Chrishen Gomez is the recipient of a prestigious 2019 Merdeka Award Grant from Malaysia, which was established “to reward citizens and organizations who have made outstanding contributions in their respective fields to the people of Malaysia.” 

Chrishen joins the lab for three months as a Visiting Research Associate affiliated with EEB. During his visit, Chrishen will collaborate on DNA-based analyses of animal diets and genetics. Chrishen aims to apply these approaches and his affiliation with the Bornean Carnivore Program to establish a conservation genetics research program that focuses on the Sunda Clouded Leopard in Malaysia.

Check out Chrishen's Merdeka Award acceptance speech to learn about his amazing research and conservation efforts in Borneo!

Amanda Lyons presented a poster at the recent 2019 Diamondback Terrapin Working Group meeting in Wilmington, NC. The presentation shared information about Amanda's innovative turtle-trapping methods, the benefits of capture-mark-release studies for understanding the ecology of the species, and new work in the Kartzinel Lab to apply molecular tools to our understanding of terrapin biology. The presentation was co-authored by grad-student mentor Bianca Brown, and earned a prize as one of the best student presentations--a testament to the impacts of our conservation research and Voss Undergraduate Fellows programs. Congratulations to Amanda and Bianca for this excellent contribution!

New research combining large field experiments and molecular ecology published today in Nature. The paper is featured in a Nature News & Views article by Oswald Schmitz, a 3-min Nature Video, a great PBS NOVA article by Katherine Wu, among others.

Patrick Freeman presented a poster at the IBES Blue Sky that focuses on our ongoing collaboration with Yellowstone National Park. We are working with the National Park Service to elucidate changes in the diets of GPS-collared large-mammal species over the course of their annual migrations. The research that Patrick presented was the culmination of our semester-long research project in BIOL 1515/2015 last fall (he was an amazing TA!). Class participants received dietary samples from the park, extracted DNA from them, performed DNA metabarcoding to analyze animal diets, and prepared reports for the patterns at the park. In this CURE-formatted course, students have a real-world conservation impact. Thanks, Patrick, for your leadership on this project and for presenting your work. This class will be even more exciting and impactful when we offer it again in 2020, thanks to support from HHMI and The Sheridan Center for Teaching & Learning. 

An extensive review by Goheen et al. was just released as a contribution to ​The Year in Ecology and Conservation Biology series. The paper details major conservation lessons learned through large-scale and long-term experiments involving large-mammal communities in Kenya -- an important set of lessons for ecologists and conservation biologists provided by an inspirational team of researchers and collaborators.

ENVS Lunchtime Seminar with Tyler Kartzinel
Thursday, March 15th, 12:00-12:50PM
UEL 106 Classroom, 135 Angell Street
Lunch will be provided!

Tyler Kartzinel is an Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Environment and Society.  Brown students will learn about new courses being offered, including Conservation Biology in the Genomics Age, and unique research opportunities focusing on conservation biology in the Kartzinel Lab.