Graduate Students

Interested in ecological physiology and investigating how the environment influences development, genetic modifications, and the health of organisms

Interested in understanding the mechanisms of temperature-dependent sex determination in alligators and the ways in which man-made stressors like climate change and environmental contaminants can possibly interact with these mechanisms to produce consequences at both the individual and population levels

Studying wild pig reproduction ecology by investigating survival, dispersal, resource-selection behavior and physiology

Broad research interests in disease ecology, evolution and wildlife conservation; a current focus on understanding the eco-evolutionary dynamics of avian malaria parasites in the Western Ghats sky-island, or mountain bird communities in India

Investigating the role of endocrine signaling and thermal cues experienced during embryonic development in permanently shaping the functional trajectory of the ovary and gene expression patterning in the American Alligator

Investigating the influence of contaminated environments on source-sink dynamics in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Belarus and on the Savannah River Site; other areas of investigation include molecular ecology, landscape ecology, disease ecology, and animal behavior and evolution

Research interest in forest hydrology; research focuses on understanding water use and water sources for fast growing bioenergy crops

Investigating the physicochemical processes controlling the persistence, transport, and expression of genetically modified organism (GMO) released extracellular DNA in the subsurface environment, with a focus on different soil constituents that readily influence mineral surface properties

Research interests in forest ecology, ecohydrology and plant communities; investigating to what extent overstory species in mixed oak-pine savannas utilize ground water and  their capacity to transport it to shallow soils through hydraulic lift

Currently studying the competition between Virginia opossums and raccoons for rabies vaccination bait as well as opossum spatial ecology and demography; interested in pursuing projects that provide a low-cost non-invasive means to have the greatest immediate impact on conservation and management efforts

Investigating the drivers of amphibian community structure and influences on the dynamics of two diseases that impact amphibian communities, ranavirus and chytrid fungus

Research focuses on plant water use and how it is measured with thermal dissipation sap flow sensors; interests include foliar water uptake, tree physiology, and studying how plants influence ecosystem function

Currently evaluating the effectiveness of using rescued animals to bolster declining gopher tortoise populations at the Aiken Gopher Tortoise Heritage Preserve in Aiken County, South Carolina; research interests include applied ecology and wildlife behavior

Investigating the effect/trade-off of parasite infection and heavy metal contamination on fitness, behavior, vector competence; resistance and tolerance of yellow fever mosquitoes; research interests: disease ecology and evolution

Research interests are primarily in plant physiology and ecology as well as the use of mathematical modeling to study patterns in plant physiology

Research interests in plant physiology and disturbance ecology; currently exploring the effect that the prescribed burn season has on the mortality and carbon dynamics of Liquidambar Styraciflua