Mary Beth Manjerovic, BGSA President
mmanjero"at"mail.ucf.edu

Christina Trexler, BGSA Vice President

chrissytrexler"at"yahoo.com

M.S. Student in Dr. Osborne's Lab

Thesis: Biology, Ecology and Control of the invasive apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata

My research focuses on the invasive aquatic snail, Pomacea canaliculata. To quote Dr. Osborne, "they are as big as your fist and a dozen can eat a head of lettuce overnight." I attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania as a Music Education major before I moved to Orlando and earned my B.A. in Biology at UCF. The Florida weather is nice, now if we could just do something about that thing called urban sprawl....

Kim Medley , BGSA Secretary

kmedley"at"mail.ucf.edu

PhD.. Student in Dr. Jenkins' Wetland EcologyLab

I completed my M.S. in Biology at Missouri State University in 2004, after which I remained as a Research Specialist in Dr. John Havel’s lab, examining zooplankton community dynamics in the Missouri, Upper Mississippi, and Ohio Rivers as a part of the USEPA’s EMAP (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program). I began work on my Ph.D. at UCF in 2006, where I am currently a research assistant with Dr. Dave Jenkins working on a USDA-funded project “Synergistic effects of grazing, fire, and ranchland management on wetlands in ranches”. My proposed research will examine the effects of spatial and temporal connectivity on metapopulation genetic structure of a passive (zooplankter) and an active (mosquito) disperser. I will incorporate a dispersal experiment using stable isotope markers and GIS and computational modeling to estimate connectivity among permanent and temporary ponds/wetlands. Genetic analyses will be used to measure gene flow among populations, and to refine the original models.

Alyson Fenwick , BGSA Treasurer 
herpgirl"at"gmail.com

Ph.D. student in Dr. Parkinson's Lab

I wrote my M.S. thesis at the University of Texas at Tyler on the evolutionary relationships of South American pitvipers inferred from morphological data. In other words, I counted snake scales to infer their “family tree”. I’ve joined the Parkinson lab to expand my horizons; I now focus on all pitvipers (subfamily Crotalinae) and I use morphological and DNA data. My research interests are the effects of taxon and character sampling on phylogeny reconstruction and biogeographic inference. I am also interested in conservation and environmental education and in the role of zoos in meeting research, conservation, and education goals (My B.S. is in Zoo and Aquarium Science from Michigan State).

Cheryl Pinzone, BGSA Faculty Liason

cheryl.pinzone"at"gmail.com

M.S. Student in Dr. Fedorka's lab

Hi, I'm Cheryl and I'm a Masters student in the Fedorka lab.  We use the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster as a model species to answer questions about the evolution of many mechanisms. My current work focuses on life-history tradeoffs between reproduction and immunity.  I am investigating the effect of multiple matings on allocation to the immune system.  I am also interested in the interaction between the female immune system and male ejaculate.  Studying this dynamic will contribute to the understanding of this antagonistic coevolution and evolution of incipient speciation. I am also particularly interested in the contribution of epigenetic inheritance to evolutionary mechanisms.  Specifically, I would like to know how much the environment affects phenotype due to epigenetic mechanisms such as methylation, and I am especially curious to examine the relative contribution of these mechanisms in determining the relationship between genotype and phenotype.

Tangi Smallwood, BGSA Social Chair

tangi.smallwood"at"gmail.com

M.S. Student in Dr. vonKalm's lab