Program News:
May, 2008
Pop Bio Student Wins 2 Awards.
Michelle Downey received two awards for her research on host race formation in butterflies. Michelle received the McCarley Award from the Southwestern Association of Naturalists. She also received a Theodore Roosevelt Award from the American Museum of Natural History.
May, 2008
Clay Williams Matriculation.
Clay Williams completed his thesis and the requirements for graduation. Nice job Clay! Clay studied the mating behavior of tiger beetles in the Hill Country and the Lost Pines of Texas. His thesis is entitled: "An Assessment of Assortative Mating and Sexual Size Dimorphism in Two Tiger Beetle Species".
November, 2007
Pop Bio collaborators publish in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
Donnelle Robinson, a former masters student at Texas State, and Dr. Caitlin Gabor and Dr. Andrea Aspbury have a research article in the latest issue of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. Their research on differential sperm allocation in sailfin mollies was the focus of Donnelle's masters thesis and part of a large, ongoing project investigating mating behavior in a unique group of live-bearing fish. Their NSF-funded work focuses on conflicts between species-recognition and mate choice behaviors. (Click HERE for a list of Population and Conservation Biology publications.)
November, 2007
Pop Bio collaborators publish in Ecology.
Former master's student Scott Egan and his adviser Dr. Jim Ott published their paper "Host Plant Quality and Local Adaptation Determine The Distribution of a Gall Forming Herbivore" in the most recent issue of Ecology. Scott, now a Ph.D. student at Vanderilt with Dr. Dan Funk, conducted the research while at Texas State with Dr. Ott. (Even though Scott was not a Pop Bio student because the program did not yet exist, we are certain that he would have been a Pop Bio student!) (Click HERE for a list of Population and Conservation Biology publications.)
November, 2007
Andy Blair Matriculation.
Pop Bio student Andy Blair successfully defended his thesis research on the endangered star cactus. His thesis, entitled "Pollinator Effectiveness, Pollinator Importance, and Pollen Dispersal in Star Cactus" investigated the dynamics of pollinators and the reproductive biology of star cactus in southern Texas. Congratulations Andy!
September, 2007
Austin Hill wins Waterbird Society award.
Pop Bio student Austin Hill received the Kushlan Award from the Waterbird Society for his proposal on "Assessment of the Genetic Structure of the Reddish Egret". The Kushlan award funds research aimed at the biology, ecology, or conservation biology of wading birds. Austin will use the money for travel and lodging in Baja California for blood sample collection from reddish egrets for genetic analysis of the population structure of these threatened birds. Austin colloborates with his major advisor, Dr. Clay Green, on this research project.
May, 2007
Pop Bio student receives Roosevelt Award.
Glen Hood received a Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Grant from the American Museum of Natural History. The Roosevelt Grant funds conservation and natural history research. Glen received funding for his work on cynipid gall wasps. His proposal was entitled: "The brood with an attitude: The genetic and environmental basis of allochrony in a specialized insect herbivore."
December, 2006
Pop Bio student publishes thesis work in Science.
Zach Gompert's thesis research appears in the journal Science. Zach's work on hybrid speciation in butterflies involved examining patterns of population genetic variation and conducting manipulative ecological experiments to investigate the ecological and evolutionary consequences of gene exchange between butterfly species. (Click HERE for a list of Population and Conservation Biology publications.)
December 2006
The first Population and Conservation Biology Master's degrees are granted!
Lauren Lucas and Zach Gompert successfully defeneded their theses last month and became the first master's students to matriculate with a degree in Population and Conservation Biology. Congrats to Lauren and Zach!
August 23, 2006
The Population and Conservation Biology Master's Program officially begins!
The new master's progam officially begins. The program has 14 students, 7 new students and 7 students who have switched over from other master's programs.
August 18, 2006
Pop Bio student and faculty publish paper in Science
Zach Gompert and his advisor, Chris Nice, are authors on a Science paper in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This paper reports the results of an investigation into the role of genotypic diversity in structuring ecological communities and ecosystem processes. (Click HERE for a list of Population and Conservation Biology publications.)
February 2006
Zachariah Gompert wins NSF Graduate Fellowship
Zach Gompert was awarded a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. This award includes a yearly stipend and tuition funds for 3 years. Zach is only the third student at Texas State to win an NSF fellowship.
February 15, 2006
Lauren Lucas wins "Best Presentation"
Lauren Lucas won the award for best presentation by a graduate student at the 11th annual Biology Student Colloquium for her talk "Rivers and Aquifers: What structures genetic diversity in Texas Hill Country salamanders?" Lauren presented a summary of her thesis research investigating the phylogeography of the federally threatened San Marcos salamander (Eurycea nana) and closely related hill country salamander species. Lauren uses mitochondrial DNA sequence data to test biogeographical hypotheses and provide conservation genetics information on these salamanders. She is advised by Dr.s Gabor and Nice and works closely with the US Fish and Wildlife Service National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center.
February 1, 2006
Population and Conservation Biology Masters Program Approved
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board granted official approval to create a Master of Science (MS) degree with a major in Population and Conservation Biology at Texas State University.
