As we emerge from the unique challenges of the last two years, we are grateful that the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology has endured, adapted and come out stronger on the other side. Our students, faculty, postdocs and staff have proven resilient and creative in how they’ve carried on with their teaching, learning, research and administrative activities.
We appreciate and count on your support to give our students the edge they need as they learn about the sciences that underlie some of the most critical issues facing the world today – from climate change, to biodiversity loss, infectious diseases, sustainable food systems, and more. Your generosity can help us to rebuild our sense of community for our students as we move forward by providing a scholarship for a student in need, allowing a student to attend a conference, funding travel to a field site for research or purchasing necessary research supplies.
You can smile knowing that your donation, regardless of its size, will help a rising University of Michigan biology star shine and help to make a difference in this great big interconnected world. You have our heartfelt thanks. Below are examples about how this important funding is helping our students with their research activities.
Your generous donations have real world impact
Giorgia Auteri
Recent alumnus Giorgia Auteri (UM EEB PhD 2022) investigates questions pertaining to the conservation of bats. Over 1,600 species of bats fulfill important rolls in the ecosystem worldwide, like pest control and pollination and seed dispersal.
“My research focuses on bats and their ability to cope with a disease caused by a fungus that grows on hibernating bats, white-nose syndrome. Millions of bats in the U.S. have died from it. Many populations have declined by over 95 percent. If the disease holds its current course, multiple species will go extinct. However, my recent research indicates that there is some hope — for at least one species, some surviving bats are genetically resistant to the disease." Read more in EEB web news
John David Curlis
"The Edwin H. Edwards Scholarship and other funding opportunities provided by the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UM have been absolutely crucial to the success of my dissertation. These funds have not only allowed me to focus solely on my research for entire semesters at a time, but they have also afforded me the ability to travel internationally for fieldwork and labwork during both the normal school year and summer months. I cannot thank enough the donors who make these gifts possible – the science could not get done without them!"
Rumaan Malhotra
“I am very grateful for the Brower fellowship – firstly, it gave me the time to focus on my research, which resulted in a publication about the impacts that domestic dogs have on native carnivores in Southern Chile. Additionally, it allowed me the flexibility to return to Chile this past November, where I had left 150 camera traps (70 of which were running and collecting data) in March 2020 when I was forced to leave because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While I am still sorting through the data that was collected, I have found photographs of the rare Darwin's fox! The Darwin's fox is one of the most endangered canid (dog/fox/jackal/wolf family) species in the world, and these new records fill a major distributional gap in the range of the species. Thank you for making this possible!”
Other priorities
EEB Frontiers Graduate Program
A two-year master's program designed to attract a diverse student body interested in research within the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. Students obtain experience in a broad range of research approaches and topics before selecting an advisor and completing a thesis, preparing them to enter a top Ph.D. program. Read more about Frontiers graduates
EEB Undergraduate Research
Fellowships provide an opportunity for undergraduate students to conduct research with faculty during the summer, whether in Ann Arbor laboratories or at field sites around the world. These immersive experiences can help to shape career aspirations.
Emily Brines (U-M PitE B.S. Aquatic Ecology and Conservation, Biology minor 2019)
“I am so grateful for the time I spent with Jake’s (Allgeier) lab (featured in the video below). He gave me a lot of opportunities, from in-lab processing of raw data, to taking lead on the peer review process, to presenting the data to his graduate students for feedback. He was very supportive while also letting me gain experience independently!” The research Brines performed in the Allgeier lab, and published her first primary author paper on, could provide insights into the conservation of fishes and coral reefs.
Assistant Professor Jacob Allgeier studies how nutrients and energy cycle through tropical ecosystems in order to better manage fisheries. The artificial reefs he’s building are an inexpensive, effective way to sustainably improve fisheries’ productivity. It's important work, Allgeier said, “because people are hungry. It’s really that simple.” Watch this video to learn more.
EEB's Strategic Fund provides program support where it's needed most, at the chair's discretion. For instance, supplementing student programs, helping to cover student costs at the annual department retreat, supporting biodiversity outreach projects, and funding the best student paper award.
For further donation options, see All Funds in the menu on the left of this page. Questions? Please email eeb-webinfo@umich.edu
