Bottom left: Aryanna James, Kelly McIntyre, Marlaina Marvin, Sally Entrekin, Shawn Johnson. Top left: Chris Lucy and Joe Girgente
Current Graduate Students
Anastasia Mogilevski. Fall 2017. I am currently a Biology Master’s student at the University of Central Arkansas with a concentration in aquatic ecology. My thesis work is on how stream salinization alters leaf decomposition in streams via multiple detritivore pathways. Although my current focus is on aquatic ecology, my interests within the field of environmental science are broad. I received my Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Environmental Studies from Gettysburg College, where my education was largely interdisciplinary despite having a concentration in ecology. I also had the opportunity to study abroad during my undergraduate years, and learned about coastal ecology and natural resource management in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
My general interests are in ecology, conservation, and wildlife. On a personal level, I also like to challenge myself creatively in a variety of artistic disciplines.
My general interests are in ecology, conservation, and wildlife. On a personal level, I also like to challenge myself creatively in a variety of artistic disciplines.
Kelly McIntyre. Spring 2019.
I received my bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Dickinson College. During my time at Dickinson I worked at the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) as a watershed coordinator. At ALLARM I educated school groups on watersheds, trained volunteer stream monitors on equipment, field and data management techniques, as well as ran quality assurance tests on water samples. After graduation I worked for 4.5 years as an entomology technician at Stroud Water Research Center where I sampled and identified macroinvertebrates to species level for stream bioassessments.
My general interests include aquatic food web ecology and reciprocal flows at the land-water interface. My research focuses on how natural and anthropogenic disturbances interact to influence aquatic macroinvertebrate community composition and function. More specifically, I will be looking at the impacts of atmospheric acid deposition and subsequent stream liming on macroinvertebrate secondary production in headwater streams of Shenandoah National Park.
I received my bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Dickinson College. During my time at Dickinson I worked at the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) as a watershed coordinator. At ALLARM I educated school groups on watersheds, trained volunteer stream monitors on equipment, field and data management techniques, as well as ran quality assurance tests on water samples. After graduation I worked for 4.5 years as an entomology technician at Stroud Water Research Center where I sampled and identified macroinvertebrates to species level for stream bioassessments.
My general interests include aquatic food web ecology and reciprocal flows at the land-water interface. My research focuses on how natural and anthropogenic disturbances interact to influence aquatic macroinvertebrate community composition and function. More specifically, I will be looking at the impacts of atmospheric acid deposition and subsequent stream liming on macroinvertebrate secondary production in headwater streams of Shenandoah National Park.
Danielle Braund. Fall 2017. I am a graduate student studying aquatic ecology at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA). I received my BA in Biology and Environmental Studies at Concordia College, Moorhead in Minnesota. As an undergrad, I worked in the entomology department at North Dakota State University studying the dietary preference of cornroot worms. I also worked in the biology department at Concordia College studying the population dynamics of small mammals on restored and remnant prairies. While attending UCA, I have been involved in the Fisheries and Wildlife society as Vice President (2018-2017), and am the interim secretary for the Lake Conway-Point Remove watershed alliance. My current research focuses on the condition and capacity of headwater streams to transform and transport nutrients and the impact of excess phosphorus on macroinvertebrate community composition. My research allows me to work in the field, learning new techniques and collaborating with other researchers. After receiving my master’s, I will pursue a career in aquatic ecology.
Aryanna James. Spring 2019. I received my bachelor’s in Biology with a concentration in Ecology from Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pa. As an undergraduate there, I had some exposure to field and lab work associated with a study of the effects of direct application liming on acidified headwater streams. After graduating, I moved to Virginia and volunteered and interned at the Virginia Museum of Natural History located in Martinsville, Va. I helped digitize and organize the museum’s extensive Triassic fossil insect collection in which thousands of specimens are preserved with such great detail that even soft tissues, such as wing venation, can be seen. In addition, I assisted in molding and casting projects producing replica bones of ice age mammals.
My focus in the Entrekin Lab is to look at how anthropogenic salinization affects the structure and function of macroinvertebrate communities in headwater streams. Studying this relationship will provide insight into how overall stream function is impacted. Functional capacity of a water body can, in turn, determine the services it can offer.
My focus in the Entrekin Lab is to look at how anthropogenic salinization affects the structure and function of macroinvertebrate communities in headwater streams. Studying this relationship will provide insight into how overall stream function is impacted. Functional capacity of a water body can, in turn, determine the services it can offer.
Former Graduate Students
David Mitchell. Fall 2008 to Fall 2009. Thesis title: “Structure and function of large wood in Ozark headwater streams and its effect on fish community structure.” Co-advised with Ginny Adams. David is currently an instructor at Ozarka College, Mountain View, AR.
Allyn Fuell. Spring 2010 to Spring 2012. “Driving mechanisms of leaf decomposition based on wetland type and surrounding land use in White Oak Bayou watershed.” Allyn now working towards a Ph.D. in ecology at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Nicki Johnson. Spring 2010 to Spring 2012. “Effects of changing land use on macroinvertebrate communities in north-central Arkansas.” Nicki now works for an environmental consulting firm, GBMc, in Arkansas.
Julie Kelso. Spring 2010 to Fall 2012. “Macroinvertebrate community structure and their use of refuge in intermittent and perennial streams.” Julie is currently working on a Phd in ecology at Utah State, Utah.
Amanda Bates. Spring 2010 to Fall 2012. “Macroinvertebrate community structure and leaf decomposition in intermittent Ozark streams.” Amanda now works for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality as an ecologist.
Chris Fuller. Fall 2011 to Fall 2013. He has worked on the NSF-funded Resource Ratio grant as an undergraduate at UCA. He began the project as a research assistant in fall of 2012. His research interests are changes in aquatic Diptera growth rates under varying levels of nitrogen and phosphorus resource concentrations. Chris is currently working as the laboratory manager for Lake Bella Vista, AR.
Adam Musto. Fall 2011 to Fall 2013. He began working in the laboratory as a junior at UCA. His interests are examining biological alterations of north-central Arkansas headwater streams along a gradient of natural gas development in the Fayetteville Shale. Adam is a full-time high school science teacher in Searcy, Arkansas.
Steve Polaskey. Fall 2012 to Spring 2015. Steve quantified the interaction between insect shredders and detrital microbial communities across a gradient of nutrient enrichment. He is currently a chemical and environmental analyst for the city of Boulder, CO.
Lucy Baker. Fall 2014 to Spring 2017. Lucy examined how watershed sensitivity interacts with human activities to influences biological responses to multiple anthropogenic stressors. She sampled macroinvertebrates in 40 headwater streams throughout north-central Arkansas.Lucy is now at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality as TMDL coordinator.
Stephanie Stoughton (right). Spring 2015 to Fall 2017. Stephanie quantified nutrient transfer from urban tributaries and transformation (denitrification) in a rapidly urbanizing wetland-dominated watershed (White Oak Bayou, Arkansas). She currently works as the watershed manager at Elk County Conservation District, Pennsylvania.
Allyn Fuell. Spring 2010 to Spring 2012. “Driving mechanisms of leaf decomposition based on wetland type and surrounding land use in White Oak Bayou watershed.” Allyn now working towards a Ph.D. in ecology at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Nicki Johnson. Spring 2010 to Spring 2012. “Effects of changing land use on macroinvertebrate communities in north-central Arkansas.” Nicki now works for an environmental consulting firm, GBMc, in Arkansas.
Julie Kelso. Spring 2010 to Fall 2012. “Macroinvertebrate community structure and their use of refuge in intermittent and perennial streams.” Julie is currently working on a Phd in ecology at Utah State, Utah.
Amanda Bates. Spring 2010 to Fall 2012. “Macroinvertebrate community structure and leaf decomposition in intermittent Ozark streams.” Amanda now works for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality as an ecologist.
Chris Fuller. Fall 2011 to Fall 2013. He has worked on the NSF-funded Resource Ratio grant as an undergraduate at UCA. He began the project as a research assistant in fall of 2012. His research interests are changes in aquatic Diptera growth rates under varying levels of nitrogen and phosphorus resource concentrations. Chris is currently working as the laboratory manager for Lake Bella Vista, AR.
Adam Musto. Fall 2011 to Fall 2013. He began working in the laboratory as a junior at UCA. His interests are examining biological alterations of north-central Arkansas headwater streams along a gradient of natural gas development in the Fayetteville Shale. Adam is a full-time high school science teacher in Searcy, Arkansas.
Steve Polaskey. Fall 2012 to Spring 2015. Steve quantified the interaction between insect shredders and detrital microbial communities across a gradient of nutrient enrichment. He is currently a chemical and environmental analyst for the city of Boulder, CO.
Lucy Baker. Fall 2014 to Spring 2017. Lucy examined how watershed sensitivity interacts with human activities to influences biological responses to multiple anthropogenic stressors. She sampled macroinvertebrates in 40 headwater streams throughout north-central Arkansas.Lucy is now at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality as TMDL coordinator.
Stephanie Stoughton (right). Spring 2015 to Fall 2017. Stephanie quantified nutrient transfer from urban tributaries and transformation (denitrification) in a rapidly urbanizing wetland-dominated watershed (White Oak Bayou, Arkansas). She currently works as the watershed manager at Elk County Conservation District, Pennsylvania.
Current Undergraduate Students
Josh Nilz. I am an undergraduate environmental science student at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA). While attending UCA, I have dedicated continuous hours in the aquatic ecology research laboratory. I began working in Dr. Entrekin’s lab as a volunteer on Stephanie Stoughton’s (a previous graduate student) project identifying macroinvertebrates. This work evolved into an independent research project that served as the topic for my undergraduate thesis. In the summer of 2017, I collected macroinvertebrate samples from the forested freshwater wetlands in the White Oak Bayou. My thesis, completed in fall 2018, is titled, “Wetland macroinvertebrate community response to urban development in the White Oak Bayou watershed.” I plan to spend some time preparing my thesis for publication in an academic journal. Following graduation in May 2019, I will work in the environmental sector before returning to academia in pursuit of a graduate degree. I am particularly interested in the role of macroinvertebrates in ecosystem functions (e.g., nutrient cycling and decomposition), how anthropogenic activity can alter the ability of macroinvertebrates to perform those functions, and, more broadly, stream restoration. Former Undergraduate Students Michael Lowry, Kasey Nix, Phuong Nguyen, Mary McLeod, Jasmine L. Gilbert, Desiree’ Shaw, Lindsay Martindale (Honors College Thesis), Tyler Troutman, Adam Musto, Chris Fuller, Kristina Hallock, David Holt (Honors College Thesis), Carolyn Pollard, Loren Biggs, Josh Bregy, Chelsea Miller, Joe Larson, Wilson Earnhardt, Josh Hines, Meredith Tyree (Honors College Thesis/Biology Honors), Elise Coffelt, David Black, Garrett Frandson, Claudy Sarpong, Deion Everhart and Tristan Odekirk Where we work and what we do....
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