Congratulations to Bianca for her winning proposal to conduct exploratory research on the microbiome of the small mammals in Kenya. The competitive award, from the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES), is offered to graduate students to pursue research, training, and travel abroad. Bianca will use the award to study how the microbiomes of a diverse guild of small mammal species differ in the presence or absence of large mammalian herbivores, and across a climatic gradient, at Mpala Research Centre.

Congratulations to Molly Magid for her Voss Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Environmental Science and Communication! This prestigious award will support Molly's amazing independent study and honors research, including summer fieldwork opportunities in Kenya.

Molly's research is at the nexus of cutting-edge molecular ecology and good old-fashioned fieldwork in conservation biology: using fly-derived DNA to help characterize vertebrate communities in diverse habitats. Basically, the flies find evidence of what vertebrates occur in local environments -- by sucking blood, eating carrion, ovipositing on feces, etc. -- and then provide us the genetic evidence. This evidence will enable our conservation partners to account for rare and cryptic animals in their activities.

This project is in collaboration with colleagues at Biodiversity Initiative (Equatorial Guinea) and Mpala Research Centre (Kenya). 

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.