University of Georgia

Graduate Students

Graduate Research Assistants Doctoral

EmilyBert

Emily Bertucci

Lab: Parrott
Odum School of Ecology

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

DSC_7SBock

Samantha Bock

Lab: Parrott
Odum School of Ecology

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

Denzell Cross awarded Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship "Athens, Ga. – Denzell Cross, a doctoral student in Integrative Conservation and Ecology at the University of Georgia, has been awarded a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship. This highly selective award—approximately 65 were given in 2018—provides three years of support for study in pursuit of a doctorate. It recognizes academic excellence; promise for future achievement as a scholar, researcher and teacher in higher education; and capacity to use diversity as a resource to enrich the education of all students. Cross is the fourth UGA student to receive the award. Cross studies the impacts of landscape-scale disturbance on urban watersheds in Georgia using trait-based ecology and historical data. Specifically, he is exploring how the structure and function of communities of macroinvertebrates—small creatures like insects, crayfish and snails—living in streams and rivers change through time in response to increasing urbanization. His work will help inform management and conservation efforts in urban environments. “Denzell has been such a fantastic addition to my lab and to the Odum community,” said Cross’s doctoral advisor Krista Capps, assistant professor in the Odum School of Ecology and Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. “His proposed work has the potential to fundamentally change how we understand the long-term impacts of urbanization on animal communities. ​The recognition of Denzell’s potential as a scientist from the Ford Foundation is wonderful and exceptionally well-deserved.” The doctoral program in Integrative Conservation combines disciplinary depth in one of four areas—anthropology, ecology, geography or forestry and natural resources—and collaboration across disciplines and fields of practice, with a focus on solving the complex conservation challenges of the future. “Denzell is a perfect example of the kind of scholar we hope to train in the Integrati

Denzell Cross

Lab: Capps
Odum School of Ecology

Research investigates the long-term and historical impacts of development and urbanization on aquatic insect communities in Atlanta, Georgia, including exploring functional responses of stream invertebrates using species’ traits in order to determine which traits allow stream biota to survive in urbanizing regions

DSC_0055BradleyKweb

Bradley Kubecka, AWB®

Lab: Martin
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research interests include upland game bird ecology, rangeland ecology, and wildlife parasitology; primary research focus is roosting behavior of northern bobwhite broods and using molecular techniques to elucidate the diets of bobwhite chicks

Leaphart

Chris Leaphart

Lab: Beasley
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Investigating the effects of heavy metal contamination on the health, reproduction, and survival of North American waterfowl; research interests include wildlife disease ecology, ecotoxicology, immunology, physiology, and reproductive ecology

 

McDaniel_Jennifergradweb

Jennifer McDaniel

Lab: Aubrey
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Broadly interested in forest ecology; current research focuses on fire ecology and tree physiology or the physiology of trees

IMG_2914 3Kiersed

Kiersten Nelson

Lab: Lance
Odum School of Ecology 

Interested in conservation, herpetology, ecotoxicology, wetland ecology, and disease ecology; research focuses on factors that influence amphibian community dynamics in the Southeast

scott-oswald

Scott Oswald

Lab: Aubrey
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

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

 

Jessica Patterson, lecturer of biology, has helped create an app to identify snakes in the area. She has done this with Dr. Allison Bailey. The student pictured with them is Jacob Lougee, from Duluth, GA. He is a B.S. in Environmental & Spatial Analysis major and the student GIS technician on Drs. Bailey & Mitchem's Native Forest Ecosystems Grant from the EPA. Jacob is helping faculty create apps for collecting data for forest ecosystems, like this snake app, but also tree species, soil sampling, and water sampling. The photos were shot at the Elachee Nature Science Center in Gainesville, Ga. Laurin Peacock, the Elachee naturalist (in green polo shirt) is seen in several of the photos.

Jessica Patterson

Lab: Beasley

Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research focuses primarily on the effects of tourism pressure on African mammal behavior, movement, and spatial ecology; investigating African carnivore diets to understand how predators may be interacting with livestock and the broader landscape in areas of high human-carnivore conflict;  interests include conservation biology, species interactions, human-wildlife conflict, and the effects of anthropogenic activities on ecosystem health and wildlife behavior

 

Graduate Research Assistants Masters

Helen Bontrager

Lab: Beasley
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Interested in the spatial and radioecology of wild boar in and around the Fukushima Exclusion Zone

Bravo_Vivi_2021_1E

Viviana P. Bravo

Lab: Bier and Capps 
Odum School of Ecology

Research will identify and evaluate pollution-sensitive aquatic macroinvertebrate communities distributed across five major stream systems on the Savannah River Site; research interests are conservation of freshwater ecosystems, land use, sustainable development, and climate change

 

DSC_0057

Emma Browning

Lab: Tuberville and Rhodes
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research interests and experience include reintroducing gopher tortoises, massasaugas, and flatwood salamanders; currently working in turtle conservation and management

Mirandacroppedweb

Miranda Butler-Valverde

Lab: Beasley
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Investigating the efficiency and dynamics of carrion removal within the southeastern United States; research interests include wildlife damage management, species interactions, nutrient cycling and conservation biology

DSC_0138ViennaVed

Vienna Canright

Lab: Beasley
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Conducting research on the environmental impacts of wild pigs with a focus on using molecular methods to determine wild pig food habits; interests include wildlife conservation and management, behavioral ecology, and human-wildlife conflict

James Chapin

Lab: Abrams
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research focuses on social-ecological resilience as a guiding principle in forest management, and how the concept has been implemented across U.S. Forest Service lands

ChristineFallonweb

Christine Fallon

Lab: Capps
Odum School of Ecology

Studying how intermittency shapes aquatic communities and food web dynamics of secondary consumer fishes in streams

DSC_0173

Shane Guenin

Lab: DeVault  and Martin
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research investigates the behavior and perception of ducks in response to approaching vehicles to help reduce collisions with aircraft

DSC_0183contrvsj

Brittany E. Jensen

Lab: Xu and Bringolf
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Interested in ecotoxicology, biogeochemistry, and environmental remediation; current research investigates the utilization of biochar, a form of charcoal, for remediation of mercury from contaminated soil

headshot copyKholland92021

Kelly Holland, AWB® 

Lab: Tuberville and Beasley
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research interests include conservation of threatened and endangered species, human-wildlife conflict, and habitat management; research will compare biological communities in historically contaminated sites to reference sites within SRS to inform future remediation efforts

 

IMG_1779JosiahJohnson.adjodumjpg

Josiah Johnson

Lab: Parrott
Odum School of Ecology

Research focuses on the impacts of environmental contamination and temperature on amphibian sex ratios with implications for long-term population viability; research interests include wildlife conservation, behavioral ecology, and herpetology

DSC_0131EmKelsickVed

Emma Kelsick

Lab: Bier and Lance
Odum School of Ecology

Interested in the influence of land management practices on terrestrial and aquatic microbial structures and nutrient processing

LauraKJweb

Laura Kojima

Lab: Parrott
Odum School of Ecology

Research focuses on assessing contaminant loads in alligator tail muscle and the degree to which alligators travel onto and off of the Savannah River Site to investigate exposure concerns associated with the public harvest and consumption of alligators in the region

 

AmandaKomasinskicropped

Amanda Komasinski

Lab: Abrams
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research interests in environmental policy and governance; currently investigating how environmental research and environmental policy influence one another

Susannah

Susanna Mann

Lab: Tuberville and Rushing
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Interests include practical conservation strategies for endangered and threatened species, wetland and landscape ecology and public education; research will focus on the effectiveness of head-starting in Mojave desert tortoises as a mitigation tool to increase juvenile survival

Craig Marshall

Lab: Martin
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Investigating gopher tortoise ecology in pine production forests of the Southeastern United States

 

IMG_0653Br

Adam McFall

Lab: Lance
Odum School of Ecology 

Research investigates carryover effects and habitat impacts in at-risk amphibians to help improve headstarting and habitat management strategies; research interests include conservation ecology, behavioral ecology, wetland ecology, ecotoxicology, and herpetology

DSC_0331

Cher Nicholson

Lab: Xu
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Investigating how seasonally linked cycles of sulfur redox chemistry affect the sequestration of heavy metals within emergent plants, known as macrophites, and sediments in two constructed wetlands

 

DSC_0190cropped

Carson Pakula

Lab: Travis DeVault
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Interested in behavioral ecology, wildlife conservation, and human-wildlife interactions; research investigates the behavior of deer and wild pigs to help reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions

 

DSC_0285Quinlincropped

Kathryn Quinlin

Lab: Xu and Beasley
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Interested in ecotoxicology, community ecology, and conservation; research will focus on the impacts of radiocaesium and mercury on aquatic communities and the efficacy of remedial activities within the Savannah River Site

DSC_0225crop

Collin Richter

Lab: Tracey Tuberville and Kohl
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research interests include spatial and community ecology, species conservation, and wildlife management; currently researching movement, survival, and predation risks of post-release head-started Mojave desert tortoises

DSC_0113

Ryan Rimple

Lab: Tracey Tuberville  and  Kohl
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Interests include conservation, life history strategies, and factors influencing reproductive success of individuals; current research involves investigating translocations of formerly captive eastern box turtles into the wild and post-translocation reproductive success.

Shelby Simons

Lab: Martin
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Conservation management, declining species, and movement ecology; research will focus on translocated northern bobwhite from private to public land (Apalachicola National Forest) and assess movement, habitat use and site fidelity

 

SamanthaSweb

Samantha Siragusa

Lab: Abrams
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Interested in sustainable development and conservation management; currently interning in the Office of Sustainability as the Chew Crew intern and working on ecological restoration with prescribed grazing

 

SmagaperBethIMGadj_3861

Christopher Smaga

Lab: Parrott 
Odum School of Ecology

From the level of DNA to cells to whole organisms, research is focused on the impact the environment has on embryonic development; studying alligators to determine the consequences of environmental contaminants on embryonic gonadal development and the epigenome to understand how these translate into later life stages and overall health; interests include general ecology, physiology, and behavior of reptiles and amphibians

tucker headshot 3 final

 Tucker Stonecypher

Lab: Lance
Odum School of Ecology

Studying wetland restoration techniques to improve wetland plant communities for at-risk amphibians; investigating head-starting practices to increase juvenile survival in Carolina gopher frogs; interested in restoration ecology, herpetology, wetland plant communities, and disturbance ecology

 

DSC_0215CSwacrop

Christian Swartzbaugh

Lab: Lance and Capps
Odum School of Ecology 

Interests include behavioral ecology, biodiversity and community ecology of fishes; research focuses on the effects of legacy contaminants on freshwater fish communities

Corinne Sweeneylabcoatcropped

Corinne Sweeney

Lab: Lance and Capps
Odum School of Ecology 

 

DSC_0195

 Chuck Taylor, AWB®

Lab: Beasley 
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research involves wild pig population dynamics and using game cameras to estimate wild pig populations; investigating various trap types for wild pigs and their individual efficacies; interests include wildlife-human conflict, invasive species, behavioral ecology, and the conservation and management of game species

 

Reamweb

Ream Thomas

Lab: Aubrey
 Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Research interests include forestry, ecology and prescribed fire management; research will focus on energy dose thresholds for tree stem mortality

DSC_0115JTweb

Joseph Treichler

Labs: Beasley

Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Interested in conservation and management of game species, human-wildlife conflicts, and the effects of invasive species; currently studying the impacts of wild pigs on row crop agriculture and the surrounding native ecosystem

 

DSC_0132KTweb

Kristen Zemaitis

Labs: Parrot and Byers

Odum School of Ecology 

Research is focused on the ecotoxicology and diet of American alligators in the southeast; research interests include their reproductive behavior, genetics, and spatial ecology