2019
December
Congratulations to undergraduate Morgan Fleming on the successful defense of her Honors Thesis and her graduation (summa cum laude)!
Morgan graduating summa cum laude
Morgan at her Honors Thesis defense
September
Kimberly’s new review article on impacts of climate change in the tropics was featured in the UT news and on the Office of Research and Engagement website.
August
Kimberly was an invited participant in the workshop Food System Impacts of Pests & Pathogens in a Changing Climate at the Aspen Institute in Colorado. The workshop brought together scientists from around the world to generate new fields of empirical research on methods and societal impacts of pests and pathogens in a changing world.
The Sheldon Lab attended the Ecological Society of America meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, and four team members presented for the first time at a national meeting!
June
Kimberly and new postdoc Ethan Linck traveled to Ecuador for dung beetle work in the Andes and Amazon. Highlights of the trip included meeting the Vice President of Ecuador and seeing a particularly beautiful ambassador of the Amazon, a two-toed sloth. Ethan wrote a nice twitter thread about the trip.
Also in June, Kimberly and her collaborator Caleb Hickman from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) ran the second year of their “Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) High School Summer Research Program” in Cherokee, NC. This year, students met with many biologists and interns to learn about scienctific research and monitoring programs. As examples, students visited with a bat biologist, met with National Park rangers to learn about natural history, helped with forestry fieldwork in the Waynesville Watershed, went to Jenkins Creek to discuss elk biology and management, visited genetics and chemistry labs at Western Carolina University, helped with mussel field work and learned about the use of aquatic macroinvertebrates as indices of water quality. Many thanks to Sheldon Lab postdoc Amanda Carter and EBCI Conservation Outreach Coordinator Maria Dunlavey for helping to organize and coordinate this year’s program. To learn more about the program by reading this article in Higher Ground, the UTK Alumni magazine or by visiting the UTK Office of Community Engagement & Outreach website.
Sheldon team members received several grants for summer research and travel. Maggie received a research grant from EEB, Claire was funded by Sigma Xi, and Morgan received a travel grant to attend a national meeting in August. Way to go, team!
May
The 2019 EEB Awards Ceremony was held on May 11 and recognized outstanding efforts by students and staff in the department. Several members of the Sheldon Lab were highlighted for recent fellowships and grants. In addition, two folks in the lab won undergraduate awards:
– Will was awarded the EEB Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher for 2019!
– Morgan won the EEB Outsanding Undergraduate Research Symposium award!
April
Graduate student Claire Winfrey received a 2019 NSF GRFP! Congratulations, Claire!
Claire snagged a grant from the Coleopterists Society!
Maggie successfully defended her research proposal and has advanced to candidacy!
The Sheldon Lab will welcome our newest postdoc, Dr. Ethan B. Linck in June 2019!
Big congrats to undergraduates Morgan Fleming and Anna Raney who both received Summer Undergraduate Research Internships to carry out independent projects in the lab!
March
So proud of undergrad Will Kirkpatrick who was accepted to the University of Arkansas PhD program in Biology and awarded a prestigious UofA Doctoral Academy Fellowship! We will miss you, Will, but look forward to watching you grow as a researcher.
During the Nonprofit Day for the Office of Community Engagement and Outreach, the Sheldon Lab presented a poster on our Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians High School Research Program. The NonProfit Day event was designed to showcase the ways that nonprofits and government can partner with UT.
