a Lifetime Achievement U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Graduate School’s Three Minute Undergraduate Zachary Thesis competition in 2014. Award from the International Undergraduate Sara Black, Holmes won a John J. Scarano Sea Turtle Society at the 34th BS ’14, and doctoral students Memorial Scholarship from the Doctoral students Bill Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Sarah Budischak and Virginia Georgia Chapter of the Alliance of McDowell and Virginia Schutte Biology and Conservation in New Schutte, received UGA Awards Hazardous Materials Professionals were recognized by the UGA Orleans in 2014. of Excellence during the 2014 in 2014. Holmes also received Teaching Academy with the Distinguished Research Presidential Honors ceremony. a scholarship for study abroad Interdisciplinary Certificate in University Teaching in 2014. Professor Catherine Pringle Undergraduate Carmen Kraus opportunities in sustainability received the Kilham Award won the award for Best Paper from the UGA Office of Doctoral student Kimmy from the International Society in Physical and Environmental Sustainability made possible by Kellett received a UGA of Limnology. She delivered Sciences at the 2014 UGA Center the Brittney Fox Watts Memorial Outstanding Teaching award in the Kilham Memorial Lecture, for Undergraduate Research Endowment. 2014. “Climate-Driven Acidification in Opportunities (CURO) annual Doctoral student Eric Goolsby Professor Alan Covich and Neotropical Streams: Evidence symposium for her paper on received a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid Instructor and Undergraduate from a Long-Term Research density dependent regulation of Research in 2013. Coordinator Jim Richardson Project in Costa Rica,” at the of survival and reproduction in were named UGA Outstanding Society’s 32nd Congress in Master’s student Joseph Colbert dogbane beetles and underlying received a Tillman Foundation Teaching Faculty in 2014. Budapest, Hungary, on August host-plant interactions. 6, 2013. Military Scholarship from the Undergraduate Katherine Associate Professor John Drake Pat Tillman Foundation which Zarada was one of twelve students Sara Black, BS ’14, received won a UGA Creative Research supports military veterans and selected as a UGA Public Service the 2014 Rotaract Service Award Medal in 2014. spouses; he is UGA’s first Tillman and Outreach Student Scholar for the Odum School. Rotaract Scholar. for 2013-2014. As part of the is an international program for Professor Jeb Byers received program, Katherine served a adults ages 18 to 30, sponsored by one of four First-Year Odyssey OTHER RECOGNITION 150-hour internship with the State the service organization Rotary Teaching Awards given by UGA Botanical Garden of Georgia. International. in 2014. The awards recognize Doctoral students Peter Baas, outstanding instructors who Megan Machmuller, Dan Becker, Doctoral student Shafkat Dean John Gittleman, have demonstrated innovation in Troy Simon and faculty Alan Khan received a UGA Office of former postdoctoral associate instruction, connection of seminar Covich, Jackie Mohan, and Rich Sustainability grant to establish a Anthony Waldron, and their content to the instructor’s research, Shefferson attended the 11th bicycle cooperative to help UGA coauthors received an inaugural and how FYOS program goals are INTECOL International Congress students with bicycle maintenance Conservation Science Award incorporated into the seminar. of Ecology, hosted by the British and repair. Through partnership from the Royal Society for Ecological Society in August 2013 with Bike Athens and regular the Protection of Birds for Associate Professor Andrew in London. events on the UGA campus, their paper, “Targeting Global Park was an inaugural recipient of the cooperative will teach bike Conservation Funding to the UGA Michael F. Adams Early Katie Brownson, a doctoral maintenance skills, encourage Limit Immediate Biodiversity Career Scholar Award in 2014. student in the ICON program, students to use their bikes more Declines,” which appeared in received an internship with the Undergraduate Carmen Kraus often, and promote a culture of the Proceedings of the National International Water Resources received the Tom Callahan Award sustainability by building an active Academy of Sciences in 2013. for Undergraduate Research Association to research international science-policy student community around biking. 26 inside the school Milestones

Graduate Advisor Bonita Wagers Retires Odum Weddings Earns Ph.D. Graduate Advisor Katherine Adams received her doctorate in adult educa- tion from the UGA College of Educa- tion in 2013. Her dissertation, “The Exploration of Community Boundary Span- ners in Univer- sity-Community Partnerships,” delved into the characteristics, roles, and motivations of community leaders who are able Bonita Wagers, who has been the Odum to work across traditional “town and School receptionist since 2007, retired gown” boundaries to build relationships on June 30, 2014, after 10 years at UGA. with institutional partners. Bonita will be keeping busy with her grandchildren, travel, and lots of books. Faculty on the Move Assistant Professor Rich Shefferson Odum Babies! accepted a posi- Adelaide Schutte to doctoral student Doctoral students Bill McDowell and tion as associate Virginia Schutte and Charles Schutte, Kristy Segal were married on June 1, professor of plant July 16, 2013. 2013 at Smithgall Woods State Park in North Georgia. ecology in the Jonas Glenn Harmon Manning to Department of Meghan Manning and doctoral student General Systems Studies at the Univer- David Manning, July 22, 2013. sity of Tokyo.

Postdoctoral associate Barbara Han joined the faculty of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies as a senior sci- Jacob Christopher Linkous (above) entist. Barbara was a National Science to doctoral student Sarah Bowden and Foundation Postdoctoral Research Chris Linkous, November 13, 2013. Fellow in Biological Informatics in the Sonia Altizer lab from 2008-2010, and Olivia Rose Ng to postdoctoral as- a National Institutes of Health Ruth sociate Barbara Han and Jonathan Ng, Kirschstein Postdoctoral Research December 1, 2013. Doctoral student Keri Goodman and Fellow in the John Drake lab from Daphne Lydia Fox Cleveland to Dusty Kemp, PhD ’08, were married on 2011-2014. Ania Majewska and Chris Cleveland, June 20, 2014, in Key Largo, Florida. November 29, 2014. honor roll of donors 27 Letter from the The Eugene P. Odum School of Ecology would like to thank all of our alumni and friends for their support during the past fiscal year. Below Director of Development are all those who made gifts between July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014. Irvin L. and Becky Alhadeff Julie R. Jenkins M. H. Andrews Charitable Trust Philip Juras and Beth Gavrilles Hello Odum School Athens Land Trust, Inc. James E. and Linda M. Kundell Alumni and Friends, Alan L. and Mary E. Barnes G. Boyd and Caroline Leake Craig Barrow III and Diana K. Barrow Jianguo Liu, PhD ’92, and Qiuyun Wang Rebecca Bell James R. Lovvorn, BS ’77 As the 2013-14 academic year comes Arthur C. Benke, PhD ’72, and Jack I. Lowe, MS ’55, and Margaret A. Lowe to a close and we begin another it’s nice Susan S. Benke, MS ’70 Ann C. MacKenna to take a moment and reflect on what Bob Berkebile Marc and Kornelia Probst Mackowiak Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell Masada Leather Co, Inc. has been a great year. We started the year C. Gray Bethea Jr. and Mary Bethea John and Brenda W. Mattox th commemorating Dr. Odum’s 100 birth- Better Georgia Fund Jerry L. McCollum and Terry D. Tatum day and celebrating his legacy, which still Bopaiah A. Biddanda, PhD ’97, and LaMar S. McGinnis Jr., BS ’50, and Julia E. McGinnis plays an important role in our continued Kavitha B. Biddanda Hugh K. McIntyre Jr., MS ’67 Jay M. Blalock, BS ’66, and Terri F. Blalock Michael Songster Construction, Inc. evolution. We were pleased to welcome Jeffrey S. Boring, MS CESD ’03 Mark O. Milby, BS ’10 back alumni, emeritus faculty, and other Gail Boyd Richard W. Miller, PhD ’75 friends from through the years. To know Misha L. Boyd Christopher and Patricia Montouchet Kathleen M. Bridges, MS CESD ’11 Benjamin R. Morrison, BS ’08 where we are heading, it’s important we Del Burton Bradley B. Newsom, BS ’87 appreciate and understand our past. Dr. Jeb and Tyra Byers Oconee Golf Company, LLC Odum’s 100th birthday allowed us to do Harmon W. Caldwell Jr. and Cathy Caldwell Pat Tillman Foundation Amanda C. Calfee Brian T. and Nancy Perkins just that. Ron Carroll and Carol A. Hoffman Michael P. Petelle, PhD ’81, and Patricia L. Petelle In the spring we hosted our second Timothy C. Carter Petelle Family Charitable Fund Parents and Families Day. We were Timothy L. Carter, PhD ’06 James W. and Karen G. Porter thrilled to have so many families of our Alan P. Covich and Rebecca Rudman Neal and Patricia Priest Ting Dai, PhD ’94 Matthew Risser undergraduate students join us to learn Andrew Davis and Sonia M. Altizer Riverview Foundation, Inc. more about the undergraduate experi- Katherine L. Dennison Sarah V. Ross ence here in the Odum School. The par- Elizabeth Dorr Patrick N. and Abbey M. Ryss David D. Dow, PhD ’71 Diane M. Sanzone, MS CESD ’95/PhD ’01 ents seem to love visiting the School and Benjamin G. and Sarah B. Ehlers Edward H. and Amy Saunders learning about their students’ passion for ERTH Products, LLC Scott H. Saunders, BS ’14 ecology. Marsha E. Fanning, PhD ’73 Christopher G. Sawyer Sr. and Julia Sawyer Clifton C. and Nancy O. Fay Justin O. Schmidt, PhD ’77, and Li S. Schmidt We were happy to welcome a group Felton and Karen Jenkins Conservation Schwab Charitable Fund of our alumni who came to campus in and Education Fund Chelsea M. Sexton, BS ’14 March to offer their insights to help Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund John Rutherford Seydel II and Laura Seydel guide the future direction of the River Richard C. and Susan Field Homer F. Sharp Jr. George R. Fontaine Sr. and Celia E. Fontaine Joanne M. Sharpe Basin Center. Laurie Fowler Douglas N. Shook, BS ’68 Although only numbering in the Byron J. Freeman, PhD ’80, and John Sibley III region of 1,300, our alumni are spread Mary C. Freeman Samuel M. Simkin, MS CESD ’98 Stephen L. and Janet E. Frick Laura E. Skelton, MS ’02 all over the globe in academia, with Bob and Nancy Fullerton Lee A. and Holly C. Snelling NGOs, and in other positions impacting Caroline R. Fullerton James A. Sommerville, BS ’77, and the study of ecology and increasing our Georgia Power Company Frances W. Sommerville David L. and Susan H. Gittleman The T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving understanding of how the science is vital John L. Gittleman Lawrence N. and Sandra W. Taub, BSA ’76 to us all. C. P. and Carole D. Goodyear, MS ’72 Alexander M. Terry Thanks to all of you who help make Carlos W. Harden Lisa A. Terry the Odum School the special place it is. Eugene S. Helfman and Judith L. Meyer Jane S. Turner Carl L. Higginbotham, BS ’70, and Turner Foundation Whether you are alumni, an advisory Pamela H. Higginbotham USGBC Georgia Chapter board member, a student, or faculty/ Leonard W. Hindsman Jr., BS ’66 Sam C. Wainright, PhD ’88 staff, your work and contributions make Scott E. Hitch, BS ’96, and Angela M. Hitch Mark E. Warner, BS ’92/PhD ’98, and Karen P. Warner Skelly A. Holmbeck Stephen A. and Merryl J. Weber a difference. Robert E. Holmes and Penelope S. Crump Seth J. Wenger, MS CESD ’99/PhD ’06 Roger K. Hux and James G. Wiener, PhD ’79 Julia E. Krebs, MS ’72/PhD ’77 Edward D. and Susan Wilde Tyler S. Ingram Anne M. Wood, PhD ’80 Wayne E. King Sr. and Claudia M. King Woodland Gardens, LLC Lee Snelling Jane Smith Turner Foundation Wormsloe Foundation, Inc. 28 in print

ALTIZER BONNEY BYERS DRAKE EZENWA HALL HERNANDEZ

Keeler, Shamus P., Michael J. Byers, J. E. and J.H. Grabowski. Davis, A.K., B. Attarha, and T.J. Raven, C. M. Roberts, and J. O. Yabsley, Henry C. Adams, and 2014. Soft-sediment Piefke. 2013. Measuring the Sexton. 2014. The biodiversity of Sonia M. Hernandez, PhD ’08. communities. In Marine strength of horned passalus species, their rates of extinction, 2014. A novel Isospora species Community Ecology. Eds.: Mark beetles (Odontotaenius distribution, and protection. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) Bertness, Brian Silliman, Jay disjunctus): Revisiting an old Science 344(618). DOI: 10.1126/ from warblers (Passeriformes: Stachowicz, and John Bruno. topic with modern technology. science.1246752. Parulidae) of Costa Rica. Sinauer. Journal of Insect Science 13(107). Saarinen, Juha J., Alison G. Journal of Parasitology 100(3): Byers, J. E., T.L. Rogers, J.H. Davis, A.K. and E. Cornelius. Boyer, James H. Brown, Daniel 302-304. DOI: http://dx.doi. Grabowski, A.R. Hughes, M.F. 2013. Do infections lead to P. Costa, S. K. Morgan Ernest, org/10.1645/13-372.1. Piehler, and D.L. Kimbro. 2014. higher feather mite loads in Alistair R. Evans, Mikael Fortelius, Allgeier, Jacob E. PhD ’13, Craig Host and parasite recruitment birds? A test with mycoplasmal John L. Gittleman, Marcus J. A. Layman, Peter J. Mumby, correlated at a biogeographic conjunctivitis in house finches. Hamilton, Larisa E. Harding, and Amy D. Rosemond. 2014. scale. Oecologia 174: 731-738. The Auk 130(4): 708-714. Kari Lintulaakso, S. Kathleen Consistent nutrient storage and DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2809-2. Drake, J.M. 2013. Early warning Lyons, Jordan G. Okie, Richard supply mediated by diverse Byers, J. E., R.S. Smith, H.W. signals of stochastic switching. M. Sibly, Patrick R. Stephens, fish communities in coral reef Weiksel, and C.Y. Robertson. Proceedings of the Royal Society Jessica Theodor, Mark D. Uhen, ecosystems. Global Change 2014. A non-native prey B 280: 20130686. http://dx.doi. and Felisa A. Smith. 2013. Biology. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12566. mediates the effects of a shared org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0686. Patterns of maximum body Sander, S.E., S. Altizer, J.C. de predator on an ecosystem size evolution in Cenozoic land Drake, J.M., A. N. Hassan, and mammals: eco-evolutionary Roode, and A.K. Davis. 2013. service. PLoS One 9(4): J.C. Beier. 2013. A statistical Genetic factors and host traits e93969. DOI: 10.1371/journal. processes and abiotic forcing. model of Rift Valley fever activity Proceedings of the Royal Society predict spore morphology pone.0093969. in Egypt. Journal of Vector for a butterfly pathogen. B 281: 20132049. http://dx.doi. Connelly, S., PhD ’09, C.M. Ecology 38: 251-259. http:// org/10.1098/rspb.2013.2049. Insects (Special Issue on Insect Pringle, T. Barnum, M. Hunte- dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1948- Pathogens). DOI: 10.3390/ Brown, S. Kilham, M. Whiles, 7134.2013.12038.x. Hall, R.J., R.Bartel, (former insects4030447. PhD ’95, K. Lips, C. Colon-Gaud, postdoc), and S. 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HUANG PRINGLE ROSEMOND SHEEHAN WALDRON WENGER WURZBURGER

Direct Detection of Serratia organic carbon dynamics in improves prospects for disease Tant, C.J., PhD ’11, A.D. marcescens in marine and other blackwater rivers of the western control in wild chimpanzees. Rosemond, and M.R. First. 2013. aquatic environments using upper Suwannee River basin. Journal of the Royal Society Stream nutrient enrichment quantitative real time PCR. 2013. Journal of Geophysical Research: Interface 11: 20140349. has a greater effect on coarse Applied and Environmental Biogeosciences 118: 1636–1645. DOI: 10.1098/​rsif.2014.0349. than on fine benthic organic Microbiology. DOI: 10.1128/ DOI: 10.1002/2013JG002415. matter. Freshwater Science Satterfield, .D and A.K. AEM.02755-13. 32:111-1121. DOI: http://dx.doi. Mehring, Andrew S., PhD ’12, G. Davis. 2014. Variation in wing org/10.1899/12-049.1. Kartzinel, Tyler, PhD’12, Dorset Vellidis, K.A. Kuehn, C.M. Pringle, characteristics of monarch W. Trapnell, and Richard P. C.J. 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DOI: 10.1002/ Differential sources of host org/10.1890/12-1564.1. jwmg.585. species heterogeneity influence Wurzburger, Nina and Chelcy Mehring, Andrew S., PhD ’12, Rushmore, Julie, PhD ’13, the transmission and control of Ford Miniat. 2014. Drought R.R. Lowrance, A.M. Helton, Damien Caillaud, Richard J. Hall, multi-host parasites. Ecology enhances symbiotic dinitrogen PhD ’12, C.M. Pringle, A. Rebecca M. Stumpf, Lauren Ancel Letters 16(8): 975-84. DOI: fixation and competitive ability of Thompson, D.D. Bosch, G. Meyers, and Sonia Altizer. 2014. 10.1111/ele.12122. a temperate forest tree. Oecologia Vellidis. Inter-annual drought Network-based vaccination 174(4): 1117-1126. DOI: 10.1007/ length governs dissolved s00442-013-2851-0. Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID 30086 #1176 Odum School of Ecology 140 East Green Street Athens, GA 30602-2202

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Winner of the 2014 Ecology Photography Contest

KINGS RIVER FALLS IN AUTUMN COLOR, OZARK MOUNTAINS OF ARKANSAS by Phillip Bumpers