The People!

Current Students

Graduate Students

Shelby Medlock (MS Student) 2023 to present

-Using Stable Isotopes to Characterize the Diet of Aquatic Beetles

Undergraduates

Chrissy Doolittle 2023 to present

-Effects of tannins and water color on phytoplankton

Maddie De Vries, Lilly Blanchard  2023 to present

-Aquatic insect survival in dried pond sediment

Cassie Wingate 2024 to present

Former Students 

Graduate

Daniel Edwards (MS Student) 2021 to  2023

-Effects of leaf diversity on pond colonizers

Joseph Aubert (MS Student) 2021 to 2023

-Effects of leaf diversity on colonizing invertebrates and decomposition in streams

Simon Boycott (MS Student)- 2018 to 2020

(Co-advised with Don Shepard)

-Status and Conservation of Crawfish frogs in Louisiana using call surveys and an ecological niche model

Rebecca Cram (MS student)- Spring 2019 to Spring 2020

(advised by Jennifer Hill)

-Effects of leaf litter on aquatic beetles

Rebekah Magee (MS student)- Fall 2017 to Spring 2019

-Effects of leaf litter on tree frog oviposition site selection

Daniel Bampoh (PhD student)- Fall 2016 to Summer 2019

(Purdue University, co-mentored with Pat Zollner)

-Effects of animal movement strategies on active subsidy distributions

Jacob Peterson (MS student)- Fall 2016 to Summer 2018

(Oklahoma State University, co-mentored with Sam Fuhlendorf)

-Effects of anthropogenic features on Lesser Prairie-Chicken long distance movements

Undergraduate

JD Flores 2021 to 2023

-Effects of leaf diversity on colonizing invertebrates and decomposition in ponds

Emma Michael Spring 2022 to 2023

-Effects of temperature on tannin degradation

Medea Lowry Winter to Summer 2022

Annie Huckaby, Taylor Brewer Spring 2022

Paige Carrington- Winter 2021 

-Effects of light on frog calling activity

Brent Lawson- Spring 2020 to 2021

-Effects of leaf litter diversity on mosquito habitat selection

Peyton Franklin- Spring 2020 to 2021

-Effects of environmental variables on frog calling behavior

Josh Odom- Fall 2019 to 2020

-Effects of impermeable substrate on frog occupancy

Casey Jackson- Spring/Summer 2020

-Upstream/Downstream comparison of macroinvertebrates in relation to Ruston Wastewater Treatment Plant 

Kevin Smith- Winter 2019 to Fall 2020

-Effects of leaf species diversity on water tannin concentrations

Joseph Aubert- Winter 2019 to Spring 2020

-Effects of soil on tannin removal from the water column

David Johnson- Spring 2019 to Winter 2020

-Tannin concentrations in natural ponds

-Plant decomposition in salt marsh

Grace Cohenour- Fall 2018 to Spring 2019

-Effects of pond microbial communities on tannin degradation

Grant Phillips- Spring 2018 to Winter 2019 

-Effects of leaf litter species on aquatic beetle pond colonization

Ian Lovemore- Fall 2017 to Spring 2018- Currently in Nursing School

-Effects of leaf litter species on water chemistry

Madison Aiken- Spring 2015, Summer 2016 (Oklahoma State University)

-Effects of forestry practices on the captures of small reptiles

-Meta-analysis of Lesser Prairie-Chicken demographic rates and relationship with habitat and climate

NIMBioS Summer Research Experience- 2014 (University of Tennessee)

Brittany Borribong, Michelle Cruz, Fangyaun Hong (all 3 co-mentored with Sean Hoban)

-Meta-analysis of coastal populations on differences in genetic diversity depending on geographic position within the species range

Luke Pauley- 2010-2012 (University of Missouri)

*Current Career: Statistician

*Funded by the Life Sciences for Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program and the Conservation Biology Program (both at Mizzou)

*Projects under my supervision: 

-Effects of mosquito insecticides on amphibians and aquatic communities- manuscript published in the Journal of Herpetology

-Ability for plants to take up nutrients from dead amphibians

Paula Castello- 2009-2012 (University of Missouri)

*Current Career: Graduate student at Louisiana State University studying environmental biology

*Funded by the Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology program (NSF)

*Projects under my supervision:

-Effects of the forest composition around ponds on amphibian and macroinvertebrate communities

-Effects of leaf species and pond characteristics on macroinvertebrate colonization of leaves in ponds

-Effects of leaf litter species on reciprocal export of amphibian biomass- manuscript published in Oecologia

Kara Cohagen- 2008-2009 (University of Missouri)

*Current Career: Middle School Science Teacher

*Funded by the Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology program (NSF)

*Projects under my supervision:

-Effects of leaf litter species on reciprocal export of amphibian biomass- manuscript published in Oecologia

-Effects of leaf litter leachate on tadpoles- manuscript published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry