Heather is a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering and a fellow in the Interfaces of Global Change Program.
Heather will be using the funds from this award to support her participation at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in Vancouver, Canada in November. She will be presenting a poster entitled “Sediment as a Surrogate for Multiple Stressors in Freshwater Ecosystems: Digging Deeper to Reveal the Nature of Benthic Invertebrate Impairments.”
Established to honor the late William Walker, the founding director of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, this award has been given since 1999 to recognize and support graduate students in water resources who are pursuing work in a field different from their undergraduate study, or who have returned to school following a period of professional work. More information about this program is available HERE.
The Interfaces of Global Change IGEP welcomes five new Ph.D. fellows for the 2014-2015 academic year. They are: Angie Estrada, Maya Wilson, David Millican, Zach Martin, and Ben Vernasco. The students recently gathered for a welcome reception at the Hahn Garden Pavilion and later met for an organizational meeting for this fall’s Global Change Seminar.
Tamara Fettersof Warrenton, Virginia, was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Tamara is a doctoral student in biological sciences in the College of Science. She works with Joel McGlothlin, assistant professor of biological sciences, on the project “Thermal trait variation in an invasive lizard: adaptation or plasticity?” She is also a fellow in the Interfaces of Global Change Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program at Virginia Tech
About this NSF program:
“The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The NSF welcomes applications from all qualified students and strongly encourages under-represented populations, including women, under-represented racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities, to apply for this fellowship.”
BLACKSBURG, Va., April 22, 2014 – Dana M. Hawley, associate professor of biological sciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, has received the university’s 2014 Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Created in 1982 by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, the Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching is presented to two Virginia Tech faculty members each year. Recipients are selected by the university’s Academy of Teaching Excellence from among those faculty members who have received Certificates of Teaching Excellence from their respective colleges in the preceding three years. Each recipient is awarded $2,000 and is inducted into the Academy of Teaching Excellence.
Hawley teaches both upper-level undergraduate and graduate level courses and receives student evaluation scores well above the departmental average.
Faculty Staff Awards Dinner. University President Tim Sands with Dana Hawley
“Dr. Hawley joined our faculty in the spring of 2007 and has been a strong advocate and practitioner of student-centered education in the classroom and service learning outside of the classroom from day one,” wrote Brenda Winkel, professor and head of the Department of Biological Sciences in her nomination letter. “She has been an outstanding contributor to the teaching missions of our department, the college, and the university.”
Hawley took on the teaching responsibility of an existing course, Ornithology, an upper division course devoted to the study of birds. Hawley transformed a course once characterized by rote memorization of species names and taxonomy into one in which students become an engaged and active-learning community. She has accomplished this through the use of in-class discussions of recent research papers, peer evaluation of student grant proposals, videos to demonstrate lecture concepts, and service learning.
In 2011, Hawley received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support her research and teaching initiatives. Hawley used part of her award to develop a new graduate course, Outreach in Biology, which aims to improve science communication more broadly by teaching scientists-in-training how to effectively communicate their work to the public.
To date, four graduate students and more than 25 undergraduate students have performed research in Hawley’s lab. Four of these students appeared as co-authors on journal articles and 11 on professional presentations. NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) supplements have supported two undergraduates.
At Virginia Tech, Hawley was previously honored with the Department of Biological Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012 and the College of Science Certificate of Teaching Excellence in 2013.
In addition to her teaching, Hawley maintains a strong research program with a total of more than $7 million in funding, almost $3 million as principle investigator. Also a member of the Fralin Life Science Institute, her research focuses on ecological and evolutionary factors that affect host immunity and disease dynamics, with a specialization in birds.
Hawley received her bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. from Cornell University.
Dr. Bill Hopkins gives a tour at the new research aviary
“Virginia Tech has incredible strengths in avian biology, ecology, and conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment and in biological sciences in the College of Science,” said William Hopkins, professor of fish and wildlife conservation and an expert in the physiological ecology of amphibians, reptiles, and birds.
“In the past, we have relied on field work and lab experiments, but some critical questions require intermediate conditions, where captive birds are able to fly and behave in social groups. That requires a facility where we have some control but also seminatural conditions,” he added.
The aviary was funded by the College of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation but is being used for collaborations with other colleges and universities in order to study many bird species.
The facility is unique in that it has 16 replicated aviary rooms. “We can conduct experiments and replicate them in statistically robust designs,” Hopkins said. “Each room can house a small flock of songbirds, such as finches, sparrows, and starlings, or can house family groups of species like wood ducks so we can observe pairs raising their young, for instance.”
Other features include partial roofing of each room with an outer, mesh-enclosed area so the birds can experience daylight cycles and natural temperature changes but remain sheltered from extreme weather. The birds can be observed through one-way glass panels.
Hopkins recently finished his first experiment in the aviary, a study of how embryonic developmental conditions for wood ducks affect the hatchlings. Earlier research by his team has demonstrated that incubation temperature affects growth, the ability to regulate body temperature, the immune system, and the endocrine system. As little as 1 degree Celsius below normal, such as can happen if the mother leaves the nest for too long to forage, can have a detrimental effect.
“But the earlier work was confined to the lab, so we were limited to raising ducklings for three weeks,” Hopkins said. “We don’t know how long the effects last, such as whether they affect the chicks’ ability to mature and reproduce. The aviary allows us to follow the hatchlings to maturity.”
Interior hall of the new aviary
As part of this project, wildlife master’s degree student Sydney Hope of Howell, New Jersey, the recent recipient of a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, is studying the effect that changes in incubation temperature has on behaviors important to survival.
In addition to studies by Hopkins and his students, researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are interested in determining whether invasive species of plants are dispersed by birds. Likewise, Associate Professor Dana Hawley in the College of Science is studying the social dynamics of house finches and disease transmission. “In time, we will accommodate a lot of other species,” Hopkins said.
One of the biggest perks of the new facility is the educational benefits for graduate and undergraduate students. “Captive bird study creates opportunities for undergraduates to do research,” Hopkins said. “Birds are high-maintenance study subjects, so we need a lot of hands to help care for the animals. This animal husbandry provides entry-level training for undergraduates, which sometimes leads to independent study, and even a senior thesis in my lab.”
