Chris Allison is a Biology major who did rodent foraging research. He presented his work at the 2015 Upstate Research Showcase.
Anthony Faso is a Biology major. He studied the short-term effects of climate on white-footed mouse abundance. He also helped with wildlife camera research documenting the abundance of carnivorous mammals within urban greenways.
Derek Kunda is a pre-med Biology major and a former member of the USC Upstate Scholar’s Academy. He received a mini-grant from the Center for Undergraduate Research to fund his research.
Joey Morrissey is a pre-vet Biology major and a former member of the USC Upstate Scholar’s Academy. He received a Research Assistantship and a mini-grant from the Center for Undergraduate Research to fund his research. He is currently in Veterinary School at the University of Georgia.
Jennifer Stansell is a pre-occupational therapy Biology major. She helped with live trapping of small mammals and scoring wildlife camera data.2013 Research Students
Brittney Doornbos is a pre-med Biology major who helped with small mammal live trapping. She went on to do organic chemistry research with Dr. Ruppel.
Theodore Khleborod is a pre-med Biology major.
Jackie Kwasniewski is a Biology major who helped with small mammal live trapping.
Aubrey Obrien was a member of the Scholar’s Academy at USC Upstate. She is currently a Biology major at the College of Charleston.
Dimpi Patel was a member of the Scholar’s Academy at USC Upstate. She helped with the small mammal project. She is attending Pharmacy School at MUSC.
Samantha Poarch is a pre-vet Biology major. She was awarded a Magellan Scholar Fellowship for her research and also won best oral presentation in her session at Discovery Day at USC Columbia. She is currently in Veterinary School at the University of Florida.
Nick Varakin helped with the small mammal live trapping project. He is currently in Podiatry School at Temple University.
Stefan Wilkes helped with the small mammal project. He is currently in Dental School at MUSC.2012 Research Students
Emily Phifer is a graduate of the Honors College at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. She helped with live-trapping of small mammals in urban greenways and with the vegetation surveys. Emily was also a voluntary Teaching Assistant in my Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy lab during Fall 2012.
Michael Sudduth helped with the small mammal live-trapping study in urban greenways. He also performed GIS work on each of the 6 study sites with Dr. Briget Doyle. Michael has been volunteering with the South Carolina DNR to study dove and feral pig populations across Upstate South Carolina.
2011 Research Students
Tyler Barzee is a Bioengineering student at Clemson. He helped with the small mammal project and studied the effects of vegetation density on white-footed mouse abundance. He went on to do 2 Bioengineering REU’s, one at the University of Florida and another at Colorado State University. He is currently working on his Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis.
Ryan Dolewski received a mini-grant for his work live-trapping small mammals in urban greenways and rural forests in Spartanburg County. He presented the small mammal research at the 2012 Upstate Research Showcase. He went on to do organic chemistry research with Dr. Ruppel and he is currently working on his Ph.D in Chemistry.
Paige Donahue helped set-up trapping grids at some of the small mammal study sites and helped start the carnivore surveys at each small mammal trapping site.
Regina Ferris received a Research Assistantship and a mini-grant from the Center for Undergraduate Research. She conducted a project on the chemically-mediated anti-predator behavior of southeastern field crickets. She also helped live-trap small mammals. Regina presented her cricket research at the 2012 Upstate Research Showcase.
Elliott Gibbs conducted a study on the giving-up density (GUD) of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) at the 6 small mammal field sites. He also helped with the track plate and wildlife camera surveys for carnivores at each field site. Elliott presented his carnivore research at the 2012 Upstate Research Showcase and won the “Best Poster in the Natural Sciences” award.
Kasey Holbert is a pre-medical Biology major at Clemson. She live-trapped small mammals and conducted a vegetation survey at all 750 live trap sites across the 6 field sites. She presented her vegetation work at the 2012 Upstate Research Showcase.
Chelsea Kross surveyed carnivore activity at the small mammal study sites. She also helped with vegetation surveys. She went on to get an M.S. in Biology at Eastern Kentucky University and she is currently working on her Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas.
Amir Modarres helped with the small mammal live-trapping project and the carnivore surveys. He is currently a medical student at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia.
2010 Research Students
Josh Johnson received a Research Assistantship and mini-grant from the Center for Undergraduate Research as part of his work on the mammal project. Josh went on to do a REU on yeast telomerase at Johns Hopkins University and 2nd REU on kinetochore fiber construction at the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently at Berkeley working on his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology.
Rebecca Lever is a Biology student at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She assisted with small mammal trapping and conducted a vegetation survey at each site. Rebecca is currently working on her Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry and Soil Science at the University of California, Merced. Her research focuses on pyrogenic carbon storage and cycling in soil.
Joel Price helped with small mammal trapping during both the 2010 and 2011 field seasons. He now works for the SJWD Water District.
Ronnetta Sartor studied the predator-prey interactions between southeastern field crickets (Gryllus rubens) and rabid wolf spiders (Rabidosa rabida). She received a mini-grant to help fund this research. She also helped with carnivore surveys. She presented her cricket work at the 2011 Upstate Research Showcase and won “Best Poster in the Natural Sciences.” Ronnetta is now a dental student at the Medical University of South Carolina.
2009 Research Student
Nada Hyatt helped me start the small mammal trapping project. She worked with me to set-up the trapping grids and live-trap mammals. She presented her research at the 2010 Upstate Research Showcase.