Author: wilsonadmin

Our superstar undergrad, Madison Dees, just learned that her proposal for an AU Undergraduate Research Fellowship was funded!!  Nice job, Madison.  Very excited to begin this project with you in the fall. 

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the lab has received more good news!  Our USDA proposal (led by supestar, Brendan Higgins) that originated from an REU project has been funded.  Lots of exciting work planned converting wastewater into Daphnia!

During a recent class, I had an epiphany for a new lab domain name – http://www.WarAlgae.com – although it might only connect with fellow Auburn tigers.  War Algae!!

Our study documenting microcystin poisoning of while pelicans at the Birmingham Zoo is finally out.  Since this project started, we have worked with the zoo to improve the water quality of the moats to protect animal health.  Nice job leading this effort, Stephanie!  McCain, S., R. R. Sim, E. W. Howerth, S. Aschenbroich, S. G.M. Kirejczyk, B. McHale, C. Jerry, J. J. Kottwitz, A. E. Wilson, and R. McManamon. 2020. Myonecrosis and death due to presumed microcystin toxicosis in American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhyncos). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine51(2):407-415. (PDF)

We just learned that our project focused on taste and odor producing organisms was funded by the Ocean University China – Auburn University Joint Center for Aquaculture and Environmental Science.  What a great way to start the new year!  We need to find some new students to join the team to help complete this project!

My past MS tudent, Brie Olsen, who is an ecologist with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality recently helped with the creation of her state’s harmful algal bloom management plan.  This is an excellent resource.  Nice job, Brie!

December 2019

• Matt’s super exciting meta-analysis class project about copepod mating has been published in Journal of Plankton Research: Powers, M. J., A. E. Wilson, K. B. Heine, and G. E. Hill. 2020. The relative importance of various mating criteria in copepods. Journal of Plankton Research 42(1):19-30. (PDF)  In addition, Adelia’s project was just accepted too – Grabowsky, A. and L. Weisbrod. 2020. The effectiveness of library instruction for graduate/professional students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Research 15(2):100-137. (PDF)These make 12 class publications in 2019!!  Wow!!!  My students are fantastic!
• I was honored to receive two awards at the recent College of Agriculture faculty and staff awards event, including the Outstanding Commitment to Diversity award as well as the Outstanding Publication Award for Gwendolyn’s Ecology Letters paper. 
• Returned to the annual catfish update meeting in Greensboro, AL, to tell the farmers all about the work that the lab has completed this year that has direct implications for water quality management.  I am psyched to see that foodweb manipulations are working as we (and Shapiro and many others) predicted!  Ecology can be an amazing management tool!

November 2019

• So happy to report that the 10th US Harmful Algal Symposium was a huge success.  A record number of attendees, presentations (including freshwater focused), and fun.  Special thanks to Alison Robertson and her lab for carrying most of the burden for preparing for this event.  The next symposium will be held in New York in 2021.  Glad others are organizing that one.
• I had the opportunity to give a talk about algal blooms to the highly engaged and interested Alabama Association for Food Protection.  Lots of great questions that ultimately caused the conference organizer to get the hook to pull me off the stage!
• My meta-analysis students have done it again…record fast publishing of their class projects.  It took Harsha and Emmanuel less than 6 months to complete, submit, revise, and get their manuscripts accepted!  Incredible!!  Galkanda-Arachchige, H., A. E. Wilson, and D. A. Davis. 2020. Success of fishmeal replacement through poultry by-product meal in aquaculture feed formulations: a meta-analysis. Reviews in Aquaculture 12(3):1624-1636. (PDF) and Ayipio, E., D. Wells, A. McQuilling, and A. E. Wilson. 2019. Comparisons between aquaponics and conventional hydroponic crop yield: a meta-analysis. Sustainability 11:6511. (PDF)

October 2019

• After many years of encouragement, the lab has a new logo!  Thanks to Matt for leading this effort.  Already have t-shirts and stickers to share with friends of the lab. 

• Had a fun whirlwind trip to the University of South Florida to spend time with Andrew Kramer, his colleagues and their students to share some of my lab’s research.  Great trip!!
• Another publication from my meta-analysis class. This one in BioEssays!  Good job, Ash, Hannah, and Steve.  Abebe, A., H. E. Correia, and F. S. Dobson. 2019. Estimating a key parameter of mammalian mating systems: the chance of siring success for a mated male. BioEssays 1900016 (PDF)

September 2019

• Collaboration has paid off once again!  Congrats to Katherine for organizing a global survey of Microcystis and their associated interactome communities.  Cook, K. V., C. Li, H. Cai, L. Krumholz, K. D. Hambright, H. W. Paerl, M. Steffen, A. E. Wilson, M. Burford, H.-P. Grossart, D. Hamilton, H.-L. Jiang, A. Sukenik, D. Latour, E. Meyer, J. Padisak, B. Qin, R. Zamor, and G. Zhu. 2020. The global Microcystis interactome. Limnology and Oceanography 65:S194-S207. (PDF)
• The recent dog deaths due to toxic algae have kept my phone busy with concerned pet owners, water resource managers, and the press.  Here are some examples of fun outreach – Opelika-Auburn News, Alabama Extension, and Columbus’s NBC station WLTZ First News. 

August 2019

• The early bird registration and abstract submission deadlines for the US Harmful Algal Bloom Symposium are looming (August 31).  Register today!
• Mario returned to visit us all the way from Brazil!  We miss that guy.

• This summer has been incredibly busy, especially considering the recent reports of dogs dying around the US due to algal blooms.  Auburn University recently asked me to comment on these events through their Expert Answers social media campaign.
• After the REU program ended, I had a chance to get away with my family to explore Connecticut and Virginia.  Even got to watch little man compete at the State Games of America.  Good times.

July 2019

• Our REU Site just ended.  This was the best REU cohort ever.  Expecting big things from them.

• Another successful daycare outreach event with the REU students!

• The lab is growing again.  Welcome, Angelea, our new MS student!

June 2019

• Two fun field trips with my REU students.  First was a camping trip at Big Lagoon State Park (Pensacola, FL) and the second was a weekend getaway at the Laura S. Walker State Park (Waycross, GA) where we toured the Okefenokee Swamp and hungout with Checo’s Georgia Southern Univ REU Site.

May 2019

• Our REU progam is finally underway!  Ten execellent students from around the country.

April 2019

• More good news for my past meta-analysis students.  Kyle’s and Ben’s class projects have been accepted for publication.  These are publications #28 and #29 from the class.  Nice job, Kyle and Ben!  David, K. T., A. E. Wilson, and K. M. Halanych. 2019. Sequencing disparity in the genomic era. Molecular Biology and Evolution 36(8):1624.1627. (Website)  McKenzie, B. A., A. E. Wilson, and S. Zohdy. 2019. Aedes albopictus is a competent vector of Zika virus: a meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 14(5):e0216794. (Website) 
• Kayleigh’s class project is generating a bunch of press (see full Altmetric list). Check these stories out – New York Times article; Newsweek article; MSN article
• I just spent some time in DC to participate in an NSF REU PI workshop.  While there, I got to see many old friends, the beautiful cherry blossoms around the tidal basin, and the new Henrietta Lacks portrait.  In addition, I tasted the new meatless Impossible Burger and met my US Senator, Doug Jones.  In short, it was an awesome trip. 

• I was honored to be the keynote speaker for 2019 Annual Environmental Science Student and Faculty Retreat at Florida Atlantic University.  I met many amazing students conducting exciting research.  The lunch buffet was the best I have seen at a college campus.

• Riley’s extension article highlighting hydrogen peroxide control of algal blooms in catfsh ponds is out!  Buley, R. P., Z. Yang, M. F. Gladfelter, and A. E. Wilson. 2019. Controlling blue-green algal blooms in aquaculture ponds using hydrogen peroxide. Fish Farming News 2019(1):3-5. (PDF)
• Mario’s thorough of a huge water quality of Brazilian drinking water reservoirs has been accepted for piublication.  Nice job, Mario!  Barros, M. U. G., A. E. Wilson, J. I. R. Leitão, S. P. Pereira, R. P. Buley, E. G. Fernandez-Figueroa, and J. Capelo-Neto. 2019. Environmental factors associated with toxic cyanobacterial blooms across 20 drinking water reservoirs in a semi-arid region of Brazil. Harmful Algae 86:128-137. (PDF)

March 2019

• My students and I were able to attend the World Aquaculture Society in New Orleans to present our research and to learn more about new aquaculture research.  I love New Orleans.  The conference was good, too. 
• Michael has recently gotten two papers published from his dissertation.  Good job, Michael!  Chislock, M. F., R. B. Kaul, K. A. Durham, O. Sarnelle, and A. E. Wilson. 2019. Eutrophication mediates rapid clonal evolution in Daphnia pulicaria. Freshwater Biology 64:1275-1283. (PDF) and Chislock, M. F., O. Sarnelle, L. M. Jernigan, V. R. Anderson, A. Abebe, and A. E. Wilson. 2019. Consumer adaptation mediates top-down regulation across a productivity gradient. Oecologia190:195-205. (PDF)

February 2019

• I was just notified that my promotion application for Full Professor was successful.  Time to celebrate! 
• Gwendolyn’s ambitious meta-analysis class project was just accepted at Ecology Letters.  You are incredible, Gwendolyn.  Bird, G., C. Kaczvinsky, A. E. Wilson, and N. B. Hardy. 2019. When do herbivorous insects compete? A phylogenetic meta-analysis. Ecology Letters 22:875-883. (PDF) (2019 College of Agriculture Outstanding Publication Award)
• Two more publications from my 2018 meta-analysis class!  Good work, Kyle and Kayleigh.  The speed of these publications is unbelieveable.  Heine, K. B., A. Abebe, A. E. Wilson, and W. R. Hood. 2019. Copepod respiration increases by 7% per degree °C increase in temperature: a meta-analysis. Limnology and Oceanography Letters 4(3):53-61.(Website)  Chalkowski, K., A. E. Wilson, C. A. Lepczyk, and S. Zohdy. 2019. Who let the cats out? a global meta-analysis on risk of parasitic infection in indoor versus outdoor domestic cats (Felis catus). Biology Letters 15:20180840. (PDF)
• I was able to attend ASLO 2019 in beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Our session focused on lessons learned by undergraduate researchers and their mentors was super successful. I also got to see a bunch of friends from around the world.

• My family recently visited our family and friends in Michigan, including Ace Sarnelle (Michigan State), Chris Steiner (Wayne State), Emily Grman (Eastern Michigan, and Leah Robinson (Michigan).  Despite the frigid temperatures and snow, it was a great trip full of good eating and great conversations. 

• While in Michigan and talking about G. Evelyn Hutchinson’s impact on science (see me on far left in red).  I learned about this cool website where folks can see their academic tree.  See where you fit into the broader history of science at https://academictree.org/

January 2019

• I recently held a phytoplankton identification workshop for a bunch of awesome catfish and shrimp farmers in west Alabama.  This was the best phytoplankton workshop I have lead yet.  The students were super eager to talk about and identify algae.

December 2018

• Finally a vacation!  Got to camp for three nights at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas 70 miles west of Key West.  Crazy beautiful!  I will be back soon.

November 2018

• I recently received three awards, including two from Auburn University’s College of Agriculture – High Impact Paper of the Year Award and a Grantsmanship Award, and a USDA Food and Agriculture Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award (southeastern region).  The best part of the USDA award was being able to celebrate at the award reception with my family in one of our favorite cities, New Orleans.

• I just returned from a week in Tihany, Hungary, to assist my colleague, Ferenc Jordan, with a new mesocosm facility that his group has installed at the Balaton Limnological Institute.  This might be most impressive research station on the planet.  It is definitely the most beautiful. 

• Three…yes, three more papers have been produced from my meta-analysis class, and we have several other manuscripts in review.  My students are fantastic!  Martinez, A. S., J. R. Willoughby, and M. R. Christie. 2018. Genetic diversity in fishes in influenced by habitat type and life-history variation. Ecology and Evolution 8:12022-12031. (PDF); Roth, J. 2019. Sylvatic plague management and prairie dogs – a meta-analysis. Journal of Vector Ecology 44(1):1-10 ; Dobson, F. S., A. Abebe, H. Correia, C. Kasumo, and B. Zinner. 2018. Multiple paternity and number of offspring in mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285:20182042. (PDF)
• Mark Liles has gotten us over the hump with the reviewers at Aquaculture.  The whole pond experiment where we tested the impact of a probiotic on catfish and pond health has been accepted!  Thurlow, C. M., M. A. Williams, A. Carrias, C. Ran, M. Newman, J. Tweedie, E. Allison, L. N. Jescovitch, A. E. Wilson, J. S. Terhune, and M. R. Liles. 2019. Bacillus velezensis AP193 exerts probiotic effects in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and reduces aquaculture pond eutrophication. Aquaculture 503:247-356.(PDF)

October 2018

• I am psyched to officially be a part of the Coosa Riverkeeper Advisory Board.  This is an excellent group of folks with an important job to protect one of Alabama’s greatest water resources.
• Every now and then I get to visit my NSF friends.  I miss those folks so much.  John Schade hosted the best cookout.  I even got to see Edna for a bit during her time in DC.  I will be back again soon.

• I was honored to return to ADEM’s annual surface water meeting to share our ADEM-AU project results with our water utility colleagues throughout Alabama.  The large crowd was happy to hear that algal toxins were basically non-existent at our drinking water intakes.

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September 2018

• Edna and I just returned from an amazing trip to Cienfuegos, Cuba, to join our colleagues from Dauphin Island Sea Lab, including Alison Robertson, to study algal blooms in freshwater and marine systems.  Honestly, this might have been the best field trip I have ever had.  The people we worked with could not have been more welcoming and supportive.  I hope to return soon.

• Pandora’s meta-analysis project has been published in Aquaculture.  This is the 21st paper produced from the class and first lead by an MS student.  You are awesome, Pandora.  Wadsworth, P., A. E. Wilson, and W. C. Walton. 2019. A meta-analysis of growth rate in diploid and triploid oysters. Aquaculture 499:9-16.(PDF)

August 2018

• This month has been incredibly busy… 
• Lily and I attend SIL in Nanjing, China, as well as seeing our friends at Nanjing Normal University.  On the way, we saw The Forbidden City and the Great Wall.  Incredible experience!

• Our REU Site has ended after 10 productive weeks.  We have had some terrific groups in the past, but this is probably the best.  I am expecting several papers to be produced from this cohort.  Good job,y’all.

• Several new undergraduate and graduate students have joined the lab.  Welcome!  Let’s get to work.

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)