Alumni

Diamond VE Holloman Ph.D., Ph.D., 2020 | Advisor(s): Gabriela Valdivia Research: Environmental Justice, hurricane recovery, critical urban ecology

Colleen Bove Ph.D., Ph.D., 2020 | Advisor(s): Karl Castillo Research: Ocean acidification and ocean warming effects on Caribbean coral reefs

Shelby Ziegler Ph.D., Ph.D., 2020 | Advisor(s): Joel Fodrie Research: Food web linkages, Habitat connectivity, Marine community ecology

Margit Bertalan Ph.D., Ph.D., 2019 | Advisor(s): Paul Leslie Research: Social-ecologial systems, wildlife conservation, community based conservation, East Africa

Kaylyn S. Gootman Ph.D., Ph.D., 2019 | Advisor(s): Jaye Cable Research: Groundwater-surface water interactions, hyporheic zone clogging, stable isotope geochemistry

Sandeep Kandikuppa Ph.D., Ph.D., | Advisor(s): Dr. Clark L. Gray, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, UNC-CH Research: I examine the socio-political and environmental factors that exacerbate or mitigate rural household indebtedness in India. I employ analysis of large secondary datasets like NSSO and IHDS alongside qualitative methods like semi-structured interviews with farmers to understand why even seemingly modest sums of outstanding debts cause farmers distress.

Garrett Sharpe Ph.D., Ph.D., | Advisor(s): Alecia Septer and Scott Gifford Research: Coastal Microbial Interactions and Metabolism

Lauren Goodman M.S., M.S., 2020 | Advisor(s): Alex Hearn & Jaye Cable Research: Using drone technology to geolocate shark nurseries

Erin Spencer M.S., M.S., 2019 | Advisor(s): John Bruno Research: Sustainable fisheries, marine protected area management, coral reef ecology

Catie Alves Ph.D., 2020 | Advisor(s): John Bruno Research: Coral reef ecology, marine conservation, fisheries reform, natural resource management

Julie Tuttle Ph.D., 2019 | Advisor(s): Peter White Research: Ecological biogeography; vegetation dynamics; species distribution modeling; soil moisture modeling and forest change in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Matthew Kenworthy Ph.D., 2019 | Advisor(s): Joel Fodrie Research: Estuarine ecosystem ecology, fish behavior and habitat use dynamics, coastal fish community dynamics

Danielle Keller Ph.D., 2018 | Advisor(s): Joel Fodrie Research: Community assembly patterns, habitat restoration in marine communities

Christopher Payne Ph.D., 2018 | Advisor(s): Robert Peet Research: Long-term forest dynamics, succession, climate change, long-term disturbance effects Now at: Assistant Professor of Biology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio

Samantha Tessel Ph.D., 2018 | Advisor(s): Peter White Research: Plant ecology

Molly Jenkins M.S., 2018 | Advisor(s): Allen Hurlbert Research: Working with data that spans large spatial or temporal scales, ornithology, and mountain/forest ecology

Olivia Torano M.S., 2018 | Advisor(s): Michael Piehler Research: Freshwater ecology, aquatic vegetation, nutrient cycling Now at: Research Specialist, UNC Department of Marine Sciences Marchetti Lab

Genevieve Alexander M.S., 2018 | Advisor(s): Peter White Research: Plant community composition & long term vegetation monitoring in Northern Minnesota Now at: The Nature Conservancy in Duluth, MN as a Research Assistant

Adam Gold Ph.D., 2017, M.S. | Advisor(s): Michael Piehler Research: Coastal watershed hydrology and biogeochemistry, stormwater management Now at: Research Technician in the Piehler lab at UNC Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) in Morehead City, NC

Maggie Esch Ph.D., 2017 | Advisor(s): Jaye Cable Research: Coastal and estuarine hydrological and biogeochemical processes Now at: Research Associate at National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC

Chris Hakkenberg Ph.D., 2017 | Advisor(s): Conghe Song Research: Landscape forest dynamics, remote sensing, land use land cover change, conservation Now at: Rice University Department of Statistics and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research as a Rice Academy of Fellows Postdoctoral Fellow

Bianca Lopez Ph.D., 2017 | Advisor(s): Peter White Research: Urbanization and its effects on plant communities Now at: Postdoctoral Researcher at the Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) in Annapolis, MD

Anthony Mayer M.S., 2017 | Advisor(s): Alan Weakley Research: Restoration ecology Now at: Elon University - Loy Farm Sustainability Lab, Adjunct Professor

Samuel Sellers Ph.D., 2017 | Advisor(s): Pam Jagger and Richard Bilsborrow Research: Evaluating population-health-environment interventions that combine programming in reproductive health and coastal conservation Now at: USAID Office of Forestry and Biodiversity in a AAAS Fellow position as a Biodiversity Specialist

Sierra Cameron Woodruff Ph.D., 2017 | Advisor(s): Todd BenDor Research: Climate Change Adaptation; Environmental Policy and Planning Now at: Assistant Professor at Texas A&M in the Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Department

Hannah Palko M.S., 2017 | Advisor(s): Lindsay Dubbs Research: Environmental impacts of salinity gradient energy as a form of renewable energy on the NC coast Now at: Central Cabarrus High School (NC), teaching biology and AP environmental science

Dennis Tarasi Ph.D., 2016 | Advisor(s): Robert Peet Research: Invasive species ecology, community ecology, population dynamics Now at: Assistant Professor of Biology at St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa

Miranda Welsh Ph.D., 2016 | Advisor(s): Charles Mitchell Research: Disease Ecology Now at: Lecturing Fellow of the Thompson Writing Program, Duke University, Durham, NC

Peter Wilfahrt Ph.D., 2016 | Advisor(s): Peter White Research: Plant community dynamics, functional trait ecology Now at: The University of Bayreuth, Disturbance Ecolgoy Department as a Post-Doctorial Scholar

Limei Ran Ph.D., 2015 | Advisor(s): Larry Band Research: Land surface processes for meteorological and air quality modeling Now at: National Exposure Research Laboratory Office of Research and Development U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Brian Evans Ph.D., 2014 | Advisor(s): Allen Hurlbert Research: Quantitative ecology Now at: Smithsonian Institution

Susan Caplow Ph.D., 2014 | Advisor(s): Pamela Jagger Research: Human Ecology, Environmental Education, Policy Now at: University of Montevallo, Alabama

Rachel Gittman Ph.D., 2014 | Advisor(s): John Bruno & Pete Peterson Research: Human development impacts on coastal ecology Now at: Assistant Professor at East Carolina University (ECU), Department of Biology

Kyle Palmquist Ph.D., 2014 | Advisor(s): Robert Peet and Alan Weakley Research: Plant community ecology, biogeography Now at: University of Wyoming

Jackie White Ph.D., 2014 | Advisor(s): Robert Peet Research: Riparian plant communities, disturbance regimes, resilience

Andrea Anton Gamanzo Ph.D., 2013 | Advisor(s): Pete Peterson Research: Coral reef ecology Now at: Queen's University, Belfast, Ireland

Brian Miller Ph.D., 2013 | Advisor(s): Paul Leslie Research: Social-dimensions of conservation; resilience; pastoralism; rangeland ecology; dryland rivers Now at: North Central Climate Center, Colorado State University

Jeffrey Muehlbauer Ph.D., 2013 | Advisor(s): Martin Doyle Research: River ecology Now at: USGS, Flagstaff, Arizona

Megan Rúa Ph.D., 2012 | Advisor(s): Charles Mitchell Research: Invasion microbial ecology Now at: Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Wright State University

Sarah Brown M.S., | Advisor(s): Carol Arnosti Research: Marine microbial ecology

Joseph Delesantro Ph.D., | Advisor(s): Diego Riveros-Iregui & Larry Band Research: Land-use effects on watershed hydrology and solute transport, management implication for downstream water bodies, ecohydrology

Geoffrey Neal M.S., | Advisor(s): Alan Weakley Research: Plant Ecology

Travis Wilson M.S., | Advisor(s): Alecia Septer Research: Microbial Ecology

Zofia Knorek Ph.D., | Advisor(s): Joel Fodrie and Niels Lindquist Research: Oyster reef restoration and conservation, oyster-pest population dynamics

Shawn Griffith Ph.D., | Advisor(s): Dr. Caela O'Connell Research: The effects of disasters on people experiencing homelessness in the United States.

Stephanie McFadden M.S., | Advisor(s): Dr. Paul Leslie Research: Human-carnivore conflict mitigation, Community based conservation, wildlife conservation, East Africa

Matthew Ungaro M.S., | Advisor(s): Todd BenDor Research: Urban ecology, restoration ecology, geographic information systems, planning, stream and wetland ecology

Anastasia Dulskiy , | Advisor(s): Karl Castillo Research: Ecophysiology of temperate corals, marine conservation

Eric Scheier M.S., | Advisor(s): Noah Kittner Research: Energy Equity, Solar Power, Energy Storage, Net Energy, Emergy, Macro Energy Systems, Environmental Commodities, Clean Technology Deployment, Climate Finance, Socio-Ecological Systems, Sustainability, Life Cycle Assessment.

Quentin Martinez , | Advisor(s): Research: