Archive 2019

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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