Category: Uncategorized

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the lab has received more good news!  Our USDA proposal (led by supestar, Brendan Higgins) that originated from an REU project has been funded.  Lots of exciting work planned converting wastewater into Daphnia!

During a recent class, I had an epiphany for a new lab domain name – http://www.WarAlgae.com – although it might only connect with fellow Auburn tigers.  War Algae!!

Our study documenting microcystin poisoning of while pelicans at the Birmingham Zoo is finally out.  Since this project started, we have worked with the zoo to improve the water quality of the moats to protect animal health.  Nice job leading this effort, Stephanie!  McCain, S., R. R. Sim, E. W. Howerth, S. Aschenbroich, S. G.M. Kirejczyk, B. McHale, C. Jerry, J. J. Kottwitz, A. E. Wilson, and R. McManamon. 2020. Myonecrosis and death due to presumed microcystin toxicosis in American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhyncos). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine51(2):407-415. (PDF)

We just learned that our project focused on taste and odor producing organisms was funded by the Ocean University China – Auburn University Joint Center for Aquaculture and Environmental Science.  What a great way to start the new year!  We need to find some new students to join the team to help complete this project!

My past MS tudent, Brie Olsen, who is an ecologist with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality recently helped with the creation of her state’s harmful algal bloom management plan.  This is an excellent resource.  Nice job, Brie!

December 2019

• Matt’s super exciting meta-analysis class project about copepod mating has been published in Journal of Plankton Research: Powers, M. J., A. E. Wilson, K. B. Heine, and G. E. Hill. 2020. The relative importance of various mating criteria in copepods. Journal of Plankton Research 42(1):19-30. (PDF)  In addition, Adelia’s project was just accepted too – Grabowsky, A. and L. Weisbrod. 2020. The effectiveness of library instruction for graduate/professional students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Research 15(2):100-137. (PDF)These make 12 class publications in 2019!!  Wow!!!  My students are fantastic!
• I was honored to receive two awards at the recent College of Agriculture faculty and staff awards event, including the Outstanding Commitment to Diversity award as well as the Outstanding Publication Award for Gwendolyn’s Ecology Letters paper. 
• Returned to the annual catfish update meeting in Greensboro, AL, to tell the farmers all about the work that the lab has completed this year that has direct implications for water quality management.  I am psyched to see that foodweb manipulations are working as we (and Shapiro and many others) predicted!  Ecology can be an amazing management tool!

November 2019

• So happy to report that the 10th US Harmful Algal Symposium was a huge success.  A record number of attendees, presentations (including freshwater focused), and fun.  Special thanks to Alison Robertson and her lab for carrying most of the burden for preparing for this event.  The next symposium will be held in New York in 2021.  Glad others are organizing that one.
• I had the opportunity to give a talk about algal blooms to the highly engaged and interested Alabama Association for Food Protection.  Lots of great questions that ultimately caused the conference organizer to get the hook to pull me off the stage!
• My meta-analysis students have done it again…record fast publishing of their class projects.  It took Harsha and Emmanuel less than 6 months to complete, submit, revise, and get their manuscripts accepted!  Incredible!!  Galkanda-Arachchige, H., A. E. Wilson, and D. A. Davis. 2020. Success of fishmeal replacement through poultry by-product meal in aquaculture feed formulations: a meta-analysis. Reviews in Aquaculture 12(3):1624-1636. (PDF) and Ayipio, E., D. Wells, A. McQuilling, and A. E. Wilson. 2019. Comparisons between aquaponics and conventional hydroponic crop yield: a meta-analysis. Sustainability 11:6511. (PDF)

October 2019

• After many years of encouragement, the lab has a new logo!  Thanks to Matt for leading this effort.  Already have t-shirts and stickers to share with friends of the lab. 

• Had a fun whirlwind trip to the University of South Florida to spend time with Andrew Kramer, his colleagues and their students to share some of my lab’s research.  Great trip!!
• Another publication from my meta-analysis class. This one in BioEssays!  Good job, Ash, Hannah, and Steve.  Abebe, A., H. E. Correia, and F. S. Dobson. 2019. Estimating a key parameter of mammalian mating systems: the chance of siring success for a mated male. BioEssays 1900016 (PDF)

September 2019

• Collaboration has paid off once again!  Congrats to Katherine for organizing a global survey of Microcystis and their associated interactome communities.  Cook, K. V., C. Li, H. Cai, L. Krumholz, K. D. Hambright, H. W. Paerl, M. Steffen, A. E. Wilson, M. Burford, H.-P. Grossart, D. Hamilton, H.-L. Jiang, A. Sukenik, D. Latour, E. Meyer, J. Padisak, B. Qin, R. Zamor, and G. Zhu. 2020. The global Microcystis interactome. Limnology and Oceanography 65:S194-S207. (PDF)
• The recent dog deaths due to toxic algae have kept my phone busy with concerned pet owners, water resource managers, and the press.  Here are some examples of fun outreach – Opelika-Auburn News, Alabama Extension, and Columbus’s NBC station WLTZ First News. 

August 2019

• The early bird registration and abstract submission deadlines for the US Harmful Algal Bloom Symposium are looming (August 31).  Register today!
• Mario returned to visit us all the way from Brazil!  We miss that guy.

• This summer has been incredibly busy, especially considering the recent reports of dogs dying around the US due to algal blooms.  Auburn University recently asked me to comment on these events through their Expert Answers social media campaign.
• After the REU program ended, I had a chance to get away with my family to explore Connecticut and Virginia.  Even got to watch little man compete at the State Games of America.  Good times.

July 2019

• Our REU Site just ended.  This was the best REU cohort ever.  Expecting big things from them.

• Another successful daycare outreach event with the REU students!

• The lab is growing again.  Welcome, Angelea, our new MS student!

June 2019

• Two fun field trips with my REU students.  First was a camping trip at Big Lagoon State Park (Pensacola, FL) and the second was a weekend getaway at the Laura S. Walker State Park (Waycross, GA) where we toured the Okefenokee Swamp and hungout with Checo’s Georgia Southern Univ REU Site.

May 2019

• Our REU progam is finally underway!  Ten execellent students from around the country.

April 2019

• More good news for my past meta-analysis students.  Kyle’s and Ben’s class projects have been accepted for publication.  These are publications #28 and #29 from the class.  Nice job, Kyle and Ben!  David, K. T., A. E. Wilson, and K. M. Halanych. 2019. Sequencing disparity in the genomic era. Molecular Biology and Evolution 36(8):1624.1627. (Website)  McKenzie, B. A., A. E. Wilson, and S. Zohdy. 2019. Aedes albopictus is a competent vector of Zika virus: a meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 14(5):e0216794. (Website) 
• Kayleigh’s class project is generating a bunch of press (see full Altmetric list). Check these stories out – New York Times article; Newsweek article; MSN article
• I just spent some time in DC to participate in an NSF REU PI workshop.  While there, I got to see many old friends, the beautiful cherry blossoms around the tidal basin, and the new Henrietta Lacks portrait.  In addition, I tasted the new meatless Impossible Burger and met my US Senator, Doug Jones.  In short, it was an awesome trip. 

• I was honored to be the keynote speaker for 2019 Annual Environmental Science Student and Faculty Retreat at Florida Atlantic University.  I met many amazing students conducting exciting research.  The lunch buffet was the best I have seen at a college campus.

• Riley’s extension article highlighting hydrogen peroxide control of algal blooms in catfsh ponds is out!  Buley, R. P., Z. Yang, M. F. Gladfelter, and A. E. Wilson. 2019. Controlling blue-green algal blooms in aquaculture ponds using hydrogen peroxide. Fish Farming News 2019(1):3-5. (PDF)
• Mario’s thorough of a huge water quality of Brazilian drinking water reservoirs has been accepted for piublication.  Nice job, Mario!  Barros, M. U. G., A. E. Wilson, J. I. R. Leitão, S. P. Pereira, R. P. Buley, E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa, and J. Capelo-Neto. 2019. Environmental factors associated with toxic cyanobacterial blooms across 20 drinking water reservoirs in a semi-arid region of Brazil. Harmful Algae 86:128-137. (PDF)

March 2019

• My students and I were able to attend the World Aquaculture Society in New Orleans to present our research and to learn more about new aquaculture research.  I love New Orleans.  The conference was good, too. 
• Michael has recently gotten two papers published from his dissertation.  Good job, Michael!  Chislock, M. F., R. B. Kaul, K. A. Durham, O. Sarnelle, and A. E. Wilson. 2019. Eutrophication mediates rapid clonal evolution in Daphnia pulicaria. Freshwater Biology 64:1275-1283. (PDF) and Chislock, M. F., O. Sarnelle, L. M. Jernigan, V. R. Anderson, A. Abebe, and A. E. Wilson. 2019. Consumer adaptation mediates top-down regulation across a productivity gradient. Oecologia190:195-205. (PDF)

February 2019

• I was just notified that my promotion application for Full Professor was successful.  Time to celebrate! 
• Gwendolyn’s ambitious meta-analysis class project was just accepted at Ecology Letters.  You are incredible, Gwendolyn.  Bird, G., C. Kaczvinsky, A. E. Wilson, and N. B. Hardy. 2019. When do herbivorous insects compete? A phylogenetic meta-analysis. Ecology Letters 22:875-883. (PDF) (2019 College of Agriculture Outstanding Publication Award)
• Two more publications from my 2018 meta-analysis class!  Good work, Kyle and Kayleigh.  The speed of these publications is unbelieveable.  Heine, K. B., A. Abebe, A. E. Wilson, and W. R. Hood. 2019. Copepod respiration increases by 7% per degree °C increase in temperature: a meta-analysis. Limnology and Oceanography Letters 4(3):53-61.(Website)  Chalkowski, K., A. E. Wilson, C. A. Lepczyk, and S. Zohdy. 2019. Who let the cats out? a global meta-analysis on risk of parasitic infection in indoor versus outdoor domestic cats (Felis catus). Biology Letters 15:20180840. (PDF)
• I was able to attend ASLO 2019 in beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Our session focused on lessons learned by undergraduate researchers and their mentors was super successful. I also got to see a bunch of friends from around the world.

• My family recently visited our family and friends in Michigan, including Ace Sarnelle (Michigan State), Chris Steiner (Wayne State), Emily Grman (Eastern Michigan, and Leah Robinson (Michigan).  Despite the frigid temperatures and snow, it was a great trip full of good eating and great conversations. 

• While in Michigan and talking about G. Evelyn Hutchinson’s impact on science (see me on far left in red).  I learned about this cool website where folks can see their academic tree.  See where you fit into the broader history of science at https://academictree.org/

January 2019

• I recently held a phytoplankton identification workshop for a bunch of awesome catfish and shrimp farmers in west Alabama.  This was the best phytoplankton workshop I have lead yet.  The students were super eager to talk about and identify algae.

December 2018

• Finally a vacation!  Got to camp for three nights at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas 70 miles west of Key West.  Crazy beautiful!  I will be back soon.

November 2018

• I recently received three awards, including two from Auburn University’s College of Agriculture – High Impact Paper of the Year Award and a Grantsmanship Award, and a USDA Food and Agriculture Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award (southeastern region).  The best part of the USDA award was being able to celebrate at the award reception with my family in one of our favorite cities, New Orleans.

• I just returned from a week in Tihany, Hungary, to assist my colleague, Ferenc Jordan, with a new mesocosm facility that his group has installed at the Balaton Limnological Institute.  This might be most impressive research station on the planet.  It is definitely the most beautiful. 

• Three…yes, three more papers have been produced from my meta-analysis class, and we have several other manuscripts in review.  My students are fantastic!  Martinez, A. S., J. R. Willoughby, and M. R. Christie. 2018. Genetic diversity in fishes in influenced by habitat type and life-history variation. Ecology and Evolution 8:12022-12031. (PDF); Roth, J. 2019. Sylvatic plague management and prairie dogs – a meta-analysis. Journal of Vector Ecology 44(1):1-10 ; Dobson, F. S., A. Abebe, H. Correia, C. Kasumo, and B. Zinner. 2018. Multiple paternity and number of offspring in mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285:20182042. (PDF)
• Mark Liles has gotten us over the hump with the reviewers at Aquaculture.  The whole pond experiment where we tested the impact of a probiotic on catfish and pond health has been accepted!  Thurlow, C. M., M. A. Williams, A. Carrias, C. Ran, M. Newman, J. Tweedie, E. Allison, L. N. Jescovitch, A. E. Wilson, J. S. Terhune, and M. R. Liles. 2019. Bacillus velezensis AP193 exerts probiotic effects in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and reduces aquaculture pond eutrophication. Aquaculture 503:247-356.(PDF)

October 2018

• I am psyched to officially be a part of the Coosa Riverkeeper Advisory Board.  This is an excellent group of folks with an important job to protect one of Alabama’s greatest water resources.
• Every now and then I get to visit my NSF friends.  I miss those folks so much.  John Schade hosted the best cookout.  I even got to see Edna for a bit during her time in DC.  I will be back again soon.

• I was honored to return to ADEM’s annual surface water meeting to share our ADEM-AU project results with our water utility colleagues throughout Alabama.  The large crowd was happy to hear that algal toxins were basically non-existent at our drinking water intakes.

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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.

• 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!

• 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.

• Several new undergraduate and graduate students have joined the lab.  Welcome!  Let’s get to work.

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 Ed, Campus Technology, EurekAlert!, AIBS, and AU College of Agriculture.

June 2018

• Edna is heading to DC for six months to serve as ASLO’s summer communication intern where she will help prepare for their upcoming meeting in Puerto Rico.  Congrats, Edna!.   

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.

• 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. 

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 and I gave an outreach talk about Secchi disks to a great group of high school students.  Definitely future limnologists. 

• 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. 

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.

• 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.

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)

December 2017

• Ryan’s meta-analysis class project focused on the value of bird carotenoids for evaluating individual animal quality has been published.  Good job, Ryan!  Weaver, R. J., E. S. A. Santos, A. M. Tucker, A. E. Wilson, and G. E. Hill. 2018. Carotenoid metabolism strengthens the link between feather coloration and quality. Nature Communications 9:73.(Website)
• Yang has departed the lab.  It has been a great year.  We will see you again in Nanjing this August at the SIL meeting!

• I had to drive through Alabama’s earliest blizzard to give a seminar at the University of Alabama.  The rivalry between our schools knows no boundaries.  Trip was excellent, thanks to Jen Howeth.  Roll Tide!

• My teaching and research efforts were recently honored by the College of Agriculture.  I truly appreciate both awards but of the two, I am most excited about the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Instruction that would not be possible without the hard work of my many fantastic students.  My buddy, Sushil Adhikari, received the College of Agriculture High Impact paper award.  Good job, Sushil!

• I was fortunate to spend two days in west Alabama (beautiful Demopolis and Greensboro) to talk with catfish and shrimp farmers about their production struggles.  Excellent meetings and even better food!

November 2017

• I recently learned that all of my service for ASLO has paid off.  I am officially an ASLO Fellow!
• This year’s 9th US Symposium on Harmful Algae was a huge success.  Not only did Edna receive the best student poster (you rock, Edna!), our (Alison Robertson, Dave Hambright, and Matt Waters) proposal to host the next Symposium in November 2019 at Orange Beach, Alabama, was selected.  We have lots of work to do between now and then.  
• Mallary Clay’s REU project has finally made its way to Behaviour.  This is our 21st publication from our REU Site in warm-water aquatic ecology.
• Two sessions on harmful algal blooms that I proposed with excellent scientists from around the world for the 2018 Summer ASLO meeting in Victoria, British Columbia have been accepted. One session is more general and will focus on marine and freshwater HABs (Bryan Brooks (lead), SS71) while the other session is more focused on cyanobacteria (Ted Harris (lead), SS07).  Please joins us. 

October 2017

• Edna was awarded 2nd place for her poster about our drinking water project in the College of Agriculture Graduate Student Poster Showcase.  Good job, Edna.  We will need to invest in a new shelf to hold all of your awards. 
• I had the opportunity to return to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management Annual Surface Water meeting in Montgomery for the third year in a row.  This year, I was able to share exciting results from our state-wide drinking water reservoir survey.
• Edna was just formally honored by the AL/MS AWWA for her research.  Congrats, Edna!

• My family got a chance to return to Arlington, VA, to see our old friends.  It was an awesome reunion.

• My trip to Hanover, Germany, to participate in the DynaTrait conference was incredible.  A whole week of eco-evo talks focused on freshwater plankton.  How can things get better?  Oh yeah, I got to see some of my European buddies.

• Romi’s meta-analysis project has been accepted for publication.  This is the fastest turnaround time for any paper from my meta-analysis class.  Good job, Romi!  Novriadi, R. 2017. A meta-analysis approach toward fish meal replacment with fermented soybean meal: effects on growth performance and feed conversion ratio. Asian Fisheries Science Journal 30(4):227-244. (PDF)

September 2017

• Edna and I were invited to my alma mater, Young Harris College, to do some recruiting for our graduate program and our new REU Site.  Their campus is beautiful. 

• Bettina has left the building to return to Germany to start her graduate research.  Bettina, you are already missed.  Thanks for joining us.  You are awesome.

• Nathan Hartline, a past AU student, asked me to help do some limnological sampling of DeKalb county fishing lake to figure out why the fish community is doing so well.  I blame good fisheries management. 

• Bettina and I were able to sample some catfish ponds in west Alabama before starting a whole pond experiment.  Lots of algae! 

• Things continue to get busier.  We just learned that our USDA-NIFA proposal to use super Daphnia to control toxic and off-flavor producing cyanobacteria in aquaculture ponds has been funded.  We finally get to run a huge, funded whole pond field experiment!  Thank you, USDA!

August 2017

• The lab is growing!  Welcome to Riley (new PhD student), Trevor (undergrad researcher), Bettina (DAAD Rise scholar), and Madeline (undergrad researcher).  Work hard!
• Our friend from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., Dr. Carrie Solomon, visited the lab as part of our NSF INCLUDES workshop to create effective research training programs for students with disabiltites.  Check out the NPR story about Carrie’s work with deaf undergraduate researchers.

• Thanks to our friend, Jaquice Boyd, from Birmingham Water Works, and the AL/MS AWWA, the lab had a fun-filled night watching the Montgomery Biscuits. Go Biscuits!

July 2017

• Mario Barros, a PhD student from the Universidade Federal do Ceará in Fortaleza, Brazil, just joined the lab for a year. Edna, Mario, and I had a chance to get in our green ponds, and Mario is still around.  That is a good sign.

June 2017

• My family just returned from an awesome week at Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks.  We saw lots of critters, including brown and black bear, pronghorns, elk, many birds, and uinta squirrels.  We will be back.  Plan your trip today.

• Edna just received a $3,000 student scholarship from the Alabama/Mississippi Section of the American Water Works Assocation.  She will be heading to Pt. Clear later this year to talk about her drinking water research.  Congrats, Edna!
• Enrique Doster, a past undergrad researcher in the lab and current DVM/PhD student at Colorado State, was awarded an incredible NSF Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship.  You are still awesome, Enrique.  Keep working hard!
• As part of our AgR SEED project to study algal toxins in Alabama drinking water systems, we are organizing a workshop to train utility professional and state agency scientists about harmful phytoplankton and their toxins.  We even got some folks excited about learning how to measure algal toxins with ELISA.

• Edna and I were invited to talk with incoming freshman participating in the College of Sciences and Math’s STEM Bridge program about undergraduate research.  I think we might have convinced them to get involved with research this fall.  

May 2017

• I am thrilled to report that our Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) proposal to extend our REU Site in warm-water aquatic ecology has been funded.  The program will occur during the summers of 2018-2020.
• I have recently joined the editorial board for the journal, Harmful Algae, and look forward to seeing many exciting and interesting HABs manuscripts.
• Kai’s persistence has paid off.  After several revisions, his interesting paper showing that elevated temperature can impact maternal effects associated with Daphnia tolerance to toxic cyanobacteria has been accepted for publication!  Lyu, K., L. Zhang, L. Gu, X. Zhu, A. E. Wilson, and Z. Yang. 2017. Cladoceran offspring tolerance to toxic Microcystis is promoted by maternal warming. Environmental Pollution 227:451-459. (PDF)
• Jess recently received 3rd place for undergraduate oral presentations in the science and technology section of the Auburn University This is Research Symposium.  Good job, Jess!  
• I recently participated in the Lee County Water Festival where I was able to teach hundreds of 4th graders about (edible) aquifers.  This was a great, important event to educate our future leaders about protecting and managing our precious freshwater resources.

• I love this National Geographic story about geniuses.  This statement from Terence Tao is so true.  What really matters is “hard work, directed by intuition, literature, and a bit of luck.”   

• Christian Moldaenke, from bbe Moldaenke, visited the lab to use some of his company’s new tools to study our green ponds.  It was a very productive and fun visit and gave the lab a chance to get together for a needed cookout.

April 2017

• I was able to spend several days in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and got to see beautiful beaches, rainforests, and cities as well as some old friends. 

March 2017

• Edna just got the fantastic news that she is being awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!  I am so proud of her.  Time to get to work with those pesky Daphnia. 

• Auburn just released a nice news release about the 14 new GRFP fellows at the university.  This is a record!  War Eagle! 
• More good news!  My past PhD student, Michael Chislock, has just accepted a faculty position at SUNY-Brockport to become their new limnologist.  Congrats, Michael!
• Laurel’s REU project was recently accepted at the Journal of Coastal Research.  This is our REU Site’s 20th REU student publication.  Good work, Laurel and Chris.  Low, L. and C. J. Anderson. In press. The threat of a nonnative, invasive apple snail to oligohaline marshes along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Coastal Research. 
• Jessica’s meta-analysis project was accepted for publication in Contemporary Economic Policy.  This is our 17th class publication and first in economics.  Very cool, Jessica!  Merkle, J. and M. Phillips. In press. The wage impact of teachers unions: a meta-analysis. Contemporary Economic Policy. (PDF)
• As expected, ASLO in Honolulu was a great time.  I was able to participate in a leadership workshop with John Downing and Debbie Bronk, co-organize a 2.5 day-long session on HABs, see many old friends, and hangout on the beautiful beaches.

• Edna and I were able to visit Tutwiler to give an outreach talk about eutrophication.  This was our first visit to a women’s prison in Alabama.  It was one of the best outreach events to date.  Incredibly smart and engaged students.  

• Tammy DeVries organized an incredible Wonders of Water program for two local Girl Scout troops.  I talked about drinking water treatment as well as what microscopic creatures live in lakes that we don’t want in our drinking water.  The Girl Scouts enjoyed looking at phytoplankton, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates under the scopes.  Definitely future aquatic ecologists.

• Edna gave a great talk about our Daphnia consumer offense research at the Association of Southeastern Biologists in Montgomery, AL. 

February 2017

• We just learned that Bettina Welz from the Universitat Heidelberg (Germany) will be joining the lab this summer through a DAAD Rise scholarship.  We look forward to seeing you in Auburn, Bettina.  Alan
• I recently led a HABs webinar for nearly 100 water utility professionals in KY-TN through the Kentucky-Tennessee Water Environment Association.  I discussed some of our findings from our USGS project focused on forecasting blooms in the southeastern US.  Participants had some challenging questions for me related to monitoring HABs as well as the effects of wastewater on eutrophication dynamics.    

January 2017

• I had an opportunity to serve on the technical advisory committee for the Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) who will thoroughly evaluate fluorescence-based tools for studying harmful algal blooms in marine and freshwater systems.  A week in Monterey, CA, is good for the soul.  Plus, I was able to meet with HABs scientists from around the world and watch the jellies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.