Graduate Student Research

Jessica Wakefield 

   Background : I received my Bachelor’s Degree in fisheries and wildlife biology from Arkansas Tech University in May of 2006.  I am currently a graduate assistant in plant ecology at

      the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

    Research Interests:

        Plant ecology and restoration of native plant species

        Lichen ecology

        Fire ecology and management

   Current Research: My study involves using lichens as indicators of certain automotive pollutants in northeast Louisiana.  My research focuses mainly on evaluating the effects of air

     pollution on its surrounding environment. The pollution levels will be assessed as to their detrimental effects on the environment using a lichen bark transplant techniques.  

Alex Fotis

    Background:  I received a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology and a minor in plant biology at Ohio University in June of 2008.  I am currently a graduate assistant in plant ecology

        at the Department of Biology, University of Louisiana, Monroe.

    Research Interests:

        Ecosystem ecology and how the abiotic and biotic features of these systems interact to produce and govern the structure and function of them

        Natural succession of disturbed ecosystems

        Bottomland hardwood ecology

        Invasive species ecology: how they invade and what effects they might have on the native biota

        Plant community ecology

        Restoration ecology

                        Current research:  I am studying the natural succession of bottomland hardwoods.  I will be comparing natural succession in an abandoned soybean field to the vegetation community  on a site that was planted 25 years ago. I will be looking at how the native plant community, growth, distribution, and biomass have changed over the years.  I will document invasive species distribution, how it has changed over time, possibly explain why this distributional pattern exists, and any effects they might be having on the native biota. 

Undergraduate Student Research

Every semester, I work closely with several undergraduates, both from Emerging Scholar Program and the HHMI Undergraduate Research program. Students are usually interested in conducting basic research and developing skills that enable them to collect data and carry out analyses to interpret data. Students in my lab explore an array of topics related to ecology and environment.