December 2019: Rachel gave her graduate thesis defense on her work titled “Use of DNA sequencing to identify the origin of Northwestern and Southwestern Pond Turtles in captive breeding programs”. Congratulations Rachel! Shant, Drew, Hailey, and Natalie also graduated, congratulations!
September 2019: Dr. Reece and students from Conservation Biology traveled to Sequoia and Kings Canyon to learn about the effects of natural and prescribed fire on bat biodiversity in the parks. Students were able to talk to a park biologist and see some of the acoustic detectors that are set up in the fire area.
August 2019: Dr. Reece and students from his Conservation Biology class attended the final mist-netting and acoustic monitoring trip for the summer in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The students learned about acoustic monitoring, the bats present in SEKI, and worked with National Park biologists to mist net for bats in Cedar Grove.
August 2019: Welcome back from summer! Reece Lab is joined by new graduate student Samantha and undergraduates Alejandro, Drew, and Shant!
Summer 2019: Lab members enjoyed participating in a variety of research trips this summer! Dr. Reece and students conducted bird and invertebrate surveys in Morro Bay and assisted National Park Service biologists with acoustic monitoring and mist-netting of bats in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks! Dr. Reece and several lab members were featured in a Fresno State article about field research! Check out the story here.
June 2019: Dr. Reece gave a talk at the Hooting Owl Lecture Series in Wawona on his work involving environmental DNA (eDNA) identification of fish, amphibians, and turtles. Check out the video here!
May 2019: Dr. Reece and Dr. Lent led an exciting study abroad trip to Costa Rica! The group enjoyed the beautiful scenery, Costa Rican culture, and vibrant flora and fauna through multiple birding opportunities (over 100 species of tropical birds were seen!), hikes through the cloud forest, and a visit to the Osa Peninsula! The course focused on conservation and the biodiversity of Costa Rica’s fauna and observing animal behavior. It was an amazing trip!
February: Dr. Reece, Rachel, and Shelby attended the Western Section of the Wildlife Society meeting at Tenaya Lodge! Dr. Reece gave a poster presentation on last summer’s bat research in SEKI, Rachel gave a poster presentation on her work with Western Pond Turtle genetics and conservation, and Shelby gave a poster presentation on phylogenetics of climate change vulnerability in California birds.
January 2019: Dr. Reece, Rob, Chrisionna, and Shelby attended the CSU Biotechnology Symposium in Anaheim! Rob and Chrisionna presented posters on their work with acoustic monitoring of bats in SEKI last summer and Shelby presented a poster on her work with biodiversity in Morro Bay.
November 2018: Dr. Reece and students were featured in a video for Fresno State’s Day of Giving! The video was about Dr. Reece’s work with Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for environmental DNA sampling of the rivers in the area. Check it out here!
October 2018: Reece Lab was featured in Fresno State news for research involving acoustic monitoring of bats in the Central Valley and Sequoia National Park! Check out the story here. Rachel was awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship for her research on Western Pond Turtle genetics and conservation. Congratulations Rachel!
September 2018: Dr. Reece’s first graduate student at CSU Fresno, Chris, successfully completed his Master’s thesis! His thesis project involved researching the phylogenetic distribution of extinction risk in California’s mammals and the evolutionary implications of losing species. Congratulations Chris!
August 2018: Dr. Reece, Chris, Rachel, and Shelby travel to New Orleans, Louisiana to attend the Ecological Society of America meeting! This years’ theme was extreme events, ecosystem resilience, and human well-being. Dr. Reece gave a presentation on his research on sea level rise and climate change in Georgia and Chris, Rachel, and Shelby gave poster presentations on their research.
July-August 2018: Lab members enjoyed participating in a variety of research trips this summer! Dr. Reece and students conducted bird and invertebrate surveys in Morro Bay, snorkeled in Sequoia National Park to collect water samples and information on amphibians, reptiles, and fish that live in foothill streams, and assisted with acoustic monitoring and mist-netting of bats in Sequoia National Park.
June 2018: Our undergraduates Rob, Saramae, and Lexi were awarded grant funding through the ASI Undergraduate Research Grant program at CSU Fresno! Rob and Lexi are researching how coastal dredging will impact the ecology of Morro Bay, California. Saramae’s project involves using environmental DNA (eDNA) to monitor California tiger salamanders in local riverine systems. Claire, who researches sea-level rise with Dr. Reece, was accepted as a transfer student to UC Berkeley. Congratulations and best wishes Claire!
June 2018: Saramae and Dr. Reece were awarded a $5,000 grant from the Sequoia Learning Center to do environmental DNA surveys of amphibians and fish in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Our first collection trip is in July; Congratulations Saramae!
June 2018: Chrisionna joins the lab! Dr. Reece and four students (Rob, Saramae, Chrisionna, and Shelby) travel to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park to collaborate with the park wildlife team during the first of several bat monitoring events over the 2018 summer. Dr. Reece and his students assisted park staff with data collection and public outreach throughout the evening.
May 2018: Dr. Reece led an eight-day study abroad course to Belize! He was accompanied by 18 students and another CSU Fresno biology faculty member, Dr. Lent. The group experienced the beautiful scenery, Belizean culture, and vibrant flora and fauna through birding opportunities (over 100 species of tropical birds were seen!), rainforest hikes, and snorkeling on the Belize Barrier Reef! The course focused on conservation and the biodiversity of Belize’s birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates. Students learned about the different Belizean ecosystems, conservation issues, and the interaction between biodiversity and humans in Belize. It was an amazing trip!
March 2018: Dr. Reece, Rachel, Saramae, Lexi, and Shelby attended a donor event for the College of Science and Mathematics to present their research. Rachel and Saramae presented on California Tiger Salamander eDNA and Western Pond Turtle conservation genetics. Lexi and Shelby presented on interdisciplinary course-based research and the impacts of coastal dredging in Morro Bay.
February 2018: Dr. Reece and Conservation Biology students travel to Morro Bay to collect more sediment and survey for coastal birds. They were joined by Dr. Brady’s sedimentology class.
January 2018: Dr. Reece and his Conservation Biology class travel to Morro Bay to collect sediment samples and survey for coastal birds!
Dr. Reece taught the inaugural version of his Coastal Biodiversity (BIOL 4020/6020) course this summer. Thirteen students participated in this course, which focused on the coastal ecosystems of Florida and Georgia. This was primarily a field course, and the class visited Sapelo Island (a barrier island in Georgia), Florida’s gulf coast springs and beaches, Seahorse Key (Gulf of Mexico), Key Largo for snorkeling and diving in coastal marine environments, Everglades National Park, the premier nesting beach for loggerhead turtles in Melbourne Beach, Florida, and the Matanzas region of North Florida. In addition to field experiences in coastal ecosystems, students focused on understanding how past climate change and sea-level rise has affected these systems, and how the current pattern of accelerated anthropogenic climate change is and is likely to continue to affect these systems. Dr. Reece plans to teach this class in future Maymesters. See article here.
Dr. Reece was recently featured on People Behind the Science.
Dr. Reece recently earned an award for best presentation, see here, here, and here.
Dr. Reece was recently featured for his work on climate change and sea level rise, see here.
Undergraduate Erika Schumacher recently was awarded student employee of the year at Valdosta State University, see here.
