Jennifer Alltop is pursuing a PhD in atmospheric science at Columbia University. Jennifer received a BS in astronomy and physics from the University of Virginia. Increased demand for water and decreased supply in the future is a dangerous combination. The regional shifts in moisture and aridity will likely impact politics, economics, health, wildlife, and food supply on an international level. Changes in national averages of temperature, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and runoff will not echo global averages. Some nations will inevitably be hit harder by sustained drought. Jennifer is interested in the spatial correlation between future droughts and present and past droughts. Using GCM model output she can compare future SDDI or PDSI values to present and past reconstructions in North America. A similar approach to Cook et al. (2004) would be adopted. Similarities and differences between drought distribution in the future and the past could shed light on the future response of vegetation, wildlife, rivers, and lakes to drought based on past responses gathered from paleodata. This may also help us understand trigger mechanisms for future drought. Many studies have explored ENSO and PDO-related precipitation anomalies in the extra-tropics. Jennifer would like to look at future multi-year droughts and determine if it is possible that an ENSO or PDO event was involved in providing optimal conditions for a sustained drought.

Clare Aslan is pursuing a PhD in ecology at the University of California, Davis. Clare received a BS in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona. Clare’s research focuses on bird dispersal of invasive plants. She is interested in factors that inhibit bird-plant interactions, instances in which bird-dispersed plants can be assessed for invasive potential prior to introduction, and lag times resulting from birds 'learning' to use newly imported species. In addition, her work through her IGERT program on an intensive group research project investigating the social and economic aspects of rancher reactions to yellow starthistle invasion on rangelands.

Stibniati Atmadja is pursuing a PhD in forest economics from North Carolina State University. Stibniati received a BSc in environmental science and economics from Murdoch University. Coming from a developing country made Stibniati want to understand the way poverty affects natural resource use. Her Masters thesis was about the link between poverty and deforestation, while her PhD dissertation focuses on the effects of time preference (preference between current and future consumption, which is influenced by poverty) on forest use across time. As a research assistant (2002-2005) she helped develop and analyze data from a survey of small woodland owners in North Carolina and Virginia. They focused on areas with high proportions of minority land owners, low household incomes and low education levels. As a visiting researcher in ICRAF (2005), she designed a short study to assess the potential of an Indonesian community forestry program in improving the livelihoods of forest farmers who live on marginal lands. Stibniati enjoyed both endeavors because she observed the way social, economic and natural resource constraints affect decision-making under very different settings.

Ryan Atwell is pursuing his PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology at Iowa State University. Ryan received a BA in religion and psychology from Hope College. Ryan’s area of research expertise is applying systems and qualitative tools to address complexity, non-linearity, emergent properties and cultural phenomenon in the interaction of social and ecological systems. In his Ph.D. research, he studies how strategic restoration of perennial vegetation across Iowa agricultural watersheds can increase community and environmental resilience. He began by creating conceptual models to analyze the interplay between socio-economic and ecological variability. Communication and cultural gaps between scientists, land managers, farmers and policy makers quickly emerged as key barriers to achieving functionally different landscapes. Ryan then obtained a grant from Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture to use ethnographic depth interviews and participatory modeling with farm owners and operators to understand how disconnects in knowledge transfer across socio-cultural systems might be bridged. Ryan is discovering how inter- and intra-personal factors, such as relationships, aesthetics, language and education, play a key role in realization of perennial restoration across landscapes. These factors, that were robust to more traditional quantitative approaches, are crucial to understanding how Iowa agroecosystems do, and can, function. This research has demanded that Ryan integrate his experience in the natural and social sciences, the humanities, environmental education, field research, and landscape ecology in incisive and creative ways.

Florence Bocquet is pursuing a PhD at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Florence received a BS in earth sciences from Bordeaux University, the University of Quebec and McGill University. During July-August 2000, Florence participated in the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP). This program helped her discover and understand the challenges of field work, along with the importance of team work. While conducting numerous research projects at various campsites, program participants crossed the Juneau Icefield from Juneau, AK to Atlin, B.C. on backcountry skis. This was an unforgettably amazing physical and scientific adventure. Thereafter, Florence started a Master's degree program at McGill University, Montreal, Canada (2000-2002). Her thesis research was about synoptic-scale signatures of mesoscale vortices occurring during the summertime in the Montreal region. Currently, she is studying ozone deposition to polar snow (at Summit, Greenland). Two years of field work, from spring to summer (2003 and 2004), were used to measure fluxes of ozone within the first 10m of the boundary layer and within the first 1m of the snowpack. Some of the results are being published. Due to her interest in pursuing field work in cold environments, and her passion for backcountry skiing, her career goal will move to the specific topic of avalanche forecasting research. Eventually she would like to build a portable instrument, which would vertically scan the snowpack and would assess the avalanche potential.

Geoffrey Cook is pursuing a PhD in biological oceanography at the Scripps Institutions of Oceanography. He received a BS in biology/oceanography from the University of British Columbia. Upon completing his BS, he worked as a research assistant examining the impacts of prescribed burns on the endangered New Mexico ridgenose rattlesnake. When that position ended he delved into the world of commerce for a year and a half (i.e. he worked as an account sales manager for PepsiCo to make enough money to repay my student loans). In early 1999, Geoffrey took a position as a research assistant with the Caribbean Conservation Corporation in Tortuguero, Costa Rica as part of their leatherback sea turtle monitoring program. Since that time he has had the opportunity to work extensively in Central and South America conducting research on numerous species of marine turtles as well as spending time in Florida and Jamaica studying sea turtles, alligators and crocodiles. For his MS (in Environmental Science), he conducted a cost-benefit analysis on the implementation of a marine reserve in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary while working as the Lab Coordinator for the Department of Environmental Studies at Florida International University. Through his work at Scripps Institution of Oceanography he wants to develop methods that will protect marine biodiversity while simultaneously moving global fisheries, particularly in developing nations, toward sustainability.

Ethan Coon is pursuing his PhD in applied physics and mathematics at Columbia University. Ethan received his BS in mathematics from the University of Rochester. His research focuses on using mathematical physics and computation to study geophysical processes of the Earth, especially methods for simulating fault networks and earthquake dynamics. He is especially interested in multiscale problems, where localized phenomena such as melting, deformation, and rock properties feed back on global dynamics in interesting ways. When he's not playing graduate student, Ethan enjoys climbing, ultimate, reading, and spending time with quality people.

Nicole Czarnomski is pursuing a PhD in hydrology and limnology at Oregon State University. She received a BS in natural resources and environment from the University of Michigan. Currently, she is in an interdisciplinary water resources program that emphasizes the integration of science and policy in coursework and research. Nicole is pursuing an engineering degree with an emphasis on river restoration and floodplain ecology. Additionally, she is working on a minor in ecosystem informatics supported by an NSF IGERT fellowship. In this program, PhD students from ecology, mathematics, and computer science work collaboratively on developing novel research proposals and combining talents to find new ways to approach ecological questions. This degree compliments her background in ecology and environmental policy. Her undergraduate degree and following employment gave her experience in the development and execution of environmental policies, organizational behavior, and political science. She returned to graduate school and received a Master in forest science examining the effects of land use on large in-stream wood. Afterwards, she worked as a research assistant leading and assisting field efforts, analysis, and authorship of ecophysiology research projects including plant-water relationships, soil water relationships, and ecosystem carbon flux.

Shannon Donovan is a PhD student in environmental science at the University of Idaho. She received her BS in wildlife management from the University of New Hampshire. She also received an M.S. in recreation, parks and tourism resources from West Virginia University in 1999. At WVU, she worked with a diversity of landowners and stakeholders representing the public, private and non-profit sectors in an effort to develop a multi-faceted, statewide, strategic initiative for developing heritage tourism opportunities. The results of her study were used to garner economic support for the development of the West Virginia Scenic Byways program. She is currently working with an interdisicplinary team of students studying the social and biophysical importance of the Palouse landscape. The aim of her study is to investigate landowner and stakeholder perceptions of the Palouse to identify socially acceptable conservation policies within the region. The primary outcome of her dissertation will provide a framework to diffuse conflict between different stakeholder groups by revealing socially significant areas of common ground for conservation on the Palouse. She is currently a social scientist but has benefited greatly from my experiences in the wildlife field. The interdisciplinary nature of her training has allowed her to approach problem solving from a more holistic perspective. She plans to continue working across disciplines in an effort to help develop sustainable solutions to conservation challenges.

Tiffany Duhl is pursuing a PhD in atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, from where she also received a BS in environmental studies and geography. When Tiffany initially entered graduate school, she was enrolled in the PhD program, and was awarded an NSF IGERT fellowship. She spent two summers conducting research at a biological research station where she collected branch-level emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) from plants. BVOC are important both ecologically and in an atmospheric sense. BVOC are known in the realm of chemical ecology as being implicated in plant-plant and plant-insect interactions, as chemical defense compounds, and may also serve a number of other ecological roles. In the context of atmospheric science, they play an important role in ozone chemistry and hence smog episodes. City planners are becoming increasingly aware of the natural component of smog formation in vegetated urban regions. Many, but not all tree species are emitters of BVOC, and future urban planning efforts may include selecting tree species for planting in cities based on emission characteristics of individual species. Currently, she is conducting modeling-related research involving making vegetation cover estimates for highly heterogeneous urban regions. Tiffany performs her work at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

Christy Field is pursuing a PhD in atmospheric science and climate at Columbia University. Christy received a BA in English from Cornell University. In order to understand contemporary climate change, it is necessary to quantify natural forcings - particularly solar variability, the most significant natural forcing on centennial timescales. Changes in solar irradiance are positively correlated with changes in solar magnetic activity, which controls Earth's exposure to cosmic rays. Collisions between cosmic rays and Earth's atmosphere produce 'cosmogenic isotopes' such as beryllium-10 (10Be). The resulting correlation between 10Be production and solar irradiance is the basis of 10Be's potential use as a proxy for solar activity. Once produced, 10Be attaches primarily to sulfate aerosols, which are deposited at the Earth's surface by wind- and precipitation-related processes. Beryllium-10 concentrations can be measured in polar ice core records, potentially providing long-term records of solar activity. However, it is possible that climatic changes may confound solar signals in the 10Be record. If 10Be is to be unambiguously used to infer solar variation, we need a way to account for the effects of climate as they appear in the ice-core record. Chrisy’s research involves using general circulation models to examine how production- and climate-related changes impact 10Be, in order to better understand how 10Be can be used as a proxy for solar activity.

Marcus Griswold is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida’s Center for Wetlands, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Crisman. Marcus received a BS in biology from the University of Maryland at College Park. His research focuses on both basic and applied aspects of disturbance ecology, ranging from invasive species to direct impacts of human induced disturbances. His dissertation research examines the role of regional scale fragmentation on local microhabitat distribution and habitat selection by macroinvertebrates in headwater streams. As a part of this, he regularly interacts with colleagues working in wildlife ecology, hydrology, and water chemistry. In addition, he is collaborating with another colleague to examine the effects of road crossings on stream biota, particle size and organic matter distribution, metals, and channel morphology. The goal is to understand the interaction between stream best management practices pre and post crossing on in stream processes during base flow and storm flow. In turn, the results from both projects will allow for recommendations to reduce stress to aquatic ecosystems and plan for better overall management practices.

Julianne Heinlein is pursuing a PhD in ecology at Michigan State University. She received a BS in botany from the University of Michigan. Her research interests are on the ecological side of environmental protection. Her focus is on aquatic ecology, with a specialization in microbial community ecology. Algae and bacteria are fundamental to most aquatic systems and can also be excellent indicators of environmental change. Julianne spent a year in New Zealand working on environmental monitoring projects and completing her master's research on the effects of changing flow regimes on algal communities. Her current advisor is a leader in using algae as environmental monitors and Julianne has had the opportunity to participate in many of these projects. However, as a fellow in the IGERT program, 'Biosphere, Atmosphere, Research and Training' her PhD work has moved to regional and global-scale pollution with a multidisciplinary approach. My work is exploring the idea of atmospheric ozone as an aquatic pollutant, determining its effect on aquatic and subaquatic algae and bacteria.

Matthew Hufford is pursuing his PhD in ecology at the University of California, Davis. He received a BS in biology from Wheaton College. His masters and Ph.D. research broadly address the conservation of agricultural biodiversity. For his masters, he spent six months in Kenya studying the potential invasiveness of transgenes from cultivated cowpea into wild cowpea. This research consisted of pollen competition and limitation studies as well as modeling of carpenter bee foraging behavior on wild and cultivated cowpea using radio telemetry. For his Ph.D., he is studying the impact of anthropogenic habitat fragmentation on the genetic diversity of teosinte, the wild relative of maize. This research is being carried out in southern Jalisco, Mexico. Patterns of genetic diversity related to teosinte patch size and connectivity are being measured with microsatellite molecular markers in three metapopulations of teosinte. Matthew will also be using mathematical models to help guide conservation efforts of these teosinte populations, an important source of genetic diversity for the future crop improvement of maize. Additionally he is working on a collaborative project as part of his fellowship with the IGERT for biological invasions at UC Davis. This project entails surveys and interviews of ranchers in four California counties to ascertain how ranchers are currently dealing with yellow starthistle, a problematic invasive weed.

Ayana Johnson is pursuing her PhD in marine biology from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She received a BS in environmental science from Harvard University. Ayana has completed a semester of fieldwork in the Turks and Caicos Islands examining the efficacy of a marine reserve in protecting the local conch population. Reserve success was partially, but due, to unwitting inclusion of a nursery ground within its boundaries. She also spent a summer studying ocean zoning theory at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's Marine Policy Center, focusing on the question of how to balance the many demands on ocean space, including conservation, and spent two years as a policy analyst at the U.S. EPA reviewing regulations on aquaculture, cruise ship pollution, ballast water, desalination, and invasive species. Ayana did three months of fieldwork at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center using tethering experiments to study size-specific predation pressure on mud crabs. Her first year of graduate school research focused on using time series data to evaluate fish recovery in marine reserves. Smaller projects included: sustainable directions for aquaculture, possible biological effects of thermohaline circulation shutdown, elementary stock assessment of yellowfin tuna, and the 2005 physical/biological anomaly in California's coastal ocean. Ayana’s dissertation research will focus on marine reserves in the Mediterranean. Specific project is undetermined, but will likely have policy and ecosystem services components in addition to ecology.

Lisa Kerr is pursuing a PhD at the University of Maryland. Lisa received a BS in biology from Tufts University. Her research interests are in fish ecology and the population-level dynamics and persistence of fishes. Her doctoral research project applies otolith microchemistry, in conjunction with field study and laboratory rearing, to answer questions about larval dispersal, population structure, and mechanisms of persistence in an estuarine-dependent fish, the white perch. Lisa's past research experiences include Master's thesis research that applied a novel method of age validation to rockfishes using the release of radiocarbon from nuclear testing conducted in the 1950s-1960s as a time-specific marker in otoliths. This research provided information essential for developing sustainable management policy for commercially important fishes and culminated in two publications in peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, Lisa gained valuable research experience as Research Assistant and Writer on the publication Trends in Fisheries and Fishery Resources. This project provided her with insight into the skills and information needed to monitor the effects of commercial and recreational fishing on fishery resources, habitat, and overall ecosystem health. Finally, she gained experience in experimental design, laboratory techniques, literature review, and data analysis through an undergraduate independent research with Dr. Pechenik (Invertebrate Zoology, Tufts University). This research resulted in a publication in a peer-review journal.

Sarah Lawson is pursuing a PhD in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia. With an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies/Public Policy and a graduate career that has included teaching a fluid mechanics lab, Sarah is fortunate to have an interdisciplinary academic and research background. As an undergraduate, she conducted a field study looking at water quality in Lake Nicaragua and wrote an undergraduate thesis trying to develop a numerical system of indicators for sustainable development incorporating ecological, social, economic and human health variables. As a graduate student, she has narrowed her focus to the natural sciences and both her master project and dissertation project involve trying to combine the physical and biological sciences. For her master’s project, she examined the impact of sediment suspension on light availability and its implications for submerged aquatic vegetation. For her dissertation, she is again looking at the impact of sediment suspension and increased hydrodynamic activity on the ecology of a shallow system, but is focusing on nutrient fluxes. She has also worked as a field assistant on projects examining nitrogen cycling in a shallow coastal lagoon, sediment transport on continental shelves and the resuspension of DDT-contaminated sediment off the coast of California.

Eric Lee is pursuing his PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University. He received a BS in physics from Dartmouth College. Eric is interested in developing long term solutions towards conservation goals through the effective use of science. For example, biologists studying declining species such as amphibians frequently need to predict changes in their abundance. While techniques exist to make excellent predictions, they often require long time-series data that are unavailable for many species. Eric addresses this in his dissertation by using wood frog populations in Connecticut to develop tools that make robust predictions in less time. He is also interested in understanding the social and political contexts of environmental problems. This will allow him to ask and answer scientific questions that are relevant to the situation at hand.

Michael Loranty is pursuing a PhD in physical geography at SUNY Buffalo. Michael received a BS in environmental science from West Virginia Wesleyan College. As an undergraduate Michael spent a summer working as a research assistant on a small scale watershed project. This project sought to examine the effects of resource extraction on the watershed. During the academic year of 2003-2004 he was employed at West Virginia Wesleyan College working on a project that investigated the effects of different grazing strategies on nitrogen and phosphorous deposition in a small stream. For both of these projects his primary duties were to collect stream water and soil samples, perform laboratory analysis for nutrients, and maintain stream stations. At Buffalo Michael’s research focus shifted to water use in forests. As part of a collaborative project based in northern Wisconsin he uses sap flux sensors to measure transpiration across forest ecosystem boundaries. Currently he is using models to elucidate drivers of spatial patterns in transpiration. For his dissertation, he hopes to incorporate spatially heterogeneous variables such as soil moisture into transpiration models in a manner that parsimoniously captures currently overlooked spatial patterns. Generally speaking he is interested in the spatial patterns of ecological phenomenon and their representation across scales. Additionally he hopes to become involved in more applied scientific endeavors such as ecosystem remediation or restoration.

Aaron Lotz is pursuing his PhD in applied ecology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He received a BS in wildlife biology from Humboldt State University. His background includes work with fifteen southern California desert snake species and exploring numerous predictive variables influencing their nocturnal activity. Aaron is particularly interested in herpetology, endangered species conservation, and ecosystem resilience. During the course of his doctoral studies, he will conduct a series of empirical analyses, using multiple taxa, to determine the distribution of functional groups within and across scales, the association of measures of biotic variability in vertebrates (e.g., invasions, extinctions, nomadism, migration) with discontinuities in body mass distributions, and cross-scale analyses of patterns in body mass distributions from local to hemispheric scales. Results of these analyses will address global invasion/extinction concerns by providing conservation managers or organizations a predictive tool that will help elucidate critical attributes and characteristics of species to predict which are more susceptible to extinction and which will be successful invaders. Aaron will also establish a program to monitor populations of amphibians in Nebraska's Rainwater Basin wetland complex in order to provide inferential insight into the presence or absence of amphibian species and changes in individual species presence and community composition. Furthermore, he intends to question the quality of data obtained by observers and report observer bias.

John Lowry is pursuing his PhD in human dimensions in ecosystem science and management at Utah State University. John received a BA in international relations from Brigham Young University. John is interested in the study of human interactions with natural ecosystems. Specifically he is interested in looking at how humans influence ecosystems over time, and how human society depends on healthy ecosystems. His educational and work-related background is in remote sensing-based mapping and spatial modeling. For his dissertation research he plans to use Landsat satellite imagery to track land-use change within in the Great Salt Lake watershed (primarily Wasatch Front) over time. John is interested in analyzing two basic aspects of land-use change: First, he plans to look at how landscape patterns (connectivity, compactness, etc.) along a rural-to-urban gradient have changed through time. John hypothesizes that the emergence of urban sprawl can be reliably measured within this gradient, and that thresholds in landscape metrics indicative of sprawl, can be correlated with changes in demographic indicators obtained from U.S. census tract data. The second research question deals with analyzing the spatial relationships of land-use, particularly impervious surface land-uses, with surface water quality. Here, he intends to assess changes in chemical and microbial indicators of water quality over time, and correlate these changes with spatial and demographic metrics of urbanization.

Douglas Martins is pursuing his PhD in atmospheric chemistry at Purdue University. He received his BS in atmospheric chemistry from Purdue University. He is currently testing a disjunct eddy accumulation sampling instrument for use on a lightweight, high-flexibility aircraft. The instrument will be used to measure fluxes of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a forest canopy (e.g. isoprene) to determine 1) the global budget of carbon to and from the North American forest ecosystems, 2) the behavior of VOCs in the atmosphere as they are oxidized and deposited onto the forest surfaces, and 3) the role VOCs and reactive nitrogen play in depositing a useable form of nitrogen to the forest in aid of photosynthetic processes and carbon sequestration. CO2 fluxes using the disjunct eddy accumulation sampler as well as the eddy covariance method will be used to determine the integrity of the disjunct eddy accumulation method as well as give valuable information on the global carbon budget with respect to climate change.

Tawny Mata is pursuing her PhD in ecology at the University of California, Davis. She received her BS in biology from Pomona College. Though she worked on many research projects as an undergraduate, including the fire ecology of an endangered bird, a molecular phylogeny of terrestrial isopods, species-area relationships in coastal sage scrub, human-wildlife conflict in Tanzania, and saurian malarial transmission, she is now focusing on combining invasion biology with spatial community ecology. Questions she investigates will address how space changes the way we think about what makes an invasion successful. She wants to investigate how factors such as disturbance, native diversity, habitat heterogeneity, and dispersal influence invasion dynamics. Tawny is particularly interested in studying the phenomenon of the positive relationship between native and invasive species diversity in the tropics, and will be spending part of the summer of 2006 in Costa Rica learning tropical biology through the Organization for Tropical Studies (Duke University). Recognizing the difficulty of measuring parameters such as dispersal in the field, however, she has also started working on microcosm studies that may more clearly answer her questions. Tawny is participating in a National Science Foundation Interdisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Traineeship on biological invasions through the summer of 2007.

Megan McKenna is pursuing her PhD in biological oceanography at the University of California, Davis. She received a BS in biology from Wittenberg University. Megan is a biologist at heart whose research endeavors have investigated myriad biological systems, ranging from Serengeti elephants, to sea urchins off the coast of San Salvador, Bahamas, Harmful Algal Blooms around Catalina Island, and more recently whales of coastal California. She is also intrigued by the interplay of human activities and biological systems-- as a result her research has incorporated the role humans in these biological systems. While in the Serengeti and Megan conducted a survey on how the establishment of National Parks influenced the livelihood of the local Massai community. For her master's research she studied how dolphins make sounds that allow them to interact with their environment, not only in species today but fossil ancestors to whales. Megan’s Ph.D. research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography builds this research and aims to address biological and social questions surrounding a noisier ocean. Sources of anthropogenic noise are increasing oceanic background sound and intensity levels. An increase of this magnitude is bound to have impacts on ocean organisms, like whales, and their ecosystems. Her research is focused in coastal California (Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary), where noise from commercial ships is changing the local ecosystem.

Suzanne Moellendorf is pursuing a PhD in environmental engineering sciences at the University of Florida. Suzanne received a BS in biology from Wellesley College. Suzanne is investigating the ecohydrology of streams in a dry tropical forest in Costa Rica for her Ph.D. project. A canal transects several streams, changing the naturally seasonal flow to permanent flow. Suzanne’s study will compare the structure and function of affected streams to nearby unaffected streams. The goal is to provide a perspective on tropical stream management to balance human and conservation demands in a water scarce region. This project compliments her previous stream restoration work as Project Manager at the Deschutes River Conservancy, in Oregon's high desert. During Suzanne’s two years working there, she developed and managed riparian planting projects, enhanced the monitoring program, executed a Sealed-Bid Reverse Auction to lease water instream in an irrigation district, and led a canal-lining project to restore water in two rivers. Her other research experience includes an internship project that examined water management in a Chilean copper mine and an internship assisting a Ph.D. student evaluate the impacts of hydroelectric dams on tropical streams in Costa Rica. Recently, Suzanne co-lectured in Spanish on the interaction between wetlands and agriculture during the 1st Annual Organization for Tropical Studies Wetland Restoration Management Course for Central American professionals working with wetlands.

Jessica Moon is pursuing a PhD in ecology studying headwater wetlands at Pennsylvania State University, where she also received a BS in biology. Jessica is interested in how disturbances affect ecosystem scale processes in freshwater aquatic systems. She has become familiar with an array of freshwater aquatic systems through her formal education. As an undergraduate she focused on stream ecology. She worked with Dr. Pamela Silver addressing how the spatial arrangement, species composition, and stability of leaf packs influence the abundance of stream meiofauna. Jessica also developed an independent project looking at the affects of a juvenile hormone analog, Fenoxycarb, on a non-target macroinvertebrate. She was granted a Behrend College Undergraduate Summer Grant for this project. As a masters student her focus turned towards lakes. She worked with Dr. Hunter Carrick on the 'Lake Erie Trophic Status Study', a collaborative project of 17 institutions aboard the EPA R/V Lake Guardian. Jessica’s research addressed the recent decoupling between phytoplankton biomass and ambient total phosphorus. She works at the Cooperative Wetlands Center with Dr. Denice Wardrop. Jessica’s objective is to begin to untangle the web of interactions between microbial carbon and nitrogen processing and anthropogenic disturbances across space and time. She recently received a NASA Space Grant Fellowship for this project.

Kevin Mueller is pursuing his PhD in ecology at Pennsylvania State University. Kevin received a BS in biology from Xavier University. Kevin had his first taste of research as an undergrad while conducting a senior project regarding the effect of forest fires on nitrogen fixation by free living bacteria. During his M.S. studies he used radioactive isotopes and analytical chemistry tools to study the influence of plants and microbes on the fate of organic pollutants in soil. A side project involving multiple chemists and microbiologists provided a lesson in the logistics and benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration. He is primarily interested in plant-soil interactions and the interface of above- and below ground systems. An understanding of these areas is necessary to determine the impacts of human disturbances on ecosystems and the services they provide. Kevin seeks to continue his education and expand his skills so that in the future he can conduct research regarding the role of plant-soil interactions in a variety of contexts, including species invasions, global climate change, environmental pollution, altered fire regimes, etc. At Penn State he is currently working with a collaboration of scientists from across the U.S. and Poland to study the influence of tree species and variability in plant traits on carbon cycling and storage in soil at a 35 year old common garden experiment.

Anna Munoz is pursuing her PhD in wildlife and fisheries science at Texas A&M University. She received a BS in wildlife science from New Mexico State University. First and foremost, Anna considers herself an ecologist. Her research interests are not species or ecosystem specific as is common in her field of study. She prefers working on and promoting research projects that apply multidisciplinary approaches to complex ecological issues. Anna embraces the importance of political, social, and economic theory and realities in the conservation and protection of natural resources. She is also interested in building bridges between the academic and regulatory sectors of resource conservation because both provide valuable and necessary perspectives, and strategies for furthering conservation. She has worked extensively on water and endangered species issues in New Mexico and as a result, her current dissertation project will focus on the development and implementation of a collaborative workgroup including, but not limited to, biologists, hydrologists, local water interests, and environmental groups in the Edwards Aquifer region of Texas in an effort to develop a long-term management strategy for the conservation and recovery of 5 federally listed aquatic species in the face of increasing water demands. She has also worked on invasive species, ski resort development, and Northwest Forest Plan issues. Basically, she is interested in working on issues most people wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.

Jason Murray is pursuing a PhD in economics from the University of San Diego. Jason received a BS in mathematics and economics from the University of Virginia. Jason’s research area is resource economics. His work has included economic theory and modeling (marine fisheries management) and empirical collaborations with ecologists (interdisciplinary evaluation of a marine protected area). Since 2003 he has had the fortune to work with ecologists and other marine scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography through the IGERT program. Jason participated in a nine week summer course in which he and his colleagues studied each other's disciplines and collaborated to construct policy solutions to marine resource problems. Subsequently in the spring of 2002 he assisted in the organization of an interdisciplinary conference on the future of the world's oceans. During the past academic year he has co-led a student-run ecological and economic analysis of a recently formed marine protected area in the Revillagigedo Archipelago in Mexico. These experiences have strengthened Jason’s interest in collaboration with ecologists. He has discovered his own talent for facilitating communication between natural scientists and economists for the purposes of policy evaluation. Having an understanding of both the modeling paradigms of both disciplines and the dominant personality traits in each discipline, he has often found himself able to serve as `translator'.

Gabe Olchin is pursuing a PhD in soil sciences/ biogeochemistry at Colorado State University, where he also received a BS in natural sciences/ secondary education. During the summers of 2002 and 2003 Gabe participated in internships at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; during which he researched soil organic matter (SOM) characterization and implemented this data into SOM simulation models. Using an innovative characterization method, they were attempting to see if rapid mass spectrometer data could predict data obtained by conventional, time-intensive methods. His graduate research began as a MS, but he had the opportunity to add on an additional project and switch to a PhD program during his first year. The first part of his research was a field incubation of wheat straw residues in soil cores. They were interested in the influence of depth on organic matter incorporation into soil aggregates over a one year period under contrasting tillage practices. The results from this experiment will be submitted for publication soon. The majority and remainder of Gabe’s research involves developing a simulation model of SOM dynamics, with functional and isolatable carbon pools. Current simulation models are comprised of pools that are defined by kinetics, however these pools are difficult to isolate and quantify. Using a model, which closely represents SOM, has significant implications on modeling C cycling and climate change.

John Olson is pursuing a PhD in watershed science at Utah State University. John received a BS in geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara. John is interested in relationships between freshwater ecosystems and their surrounding landscapes, the mechanisms behind these relationships, and how scale affects our understanding of these ecosystems. His background includes experience in chemistry, ecology, physiology, hydrology, GIS, and geology. His master's thesis examined how land-use data can be used to select reference sites for stream bioassessment. He is currently investigating a possible mechanism explaining associations between geology and stream invertebrate assemblages via the affect of geology on stream chemistry and subsequent interactions between stream chemistry and invertebrate physiology. He has collaborated on establishing water chemistry sampling and analysis procedures, collecting biological and habitat data from streams, measuring affects of different land-uses on streams across gradients of human disturbance, and developing GIS tools for regional watershed analysis. His hydrology background includes an investigation of the mobilization of sediment behind a recently breached dam and the derivation of a hydrologic stability index for all streams in the U.S., currently being used to predict biology by collaborators at Michigan State and the EPA. He has also found that his experience and training in cross-discipline group problem solving and leadership he received in the Army to be a valuable asset in a research environment.

Suzanne Olyarnik is pursuing a PhD in population biology at the University of California, Davis. Suzanne received a BS in industrial management from Carnegie Mellon University. Suzanne’s research focuses on how species interactions shape ecological communities and how those interactions are altered by human activities such as invasion, eutrophication and overfishing. In pursuing this research, she has used both collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches as well as a more traditional disciplinary approach for her dissertation project. For her dissertation, she is examining the effects of large blooms of green seaweed on seagrass meadows of coastal California, including effects on the invertebrates and fish that use this habitat as a nursery ground. Suzanne is also investigating the roles that food web dynamics (removal of predators due to fishing) and nutrient supply (due to increased runoff) may play in regulating these blooms. She has also joined a working group on global seagrass trajectories at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. The working group goal is to establish a quantitative basis for seagrass conservation and restoration that includes an assessment of changes in seagrass abundance worldwide over the last several decades. In addition, she recently completed a two-year, interdisciplinary graduate training program (NSF IGERT) on biological invasions. As part of this training, she collaborated with five other graduate students to create a documentary film exploring the social, economic, cultural, ecological, and political facets of government attempts to control a harmful nonnative fish invasion in California. Recently screened at the Sacramento International Film Festival, Fear and Fishing in Lake Davis vividly portrays the clash between community and state government over controlling the invasive northern pike. They are working on distributing it to teachers, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations for educational use.

Lily Parshall is pursuing her PhD in sustainable development at Columbia University. She received a BS in earth and environmental science from Columbia University. She is in the inaugural class of a new interdisciplinary doctoral program in sustainable development and has completed coursework in environmental science, economics, political science, science policy, and statistics. Her research interests include urban sustainability and water resources management focusing on climate change. Over the past two years Lily has worked on two research projects. The first investigated the impact of urban forestry, green (vegetated) roofs and reflective surfaces on New York City's near-surface air temperature, heat island, and energy demand. She coordinated a large team of researchers, and they have answered stakeholders' questions about how best to design neighborhood-scale urban greening initiatives. The second, her master’s project, investigated agricultural development in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between its founding (1971) and today. She analyzed data on crop production and yields, calculated the value of water in agriculture for a number of crops, and investigated the political and economic reasons behind agricultural development. Both these projects were recently completed, and Lily is now in the process of proposing her dissertation.

Jennifer Peterson is pursuing her PhD in human dimensions of ecosystem science and management at Utah State University. She received a BS in rangeland ecology and management from Texas A&M University. Jennifer’s educational and research foundations lie in the field of rangeland ecology and management. Specifically, she is interested in youth environmental education as it pertains to rangeland ecology topics (i.e., plant types, rangeland benefits, watersheds, soils, etc.). The research for her masters degree focused on the comparison of computer-assisted and field-based rangeland education to inform youth about rangelands in Idaho. In addition, she is also highly interested in the dynamics of human-rangeland interactions, specifically as they pertain to the restoration and management of sagebrush-steppe ecosystems. Currently, her doctoral research focuses on three specific subjects: (1) the overall social acceptability of sagebrush-steppe restoration practices in the Great Basin ecosystem including the use of prescribed fire, mechanical, and chemical methods; (2) factors that might influence/hinder federal agency decision processes to implement proposed restoration treatments; and (3) factors that might influence environmental interest/citizen groups to engage in administrative appeals and/or lawsuits as a result of proposed restoration treatments.

Aaron Regberg is pursuing his PhD in geosciences at Pennsylvania State University. He received a BS in geology from the University of Michigan. Aaron is currently working with Dr.'s Kamini Singha and Susan Brantley to use electrical conductivity methods to map contaminant plumes in aquifers and image biogeochemical reactions. Field and laboratory measurements show a marked increase in bulk conductivity that roughly corresponds to the edge of the plume. This signal can be observed in three dimensions as it evolves through time. The increase in conductivity that allows us to map these plumes may well be caused by microbial activity at or near the boundary between the plume and the surrounding water. In the coming months Aaron and his colleagues will attempt a series of batch and column experiments in order to quantify this response and also attempt to model the processes using reactive transport codes. If successful in these endeavors they will be able track contaminant plumes at a substantially lower cost and without having to drill as many monitoring wells, and also be able to monitor biogeochemical activity and rates through time at the field scale. This has never been done before.

Shubhayu Saha is pursuing a PhD in economics and policy from North Carolina State University. Shubhayu received a BSc in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is trying to incorporate spatial dimensions of land cover/ land use change and link them with behavioral micro-econometric models to explain natural resource use behavior in the developing country context. He has participated in NSF funded Summer Institute on Human Dimensions of Global Change at CIPEC in Indiana University, Bloomington. This summer Shubhayu will attend the Workshop at Center for Spatially Integrated Social Sciences (CSISS) at UC Santa Barbara. His dissertation research builds on NSF funded project (Grant SES-0452852) to study welfare consequences of deforestation in the Amazon frontier of Rondonia, Brazil. He was recently been awarded the NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award for my proposed research on the impact of development of the milk industry on land use behavior in Rondonia, Brazil. Shubhayu is also working on a World Bank funded project to study the local social and environmental impacts of iron ore mining in the state of Orissa in India. He has worked as an intern in the Latin America and Caribbean division office of the World Bank for the 2004 Flagship Report. Before joining NC State University, Shubhayu worked on two research projects on community based natural resource management in the Himalayas in India.

Jan Schipper is a PhD student at the University of Idaho. He received his BA in biology from Western State College of Colorado. His primary research interest is conservation planning for species persistence across various spatial and temporal scales. The challenges presented in his study site in Costa Rica are many, and include considering various components of ecology, sociology, and economics in three complex ecosystems (tropical forests, freshwater and marine), and at site, landscape and ecoregion scales over time. In order to assess human and ecological systems Jan works on several interdisciplinary teams, with remotely sensed data (current and historic. Response variables (to landscape change) are measures species abundance and distribution information captured in camera-traps. The concept of this ongoing project is to develop future scenarios based on 1) current trends, 2) legal application, 3) increasing tourism and 4) increasing agriculture. Realizing that none of these scenarios are mutually exclusive Jan brings in data from a variety of disciplines to analysis the trends which occur in each scenario and which have occurred in the past according to Jan’s data. His future interest is to take these models and apply them to specific action plans (politic and legal) for the recovery of endangered and imperiled species across their extent of occurrence.

Kevin See is pursuing a PhD in quantitative ecology and resource management at the University of Washington. He received a BS in mathematics from Williams College. After spending the first year of his graduate program honing his quantitative skill set through a required program of study, he recently began a research project related to the invasive species of green crab on the west coast of North America. He will be incorporating data that marine biologists and oceanographers have gathered to predict, through population dynamic modeling, where on the west coast the green crab may establish itself under several different climate change scenarios. After completing such a coarse scale model for NOAA, Kevin hopes to develop a finer, bay-scale model that can incorporate specific habitat conditions and estuarine current flows to model green crab population dynamics within a bay in the Northwest, to determine whether that population could become a source population for other nearby bays. Earlier this year, Kevin spent some time analyzing the spatial pattern of invasive plant species as well as studying a population dynamics model for Dungeness crab. The impact of invasive species, and predicting that impact, will continue to be an increasingly important topic for many areas as habitats become more connected and less isolated through the impact of human beings.

Stephanie Shepherd is pursuing her PhD in environmental dynamics at the University of Arkansas. She received her BA in English from the University of the South. Stream restoration is a popular topic in Northwest Arkansas. Local restoration projects and research focus on biologic and geochemical indicators of stream health. These data are essential to assessing stream health, but only within the context of the stream architecture. Currently, no models of regional stream geomorphology exist. For Stephanie's dissertation research, she will fill this need by developing a conceptual model of local river geomorphology and defining river processes and system response in order to increase our understanding of fluvial ecosystems on the Ozark Plateau. Analysis and conclusions drawn from this project will contribute to the development of more effective, ecologically sound river conservation and restoration practices in the region. In addition she is the lead author on a hydrologic atlas project funded through the Arkansas Water Resource Center. Over the next two years she will work in conjunction with the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies to create two on-line atlases for public use. The atlases will include geographic, geologic, hydrologic data, and links to real-time information from the various agencies including the USGS.

Ryan Toohey is pursuing a PhD in environmental science (hydrology) at the University of Idaho. Ryan received a BS in environmental science from Western Washington University. As part of the University of Idaho's Environmental Science department, the Centro Agron¢mico Tropical de Investigaci¢n y Ense€anza (CATIE)/UI Joint Doctoral program, and the NSF-IGERT program, Ryan’s doctoral project focuses on two main objectives. His primary interest is to understand how post-forest land uses influence hydrological processes at the field and watershed scale. Ryan will achieve this objective through intensive field work, instrumentation, and a distributed hydrological model. The second objective integrates into an interdisciplinary project focusing on the development of a biological corridor in Costa Rica. In this objective, Ryan will apply broad scale hydrological models to prioritize areas in terms of watershed services. His interdisciplinary group integrates socioeconomic linkages to the conservation of environmental services (e.g., runoff/erosion control, pest management, and biodiversity conservation) in coffee agroforestry systems. Through the development o f several other prioritization strategies by other team members and stakeholders, the group will develop a tool for broader based and adaptable conservation planning. Both of these objectives will provide novel information for hydrology and agroforestry, while having real world applications toward the understanding of hydrological processes, hydroelectric power generation, conservation planning and rural enterprise development.

Jeff Tracey is pursuing a PhD in ecology from Colorado State University. He received a BS in ecology, behavior, and evolution from the University of California, San Diego. Jeff is particularly interested in conservation biology, systems dynamics, agent-based modeling, and policy research. He holds a Master's degree in biology from the University of California, San Diego and a Master's of Science degree in biometry from the Department of Statistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently, Jeff is completing a Ph.D. in Ecology from Colorado State University. In the past his work has focused on studying and modeling animal movement behavior and applications of these models to wildlife conservation. Hence, his research experience has ranged from basic ecological field work to computer programming and modeling. He is becoming increasingly interested in interdisciplinary work. Currently, Jeff is a participant in the Program for Interdisciplinary Mathematics, Ecology, and Statistics, or PRIMES, which is an NSF IGERT program at Colorado State University. In the near future, Jeff wants to work with agent-based, social-ecological modeling and use such models in policy research and decision support. His goal is to apply my quantitative skills toward improved solutions to 'conservation and the human predicament.'

Dena Vallano is a third year Ph.D. student in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University. Her academic interests include ecology, biogeochemistry, plant physiology, climate change, and how stable isotope technology can be applied in all of these areas. Dena’s dissertation research has focused on the effects of foliar assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen pollution and whether this assimilation can be detected in the field using foliar d15N signatures. One of her primary research goals is to use stable nitrogen isotopes to determine the magnitude of anthropogenic nitrogen assimilated directly through foliage. Recently, she has been investigating the degree to which plants use atmospheric nitrogen pollution as a nutrient source and how this assimilation is influenced by root nitrogen availability. This project is an initial step in using foliar d15N signatures to track vegetative responses to increasing atmospheric nitrogen pollution. Ultimately, Dena hopes her results will contribute to our understanding of plant nitrogen uptake and assimilation and provide a valuable tool for estimating the amount of atmospheric nitrogen pollutants that are incorporated by urban vegetation.

George Waldbusser is pursuing a PhD in marine and estuarine environmental science at the University of Maryland. George received a BS in environmental science from St. John’s University. Through the course of his graduate and undergraduate studies at three different institutions he has participated in a wide array of research activities complimentary to his master's and doctoral research. These projects have included community dynamics of marine fouling organisms, freshwater invertebrate distributions along stream gradients, links between mercury cycling and benthic infauna, monitoring invertebrate recovery in mitigated tidal wetlands, controls of larval settlement in marine sediments, and novel uses of statistics in sediment biogeochemistry. His research has examined the role of infaunal species function and interactions on marine sediment processes such as biogeochemical fluxes and porewater transport. The novelty of the work has been in the integration of sediment biogeochemistry and physical processes within the larger framework of biodiversity and ecosystem function. The results from his master's research and components of his doctoral research have been published in top tier marine science journals. Coupled with his research background, he has participated in many complimentary activities that he believes provide an excellent basis for interacting with diverse groups of individuals, interested in environmental issues. These synergistic activities include participating in science research policy activities, managing a local government environmental management agency, and educational outreach at several different levels.

Ramona Walls is pursuing a PhD in ecology and evolution at Stony Brook University. Ramona received a BS in environmental resource management from Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests and experiences span a range of topics in plant evolutionary ecology. As an undergraduate, she took part in several small research projects, ranging from the impacts of agricultural practices on soil invertebrates, to the use of native plants in garden design. She also conducted two larger projects, resulting in two first-authored publications. One examined the impacts of sedimentation on riparian tree species, and the other was on the interaction between resource availability and the cost of inducible defenses in perennial plants. As a graduate student, she has completed a series of experiments looking at population differentiation in the invasive plant Fallopia japonica, from which she is preparing a manuscript. Ramona is currently involved in her thesis research on the relationship between leaf form and function in the genus Dioscorea. This work combines morphological, physiological and environmental data in an explicitly phylogenetic context, in order to understand how multiple traits interact to affect plant performance in different environments. Prior to studying science, Ramona worked for over ten years as a fashion designer, so she also has a great deal of experience in problem solving in the profit-driven, non-academic world.

Heidi Weiskel is pursuing a PhD in ecology at the University of California, Davis. She received a BA in literature from Harvard University. Her general research interests lie in the effects of multiple disturbances in marine communities and the potential for rapid evolution in disturbed systems. She is particularly interested in differences between biotic and abiotic disturbances across different spatial and temporal scales. She is currently researching the effects of two disturbances on the native mud snail Cerithidea californica in San Francisco Bay: 1) the biotic disturbance caused by the invasive mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta and 2) the abiotic disturbance caused by nutrient loading. She is investigating the effects of the two disturbances both separately and simultaneously. The snail species are found in both sympatric and allopatric populations; using individuals from both populations allows her to explore what occurs when a species is subjected to two novel disturbances simultaneously, and to determine whether species respond differently to disturbances based on a history of interaction. If there are differences in species responses, she plans to pursue whether the populations are genetically distinct (i.e., whether the observed differences may have a genetic component). Finally, many of the northern California populations of Cerithidea are disappearing, particularly in habitats where they are found co-occurring with another invasive west coast mud snail. This rapid and pronounced decline in local population abundances has prompted interest in establishing restoration sites for Cerithidea. Heidi’s dissertation work will contribute to this applied effort.

Ruscena Wiederholt is pursuing a PhD in ecology from Pennsylvania State University. Ruscena received a BS in integrated biology from the University of California, Berkeley. Her main interests in ecology are the interactions between ecosystems and vertebrate populations and behavior, anthropogenic pressures and influences including hunting, interactions between various trophic levels, and animal movement. She is especially interested in conservation and in the practical application of biology to conservational issues. Her current thesis research involves examining the effects of subsistence hunting on mammalian population dynamics in the neotropics. Last year she completed her masters thesis, which examined the secondary sexual characteristics in plumage of the Dupont's Lark. Additional research experiences have included an ornithological fieldwork position surveying songbird populations, and an internship through the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Barro Colorado Island, Panama. She aided two large-scale forest ecology projects and conducted my own project on the dietary preferences of the spiny rat, Proechimys semispinosus. She also conducted microbiology and bioremediation research at the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and worked on a project examining the colorimetric properties of carotenoid and phaeomelanin feather pigments at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC-Berkeley. Finally, she was a research associate at the Museum which was part of a greater project to examine the effects of habitat change on vertebrate species' ranges.

Amy Wolfe is pursuing a PhD in geology at the University of Pittsburgh. Amy received a BS in marine science from the University of South Carolina. Amy is interested in biogeochemical cycling of elements and associated reaction kinetics, mobilization, transformation and transportation of metals. Amy’s master’s research involves determining iron isotopes from sedimentary pyrite to quantify and source track primary sources of iron in acid mine drainage systems. This project is collaborative with Carnegie Mellon University and integrates their experimental work in pyrite dissolution rates. Pyrite samples and Fe isotope ratio data from laboratory dissolution experiments will be integrated through a study of AMD water to evaluate its use as a tracer. Amy’s internship research with Hedin Environmental investigated different uses for iron oxides recovered from passive treatment systems. This research involved laboratory experiments to determine the adsorption affinity of this material for a variety of trace metals (particularly arsenic) and its effectiveness as an adsorbent that could be used in contaminant removal. Amy’s undergraduate work included assisting Dr. Bj”rn Kjerfve in creating a 2-D, finite element hydrodynamic model that was used to simulate tidal cycles and water level variability in Ba¡a Da Ilha Grande and Ba¡a de Sepetiba, a coupled bay system on the southeastern region of Brazil. The model had practical applications of importance to the region with respect to natural resource use, industrialization and tourism.

Ryan Woodland is pursuing a PhD in fisheries science at the University of Maryland. He received a BS in marine safety and environmental protection from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Ryan has a strong interest in the ecology of fishes and dynamics of multispecies and species-habitat interactions. In addition to theoretical ecology, he is interested in the applied management of commercial, recreational and endangered species. Pursuant to a MS degree, his research focused on the federally endangered shortnose sturgeon population of the Hudson River, NY. After investigating the age structure of the extant population, he found circumstantial evidence to support the hypothesis that recent population growth was linked to increased survival during the first year of life. This finding has implications for the management of long-lived fish species under the Endangered Species Act; specifically, the efficacy of current policies aimed at protecting the adult life stage. As a PhD candidate, Ryan is engaged in dietary analyses of two sympatric fish species inhabiting the Mid-Atlantic coastal zone. These species overlap in terms of habitat and hatch dates, with both species utilizing an invertebrate forage base prior to an ontogenetic shift to piscivory. His goal is to determine the trophic status and degree of niche overlap between the species so that he may evaluate the dynamic ecological relationship through ontogeny.