Category: Uncategorized

UGA forms a SEEDS (ESA) Chapter

ESA formed the Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) program in 1996 to facilitate the participation of underrepresented students in our discipline.  The UGA SEEDS Chapter, which was just approved, was created through the efforts of the Odum School of Ecology’s Diversity Committee, with special thanks to our own, Amy Briggs.  Great job Read More …

IMAGINATION squared has launched!

Imagination Squared has launched (imaginationsquared.org).  The project (created and conceived by Christina Foard) is starting with the Odum School of Ecology, Lamar Dodd School of Art, and  UGA Athletics, and then spreading throughout the UGA campus and Athens community this Fall.  Get your square!

Julie and Mike’s paper on multiple stressors was published in Biology Letters!

Abstract Environmental stressors often interact, but most studies of multiple stressors have focused on combinations of abiotic stressors.  Here we examined the potential interaction between a biotic stressor, the vermetid snail Ceraesignum maximum, and an abiotic stressor, high sedimentation, on the growth of reef-building corals. In a field experiment, we subjected juvenile massive Porites corals Read More …

Congratulations Dr. Elizabeth Hamman!

Elizabeth defended her dissertation last week in the Odum School of Ecology at UGA (Multi-scale spatial patterning of corals and their symbionts).  Many thanks to her co-advisor (Scott McKinley, Tulane University) and her committee (Andrew Park and Jim Porter) for all of their support and insights.  Elizabeth is heading off to an exciting post-doc with Read More …

Congratulations to Dr. Jing Jiao!

Jing successfully defended her dissertation (Effects of movement in human-influenced marine systems) on March 16/17 at the University of Florida.  Many thanks to her co-advisor (Sergei Pilyugin) and her committee (Jeremy Lichstein, Bob Holt and Tom Frazer) for all of their support and insights.  Jing has received several post-doctoral offers and will soon be heading Read More …

Mike, Julie and JM’s “landscape of fear” paper is out too (early online)!

Abstract Foraging theory posits that isolation from refuge habitat within a landscape increases perceived predation risk and, thus, suppresses the foraging behavior of prey species. However, these effects may depend fundamentally on resource availability, which could affect prey boldness and can change considerably through bottom-up processes. We conducted a field survey and experiment in a Read More …

Jing’s paper in Ecosphere is out!

Jing’s paper on movement and its effect on trophic cascades inside marine protected areas was just published online in Ecosphere. Abstract The protection of predators inside marine reserves is expected to generate trophic cascades with predator density increasing but prey density decreasing; however, predators and prey often both increase inside reserves. This mismatch between the Read More …

Mass mortality of C. maximum in French Polynesia — Update

In July 2015 we observed a mass mortality event of our focal study organism, Cereasignum (previously Dendropoma) maximum in Moorea, French Polynesia.  We have now completed surveys on other islands and have observed NO survivors on any islands in the Societies or Tuamotus: i.e., Mo’orea, Tahiti, Huahine, Raiatea, Taha’a, Bora Bora, Tikehau, Rangiroa, or Fakarava.  Read More …