Welcome to the WilsonLab at Auburn!

Our approach to research is multidimensional.  First, we use large-scale observational studies and meta-analysis of existing data from the literature to discover patterns in nature.  Then, we identify mechanisms mediating these patterns through laboratory and field-based experimentation.

As a community ecologist, I am generally interested in consumer-prey interactions and identifying the ecological and evolutionary consequences of intraspecific genetic and phenotypic variation on aquatic communities and ecosystems.  My current research focuses on the ecology of cyanobacterial blooms with an emphasis on understanding how biotic and abiotic factors influence cyanobacterial bloom formation in a variety of systems including recreational reservoirs and aquaculture ponds.  In tandem with our harmful algal bloom research, the lab is also beginning to study the factors leading to taste, odor, and toxicity issues in drinking water reservoirs.  

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News

Want to join the lab?

• I am always looking for hard-working, honest, and self-motivated graduate and undergraduate students to join our group.  I encourage individual thinking, so it is not critical that we share identical research interests.  But, it is important that you are fascinated by science and want to explore how the natural world works.  Please email me your resume, transcripts, GRE scores (if applicable), research interests, and contact information for three references and we will try to find a spot for you in the lab.

July 2018

• Our NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity proposal has been funded!  I am psyched to be working with Dave Hambright and Lee Krumhotz (University of Oklahoma), Hans Paerl (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Morgan Steffen (James Madison University) to better understand HABs.  We are looking for students to join us to work on this project.  Interested?  Contact me.

• I was recently elected to join the National Harmful Algal Bloom Committee, which helps motivate research, education, and policies related to algal blooms.  Looking forward to joining the team.  

• I was just notifed that I am the southeastern US winner of the 2018 USDA Food and Agriculture Sciences Excellence in Teaching award.  My great students share this award with me.  One of the nice perks of this award is that I get to participate in the awards banquent in one of my favorite cities, New Orleans. 

• We have been getting some press interest in our new BioScience paper focused on assessing undergrad research experiences, inlcuding Inside Higher Ed, Campus Technology, EurekAlert!, AIBS, and AU College of Agriculture.

June 2018

• Edna is heading to DC for six months to serve as ASLO's summer communication intern where she will help prepare for their upcoming meeting in Puerto Rico.  Congrats, Edna!.   

May 2018

• Mary's class project has been published!  Congrats, Mary and Althea!  Your persistence paid off. Delaney, M., A. ArchMiller, D. P. Delaney, A. E. Wilson, and E. J. Sikora. 2018. Effectiveness of fungicide on soybean rust in the southeastern United States: a meta-analysis. Sustainability 10:1784. (PDF)

• Mario has returned to Brazil to complete his PhD next month and then join the drinking water industry.  He will be greatly missed but we know that we will see him again.

• Yang's limnocorral experiment showing strong effects of hydrogen peroxide treatments on toxic cyanobacteria in an aquaculture pond has been accepted for publication.  Cool study, Yang.  Yang, Z., R. P. Buley, E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa, M. U.G. Barros, S. Rajendran, and A. E. Wilson. 2018. Hydrogen peroxide treatment promotes chlorophytes over toxic cyanobacteria in a hyper-eutrophic aquaculture pond. Environmental Pollution 240:590-598. (PDF)

• Edna, Lily, and I lead educational events at the Lee County Water Festival. It was great to work with our local 4th graders. 

April 2018

• Our paper showing strong, clear short- and long-term effects of REU experiences on participants has been accepted at BioScience.  Anyone who has experience working with REU programs won't be surprised by our findings, but we hope that our study will encourage more students and faculty to be interested in participating and leading REU programs, respectively.  Wilson, A. E., J. L. Pollock, I. Billick, C. Domingo, E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa, E. Nagy, T. D. Steury, and A. Summers. 2018. Assessing science training programs: Structured undergraduate research programs make a difference. BioScience 68(7):529-534. (Website) (Editor's Choice)

• Edna lead a great outreach event at our local museum.  All the kids wanted to look through the scope to see Daphnia! 

• Edna and I gave an outreach talk about Secchi disks to a great group of high school students.  Definitely future limnologists. 

• Rachel Zitomer (2012 REU student) just learned that she was awarded an NSF GRFP to attend Oregon State University this fall.  Good work, Rachel! 

• Our German buddy, Bettina Welz, came back to visit us for spring break!  We miss Bettina. 

March 2018

• LeeAnn just learned that she is a recipient of an AU Undergraduate Research Fellowship that she will use to conduct an awesome experiment she proposed next academic year.  Congrats, LeeAnn!

• Another great prison outreach event with Edna and Ash Abebe at Staton Correctional Facility.  Our students were incredible, as always.

• Our extension article describing some of our efforts to use ecology to control toxic algae in aquaculture is out.  Wilson, A. E., E. G. Fernandez, R. Buley, and L. A. Roy. 2018. Is sustainable control of toxic algae a reality for catfish aquaculture? Fish Farming News 2018(1):7-8. (PDF)

• Edna's and my short extension article targeting drinking water utilities dealing with toxic cyanobacteria has been published.  In short, we strongly encourage all water resource managers to get a microscope and some training to identify phytoplankton in their waterbodies.  Wilson, A. E. and E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa. 2018. Preparing water resource managers to identify and measure toxic cyanobacteria. Streamlines Spring 2018:18. (PDF)

• Our cow pond paper is finally out.  In this study, we learned that cow access to ponds can reduce abundance of toxic cyanobacteria due to increased bioturbation (i.e., cows walking in ponds makes them muddy!).  Wilson, A. E., M. F. Chislock, Z. Yang, M. U.G. Barros, and J. F. Roberts. 2018. Pond bank access as an approach for managing toxic cyanobacteria in beef cattle pasture drinking water ponds. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 190:247. (PDF)

February 2018

• Ryan has gotten some cool press about his new Nature Communications paper.

• Our REU Site in Warm-water aquatic ecology is nearing the end of our student recruitment efforts.  We have got a bunch of awesome undergraduates heading to Auburn this summer.  It will be another terrific REU summer. 

• My old pal from NSF, Sophie George, invited me to visit her at Georgia Southern to share some of my lab's research.  It was a great trip! 

• The n-fixation master, Thad Scott, finally offered a hands-on training session for me.  The trip to Baylor was excellent.  Lots of great food, fellowship, and n-fixation.  I also happened along the Fixer Upper compound during a morning breakfast hunt.  I had no idea what the Magnolia Market was (thanks to a lack of cable tv for many years) but learned that it is the center of the Waco universe.

January 2018

• Bryant's thesis has found its way into circulation at Freshwater Science.  Nice job, Bryant!  Baker, B. C., A. E. Wilson, and J. T. Scott. 2018. Phytoplankton N2 fixation efficiency and its effect on harmful algal blooms. Freshwater Science 37(2):264-275. (PDF)

• The WilsonLab is growing again!  We are excited to welcome three new undergrads, AnaSara Kipp, Kate Baker, and Harris Pride, to the team.

• Yusuf recently learned that his work defining river plumes in Lake Michigan using stable isotopes has been accepted for publication.  Great job, Yusuf.  This is the first paper from our Lake Michigan river plume project.  Jameel, Y., S. Stein, E. Grimm, C. Roswell, A. E. Wilson, C. Troy, T. Höök, and G. Bowen. 2018. Physicochemical characteristics of a southern Lake Michigan river plume. Journal of Great Lakes Research 44:209-218. (PDF)

December 2017

• Ryan's meta-analysis class project focused on the value of bird carotenoids for evaluating individual animal quality has been published.  Good job, Ryan!  Weaver, R. J., E. S. A. Santos, A. M. Tucker, A. E. Wilson, and G. E. Hill. 2018. Carotenoid metabolism strengthens the link between feather coloration and quality. Nature Communications 9:73. (Website)

• Yang has departed the lab.  It has been a great year.  We will see you again in Nanjing this August at the SIL meeting!

• I had to drive through Alabama's earliest blizzard to give a seminar at the University of Alabama.  The rivalry between our schools knows no boundaries.  Trip was excellent, thanks to Jen Howeth.  Roll Tide!

• My teaching and research efforts were recently honored by the College of Agriculture.  I truly appreciate both awards but of the two, I am most excited about the Dean's Award for Excellence in Instruction that would not be possible without the hard work of my many fantastic students.  My buddy, Sushil Adhikari, received the College of Agriculture High Impact paper award.  Good job, Sushil!

• I was fortunate to spend two days in west Alabama (beautiful Demopolis and Greensboro) to talk with catfish and shrimp farmers about their production struggles.  Excellent meetings and even better food!

November 2017

• I recently learned that all of my service for ASLO has paid off.  I am officially an ASLO Fellow!

• This year's 9th US Symposium on Harmful Algae was a huge success.  Not only did Edna receive the best student poster (you rock, Edna!), our (Alison Robertson, Dave Hambright, and Matt Waters) proposal to host the next Symposium in November 2019 at Orange Beach, Alabama, was selected.  We have lots of work to do between now and then.  

• Mallary Clay's REU project has finally made its way to Behaviour.  This is our 21st publication from our REU Site in warm-water aquatic ecology.

• Two sessions on harmful algal blooms that I proposed with excellent scientists from around the world for the 2018 Summer ASLO meeting in Victoria, British Columbia have been accepted. One session is more general and will focus on marine and freshwater HABs (Bryan Brooks (lead), SS71) while the other session is more focused on cyanobacteria (Ted Harris (lead), SS07).  Please joins us. 

October 2017

• Edna was awarded 2nd place for her poster about our drinking water project in the College of Agriculture Graduate Student Poster Showcase.  Good job, Edna.  We will need to invest in a new shelf to hold all of your awards. 

• I had the opportunity to return to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management Annual Surface Water meeting in Montgomery for the third year in a row.  This year, I was able to share exciting results from our state-wide drinking water reservoir survey.

• Edna was just formally honored by the AL/MS AWWA for her research.  Congrats, Edna!

• My family got a chance to return to Arlington, VA, to see our old friends.  It was an awesome reunion.

• My trip to Hanover, Germany, to participate in the DynaTrait conference was incredible.  A whole week of eco-evo talks focused on freshwater plankton.  How can things get better?  Oh yeah, I got to see some of my European buddies.

• Romi's meta-analysis project has been accepted for publication.  This is the fastest turnaround time for any paper from my meta-analysis class.  Good job, Romi!  Novriadi, R. 2017. A meta-analysis approach toward fish meal replacment with fermented soybean meal: effects on growth performance and feed conversion ratio. Asian Fisheries Science Journal 30(4):227-244. (PDF)

September 2017

• Edna and I were invited to my alma mater, Young Harris College, to do some recruiting for our graduate program and our new REU Site.  Their campus is beautiful. 

• Bettina has left the building to return to Germany to start her graduate research.  Bettina, you are already missed.  Thanks for joining us.  You are awesome.

• Nathan Hartline, a past AU student, asked me to help do some limnological sampling of DeKalb county fishing lake to figure out why the fish community is doing so well.  I blame good fisheries management. 

• Bettina and I were able to sample some catfish ponds in west Alabama before starting a whole pond experiment.  Lots of algae! 

• Things continue to get busier.  We just learned that our USDA-NIFA proposal to use super Daphnia to control toxic and off-flavor producing cyanobacteria in aquaculture ponds has been funded.  We finally get to run a huge, funded whole pond field experiment!  Thank you, USDA!

August 2017

• The lab is growing!  Welcome to Riley (new PhD student), Trevor (undergrad researcher), Bettina (DAAD Rise scholar), and Madeline (undergrad researcher).  Work hard!

• Our friend from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., Dr. Carrie Solomon, visited the lab as part of our NSF INCLUDES workshop to create effective research training programs for students with disabiltites.  Check out the NPR story about Carrie's work with deaf undergraduate researchers.

• Thanks to our friend, Jaquice Boyd, from Birmingham Water Works, and the AL/MS AWWA, the lab had a fun-filled night watching the Montgomery Biscuits. Go Biscuits!

July 2017

• Mario Barros, a PhD student from the Universidade Federal do Ceará in Fortaleza, Brazil, just joined the lab for a year. Edna, Mario, and I had a chance to get in our green ponds, and Mario is still around.  That is a good sign.

June 2017

• My family just returned from an awesome week at Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks.  We saw lots of critters, including brown and black bear, pronghorns, elk, many birds, and uinta squirrels.  We will be back.  Plan your trip today.

• Edna just received a $3,000 student scholarship from the Alabama/Mississippi Section of the American Water Works Assocation.  She will be heading to Pt. Clear later this year to talk about her drinking water research.  Congrats, Edna!

• Enrique Doster, a past undergrad researcher in the lab and current DVM/PhD student at Colorado State, was awarded an incredible NSF Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship.  You are still awesome, Enrique.  Keep working hard!

• As part of our AgR SEED project to study algal toxins in Alabama drinking water systems, we are organizing a workshop to train utility professional and state agency scientists about harmful phytoplankton and their toxins.  We even got some folks excited about learning how to measure algal toxins with ELISA.

• Edna and I were invited to talk with incoming freshman participating in the College of Sciences and Math's STEM Bridge program about undergraduate research.  I think we might have convinced them to get involved with research this fall.  

May 2017

• I am thrilled to report that our Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) proposal to extend our REU Site in warm-water aquatic ecology has been funded.  The program will occur during the summers of 2018-2020.

• I have recently joined the editorial board for the journal, Harmful Algae, and look forward to seeing many exciting and interesting HABs manuscripts.

• Kai's persistence has paid off.  After several revisions, his interesting paper showing that elevated temperature can impact maternal effects associated with Daphnia tolerance to toxic cyanobacteria has been accepted for publication!  Lyu, K., L. Zhang, L. Gu, X. Zhu, A. E. Wilson, and Z. Yang. 2017. Cladoceran offspring tolerance to toxic Microcystis is promoted by maternal warming. Environmental Pollution 227:451-459. (PDF)

• Jess recently received 3rd place for undergraduate oral presentations in the science and technology section of the Auburn University This is Research Symposium.  Good job, Jess!  

• I recently participated in the Lee County Water Festival where I was able to teach hundreds of 4th graders about (edible) aquifers.  This was a great, important event to educate our future leaders about protecting and managing our precious freshwater resources.

• I love this National Geographic story about geniuses.  This statement from Terence Tao is so true.  What really matters is "hard work, directed by intuition, literature, and a bit of luck."   

• Christian Moldaenke, from bbe Moldaenke, visited the lab to use some of his company's new tools to study our green ponds.  It was a very productive and fun visit and gave the lab a chance to get together for a needed cookout.

April 2017

• I was able to spend several days in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and got to see beautiful beaches, rainforests, and cities as well as some old friends. 

March 2017

• Edna just got the fantastic news that she is being awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!  I am so proud of her.  Time to get to work with those pesky Daphnia. 

• Auburn just released a nice news release about the 14 new GRFP fellows at the university.  This is a record!  War Eagle! 

• More good news!  My past PhD student, Michael Chislock, has just accepted a faculty position at SUNY-Brockport to become their new limnologist.  Congrats, Michael!

• Laurel's REU project was recently accepted at the Journal of Coastal Research.  This is our REU Site's 20th REU student publication.  Good work, Laurel and Chris.  Low, L. and C. J. Anderson. In press. The threat of a nonnative, invasive apple snail to oligohaline marshes along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Coastal Research. 

• Jessica's meta-analysis project was accepted for publication in Contemporary Economic Policy.  This is our 17th class publication and first in economics.  Very cool, Jessica!  Merkle, J. and M. Phillips. In press. The wage impact of teachers unions: a meta-analysis. Contemporary Economic Policy. (PDF)

• As expected, ASLO in Honolulu was a great time.  I was able to participate in a leadership workshop with John Downing and Debbie Bronk, co-organize a 2.5 day-long session on HABs, see many old friends, and hangout on the beautiful beaches.

• Edna and I were able to visit Tutwiler to give an outreach talk about eutrophication.  This was our first visit to a women's prison in Alabama.  It was one of the best outreach events to date.  Incredibly smart and engaged students.  

• Tammy DeVries organized an incredible Wonders of Water program for two local Girl Scout troops.  I talked about drinking water treatment as well as what microscopic creatures live in lakes that we don't want in our drinking water.  The Girl Scouts enjoyed looking at phytoplankton, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates under the scopes.  Definitely future aquatic ecologists.

• Edna gave a great talk about our Daphnia consumer offense research at the Association of Southeastern Biologists in Montgomery, AL. 

February 2017

• We just learned that Bettina Welz from the Universitat Heidelberg (Germany) will be joining the lab this summer through a DAAD Rise scholarship.  We look forward to seeing you in Auburn, Bettina.  Alan

• I recently led a HABs webinar for nearly 100 water utility professionals in KY-TN through the Kentucky-Tennessee Water Environment Association.  I discussed some of our findings from our USGS project focused on forecasting blooms in the southeastern US.  Participants had some challenging questions for me related to monitoring HABs as well as the effects of wastewater on eutrophication dynamics.    

January 2017

• I had an opportunity to serve on the technical advisory committee for the Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) who will thoroughly evaluate fluorescence-based tools for studying harmful algal blooms in marine and freshwater systems.  A week in Monterey, CA, is good for the soul.  Plus, I was able to meet with HABs scientists from around the world and watch the jellies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

December 2016

• The WilsonLab is growing - huge welcome to Drs. Arevik Minasyan (Fulbright Fellow from Armenia) and Zhen Yang (Chinese Scholarship Council postdoc)! 

• Arevik was able to join me at two fun outreach events this month, including the Certified Crop Advisor meeting (Auburn, AL) and the annual Catfish update meeting (beautiful Demopolis, AL), where I talked about the threat that harmful algal blooms pose to livestock and fish health, respectively.

November 2016

• Janna has just published her second first-author paper from our past meta-analysis class.  This is a new record for the course as well as the 16th paper produced from this class.  Wow!  See full list here.  Willoughby, J. R., M. Sundaram, B. K. Wijayawardena, M. C. Lamb, S. J. A. Kimble, Y. Ji, N. B. Fernandez, J. D. Antonides, N. J. Marra, and J. A. DeWoody. 2017. Biome and migratory behavior significantly influence vertebrate genetic diversity. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 121(2):446-457. (PDF)

• Xing Fang and I just learned that our proposal to understand water quality dynamics on the coasts of Alabama and China will be funded starting January 2017.  This project is one of the first to be funded by the new Ocean University China - Auburn University Joint Center for Aquaculture and Environmental Science. 

October 2016

• Allison's meta-analysis project has just been accepted at Oikos.  Awesome job, Allison!  Hrycik, A. R., L. Z. Almeida, and T. O. Höök. 2017. Sub-lethal effects on fish provide insights into a biologically-relevant threshold of hypoxia. Oikos 126(3):307-317. (PDF)  This is the 15th paper produced from my meta-analysis class.  See full list here.

• October was a very busy month for me.  I gave invited talks at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (thanks, Chuck Amsler!), US EPA Region 4 drinking water meeting (thanks, Shawneille Campbell-Dunbar!), the Alabama Water and Wastewater Institute (thanks, Richard Hanan!), and two hour-long talks at the Annual Alabama Surface Water Meeting (thanks, Jim Arnold!).  In addition, I gave a talk about harmful algal blooms at the Alabama/Mississippi AWWA meeting.  

September 2016

• Overtoun Jenda has done it again.  Our NSF S-STEM project involving our colleagues at Tuskegee University, Alabama A&M University, and Oakland University, as well as other teaching focused schools, has been funded for 5 years.  This project will create research experiences and professional development training for economically disadvanted students.  This is a huge opportunity for everyone involved.

• Our colleague, Reed Green, from the USGS Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center visited the lab and shared his awesome research aimed at using physical limnology models to understand algal bloom dynamics in reservoirs.  Reed is an limnological encyclopedia.

• I was able to attend the Alabama Water Resources Conference in Perdido this year.  This is a wonderful meeting and great opportunity to see friends in academia, industry, and government from around Alabama.  Plus, the dinner at the Flora-Bama is second to none.  I will make this an annual tradition.

• Katelyn McWhirter has joined the lab to help us organize our USGS project dataset.  I am still trying to get her away from the computer for a photo.  Soon.  Welcome, Katelyn!

• We are looking for folks to join us in Hawaii this February for ASLO 2017 and participate in our HABs session, SS021 - Crossing disciplinary boundaries across the freshwater-marine continuum to advance the understanding of harmful algal blooms (HABs).  Submit your abstract by 1 October 2016.  Hope to see you there. 

• Our NSF INCLUDES proposal to develop and enhance educational and research opportunities for students with disabilities at 21 colleges throughout the southeastern US and Washington, DC has been funded.  Our project is one of 37 new INCLUDES projects and the only project focused on students with disabilities.  Overtoun Jenda was our fearless leader.  Excellent job making this happen!

• Brie's second thesis chapter, which builds on her first by adding the effect of vertical mixing on off-flavors in a drinking water reservoir, has been accepted for publication.  Incredible job!  Olsen, B. K., M. F. Chislock, A. Rebelein, and A. E. Wilson. 2017. Nutrient enrichment and vertical mixing mediate 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin concentrations in a drinking water reservoir. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply 17(2):500-507. (PDF)

August 2016

• The WilsonLab is excited to welcome two new members - Chase Woods (Junior pre-vet major; left) and Edna Fernandez (M.S. student; middle next to long-term lab member, Jenny Isham (right)).

• Although brief, I was able to attend ESA and participate in an NSF outreach event to educate early career scientists about opportunities at NSF.  The event was super informative.  In addition, I led an NSF@ESA dinner which I hope will become an annual event.  It was truly awesome seeing my NSF friends. 

• Soon after returning to Auburn, I was able to lead a plankton-based outreach event for 5 & 6 year-olds from Lee Scott's summer camp program.  The kids were masters of the compound scopes and loved watching the phytoplankton swim around.  Definitely future limnologists!

July 2016

• My two-year detail at NSF is finally over.  It was an incredible learning experience, and I made tons of new friends.  Now it is time to get back to writing more proposals.  On the way home, my family was able to visit a ton of beautiful places, including Yellowstone.  Plan your visit today.  You won't be disappointed. 

• Despite the long wait, part of Zulema's 10-year portfolio analyses of the Population and Community Ecology program have been published.  They highlight the fact that aquatic ecologists needs to submit more proposals.  Time to get back to work!  Wilson, A. E. and Z. A. Osorio. 2016. DEB Numbers: Are aquatic ecologists underrepresented? DEBrief (NSF's Division of Environmental Biology blog) 11 July 2016. (Website)

June 2016

• I am finally preparing for my return to Auburn after working at NSF for two years.  Along the way, I will be visiting 12 minority serving institutions to discuss opportunities at NSF.  Should be an incredible journey!

May 2016

• I was able to join several of my NSF colleagues at a super successful NSF Day outreach event at North Dakota State University.  Good times!

• We just learned that Dr. Arevik Minasyan (UNESCO in Armenia) was awarded a highly competitive Fulbright Fellowship that will allow her to join the lab for a whole year starting this December! 

• Dave Hambright invited me to participate in an exciting Earth Month/Environmental Studies Distinguished Speaker Series at the University of Oklahoma.  I had a great time and even had an opportunity to give a television interview about the threat of eutrophication on our water resources. 

April 2016

• My NSF buddy, Doug Levey, was able to join me for an exciting prison outreach event in Clio, AL.  Doug's lecture on chilis was awesome and followed by one of the more stressful drives I have had through the great state of Alabama.  Special thanks to Sargent and Pastor Jimmy Helms for helping get us and my car back to Auburn.

• Roger has done it again.  Congrats on another meta-analysis publication.  You are incredible!  Kollock, R., K. Games, A. E. Wilson, and J. Sefton. 2016. Vehicle exposure and spinal musculature in military warfighters: a meta-analysis. Journal of Athletic Training 51(11):981-990. (PDF)

March 2016

• Lesley D'Anglada from USEPA in DC invited me to give a talk about tools and techniques for monitoring harmful algal blooms at the EPA Region 10 Harmful Algal Bloom workshop in Seattle, WA.  It was a great meeting and got me thinking about the need to connect HABs researchers who study these events in marine and freshwater systems. 

• During my kid's spring break, I was able to give an invited talk about harmful algal blooms in Alabama at the Alabama Rural Water Association's technical training conference in Mobile, AL.  This was an incredible opportunity for me to meet drinking water operators and state water resource managers.  

• Tony Golubski invited me to give a seminar at Kennesaw State.  While there, I also led an NSF outreach event for faculty and administrators.  I haven't been back to KSU for almost 20 years and barely recognized campus.  It has grown so much.

• Michael's LakeLine article has finally hit the presses.  Chislock, M. F. 2015. Ecology and management of off-flavors and cyanotoxins. LakeLine. Winter 2015:43-46 (PDF)

February 2016

• Michael successfully defended his dissertation.  Dr. Chislock will be heading to Purdue University to start a two-year postdoc soon after he is done teaching limnology this semester.  Congrats, Mike!  We will miss you. 

January 2016

• Brie's first chapter from her M.S. has been accepted in Water Research.  This study is the first to experimentally demonstrate the connection between fertilization and MIB production in a drinking water reservoir.  Her data are very cool and somewhat surprising.  Awesome work, Brie!  Olsen, B. K., M. F. Chislock, and A. E. Wilson. 2016. Eutrophication mediates a common off-flavor compound, 2-methylisoborneol, in a drinking water reservoir. Water Research 92:228-234. (PDF)

• We survived Snowzilla!  I have never seen so much snow fall in such a short amount of time.

• Through my second job at NSF, I was able to spend a day at Young Harris College to tell everyone about opportunities at NSF.  It was especially awesome to me, since I received my A.S. degree there in 1995 (yes, 21 years ago...I am getting old) and was able to see two of my past professors - Margaret Forrrester and Paul Arnold.  I have great memories of them both! 

December 2015

• Ali's invited review in Harmful Algae about cyanobacteria and zooplankton has finally found its way to publication.  Who would have ever thought that writing a paper with seven opinionated researchers would be so challenging...  You did great, Ali!  Ger, K. A., P. Urrutia-Cordero, P. C. Frost, L.-A. Hansson, O. Sarnelle, A. E. Wilson, and M. Lurling. 2016. The interaction between cyanobacteria and zooplankton in a more eutrophic world. Harmful Algae 54:128-144. (PDF)

• Michael's first sole author publication just came out in LakeLine.  Good stuff!  Chislock, M. F. In press. Ecology and management of off-flavors and cyanotoxins. LakeLine. (PDF)

November 2015

• After the HABs meeting, I drove north through beautiful central California to lead NSF outreach events at Cal Poly and CSU-Monterey Bay.  Both days were educational for me and the faculty I met.  Working at NSF is fantastic.

• I was able to attend the 8th U.S. Symposium on Harmful Algae in Long Beach where I presented Jo-Marie's paper about our method to measure phycocyanin to estimate cyanobacteria biovolume. It was a great meeting, and I got to see many old friends.  I was also about to participate in the Young Investigators Program outreach event to educate students about opportunities at NSF.  It was an awesome meeting. 

October 2015

• This has been a busy month.  I was invited to give a talk about harmful algal blooms, algal toxins, and off-flavors to the almost 400 attendees at the annual Alabama Surface Water meeting in Montgomery.  This was a great experience.

• Alexander Wacker (Univ of Potsdam, Germany) was in the neighborhood, so my lab was able to learn more about his exciting research on co-limitation. 

• Kai's has produced another exciting paper from his dissertation that shows how Daphnia can induce tolerance in their offspring to toxic cyanobacteria when fed toxic and non-toxic cyanobacteria.  These data further highlight interesting complexities associated with cyanobacteria-zooplankton interactions.  Lyu, K., H. Guan, C. Wu, X. Wang, A. E. Wilson, and Z. Yang. 2016. Maternal consumption of non-toxic Microcystis by Daphnia magna induces tolerance to toxic Microcystis in offspring. Freshwater Biology 61:219-228 (PDF)

• The special session that Matt Waters (Valdosta State) and I proposed for the summer 2016 ASLO meeting in Santa Fe has been accepted.  We are looking for folks to join our session titled "Cyanobacterial patterns and processes across scales: implications for water resource management in a changing climate."  Please contact us if you want to join our session.

• Amy Munsterman's Meta-Analysis class project has just been accepted making it the 13th journal article produced from our class. Incredibly good news!  Munsterman, A. S., J. J. Kottwitz, and R. R. Hanson. In press. Meta-analysis of the effects of adhesion barriers on adhesion formation in the horse. Veterinary Surgery.  See full list of Meta-Analysis class publications here.

• The lab has literally founds it finger on an important NSF-wide document produced from the NSF Environmental Research and Education Advisory Committee.  Check out pages 9 and 37.

• The lab welcomes to new undergrad research volunteers, Courtney Andes (Marine Biology) and Eric Wittig (Fisheries).  Welcome!

September 2015

• Brie's time in the lab has come to an end.  She will soon be moving to Tampa, FL, to start her new job at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.  We will miss you, Brie.  Good luck to you. 

• Rebecca's new meta-analysis paper is an awesome synthesis about how carotenoids do (or don't) provide insights about bird performance.  It is also our 12th journal article produced from the Meta-Analysis class (FISH 7350).  Fantastic job, Rebecca!  Koch, R. E., A. E. Wilson, and G. E. Hill. 2016. The importance of carotenoid dose in supplementation studies with songbirds. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology: Ecological and Evolutionary Approaches 89(1):61-71. (PDF)

August 2015

• Roger has just published another meta-analysis on his military-based kinesiology research.  He is a publishing machine!  Great job, Roger.  Kollock, R., C. Andrews, A. Johnston, T. Elliott, A. E. Wilson, K. Games, and J. Sefton. 2016. A meta-analysis to determine if lower extremity muscle strengthening should be included in military knee overuse injury prevention programs. Journal of Athletic Training 51(11):919-926. (PDF)

• I was able to attend ESA with my NSF colleagues where I saw many old friends and learned about exciting ecological research.  As part of the conference, Henry Gholz (NSF), Dan Stover (DoE), and I led a fantastic interagency outreach session involving 30+ agency reps from 12 federal agencies.

July 2015

• I had an excellent visit to the Blandy Experimental Farm (University of Virginia & State Arboretum) to meet with faculty and REU students and to present some of our lab's research.  Thanks for the opportunity, Patrick Crumrine.

June 2015

• The lab has a new virtual member, Zulema Osorio, from Solano Community College (CA).  Zulema will help me conduct a thorough portfolio analysis of the NSF Population and Community Ecology funding trends for the past 10 years.  Welcome, Zulema.

May 2015

• A short article about my undergraduate mentor award was published in the 2015 edition of the Auburn University Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship (AUJUS). 

• Brie has successfully defended her thesis!  Congrats, Brie.  Now, let's get those chapters published.

• Ash's efforts to raise general awareness about predatory journals has led to a new chapter in Auburn University's Auburn Speaks.  Bullard, A., D. DeVries, A. Wilson, H. Kinnucan, P. Clement, G. Lockaby, and C. Newland. 2015. Science or snake oil: Scholarship and peer review in the digital age. Book chapter in Auburn Speaks: On Cyber and the Digital Domain. Published by Auburn University. pp. 201-211. (PDF)

April 2015

• My incredible meta-analysis students continue to amaze me.  What started out as a standard class paper discussion has led to a new article in Molecular Ecology aimed at educating its authors what meta-analysis is and isn't.  Althea and Eric carried most of the burden of this project.  Seriously excellent job!  ArchMiller, A. A., E. F. Bauer, R. E. Koch, B. K. Wijayawardena, A. Anil, J. J. Kottwitz, A. S. Munsterman, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. Formalizing the definition of meta-analysis in Molecular Ecology. Molecular Ecology 24:4042-4051. (PDF) (Web link)

March 2015

• I had a great visit to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center to see an old labmate, John Parker, meet many of his colleagues, and share some of our lab's research.  SERC is a spectacular place.  I am sure I will be back.

February 2015

• Brie was awarded the best student presentation at the Alabama Fisheries Association annual meeting in Prattville, AL.  Congratulations, Brie.

• After three long years, Jeff's meta-analysis class project has found a home in Functional Ecology.  Slow but steady wins the race!  Good work, Jeff.  Goessling, J. M., H. Kennedy, M. T. Mendonça, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. A meta-analysis of plasma corticosterone and heterophil:lymphocyte ratios - Is there conservation of physiological stress responses over time? Functional Ecology 29:1189-1196. (PDF)

January 2015

• With an incredibly heavy heart, I report that our lab's good luck charm, Big Beau Wilson, has moved on to greener pastures.  He was a fantastic buddy.  I miss him deeply.  I know I am not alone given that Beau had lots of friends. 

   

• Roger's meta-analysis synthesizing data regarding the impact of military vehicle ride exposure on cervical pathology has been accepted.  Good job, Mr. Assistant Professor!  Kollock, R., K. Games, A. E. Wilson, and J. Sefton. 2015. Effect of vehicle-ride exposure on cervical pathology - a meta-analysis. Industrial Health 53:197-205. (PDF)

December 2014

• Kai's paper describing a potential mechanism responsible for tolerance in Daphnia to toxic cyanobacteria has been accepted.  Good work, Kai!  Lyu, K., L. Zhang, X. Zhu, G. Cui, A. E. Wilson, and Z. Yang. 2015. Arginine kinase in the cladoceran Daphnia magna: cDNA sequencing and expression is associated with resistance to toxic Microcystis. Aquatic Toxicology 160:13-21. (PDF)

• Work at NSF has kept me busy for the past few months but I have had some time to engage folks at Auburn University, including our Provost, Dr. Tim Boosinger, when I was honored at the annual Awards Gala as the recipient of the 2014-2015 Provost's Award for Faculty Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship.

   

October 2014

• October is starting off well.  Jo-Marie's paper about using the pigment, phycocyanin, as a quick way to estimate cyanobacterial biovolume has been accepted.  Excellent!  Kasinak, J.-M. E., B. M. Holt, M. F. Chislock, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. Benchtop fluorometry of phycocyanin as a rapid approach for estimating cyanobacterial biovolume. Journal of Plankton Research 37(1):248-257. (PDF)

September 2014

• BJ's meta-analysis class project has set a new speed record from class presentation to publication.  A new bar has been set for the rest of us.  Good job, BJ.  Newcomer, B. J., P. H. Walz, M. D. Givens, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. Efficacy of bovine viral diarrhea virus vaccination to prevent reproductive disease: a meta-analysis. Theriogenology 83(2015):360-365. (PDF)

• Anja has set sail for Germany.  Twelve weeks never seemed so short.  She was a great addition to the WilsonLab.  I am sure our paths will cross again in the future. 

August 2014

• Several NSF Program Directors and I are attending the ESA meeting in Sacramento.  Check out the DEB blog to find out who will be there.  I am excited to hear about exciting new ecological research.

July 2014

• I recently started my new job as a Program Director in the Population and Community Ecology program at the National Science Foundation.  It is going great.  Lots of training.  I like visitors (see below).  Feel free to visit - Stafford I room 610 - if you are in the area.

  

June 2014

• Our new recruit from Germany, Anja Rebelein, has finally made it to campus.  We look forward to working with her this summer through her DAAD RISE fellowship opportunity. 

• Brie was recently notified that she was awarded a $250 research grant from the Graduate School to support her research.  Our wonderful school director, Dr. John Jensen, offered to match this award.  Congrats, Brie, and thanks, John!

• Michael and I participated in a fantastic outreach event at Troy State-Dothan (where I got shirt in photo below) where we got to excite elementary school teachers about aquatic ecology.  We found lots of beautiful bullfrog tadpoles with the gear we made.

   

   

• Thad Scott just left the building.  We had a great visit with him associated with his prestigious Southeastern Conference Visiting Faculty Travel Grant.

• I was able to participate in a conference call about harmful algal blooms and hosted by Cat Lazaroff in conjunction with Resource Media and the National Wildlife Federation.  

• Jo-Marie's first chapter of her thesis describing that lack of consumption of Lyngbya by grass carp has been accepted for publication.  Awesome news. Kasinak, J.-M. E., C. J. Bishop, R. A. Wright, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. Grass carp do not consume the nuisance benthic cyanobacterium, Lyngbya wollei. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management 53:74-80. (PDF)

• Michael, Brie, and I got to attend the JASM meeting in Portland.  Brie gave an exciting talk and I got to see some old friends, including Gretchen Gerrish.

   

   

April 2014

• I was notified by our Provost, Dr. Tim Boosinger, that I have been awarded the 2014-2015 Provost's Award for Faculty Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship, which recognizes my undergraduate training efforts.  This award would not be possible without the hard work of my many awesome undergrads.  Thank you!

March 2014

• The last few weeks have been an exciting time for the WilsonLab.  I just learned that I will be heading to work as a rotator Program Director in the Population and Community Ecology program at the National Science Foundation this summer.  I can't wait to get to Arlington!

• Our buddy, Thad Scott, was awarded the Southeastern Conference Visiting Faculty Travel Grant to support his stay in the beautiful city of Auburn, Alabama, where he will work with us to refine his skills for measuring cyanobacterial toxins.  We are looking forward to seeing you, Thad.

• Brie was recently notified that she will get $300 from the Auburn University Graduate School to present some of her thesis research at ASLO meeting in Portland, Oregon.  Good work, Brie.

• Our prison seminar series is in full force.  This year, Kyes Stevens, Doug Goodwin, Curtis Shannon, and I have developed new courses and extended our prison science seminar series, called Sparks.  I just gave a series of lectures about eutrophication at Easterling Correctional Facility.  My students were incredible, as usual.

• Anja Rebelein, an undergrad from Germany, will be joining us this summer to conduct field research through the DAAD RISE program.  We are psysched about seeing Anja this summer.

• We had our final water quality workshop associated with our USGS project.  As in the past years, our students were excellent.

• I am finally getting a little break.  I am heading to the mountains in Asheville, NC, to participate in the Southeastern Lake Management Conference.  The trip cound not be more perfectly timed.

• Our friend, Nate Dorn, from Florida Atlantic University visited us and gave a cool seminar about his research in the Everglades.

• After years of prodding, Michael has finally put together his own website...because of a class requirement.  Check it out.

January 2014

• Our past undergradaute researcher, Enrique Doster, learned that he has been accepted into the Ph.D./DVM program at Colorado State University (the third best vet school in the U.S.).  We expect big things from you, Enrique.

• I got to visit my Purdue colleagues again to discuss our Lake Michigan project about drowned rivermouths.  My flight arrived just in time for me to get on the shuttle to West Lafayette before the snow storm hit.  I don't miss the snow.

October 2013

• Michael and Katie's (2011 REU student) paper showing how the diazotroph, Cylindrospermopsis, dominates in super low (expected) and high (unexpected) N:P conditions was just accepted at Water Research.  Good job, y'all.  Another successful REU project!  Chislock, M. F., K. L. Sharp, and A. E. Wilson. 2014. Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii dominates under very low and high nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratios. Water Research 49:207-214. (PDF)

• I finally got to get away for a short fishing trip with the boys.  Russ, Tyler, and I slayed the redfish and trout in Venice, LA.  I am ready to go back to fishing paradise.

• I just returned from a trip to Purdue University where I gave a lecture about eutrophication to 500+ honors students.  Sorry for the poor photo of everything except Tomas Hook's bald head.  Gotta get a new phone.

October 2013

• Jo-Marie successfully defended her thesis!  Her talk was amazing.  Congrats on completing your degree. 

September 2013

• Kent's newly accepted paper in the Journal of Athletic Training now makes FOUR pubs from my meta-analysis course.  I have the best, hardiest working students.  Congratulations, Kent!  Games, K., J. Sefton, and A. E. Wilson. In press. Effect of whole-body vibration on blood flow and muscle oxygenation: a meta-analysis. Journal of Athletic Training. (PDF)

• Our star undergrad, Enrique, just learned that his first-authored paper in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine was accepted for publication.  He will be giving a talk about these data at the upcoming American Association of Zoo Veterinarians meeting in Utah next month.  You rock, Enrique.  Doster, E., M. F. Chislock, J. F. Roberts, J. J. Kottwitz, and A. E. Wilson. 2014. Recognition of an important water quality issue at zoos: prevalence and potential threat of toxic cyanobacteria. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 45(1):165-168. (PDF)

• The students' story about their experiences at the recent ASLO meeting in New Orleans has been published in the recent addition of the ASLO Bulletin.  Nice, y'all.  Olsen, B. K., C. Smith, M. Chislock, J. Kasinak, and E. Doster. 2013. Letter to the Editor: Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) 2013 Annual Meeting: Students' perspectives. ASLO Bulletin 22(3):83-84. (PDF) (Web link)

• Newly available map helps pinpoint freshwater HABs throughout the US.  Also, see associated report. This story has been picked up by the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch newspaper and other venues.

• Jim Langcuster helped Rusty Wright and I develop a news release about harmful algal blooms through the Auburn University Wire Eagle.

August 2013

• Our REU site in warm-water aquatic ecology ends early August.  I am gonna miss this cohort...the best yet!  Good luck to you all.

July 2013

• Michael's paper describing huge effects of consumer offense on aquatic community structure and function just got accepted at Ecology.  Michael will be sharing these data at the Ecological Society of America meeting next month.  Brie, Enrique, and Ace were also part of this effort.  Excellent work, y'all! - Chislock, M. F., O. Sarnelle, B. K. Olsen, E. Doster, and A. E. Wilson. 2013. Large effects of consumer offense on ecosystem structure and function. Ecology 94(11):2375-2380. (PDF) (Web link)

• More good news.  Jo-Marie was just awarded the 2013 MidSouth Aquatic Plant Management Society Student Scholarship ($2,000) for her research investigating grass carp control of the benthic cyanobacterium, Lyngbya. 

June 2013

• Our article in the Alabama Cattleman newsletter has hit the newsstands.  Learn more about how cyanobacteria can harm livestock here - Wilson, A. E., M. F. Chislock, E. Doster, R. A. Wright, J. J. Kottwitz, H. Walz, and H. Rose. 2013. Toxic algae threaten livestock health. The Alabama Cattleman June 2013:16-17. (PDF)

May 2013

• Our 2013 REU Site in warm-water aquatic ecology has finally started!  We have got an awesome bunch this summer.

April 2013

• I have just been notified that I will be promoted to Associate Professor with tenure effective Fall 2013.  Hooray!

• More good news for the lab - Jo-Marie's Sigma Xi Grants-In-Aid of Research application was funded for $600.  We really appreciate Sigma Xi's support.

• Michael's eutrophication article that was co-authored with two past REU students, Enrique Doster and Rachel Zitomer, was accepted for publication in Nature Education.  Congratulations, team!  Chislock, M. F., E. Doster, R. A. Zitomer, and A. E. Wilson. 2013. Eutrophication: Causes, consequences, and controls in aquatic ecosystems. Nature Education Knowledge 4(4):10. (PDF) (Web link)

• Enrique and other undergrads from Auburn are sharing their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.  I hope everyone bundled up for the frigid weather.

• Jo-Marie Kasinak and Justin Havird (Scott Santos' lab) were awarded Outstanding Oral Presentations at this year's Graduate Student Symposium.  They both were invited to give talks at AU's Research Week and Justin scored 2nd place for his talk!  Y'all rock!

• Enrique Doster was awarded 3rd place for his STEM poster about his zoo research at AU's Research Week.  Enrique will be a great vet.

March 2013

• Our Chapel Hill water quality workshop was equally fun and effective.  Great group of folks showed up at UNC for the meeting.  I love these workshops.

• We just held our first of two water quality workshops associated with our USGS project on cyanobacterial blooms throughout the Southeast at the wonderful USGS facility in Orlando, FL.  Thanks, Barry Rosen, for letting us visit you again to teach our great students how to sample and identify algae. 

February 2013

• Kyes Stevens and Doug Goodwin joined me for my science lecture about eutrophication at an Alabama men's medium security prison.  My students were unbelievable.  Tons of energy and questions.  I can't wait to go back.

• My lab, Michael Chislock, Jo-Marie Kasinak, Brie Olsen, and Enrique Doster, and one limnology student, Chris Smith, attended the ASLO meeting in New Orleans.  A wonderful venue for a wonderful meeting.

• The Daily Tar Heel just wrote a little story about our new Water in Our World seminar course at UNC-Chapel Hill. 

• Kyes Stevens, Doug Goodwin, and I just learned that our 2013 Outreach Grant was funded.  With this support, we will further enhance our prison science seminar series with new courses at Alabama prisons over the next year.  Thank you, Nalini Nadkarni, for making me aware of prison outreach!

• Justin Havird's meta-analysis project was just accepted for publication.  Justin put together an incredible dataset synthesizing the literature related to the physiological responses of critters to salinity shifts.  Good work, Justin.  Havird, J. C., R. P. Henry, and A. E. Wilson. 2013. Altered expression of Na+/K+-ATPase and other osmoregulatory genes in the gills of euryhaline animals in response to salinity change: a meta-analysis of 59 quantitative PCR studies over 10 years. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part D: 8(2):131-140. (PDF)

January 2013

• During a recent trip to Washington, D.C., my family found our long lost buddy from Auburn, John Roberts, at his new place of employment - The National Zoo.  We miss John.

• I just started my one-semester fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Global Research Institute.  We have a wonderful group of water experts with diverse and complementary expertise, including Chad Staddon, Ben Meier, Joe Brown, Clarissa Brocklehurst, and Urooj Amjad.

December 2012

• Michael Chislock just got his first first-authored publication accepted in Water Research.  I think this work is paradigm shifting.  Awesome job, Michael!  Chislock, M. F., O. Sarnelle, L. M. Jernigan, and A. E. Wilson. 2013. Do high concentrations of microcystin prevent Daphnia control of phytoplankton? Water Research 47(6):1961-1970. (PDF)

• Enrique Doster, Brittany Holt, and I lead a great discussion about NSF REU programs at Tuskegee University this week. 

November 2012

• Michael and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Can Tho, Viet Nam, to teach limnology.  Once again, our students were spectacular!

• Before traveling to Viet Nam, I hung out with my new friends, Zhou Yang and his students, at Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China.  The fried dumplings were too good to be true. 

October 2012

• During the Water and Health Conference at UNC-Chapel Hill, I snuck out to visit my friends at North Carolina A&T University (Millie Worku) and Livingstone College (Sashi Sabaratnam) to recruit students for our REU site in aquatic ecology.

• Michael and I are headed to the Ozarks to attend the 37th annual Great Plains Limnology Conference at the University of Arkansas.  We are excited to reconnect with our midwestern colleagues.

September 2012

• We are currently accepting applications for our third and final REU summer program in warm-water aquatic ecology.  The deadline is 15 January 2013 and applications can be completed here.  Please spread the word.

• We have been very fortunate to have two of our pals visit the lab and give cool departmental seminars about paleolimnology.  Gretchen Gerrish (chilling with Aubie before the LSU game) came all the way from the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse and Matt Waters (checking out a current field experiment) made the drive from Valdosta State University. 

• We got another new addition the lab - Matthew Schenone.  He is our first business major to join the lab.  Welcome to the group, Matt.

August 2012

• The WilsonLab is growing again!  Welcome Brie, a new Biological Sciences graduate student, and Ross, our new lab organizer.

• Our friend Nara Souza, from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, visited us last week to learn how to enumerate phytoplankton.  She was a terrific student!

• The news report mentioning the seminar that my colleagues from Georgia Power, Tom Broadwell and Tony Dodd, and I gave to the Jackson Lake Homeowners Association is available now.  Check it out at Covington News.

July 2012

• Our REU program is winding down.  The student head back home at the end of the month :(

• Our report to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to help them develop nutrient criteria for the Tallapoosa watershed has been submitted.  Fowler, S., W. Deutsch, A. E. Wilson, and E. Reutebuch. 2012. Tallapoosa River basin numerical nutrient criteria for wadeable streams. Final Report for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Agreement ADEM-C00594051. (PDF)

June 2012

• I gave a seminar about water quality to the Jackson Lake Homeowners Association with my Georgia Power colleagues, Tony Dodd and Tom Broadwell, at the beautiful historic FFA camp.  The house was packed!

• Rusty Wright and I lead an outreach activity for our Tuskegee Univ colleague, Dr. Olga Bolden-Tiller, who is training 44 high school students from across the country in agricultural-related fields.  We taught the students how to collect fish with seines, castnets, and electroshocking. 

• The REU students have been keeping me very busy with trips to seine fish in Panama City Beach, Florida, and to checkout gators in the swamps around New Orleans.  I need a vacation!

May 2012

• My three REU students, Brittany Holt, Rachel Zitomer, and Enrique Doster, helped me sample the Ogeechee River near the one year anniversary of the largest fish kill in Georgia's history.  Joining us were Laura Warren, from WRDW, and the Ogeechee Riverkeeper, Dianna Wedincamp.  The students and I made it on television - check it out!

• Michael Chislock won the best student talk at last week's Southeastern North American Lake Management Society meeting in Columbus, GA.  Good work, Michael. 

• Our 2012 REU site is finally underway.  Welcome to Auburn!

April 2012

• Alan has been offered a semester fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Global Research Institute to participate in research, teaching, and outreach activities centered on global water issues.  Get ready, Chapel Hill!   

• Daisuke's paper describing how hypoxia influences Lake Erie Daphnia mendotae has been accepted.  Good job, Daisuke!  Goto, D., K. Lindelof, D. L. Fanslow, S. A. Ludsin, J. J. Roberts, H. A. Vanderploeg, A. E. Wilson, and T. O. Höök. 2013. Ecological consequences of hypolimnetic hypoxia on survival and growth potential of Daphnia mendotae in the central basin of Lake Erie. Aquatic Biology. (PDF)

• Michael has garnered another award - a Harry Merriwether Fellowship.  This award was given to only four AU graduate students for their outstanding scholarship.  You continue to rock, Michael!

• Enrique has been offered a one-year AU Undergraduate Research Fellowship to continue conducting research in the WilsonLab.  He will be spending a significant amount of time at the MacArthur Agro-Ecology Research Center in Florida.  Good job, dude!  

• Betina's awesome meta-analysis paper generally describing biodiulution of microcystin in aquatic foodwebs has finally been accepted.  Good work, Betina!  Kozlowsky-Suzuki, B., A. E. Wilson, and A. Ferrao-Filho. 2012. Biomagnification or biodilution of microcystins in aquatic foodwebs? Meta-analyses of laboratory and field studies. Harmful Algae. (PDF)

March 2012

• Sadly, the court case associated with the Ogeechee River fish kill (the largest kill (38,000+ dead fish) in Georgia history) has been dismissed by the judge - read more here (GreenLaw) or here (SavannahNow)  Hutton Brown and Don Stack plan to appeal.  Go get 'em guys! 

• We held our second water quality workshop associated with our USGS cyanobacterial bloom network project in Auburn.  Our students were awesome!

• Del Anderson (2011 REU student), Katie LeMay (2011 REU student), Michael Chislock, Courtney Ellison (2011 REU student), Jo-Marie Kasinak, and Enrique Doster had a good time at SEEC 2012 in Clemson, SC.  Del, Michael, and Jo-Marie presented some of their research.  Good job, y'all!

February 2012

• Our Sparks in Science and Math prison seminar series has officially begun at Elmore Correctional Center thanks to support from the AU College of Agriculture, College of Science and Math, and Outreach office.  Kyes Stevens has been instrumental in this effort where seven AU faculty will give weekly lectures to our students at the prison.

• Rusty Wright, Barry Rosen, and I just held our first water quality workshop associated with our new USGS project.  We had a bunch of excellent students.  We will be organizing a similar meeting in Auburn in March 2012.

January 2012

• I just completed another successful trip to Purdue to hangout with Tomas Höök and his students to discuss our Lake Michigan river plume project. 

• I was able to return to a local daycare to teach the kids about aquatic foodwebs and aquatic-terrestrial linkages.  I wish I had the kids' energy and the teachers' patience.

• The lab finally got a new grad student.  Welcome to Auburn, Jo-Marie!

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Recent publications

• Delaney, M., A. ArchMiller, D. P. Delaney, A. E. Wilson, and E. J. Sikora. 2018. Effectiveness of fungicide on soybean rust in the southeastern United States: a meta-analysis. Sustainability 10:1784. (PDF)

• Wilson, A. E., J. L. Pollock, I. Billick, C. Domingo, E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa, E. Nagy, T. D. Steury, and A. Summers. 2018. Assessing science training programs: Structured undergraduate research programs make a difference. BioScience 68(7):529-534. (Website) (Editor's Choice)

• Yang, Z., R. P. Buley, E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa, M. U.G. Barros, S. Rajendran, and A. E. Wilson. 2018. Hydrogen peroxide treatment promotes chlorophytes over toxic cyanobacteria in a hyper-eutrophic aquaculture pond. Environmental Pollution 240:590-598. (PDF)

• Baker, B. C., A. E. Wilson, and J. T. Scott. 2018. Phytoplankton N2 fixation efficiency and its effect on harmful algal blooms. Freshwater Science 37(2): 264-275. (PDF)

• Minasyan, A., C. Christophoridis, A. E. Wilson, S.-K. Zervou, T. Kaloudis, and A. Hiskia. 2018. Diversity of cyanobacteria and the presence of cyanotoxins in the epilimnion of Lake Yerevan (Armenia). Toxicon 150:28-38. (PDF)

• Wilson, A. E., E. G. Fernandez, R. Buley, and L. A. Roy. 2018. Is sustainable control of toxic algae a reality for catfish aquaculture? Fish Farming News 2018(1):7-8. (PDF)

• Wilson, A. E. and E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa. 2018. Preparing water resource managers to identify and measure toxic cyanobacteria. Streamlines Spring 2018:18. (PDF)

• Wilson, A. E., M. F. Chislock, Z. Yang, M. U.G. Barros, and J. F. Roberts. 2018. Pond bank access as an approach for managing toxic cyanobacteria in beef cattle pasture drinking water ponds. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 190:247. (PDF)

• Weaver, R. J., E. S. A. Santos, A. M. Tucker, A. E. Wilson, and G. E. Hill. 2018. Carotenoid metabolism strengthens the link between feather coloration and quality. Nature Communications 9:73. (Website)

• Jameel, Y., S. Stein, E. Grimm, C. Roswell, A. E. Wilson, C. Troy, T. Höök, and G. Bowen. 2018. Physicochemical characteristics of a southern Lake Michigan river plume. Journal of Great Lakes Research 44:209-218. (PDF)

• Lyu, K., L. Zhang, L. Gu, X. Zhu, A. E. Wilson, and Z. Yang. 2017. Cladoceran offspring tolerance to toxic Microcystis is promoted by maternal warming. Environmental Pollution 227:451-459. (PDF)

• Olsen, B. K., M. F. Chislock, A. Rebelein, and A. E. Wilson. 2017. Nutrient enrichment and vertical mixing mediate 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin concentrations in a drinking water reservoir. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply 17(2):500-507. (PDF)

• Wilson, A. E. and Z. A. Osorio. 2016. DEB Numbers: Are aquatic ecologists underrepresented? DEBrief (NSF's Division of Environmental Biology blog) 11 July 2016. (Website)

• Kollock, R., K. Games, A. E. Wilson, and J. Sefton. 2016. Vehicle exposure and spinal musculature in military warfighters: a meta-analysis. Journal of Athletic Training 51(11):981-990. (PDF)

• Olsen, B. K., M. F. Chislock, and A. E. Wilson. 2016. Eutrophication mediates a common off-flavor compound, 2-methylisoborneol, in a drinking water reservoir. Water Research 92:228-234. (PDF)

• Ger, K. A., P. Urrutia-Cordero, P. C. Frost, L.-A. Hansson, O. Sarnelle, A. E. Wilson, and M. Lurling. 2016. The interaction between cyanobacteria and zooplankton in a more eutrophic world. Harmful Algae 54:128-144. (PDF) (Clarivate Analytics Web of Science Highly Cited Paper)

• Lyu, K., H. Guan, C. Wu, X. Wang, A. E. Wilson, and Z. Yang. 2016. Maternal consumption of non-toxic Microcystis by Daphnia magna induces tolerance to toxic Microcystis in offspring. Freshwater Biology 61:219-228 (PDF)

• Koch, R. E., A. E. Wilson, and G. E. Hill. 2016. The importance of carotenoid dose in supplementation studies with songbirds. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 89(1):61-71. (PDF)

• Kollock, R., C. Andrews, A. Johnston, T. Elliott, A. E. Wilson, K. Games, and J. Sefton. 2016. A meta-analysis to determine if lower extremity muscle strengthening should be included in military knee overuse injury prevention programs. Journal of Athletic Training 51(11):919-926. (PDF)

• Chislock, M. F. 2015. Ecology and management of off-flavors and cyanotoxins. LakeLine. Winter 2015:43-46 (PDF)

• Bullard, A., D. DeVries, A. Wilson, H. Kinnucan, P. Clement, G. Lockaby, and C. Newland. 2015. Science or snake oil: Scholarship and peer review in the digital age. Book chapter in Auburn Speaks: On Cyber and the Digital Domain. Published by Auburn University. pp. 201-211. (PDF)

• ArchMiller, A. A., E. F. Bauer, R. E. Koch, B. K. Wijayawardena, A. Anil, J. J. Kottwitz, A. S. Munsterman, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. Formalizing the definition of meta-analysis in Molecular Ecology. Molecular Ecology 24:4042-4051. (PDF) (Web link)

• Goessling, J. M., H. Kennedy, M. T. Mendonça, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. A meta-analysis of plasma corticosterone and heterophil:lymphocyte ratios - Is there conservation of physiological stress responses over time? Functional Ecology 29:1189-1196. (PDF)

• Kollock, R., K. Games, A. E. Wilson, and J. Sefton. 2015. Effect of vehicle-ride exposure on cervical pathology - a meta-analysis. Industrial Health 53:197-205. (PDF)

• Games, K., J. Sefton, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. Effect of whole-body vibration on blood flow and muscle oxygenation: a meta-analysis. Journal of Athletic Training 50(5):542-549. (PDF)

• Kasinak, J.-M. E., C. J. Bishop, R. A. Wright, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. Grass carp do not consume the nuisance benthic cyanobacterium, Lyngbya wollei. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management 53:74-80. (PDF)

• Lyu, K., L. Zhang, X. Zhu, G. Cui, A. E. Wilson, and Z. Yang. 2015. Arginine kinase in the cladoceran Daphnia magna: cDNA sequencing and expression is associated with resistance to toxic Microcystis. Aquatic Toxicology 160:13-21. (PDF)

• Kasinak, J.-M. E., B. M. Holt, M. F. Chislock, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. Benchtop fluorometry of phycocyanin as a rapid approach for estimating cyanobacterial biovolume. Journal of Plankton Research 37(1):248-257. (PDF)

• Newcomer, B. J., P. H. Walz, M. D. Givens, and A. E. Wilson. 2015. Efficacy of bovine viral diarrhea virus vaccination to prevent reproductive disease: a meta-analysis. Theriogenology 83:360-365. (PDF)

• Chislock, M. F., K. L. Sharp, and A. E. Wilson. 2014. Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii dominates under very low and high nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratios. Water Research 49:207-214. (PDF)

• Doster, E., M. F. Chislock, J. F. Roberts, J. J. Kottwitz, and A. E. Wilson. 2014. Recognition of an important water quality issue at zoos: prevalence and potential threat of toxic cyanobacteria. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 45(1):165-168. (PDF)

• Chislock, M. F., O. Sarnelle, B. K. Olsen, E. Doster, and A. E. Wilson. 2013. Large effects of consumer offense on ecosystem structure and function. Ecology 94(11):2375-2380. (PDF) (Web link)

• Olsen, B. K., C. Smith, M. Chislock, J. Kasinak, and E. Doster. 2013. Letter to the Editor: Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) 2013 Annual Meeting: Students' perspectives. ASLO Bulletin 22(3):83-84. (PDF) (Web link)

• Wilson, A. E., M. F. Chislock, E. Doster, R. A. Wright, J. J. Kottwitz, H. Walz, and H. Rose. 2013. Toxic algae threaten livestock health. The Alabama Cattleman June 2013:16-17. (PDF)

• Chislock, M. F., E. Doster, R. A. Zitomer, and A. E. Wilson. 2013. Eutrophication: Causes, consequences, and controls in aquatic ecosystems. Nature Education Knowledge 4(4):10. (PDF) (Web link)

• Havird, J. C., R. P. Henry, and A. E. Wilson. 2013. Altered expression of Na+/K+-ATPase and other osmoregulatory genes in the gills of euryhaline animals in response to salinity transfer: a meta-analysis of 59 quantitative PCR studies over 10 years. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part D: 8(2):131-140. (PDF)

• Chislock, M. F., O. Sarnelle, L. M. Jernigan, and A. E. Wilson. 2013. Do high concentrations of microcystin prevent Daphnia control of phytoplankton? Water Research 47(6):1961-1970. (PDF)

• Wilson, A. E. and M. F. Chislock. 2013. Ecological control of cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater ecosystems.  Invited book chapter in Cyanobacteria: Toxicity, ecology, and management. Editor: A. Ferrão-Filho.  Nova Science Publishers, Inc., New York. pp. 213-221. (PDF) (Web link)

• Vanderploeg, H. A., A. E. Wilson, T. H. Johengen, J. Dyble, O. Sarnelle, J. R. Leibig, S. D. Robinson, and G. P. Horst. 2013. The role of selective grazing by dreissenid mussels in promoting toxic Microcystis blooms and other changes in phytoplankton composition in the Great Lakes.  Invited book chapter in Quagga and Zebra Mussels: Biology, Impacts, and Control, Second Edition.  Editors: T. Nalepa and D. Schloesser.  CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. pp. 509-524. (PDF)

• Fowler, S., W. Deutsch, A. E. Wilson, and E. Reutebuch. 2012. Tallapoosa River basin numerical nutrient criteria for wadeable streams. Final Report for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Agreement ADEM-C00594051. (PDF)

• Goto, D., K. Lindelof, D. L. Fanslow, S. A. Ludsin, J. J. Roberts, H. A. Vanderploeg, A. E. Wilson, and T. O. Höök. 2012. Ecological consequences of hypolimnetic hypoxia on survival and growth potential of Daphnia mendotae in the central basin of Lake Erie. Aquatic Biology 16:217-227. (PDF)

• Kozlowsky-Suzuki, B., A. E. Wilson, and A. Ferrao-Filho. 2012. Biomagnification or biodilution of microcystins in aquatic foodwebs? Meta-analyses of laboratory and field studies. Harmful Algae 18:47-55. (PDF)

• Logan, S. W., L. E. Robinson, A. E. Wilson, and W. A. Lucas. 2012.  Getting the fundamentals of movement: A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of motor skill interventions in young children as assessed by the test of gross motor development.  Child: Care, Health & Development 38(3):305-315. (PDF) 

• White, J. D., R. B. Kaul, L. B. Knoll, A. E. Wilson, and O. Sarnelle. 2011. Large variation in vulnerability to grazing within a population of the colonial phytoplankter, Microcystis aeruginosa. Limnology and Oceanography 56(5):1714-1724 (PDF)

• Berry, J. P., E. Lee, K. Walton, A. E. Wilson, and F. Bernal-Brooks. 2011. Microcystin production by a persistent cyanobacterial bloom in Lago de Patzcuaro (Michoacan, Mexico), and apparent bioaccumulation of the toxin in small commercial catches of fish. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 30(7):1621-1628. (PDF)

• Wilson, A. E., R. B. Kaul, and O. Sarnelle. 2010. Growth rate consequences of coloniality in a harmful phytoplankter. PLoS ONE 5(1):e8679. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008679 (PDF)

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Links

• Algal and cyanobacterial bloom forecasting models

• CyanoPros

• Ecology group at Auburn University

• Ecological Society of America

• Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography

• archive.org (great site for free, downloadable concerts)

• eigenfactor.org (terrific tool for comparing journal quality and value)