"We are extremely pleased with the diversity and quality of this incoming cohort of graduate students and welcome them warmly," said Professor and EEB Chair John Vandermeer.

The incoming Ph.D. cohort, their advisors, research interests and their previous institution follow (master's students follow):

Marcella Baiz: Professor Pricilla Tucker and Dr. Liliana Cortes-Ortiz; hybrid zones, speciation, adaptation, molecular ecology and evolution; University of Michigan and Grand Valley State University.

Kevin Bakker: Professor Pej Rohani; disease ecology, population ecology, mathematical modeling; University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Anat Belasen: Professor Tim James; conservation ecology, amphibian chytridiomycosis; University of Michigan and Tulane University.

Leslie Decker: Professor Mark Hunter; How nitrogen deposition alters the chemical ecology of plant-insect interactions; Cornell University.

Anneka Jankowiak: Professor Regina Baucom; the effect of herbicide in agroecosystems, plant reproductive systems; University of Cincinnati and University of Pittsburgh.

Joanna Larson: Professor Dan Rabosky; macroevolution of African amphibians, integration of morphological and molecular data; Harvard College.

Amanda Meier: Professor Mark Hunter; chemical ecology, ecological communities and plant defenses, multi-trophic interactions; Muhlenberg College.

Pamela Murillo Rojas: Professor Barry O'Connor; acarology, systematics, ecology and evolution of mites; Universidad de Costa Rica.

Beatriz Otero: Professors Priscilla Tucker and John Vandermeer; tropics, biodiversity conservation, genetic evolution; University of Michigan and Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras.

Mauricio Santos Vega: Professor Mercedes Pascual; disease ecology, modeling, climate impact on disease; Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.

Clara Shaw: Meghan Duffy: disease ecology and evolution; University Of Mississippi and Oberlin College.

Byron Smith: Professor Thomas Schmidt; microbial ecology, theoretical ecology, complex microbial communities; College of William and Mary.

Xinzhu Wei: Professor George Zhang; evolutionary genetics; Fudan University.

Andrew Wood: Professor Thomas Duda; molecular evolution, species interactions, predator-prey interations, venom systems; Lewis & Clark College.

The following are our incoming Frontiers master’s students:                         

Bryan Juarez; Professor Thomas Duda; herpetology and paleontology, the evolution of leglessness, phylogenetic diversification in the context of morphology and food webs; University of California, Santa Barbara.

James Kupihea: Professor Thomas Duda; the role and utility of nitrogen fixing plants in communities exposed to frequent disturbance; The Evergreen State College.

Sergio Redondo: Professor Thomas Duda; conservation biology and genetics; population bottlenecks; mammalian speciation; primate ecology and systematics; University of Arizona.

Audra Huffmeyer: Professor Thomas Duda; conservation biology, mammalian genetics, carnivore ecology; University of Minnesota.

The traditional master’s students include:           

Holly Andrews: Professor Mark Hunter; effects of climate stressors on both plant defenses and plant-mycorrhizae interactions; Miami University.

Adrian Melo Carrillo:  Liliana Cortes Ortiz; focus on evolution and biodiversity, with molecular and cellular biology as the base; Universidad de las Americas Puebla.

Robert Powers: Professor Tim James; genetics and ecology of mating systems in mushroom-forming Basidiomycete species; Wesleyan University.

Gordon Fitch: Professor John Vandermeer; How human-altered landscapes - agricultural and sylicultural lands, urban and suburban areas can be managed to maximize the well-being of both the human and non-human communities that occupy them; Brown University.

The 2013 cohort of 22 students is one of the largest EEB has had in recent years. Students bring with them a wide array of research interests, as seen by the variety of faculty they will be working with. Two of EEB’s Frontiers master’s students, Baiz and Otero join the Ph.D. program this year. Bakker, a traditional master’s student, also begins EEB’s Ph.D. program.