2015 Student Award Winners

Oral Presentations

Undergraduate Students

First place

Kayla Jane Nowak, Penn State University, Impacts of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus on the establishment and spread of Powdery Mildew in wild squash

Second place

Elsa Claburn Wieboldt, Roanoke College, Land use effects on earthworm community composition on agricultural lands in Southwestern Virginia

Honorable mention

Zachary Barker, Susquehanna University, Temporal variation in leaf litter invertebrates available to Plethodon cinereus

Melissa Harrison Hey, The College of William and Mary, Consequences of plant density and natural versus simulated herbivory for common milkweed

 

Graduate Students

First place

Mary D. Seward, The College of William and Mary, Clonal integration and the sharing of resources in common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca

Second place

Danelle Rae Weakland, Penn State University, Impact of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus on the competitive ability of pollen in a population of transgenic wild squash

Honorable mention

Stephanie A. Dowell, Fordham University, Monitoring monitors: Genetically sourcing invasive populations of Nile monitors (Varanus niloticus)

 

Poster Presentations

Undergraduate Students

First place

Rebecca Ann Wilkes, Washington and Jefferson College, On the border: Is emerald ash borer associated with ash trees exposed to higher light intensity?

Second place

Danielle Bara, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Spatial distribution of American chestnut seedlings and saplings in a forest tract along the highest ridge of the New Jersey Highlands

Graduate Students

First place

Kimberly Plank, Rutgers University. The root of the matter: A phylogenetic study of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme distribution within the plant family Poaceae (grass) and the highly invasive genus Bromus

Second place

Mallory Anne Hagadorn, Salisbury University, Gut microbial community in Maryland populations of Onthophagus taurus Schreber

Honorable mention

Alexis Kleinbeck, Rutgers University, Modeling the impacts of sea level rise on ecosystem services of the urban-coastal fringe in Jamaica Bay, New York.