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Showing posts with label ecology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ecology. Show all posts

Friday, October 22, 2010

UGA Odum School of Ecology featured on National Geographic's "Great Migration" series

A film crew from National Geographic spent three weeks in June 2009 at the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology shooting video footage for “Great Migrations: Born to Move,” which will air on National Geographic Channel Sunday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m.It features the life cycle and migration of monarch butterflies, and includes scenes filmed at the Odum School with help from ecology faculty, students and staff.

Professor Gary W. Barrett, who holds the Odum Chair in Ecology, helped the film crew capture scenes showing predation of monarchs by mice and arranged for video footage to be shot at UGA’s HorseShoe Bend Ecology Experimental Research Site.

Associate Professor Sonia Altizer’s students and laboratory staff assisted with sequences of the monarch life cycle. “People in my lab guided the photographers and assistants and provided materials to them to film monarch eggs, larvae, pupation, adults laying eggs, praying mantis eating monarchs, and more,” said Altizer, an expert on monarch butterflies.She has conducted substantial research on the variation among monarch butterflies across their worldwide range, and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of their long-distance migration, particularly as it relates to host-parasite interactions. Her study of the relationship between migration distance and monarch butterfly wing shape, co-authored with Andy Davis, assistant research scientist in the Odum School, was published in the journal Evolution in Feb. 2010.

Monarch butterflies that breed in the eastern U.S. migrate to central Mexico each fall. The video footage shot in the ecology building and at HorseShoe Bend will appear in the first episode of the series, along with footage shot in Mexico.

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

UGA Honors Student Christina Faust Receives 2009-2010 George J. Mitchell Postgraduate Scholarship

Christina Faust, a University of Georgia Honors student from Athens, is one of 12 national recipients of the 2009-2010 George J. Mitchell Postgraduate Scholarship. She will use her fellowship to study immunology and global health at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

Faust, who is pursuing a dual bachelor's/master's degree in ecology, was previously named a 2008 Truman Scholar and a 2008 Udall Scholar. The UGA senior, a graduate of Cedar Shoals High School, is the daughter of Lynn and the late Tim Faust, a former professor in UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and the granddaughter of Bob and Marian Olyha, also of Athens.

Faust was chosen from a pool of 300 candidates and is among the 10th anniversary class of Mitchell Scholars. She is the first Mitchell Scholarship recipient at UGA.

"Christina Faust is clearly one of the brightest stars in the UGA academic sky, and I am very proud of her," said UGA President Michael F. Adams. "She has demonstrated remarkable talent and the ability to master a variety of areas of study, characteristics which bode well for her future. I expect great things from Christina."

The Mitchell Postgraduate Scholarship, named in honor of the former U.S. senator who served as chairman of the historic peace negotiations in Northern Ireland in 1998, is a nationally competitive fellowship sponsored by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance for one-year of graduate study in any discipline offered by institutions in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The award promotes a spirit of community and global understanding through linking future American leaders with the island of Ireland.

"Many of our students impress me, but Christina Faust truly inspires me," said David S. Williams, director of UGA's Honors Program. "We need leaders who understand the delicate interwoven nature of our complicated ecosystems, and who can envision and articulate answers and approaches. Christina is a leader for our times, and I am extremely proud of her."

Faust's commitment and passion for a career in wildlife conservation has been reinforced through her undergraduate research experiences at UGA. She has combined her interests in infectious diseases research and the way ecosystems are affected by completing thesis research on the avian influenza virus through UGA's Odum School of Ecology with a related study through the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in UGA's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Faust was one of 12 students selected internationally to present at the International Wildlife Disease Association Conference in 2007. She also presented twice at UGA's spring undergraduate research symposium sponsored by the Honors Program's Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities. She has won several conference awards, including "Outstanding Master's Presentation" at the 2008 Graduate Student Symposium at UGA's Odum School of Ecology.

Faust, who is also the recipient of a Foundation Fellowship, UGA's premier undergraduate scholarship for academically outstanding students, has studied, volunteered and traveled to five continents. Her most recent trip took her to Nanjing, China where she spent three weeks at the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control. Faust is planning to participate in a study abroad program in Antarctica in December.

In addition to her research activities, Faust has been very active in extracurricular activities to promote recycling and other conservation efforts. She helped organize a recycling program with three student clubs during UGA's football home games this season, collecting about four tons of glass and plastic so far. Faust also holds leadership positions with the Go Green Alliance Council and the Sustainable Development Committee of the UGA Ecology Club.

"I am honored to receive the Mitchell Scholarship to continue my studies in Ireland," said Faust, who would also like to complete a Ph.D. in the ecology of infectious diseases. "I hope to approach wildlife health issues from sociological and environmental perspectives in order to develop the most sustainable and effective solutions to our planet's most pressing challenges."

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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

UGA Odum School of Ecology Faculty Member Honored for Innovations after Age 6

Carl Jordan, senior research scientist at the University Of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, was recently designated as a 2008 Purpose Prize Fellow by Civic Ventures think tank. The Purpose Prize is awarded for people over 60 who are taking on society's biggest challenges.

"Dr. Jordan was named a fellow for restoring a worn-out cotton farm in the Georgia Piedmont into a center for research, education and outreach in organic and sustainable agriculture," said Marc Friedman, co-founder of the Purpose Prize program and author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life. "Purpose Prize Fellows such as Carl Jordan show that experience and innovation can go hand in hand, that inventiveness is not the sole province of the young."

For over 25 years, Jordan has studied the impact of conventional agriculture and forestry on the biodiversity of ecosystems throughout the world. His work at Spring Valley EcoFarms (www.springvalleyecofarms.org) has put his research into practice, which has led to more environmentally - and economically - sound faming practices.

"Students with the agroecology lab from the University of Georgia have used the farm to broaden their knowledge of agriculture and the environment. Recognition from Civic Ventures hopefully will allow me to expand outreach to other members of the Athens and surrounding community," said Jordan.

Funding for the Purpose Prize from Civic Ventures (www.civicventures.org) comes from The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation. Additional funding for the Summit comes from the American Association of Retired Persons, Erickson Companies, the New York Life Foundation, Hewlett-Packard Company and Legacy Works.

With roots that date back to the 1950s, the UGA Odum School of Ecology offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as a certification program. Founder Eugene P. Odum is recognized internationally as a pioneer of ecosystem ecology. The school is ranked tenth by U.S. News and World Report for its graduate program. The Odum School is the first standalone school of ecology in the world. For more information, see www.ecology.uga.edu.

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