Zack joined the Shogren Lab in the Fall of 2021 as a PhD student. Zack finished his BS in Marine Science and MS in Coastal Marine and Wetland Studies at Coastal Carolina University, where he worked on several water quality projects where he looked at trends in nutrients and fecal bacteria in coastal and river systems. Zack will be working on a project focusing on river biogeochemistry and the roles of particles in the system. He is excited to explore and learn about the new environment here in Alabama!

Taylor graduated with her BS in Biology from The University of Alabama and joined the lab in Spring 2022 as a master’s student. During her bachelor’s degree, she worked as a research assistant in the Atkinson freshwater ecology lab. During her MS, Taylor will focus on how crayfish communities respond to stream intermittency in the Southeast and the interactions between aquatic invasive species and native species, specifically freshwater mussels, and invasive corbicula fluminea. When not in the field or the lab, Taylor enjoys spending my time with her horses, cats, and dogs.

Jacob graduated with his BS in Interdisciplinary Studies from The University of Alabama and joined the lab in Summer 2023 as a master’s student. During his BS, he studied the impacts of environmental variation and anthropogenic disturbance on Alabama’s Gulf Coastal Plain forests since the 1820s. As an MS student, he is focusing on the influence of flow intermittency and other disturbances on ecosystem functioning and insect communities in headwater streams. Outside of research, you can often still find him hiking, snorkeling, and practicing archery.