2018 Archive

September 2018

  • Edna and I just returned from an amazing trip to Cienfuegos, Cuba, to join our colleagues from Dauphin Island Sea Lab, including Alison Robertson, to study algal blooms in freshwater and marine systems.  Honestly, this might have been the best field trip I have ever had.  The people we worked with could not have been more welcoming and supportive.  I hope to return soon.
cuba research
cuba research
cuba research
  • Pandora’s meta-analysis project has been published in Aquaculture.  This is the 21st paper produced from the class and first lead by an MS student.  You are awesome, Pandora.  Wadsworth, P., A. E. Wilson, and W. C. Walton. 2019. A meta-analysis of growth rate in diploid and triploid oysters. Aquaculture 499:9-16.(PDF)

August 2018

  • This month has been incredibly busy… 
  • Lily and I attend SIL in Nanjing, China, as well as seeing our friends at Nanjing Normal University.  On the way, we saw The Forbidden City and the Great Wall.  Incredible experience!
china trip
great wall
  • Our REU Site has ended after 10 productive weeks.  We have had some terrific groups in the past, but this is probably the best.  I am expecting several papers to be produced from this cohort.  Good job,y’all.
REU 2018

July 2018

  • Our NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity proposal has been funded!  I am psyched to be working with Dave Hambright and Lee Krumhotz (University of Oklahoma), Hans Paerl (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Morgan Steffen (James Madison University) to better understand HABs.  We are looking for students to join us to work on this project.  Interested?  Contact me.
  • I was recently elected to join the National Harmful Algal Bloom Committee, which helps motivate research, education, and policies related to algal blooms.  Looking forward to joining the team.  
  • I was just notifed that I am the southeastern US winner of the 2018 USDA Food and Agriculture Sciences Excellence in Teaching award.  My great students share this award with me.  One of the nice perks of this award is that I get to participate in the awards banquent in one of my favorite cities, New Orleans. 
  • We have been getting some press interest in our new BioScience paper focused on assessing undergrad research experiences, inlcuding Inside Higher EdCampus TechnologyEurekAlert!AIBS, and AU College of Agriculture.

June 2018

May 2018

  • Mary’s class project has been published!  Congrats, Mary and Althea!  Your persistence paid off. Delaney, M., A. ArchMiller, D. P. Delaney, A. E. Wilson, and E. J. Sikora. 2018. Effectiveness of fungicide on soybean rust in the southeastern United States: a meta-analysis. Sustainability 10:1784. (PDF)
  • Mario has returned to Brazil to complete his PhD next month and then join the drinking water industry.  He will be greatly missed but we know that we will see him again.
Mario departure
  • Yang’s limnocorral experiment showing strong effects of hydrogen peroxide treatments on toxic cyanobacteria in an aquaculture pond has been accepted for publication.  Cool study, Yang.  Yang, Z., R. P. Buley, E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa, M. U.G. Barros, S. Rajendran, and A. E. Wilson. 2018. Hydrogen peroxide treatment promotes chlorophytes over toxic cyanobacteria in a hyper-eutrophic aquaculture pond. Environmental Pollution 240:590-598. (PDF)
  • Edna, Lily, and I lead educational events at the Lee County Water Festival. It was great to work with our local 4th graders. 
Lee County Water Festival - edible aquifer
Lee County Water Festival

April 2018

  • Our paper showing strong, clear short- and long-term effects of REU experiences on participants has been accepted at BioScience.  Anyone who has experience working with REU programs won’t be surprised by our findings, but we hope that our study will encourage more students and faculty to be interested in participating and leading REU programs, respectively.  Wilson, A. E., J. L. Pollock, I. Billick, C. Domingo, E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa, E. Nagy, T. D. Steury, and A. Summers. 2018. Assessing science training programs: Structured undergraduate research programs make a difference. BioScience 68(7):529-534. (Website) (Editor’s Choice)
  • Edna lead a great outreach event at our local museum.  All the kids wanted to look through the scope to see Daphnia
Edna outreach museum
Edna museum outreach
  • Edna and I gave an outreach talk about Secchi disks to a great group of high school students.  Definitely future limnologists. 
HS Secchi outreach
  • Rachel Zitomer (2012 REU student) just learned that she was awarded an NSF GRFP to attend Oregon State University this fall.  Good work, Rachel! 
  • Our German buddy, Bettina Welz, came back to visit us for spring break!  We miss Bettina. 
Bettina cookout

March 2018

  • LeeAnn just learned that she is a recipient of an AU Undergraduate Research Fellowship that she will use to conduct an awesome experiment she proposed next academic year.  Congrats, LeeAnn!
  • Another great prison outreach event with Edna and Ash Abebe at Staton Correctional Facility.  Our students were incredible, as always.
Ash and Edna
  • Our extension article describing some of our efforts to use ecology to control toxic algae in aquaculture is out.  Wilson, A. E.,E. G. Fernandez, R. Buley, and L. A. Roy. 2018. Is sustainable control of toxic algae a reality for catfish aquaculture? Fish Farming News 2018(1):7-8. (PDF)
  • Edna’s and my short extension article targeting drinking water utilities dealing with toxic cyanobacteria has been published.  In short, we strongly encourage all water resource managers to get a microscope and some training to identify phytoplankton in their waterbodies.  Wilson, A. E. and E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa. 2018. Preparing water resource managers to identify and measure toxic cyanobacteria. Streamlines Spring 2018:18. (PDF)
  • Our cow pond paper is finally out.  In this study, we learned that cow access to ponds can reduce abundance of toxic cyanobacteria due to increased bioturbation (i.e., cows walking in ponds makes them muddy!).  Wilson, A. E., M. F. Chislock, Z. Yang, M. U.G. Barros, and J. F. Roberts. 2018. Pond bank access as an approach for managing toxic cyanobacteria in beef cattle pasture drinking water ponds. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 190:247. (PDF)

February 2018

  • Ryan has gotten some cool press about his new Nature Communications paper.
  • Our REU Site in Warm-water aquatic ecology is nearing the end of our student recruitment efforts.  We have got a bunch of awesome undergraduates heading to Auburn this summer.  It will be another terrific REU summer. 
  • My old pal from NSF, Sophie George, invited me to visit her at Georgia Southern to share some of my lab’s research.  It was a great trip! 
  • The n-fixation master, Thad Scott, finally offered a hands-on training session for me.  The trip to Baylor was excellent.  Lots of great food, fellowship, and n-fixation.  I also happened along the Fixer Upper compound during a morning breakfast hunt.  I had no idea what the Magnolia Market was (thanks to a lack of cable tv for many years) but learned that it is the center of the Waco universe.
Vitek's
Thad Scott - Mr. N-fixation
Magnolia Market - Waco, TX

January 2018

  • Bryant’s thesis has found its way into circulation at Freshwater Science.  Nice job, Bryant!  Baker, B. C., A. E. Wilson, and J. T. Scott. 2018. Phytoplankton N2 fixation efficiency and its effect on harmful algal blooms. Freshwater Science 37(2):264-275.(PDF)
  • The WilsonLab is growing again!  We are excited to welcome three new undergrads, AnaSara Kipp, Kate Baker, and Harris Pride, to the team.
  • Yusuf recently learned that his work defining river plumes in Lake Michigan using stable isotopes has been accepted for publication.  Great job, Yusuf.  This is the first paper from our Lake Michigan river plume project.  Jameel, Y., S. Stein, E. Grimm, C. Roswell, A. E. Wilson, C. Troy, T. Höök, and G. Bowen. 2018. Physicochemical characteristics of a southern Lake Michigan river plume. Journal of Great Lakes Research 44:209-218.(PDF)