Rachel Vannette Graduate student U-M affiliation Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Contact information University of Michigan 1300 Kraus Natural Science Building 830 North University Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048 Email: raleva@umich.edu
Field of study Mutualisms
Advisor
Mark Hunter News BART fellows exhibit at AAAS annual meeting EEB graduate students Jasmine Crumsey, Rachel Vannette, and Liz Wason traveled to Chicago for the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in February. They displayed their Biosphere-Atmosphere Research and Training work to illustrate the interactions between biospheric and atmospheric processes. The BART Fellows were invited by the National Science Foundation to be part of their exhibit. They talked with scientists, policymakers, the press, and families with children. Rackham research grant awarded Rachel Vannette was awarded a Rackham Graduate Student Research grant for her study of how plant defense in milkweed is affected by the genetic makeup of plants, atmospheric CO2 concentration, and mycorrhizal fungi (symbiotic fungi within the roots of plants). She will look at the variation in defensive compounds found in the roots of Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed). Her Biosphere-Atmosphere Research and Training (BART) fellowship was also renewed for next year.
