Students in the Spotlight
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Soren Hansen, Doctoral Student in Marine Biology Featured in the Boston Globe
Posted November 2, 2010
Soren Hansen, a doctoral student in Marine Biology and owner of the Sea & Reef Company was featured in the Boston Globe's November 1st issue. The story includes a feature about his tropical fish breeding business. Hansen is a native of Denmark who came to UMaine ten years ago as a grad student and has gradually grown the business to the point where he is now moving to a new facility at UMaine's Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research in Franklin. For the full story, please click here.
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Quenton Tuckett, Biological Science Doctoral Student Receives NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant
Posted October 29, 2010
Quenton Tuckett, Biological Science doctoral student is a recent recipient of a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant. The National Science Foundation awards improvement grants to Ph.D. candidates to improve the quality of their dissertation research. Tuckett will be using the funds to investigate the eco-evolutionary effects of white perch, a common invasive fish species implicated in declining water quality in Maine. Many studies consider the role that ecological processes can have in shaping the traits of organisms. However, Tuckett will be examining how reciprocal interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes can shape the traits of organisms and their environment, potentially affecting water quality. Tuckett's work will take place this summer in Maine ponds and estuaries.
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Christopher Tonra Receives NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant Award
Posted October 29, 2010
Chris Tonra, Ecology and Environmental Sciences doctoral student, for his recent NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant award 'The Role of Breeding Hormones in Seasonal Interactions: How Do Birds Meet the Conflicting Demands of Breeding Preparation and Migration?' The award will help fund Tonra's final year of data collection for his doctoral dissertation.
It is critical that researchers examine how environmental factors act as carry-over effects across different annual cycle stages in order to fully understand how migratory bird populations are regulated. In the American redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), males wintering in superior quality habitats arrive earlier at the breeding grounds and have greater breeding success than those wintering in poor habitats. While these 'seasonal interactions' are well documented, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Energetic demands of spring migration can be compounded by the additional demands of transitioning from the non-breeding to breeding state. Tonra's study focuses on how ecological and endogenous factors interact during this transition in Jamaica, West Indies. It will significantly add to our understanding of how wintering and breeding events are linked and will help resource managers develop effective management plans for migratory populations.
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Rachel Perry, Master of Arts in English Alumna to Receive UMaine-based National Poetry Foundation's First Annual Millay Prize for Poetry
Posted: October, 11th
Poet and Master of Arts in English Alumna, Rachel Perry will receive the University of Maine-based National Poetry Foundation's first annual Millay Prize for Poetry at a ceremony and reading Thursday, Sept. 30. Internationally acclaimed poet and essayist Ann Lauterbach, who served as a judge for in the selection of the first Millay Prize winner, will join Perry for a poetry reading in a special event of the university's New Writing Series. For more information please visit the UMaine News story here.
