Each year, we like to give a special thank you to the dedicated graduate students who volunteer with the Graduate Researchers in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (GREEBs). These students help make the department run more smoothly in numerous ways. GREEBs is the student organization in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology that supports students, communicates about issues, and organizes and plans activities.

“I have enjoyed being part of GREEBs since I started at U-M. The student body is always very supportive of each other and that energy is felt in the work that GREEBs does,” said Kristel Sanchez, GREEBs president. “Returning to campus from the pandemic, the focus has been in reconnecting and making new connections and a lot of us in GREEBs worked to facilitate that.”

Newly elected members

President: Hayley Crowell

Admissions Committee: Bridget Shayka and Anna Redgrave

Big Sib/Little Sib: Diana Medellin and Keyi Feng

Community Organizer: Zulay Rodriguez

Diversity Committee: Grace Zhang

Executive Committee: Emily Laub

Graduate-affairs Committee: Kirby Mills

Retreat Committee: Matheus Januario

Thursday Seminar: Olivia Vought

Social Committee: Sam Stratton

Space and Facilities Committee: Patricia Torres-Pineda

Tuesday Lunch Seminar: So Eun Moon and Avinash Subramanian

Undergraduate Affairs: Erik Bastien

Existing members

The following people will be serving the second and final year of their term.

Community Organizer: Katrina Munsterman

Diversity Committee: Susanna Campbell

Retreat Committee: Sam Schaffer-Morrison

Thursday Seminar: Hector Figueroa

Hayley Crowell, the outgoing executive committee member, noted, “My favorite thing about GREEBs was getting a behind-the-scenes look at the interworking of the department. Working on the Executive committee gave me some really good insight into what interview processes look like for professor and museum positions in academia.  As a future GREEBs member, I look forward to finding more inclusive ways to share science among students and faculty, and to creating an overall more united EEB department.”

There is a Slack channel for EEB grad students and postdocs to have both academic and informal discussions. If you would like to join the Slack channel, email GREEBs president Hayley Crowell at hlcrowel@umich.edu. If you’d like to get involved next year, the call for nominations for GREEBs volunteers goes out in the spring. Go GREEBs! We appreciate you.

Compiled by Alison Kenyon