Undergraduate Awards
Goldwater Scholarship
Christian Boudreaux
Noah Garrett
Alyssa Stoner
James Meredith Changemaker Award Finalist
Logan Thomas
Leaders for Tomorrow National Scholarship
Brady Bass
Destiny Kirksey
Norquist Scholarship
Daniel Cuenca
Kayla Morgan
Simon Nguyen
Trent Smith
Shoemaker Scholarship
Jessy Gardner
Graci Porter
Grace Thompson
Camryn White
Sigma Xi Grant
Gabrielle Morris
Taylor Medal
Zynub Al-Sherri
Thomas Berry
Sarah Brownlee
Andrea Cleveland
Rylie Mangold
Anna Robertson
Alyssa Stoner
Undergraduate Publications
Nicole Jones published “Sleep Duration is Associated with Caudate Volume and Executive Function” in Brain Imaging and Behavior’s Online Edition
Graduate Students’ Degree Completion 2022- 2023
Josh Rangel – MS, Summer 2022 – Advisor: Dr. Glenn Parsons
Laura West – MS, Summer 2022 – Advisor: Dr. Lainy Day
Clement Agyemang – MS, December 2022 – Advisor: Dr. Brad Jones
Ruric Bowman – MS, Spring 2023 – Advisor: Dr. Chris Leary
Griffin Williams – Ph.D., Spring 2023 – Advisor: Dr. Steve Brewer
Xia Li – Ph.D., Summer 2023 – Advisor: Dr. Erik Hom
Graduate Student Features
Savannah Draud – Ph.D., featured on Good Things on SuperTalkTV for her outreach program to public schools. https://youtu.be/odfgwksdcCQ
Graduate Student Awards Spring 2023
Neuroscience Research Showcase
Matthew Thibodeaux – MS, – Advisor: Dr. Lainy Day
NASA/ Mississippi Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellow
Patrick Allison – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Ryan Garrick
Jessi Stamn – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Richard Buchholz
Wild Animal Initiative Grant
Laney Nute – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Richard Buchholz
American Museum of Natural History’s Lerner-Gray Fund for Marine Research – $2400
Kayleigh Mazariegos – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Richard Buchholz
Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research – $1000
Laney Nute – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Richard Buchholz
Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology Leonard and Deborah Ferrington Graduate Research Award
Sara Lucia Anaya Morales – Ph.D., – Advisor Dr. Michel Ohmer
Katherine S. McCarter Award from the Ecological Society of America
Alicia Arrington-Thomas – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Steve Brewer
McRight Scholarship
Prabin Dawadi – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Erik Hom
Sara Lucia Anaya Morales – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Michel Ohmer
Bowen Tan – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Sixue Chen
Steve and Mary Ann Cockerham Scholarship
Prashanna Koirala – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Joshua Bloomekatz
Harini Saravanan – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Joshua Bloomekatz
Anupa Wasti Thapaliya – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Yongjian Qiu
Doctors Wong-Bridges Scholarship
Sabnam Ojha – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Sarah Liljegren
Georgia St. Amand Laboratory Teaching Assistant Scholarship
Gayatri Sharma – Ph.D. – Advisor: Dr. Patrick Curtis
Reginald Ott Memorial Scholarship
Madleyn Jewess – MS, – Advisor: Dr. Steve Brewer
UM Graduate School Summer Research Fellowship
Rabina Shrestha – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Joshua Bloomekatz
Tahmina Akter – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Sixue Chen
Laney Nute – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Richard Buchholz
CBCR Summer Graduate Research Grant
Savanna Draud – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Jason Hoeksema
Maddie Jewess – MS, – Advisor: Dr. Steve Brewer
Kayleigh Mazariegos – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Richard Buchholz
UM Graduate Achievement Award
Abhishesh Bajracharya – Ph.D., – Advisor: Dr. Yongjian Qiu
Faculty Awards
Melinda and Ben Yarbrough M.D., Senior Professor Research Award for Natural Sciences
Dr. Jason Hoeksema
Cora Lee Graham Award
Dr. Becky Symula
Human Anatomy and Physiology Society Secretary elected
Dr. Carol Britson
HAPS 2023 First Timer Award
Dr. Joshua Schmerge
Faculty Features and Publications
Dr. Richard Buchholz featured in UMToday “Biologist, Students Promote Research on Sustainable Ecotourism” September 2022
Dr. Jason Hoeksema featured in New York Times’ “Are Trees Talking Underground? For Scientists, It’s in Dispute” published November 7, 2022
Dr. Erik Hom’s “Mutualism-Enhancing Mutations Dominate Early Adaptation in a two-species Microbial Community,” published in Nature Ecology and Evolution January 2023
Dr. Mika Jekabsons’ “Breast Cancer Cells that Preferentially Metastasize to Lung or Bone are More Glycolytic, Synthesize Serine at Greater Rates, and Consumes Less ATP and NADPH than Parent MDA-MB-231 Cells” published in BMC journal January 2023
Dr. Jason Hoeksema’s “Positive Citation Bias and Overinterpreted Results Lead to Misinformation on Common Mycorrhizal Networks in Forests” published in Nature Ecology and Evolution February 2023
Dr. Yongjian Qiu presents “Reveal the Internal Networking of Plant Thermal Responses Using Microdevices” at TEDX Conference hosted at the Ford Center, University of Mississippi February 23, 2023
Dr. Patrick Curtis received 2022 Outstanding Article for “The Transcriptional Regulator CtrA Controls Gene Expression in Alphaproteobacteria Phages: Evidence for a Lytic Deferment Pathway” published in Frontiers in Microbiology
Dr. Tamar Goulet coauthored “Building Consensus Around the Assessment and Interpretation of Symbiodiniaceae Diversity” published in PeerJ March 2023
Dr. Clifford Ochs’ “Rivers of the Lower Mississippi Basin,” published in chapter six in Rivers of North America, volume 2
Dr. Ryan Garrick appeared on Henry Stewart Talks and presented “Principles of Phylogeography and Landscape Genetics” that was broadcast April 30, 2023 Principles of phylogeography and landscape genetics | HSTalks
Dr. Steve Brewer and Dr. Jason Hoeksema co-hosted “Invasions and Ecosystems-Ecosystem Functional Consequences of Plant and Fungal Invasions, and How Dynamics and Management of Invasions are Affected by Global Change and Extreme Climatic Events” at Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University in Australia from May 15-28, 2023
Dr. Tamar Goulet and Dr. Colin Jackson coauthored “Systematic Review of Cnidarian Microbiomes Reveals Insights into the Structure, Specificity, and Fidelity of Marine Associations” and the manuscript has been accepted
Faculty Grants
National Science Foundation Career Award $1,000,000
Dr. Yongjian Qiu
National Institutes of Heath Award $411,969
Dr. Joshua Bloomekatz
National Science Foundation—Plant Genome Research Program $798,630
Dr. Sixue Chen
Mississippi Based RESTORE Act Center of Excellence $615,000
Dr. Colin Jackson
UM Institute for Data Science Grant $30,000
Dr. Richard Buchholz with
Jessi Stamn, Lance Yarbrough,
Yili Jiang
Faculty Promotions
Dr. Lainy Day promoted to rank of Full Professor
Post Doctorate Grants
National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology
Dr. Jenny Cocciardi – Advisor: Dr. Michel Ohmer
Staff Teamwork Award
Tyler Flynn, Gwen Rogers, Candece Stewart, Lance Sullivan, Adam Thebeau
Events:
October 2022 Open House accompanied by Shoemaker’s 1st haunted lab
April 2023 Earth Day at Avent Park assisted in part by Dr. Steve Brewer
May 2, 2023 Multicultural Night hosted by BGSS at Thad Cochran Research Center
