New Grad Student Page

Graduate Students & Post-Docs
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*UNDER CONSTRUCTION*

Current Postdoctoral Fellows

Marshall, Michael – Ph.D. Ecology 2006 – University of Wyoming

I am interested in the roles animals play in ecosystem processes. The FIBR Trinidad project has enabled us to put these roles into evolutionary context. For example, we are examining how nutrient cycling in streams is affected by excretion from guppies of different adaptive phenotypes. Utilizing stream channel mesocosms and small electrified exclosures we are also looking at the direct and indirect effects of fishes on ecosystem processes such as leaf decomposition, algal accrual and community respiration. Long-term monitoring of ecosystem attributes and process assays in light- and guppy-manipulated streams in Trinidad will help us understand how evolution and ecological processs interact in the field.

Current Graduate Students

	Barnum, Tom – Ph.D. Ecology Expected Date of Graduation: 2013 Tentative Title of Dissertation: Not yet available
My research will focus on the consequences of frog extirpation in the highlands of Panama. I am interested in identifying the functional roles of stream dwelling tadpoles and how their loss from the stream ecosystem affects food web dynamics and leaf decomposition.

Binderup, Andrew – Ph.D. Ecology

Expected Date of Graduation: 2012
Tentative Title of Dissertation: Effects of fish life history evolution on ecosystem processes in a tropical stream

My current research focuses on the effects of fish microevolution on ecosystem processes. I uses electric exclosures to quantify the effects of fish on aquatic insect communities, algal standing stock, chlorophyll accrual, and leaf decomposition. My studies are focused in tropical streams in Trinidad’s Northern Range, where guppies have recently been introduced. The effects of fish presence as well as changes due to their microevolution on aforementioned ecosystem processes will be quantified over the next several years. I am currently supported by the Trinidad FIBR grant

Connelly, Scott - Ph.D. Ecology

Expected Date of Graduation: December 2008
Tentative Title of Dissertation: Response of tropical stream ecosystems to amphibian extinctions

My research focuses on global widespread catastrophic amphibian declines, in Panama. I use experimental manipulation and long-term monitoring to predict and measure ecosystem-level effects of these losses. I work in two Panamanian streams that have recently experienced massive frog losses.

Honors/Awards:
- 2007 Institute of Ecology Outstanding Doctoral Presentation
- 2006 Institute of Ecology Solitary Glove Award
- 2007 UGA Final Year University-Wide Fellowship

Frisch, John - Ph.D Ecology
Picture Provided by: C. David Barron/Oxygen Group

Expected Date of Graduation: May 2012
Tentative Title of Dissertation: Seasonal variation in decomposition dynamics of non-deciduos leaf litter: What is the seasonal importance of rhododendron litter inputs on microbial and invertebrate communities?

Allochthonous leaf litter is an important component of headwater woodland streams, and serves as a critical energy source and substrate for fungal and bacterial communities. Overall quantity and nutrient quality of leaf litter can potentially impact the activity and biomass of fungal and bacterial communities, and result in bottom-up regulation of stream communities. However, there is a conspicuous lack of information about how evergreen vegetation structures stream communities. How does rhododendron contribute to stream dynamics? I am invesigating the relationships from litter chemistry and decompositonal dynamics to microbial and macroinvertebrate communities.

Honors/Awards:
- UGA University Wide Scholarship
- UGA Graduate Representative

Mehring, Andrew – Ph.D. Ecology
Comittee Co-Chairs: G. vellidis and C. Pringle

Expected Date of Graduation: May 2010
Tentative Title of Dissertation: Floodplain forests as engineers of dissolved oxygen in coastal plain blackwater streams: effects of allochthonous inputs and riparian forest composition on oxygen demand

My research examines the effects of allochthonous organic matter inputs and decomposition on dissolved oxygen concentrations in intermittent blackwater rivers of Georgia's coastal plain. I am specifically investigating the differential effects of tree species and forest composition on oxygen uptake by the microbial community.

Honors/Awards:
- 2008 Odum School of Ecology Graduate Student Symposium - 1st Place Best Paper

Small, Gaston (Chip) - Ph.D. Ecology

Expected Date of Graduation: 2009
Tentative Title of Dissertation: Resource-consumer stoichiometry along a natural phosphorus gradient in Neotropical stream food webs

My research focuses on the stoichiometric relationship between resources and consumers along a natural phosphorus gradient in streams at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. I am measuring how aquatic insects deal with P-enriched food sources through P-storage, increased growth rates, and excretion. I am also documenting the retention of phosphorus in a first order stream following an 8-year experimental P-addition.

Honors/Awards:
- 2005 OTS Post-course Award
- 2007 NABS President's Award
- 2007 ASLO Student Travel Award
- 2007 EPA STAR Fellowship
- UGA Presidential Fellowship
- 2008 Odum School of Ecology Graduate Student Symposium - 2nd Place Best Paper

Snyder, Marcia – Ph.D. Ecology

Expected Date of Graduation: 2012
Tentative Title of Dissertation: Spatial and temporal trends in shrimp population dynamics

My research focuses on the effects of stream chemistry and habitat dynamics on migratory freshwater shrimp communities in the lowland tropical wet forests of Costa Rica. I am measuring how shrimp are influenced by a natural phosphorous gradient in terms of their abundance, fecundity, growth rates and demographic parameters at La Selva Biological Station. I am also examining the impact of land coverage on shrimp population dynamics through time.

Torres, Pedro – Ph.D. Ecology

Expected Date of Graduation: 2012
Tentative Title of Dissertation: Linking community structure to ecosystem processes: effects of native faunal extirpation and invasive species in neotropical island streams, Puerto Rico.

My research focuses on how different biotic communities affect stream ecosystem function. I am working in Puerto Rican streams, where large dams without spillway discharges act as impermeable barriers for migratory organisms (i.e. native shrimps and fishes) resulting in the extirpation of these populations from upstream reaches and in some cases, successful establishment of invasive fish species. I will compare different ecosystem processes between dammed and undammed streams and use experimental manipulations to establish the role of specific species (native shrimp and exotic fishes) in regulating these processes in streams island-wide.

Honors/Awards:
- 2007 LACSI Tinker Foundation Travel Award

Lab Alumni

Anderson, Elizabeth – Ph.D. Ecology, 2004
Ph.D. Dissertation: Ecological and social implications of hydropower development on a neotropical river system, Costa Rica.
Current Position: Deputy Director of the Global Water for Sustainability Program, Florida International University. Conservation Sustainability Director at The Field Museum in Chicago

Since 2005, Elizabeth has been working under a USAID-sponsored initiative to promote more integrated water resources management worldwide. She is based in the Department of Environmental Studies at Florida International University in Miami, but is also involved in providing technical and scientific support to water conservation and management projects in South America (Ecuador/Peru), East Africa (Tanzania/Kenya), and India. For more information, please visit: http://www.globalwaters.net/

Recently, Mrs. Anderson was made Conservation Sustainability Director at The Field Museum in Chicago and will be working towards implementing conservation recommendations, with a focus on rapid biological inventories initiatives in South America.

Ardon, Marcelo - Ph.D. Ecology, 2006
Ph.D. Dissertation: Effects of leaf litter quality on decomposition dynamics in lowland neotropical streams.
Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate at Duke University

Current research is focused on examining the biogeochemical consequences of a large-scale wetland restoration project in the Coastal Plains of NC. For more information see:
http://www.biology.duke.edu/bernhardtlab/people/ardon.html

Baer, Katherine - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1996
M.S. Thesis: When it rains, it drains: Stormwater management in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia.
Current position: Healthy Waters Campaign Director for the river advocacy group, American Rivers

After receiving her M.S. degree in Conservation Ecology from UGA, Baer worked for the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, the Center for Progressive Reform, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. She then received a law degree from the University of Maryland and now works with American Rivers as their Advocacy Director. For more information see: http://www.americanrivers.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AR7_bio_Baer

Benstead, Jonathan - Ph.D. Ecology, 2000
Ph.D. Dissertation: Stream community and ecosystem responses to deforestation in eastern Madagascar.
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Aquatic Biology Program, University of Alabama

Current research is focused on establishing linkages among populations, communities and ecosystem-level parameters in streams and rivers, with an integral study on aquatic vertebrates, namely fish. For more information, please visit: http://www.as.ua.edu/biology/benstead.htm

Carey, Richard - M.S. Ecology, 2005
Comittee Co-Chaired by: G. Vellidis and C. Pringle

M.S. Thesis: The effect of nutrient enrichement on stream periphyton growth in the southern costal plain of Georgia: Implications for low dissolved oxygen.
Current Position: Ph.D. student, University of Florida

Crook, Kelly – M.S. Ecology, 2005
M.S. Thesis: Quantifying the effects of water withdrawal on streams draining the Caribbean National Forest, Puerto Rico.
Current Position: High School Teacher

Currently teaching high school biology in Grapevine, TX.

DeVivo, Joe - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1996; Pringle co-chair with Gene Helfman
M.S. Thesis: Fish assemblages as indicators of water quality within the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River basin.
Current Position: Program Coordinator, Southeast Coast Inventory & Monitoring Program, National Park Service, Atlanta, GA

Currently designing and implementing long-term ecological monitoring program for seventeen National Park Service units in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. For more information, please visit: http://www1.nature.nps.gov/im/units/secn/

Dye, Susan - M.S. Ecology, 2005
M.S. Thesis: Top-down and bottom-up forces in an Appalachian stream: Can consumers differentially mediate effects of nutrient loading on algae?
Current Position: Research Coordinator

Upon graduation, Susan worked as research coordinator for Dr. Amy Rosemond at the Institute of Ecology at UGA. She oversaw a long-term nutrient addition experiment at the Coweeta LTER site in the southern Appalachians, and developed methods to determine algal community composition using HPLC analysis of pigments. She currently works for the Environmental Protection Agency in Athens, GA.

Esselman, Peter - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 2001
M.S. Thesis: The Monkey River Baseline Study: Basic and applied research for monitoring assessment in southern Belize.
Current position: Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources Current a Ph.D Candidate at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources focusing on fish conservation and biogeography with an emphasis on potential disruption of native fish communities by Tilapia.

Greathouse, Effie – Ph.D. Ecology, 2005
Ph.D. Dissertation: Large dams and migratory biota affect tropical stream ecosystems at different scales in Puerto Rico
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher, EPA

Currently undergoing postdoctoral research under the direction of Dr. Jana Compton at EPA's National Health & Environmental Effects Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon. Research is focused towards relating landscape characteristics to stream nutrients in the Oregon Coast Range.

Gregory, Brian - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1997
Comittee Co-Chaired by: G. Vellidis and C. Pringle

M.S. Thesis: Use of benthic macroinvertebrates to assess the effectiveness of riparian buffer zones on intermittent streams in the southeastern USA.
Current Position: Aquatic Ecologist at USGS

Currently working at the USGS in Atlanta, GA with the NAWQA Program with importance on issues related to how urbanization effects stream ecosystems in the GA Piedmont as well as nationally, how nutrient and agricultural effects coastal plain streams in the SE, and how hydrologic alteration effects fish communities in the Tennesse River Drainage.

Hellmer-Powell, Natalie – M.S. Ecology, 2001
M.S. Thesis: The role of crayfish in leaf decomposition across a leaf litter quality gradient.
Current Position: Working at EPIC, a medical software company in Madison, Wisconsin

Current Implementer/Project Manager Outpatient EMR Team and is Co-Chair of Environmental Task Force for the Madison Christian Community.

Hiers, Stephanie D. - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 2000; Pringle co-chair with Dr. Steve Golladay
M.S. Thesis: Assessing impacts of animal agriculture on macroinvertebrates in intermittent coastal plain streams in the southeastern USA: Implications for biomonitioring.
Current Position: Environmental Scientist with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)

Currently serves as an aquatic Ecologist and endangered species Biologist, technical lead for Environmental Assessments (EA), Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), Biological Assessments (BA), and various other assessment documents related to potential impacts in aquatic, terrestrial, and marine habitats in the Southeast, particularly in FL and GA.

Kominoski, John – Ph.D. Ecology, 2008
Ph.D. Dissertation: Linking resource and consumer diversity to ecosystem function in a detritus-based watershed
Current Position - Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Current research under the direction of Dr. John Richardson examines the effects of selective forest harvesting on stream and riparian food webs. For more information, please visit: http://jkominoski.googlepages.com

Kominoski

Laidlaw, Tina - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1996
M.S. Thesis: The implementation of a volunteer stream monitoring program in Costa Rica.
Current position: Monitoring Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Denver CO

When she first graduated with her MS from the CESD program, Tina became the statewide manager of the Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program for the state of Alabama.

March, James - Ph.D. Ecology, 2000
Ph.D. Dissertation: The role of freshwater shrimps: patterns and processes along a tropical stream continuum, Puerto Rico.
Current Position: Associate Professor, Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, PA

For more information, please visit: http://www.washjeff.edu/users/jmarch/

Parsons, Doug - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 2000
M.S. Thesis: The development of the WATER-FOR-LIFE web page: An environmental outreach tool on water resources issues for Costa Rica and Latin America.
Current position: Partnerships Coordinator, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Currently works for the Florida government focusing on climate change issues.

Pohlman, Scott - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1998
M.S. Thesis: Towards implementation of community-led conservation in lowland rainforest: The WATER-FOR-LIFE program in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica.
Current Position: Natural Resource Planning and Conservation, Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Currently a senior staff scientist for the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Rabeson, Pascal - M.S. Ecology, 2000

M.S. Thesis: Composition and temporal emergence of aquatic insects in the Mariavaratra stream at the Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar.
Current Position: Field Coordinator of the Insects and Spiders Survey, National Museum of Insects, Madagascar.

Ramirez, Alonso - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1997; Ph.D. Ecology, 2000
M.S. Thesis: Structure, function and production of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in lowland tropical streams, Costa Rica.
Ph.D. Dissertation: Control of benthic assemblages in detritus-based tropical streams.
Current Position: Associate Professor, University of Puerto Rico, and Scientific Director of El Verde Field Station.

Currently working on the ecology of tropical aquatic ecosystems with emphasis on aquatic insects and the role they play in ecosystem processes as well as the taxonomy and systematic of aquatic insects with emphasis on immature stages or larvae.

Schofield, Kate - Ph.D. Ecology, 2001
Ph.D. Dissertation: Top-down interactions in southern Appalachian streams: An examination of temporal and spatial variability.
Current position: Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C.

Upon completing her Ph.D. at the University of Georgia, Kate received a prestigious Croasdale Postdoctoral Fellowship at Dartmouth University. Kate currently worked for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Smith, Katherine - Ph.D. Ecology, 2008

Ph.D. Dissertation: Ecosystem-based management of water resources in the Caribbean National Forest, Puerto Rico: ecological, legal, and institutional analysis.

Smith

Stallcup, Lindsay - M.S. Ecology, 2004

M.S. Thesis: Effects of water chemistry and leaf species on leaf breakdown in neotropical headwater streams.

Todd, Jason - Ph.D Ecology
Comittee Co-Chair: G. Vellidi and C. Pringle

Ph.D. Dissertation: Measurement of flowpath, residence time and sediment oxygen demand in seasonally inundated floodplain swamps of the Georgia coastal plain.

Current position:Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Vargas, Rodney - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1995
M.S. Thesis: History of municipal water resources in Puerto Viejo, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica: A socio-political perspective.
Current Position: Assistant Director for Latin America, Africa and the Middle East

Currently working in the Study Abroad Office at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill as Assistant Director for Latin America, Africa and the Middle East as well as program management and development for Latin America, Caribbean, Middle East and Africa.

Wenger, Seth - M.S. Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1999; Ph.D. Ecology, 2006
Comitee Co-Chaired by: Laurie Fowler and C. Pringle
Ph.D. Advisor: Mary Freeman

M.S. Thesis: Developing science-based riparian buffer protection policies.
Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher

Currently working at the UGA River Basin Center focusing on applied ecological research and environmental policy development. For more information, please visit: http://www.rivercenter.uga.edu/people/ecologists.htm#sw

Past Postdoctoral Fellows

Bixby, Rebecca - Ph.D. - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Current Position: Adjunct Professor, University of New Mexico

Dr. Bixby's research interests focus on diatom biodiversity and how it relates to ecological and evolutionary processes. She is currently funded by the National Science Foundation's International Research Fellowship Program and the Americas Program to examine the biodiversity and landscape patterns of algae in lowland, neotropical streams in Costa Rica.

Hamazaki, Toshihide - Ph.D. - Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia.
Current position: Biometrician, Alaska. Department of Fish and Game.

Rosemond, Amy - Ph.D. -Vanderbilt University
Current position: Assistant Professor, Odum School of Ecology

Verburg, Piet – Ph.D. Ecology 2004 – University of Waterloo, Ontario

Dr. Verburg investigates food webs in mountain streams in Central America, using stable isotopes and nutrient stoichiometry to examine ecosystem change as a result of the massive loss of amphibian species diversity by an epidemic disease.

In past work, Dr. Verburg has examined the effects of meteorology and regional climate on limnological properties and in particular the effects of the recent warming of the climate.

Some Lab Photos

Some Helpful Advice for Graduate Students

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Last Updated: 8/25/08