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Field of study
Forest tree community assembly and evolution
Advisors
Chris Dick
Annette Ostling
Dick Lab web site
News
Sedio wins Smithsonian fellowship
EEB graduate student Brian Sedio won a $3,800 Smithsonian Short-Term Fellowship through the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to cover travel and expenses for field work in Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Sedio uses DNA barcoding to evaluate dietary specialization of beetles collected from 21 species of trees in the genus Psychotria.
NCID funds part of EEB’s recruitment efforts
EEB graduate students Shalene Jha, Brian Sedio, and SNRE grad Jose Gonzalez visited the University of Puerto Rico in February 2009 to present a research symposium and to take part in a panel to answer questions about graduate school and U-M. The segment of EEB’s recruiting program that seeks to increase the diversity of the graduate student body is funded by a grant from the National Center for Institutional Diversity. The long-term goal is to ensure that the diversity of graduate students in the discipline, and ultimately of the professoriate, matches that of society at large. The $30,000 grant is for one-and-a-half years, and began in 2007.
As part of the program, select students from partner universities visit UM’s campus to meet faculty and students in EEB and the School of Natural Resources and the Environment and participate in a field ecology course for the weekend. Partners for 2008 were: University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras and Mayaguez Campuses, Morehouse College and Howard University. So far, 12 students have visited campus through the program.
EEB and SNRE students began visiting partner universities as part of the NCID program in 2007. Jha and EEB grad Mike Sheehan traveled to Morehouse College in 2008 where many Spelman College students were in attendance. EEB grads Sarah Cobey, Jahi Chappell and SNRE grad Solomon David visited Howard University in 2007.
Professor John Vandermeer, chair of EEB’s Diversity Committee, presented a seminar and touted graduate school in EEB at Howard University in 2008. He travels to Morehouse College in April 2009. Future plans include expanding the program to include Tuskegee University.
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