Speakers and Panel Members
We are so lucky to have lots of great speakers and panel members joining us for Envision EEB 2022! Read more about them below, and check back for updates!
Intro to EEB Panel Members:
Dr. Elise Zipkin EEB Director |
Elise Zipkin is an associate professor in the department of integrative biology at Michigan State University and the director of the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program. As a quantitative ecologist, Dr. Zipkin’s research combines empirical data with innovative mathematical and statistical methods to address grand challenges in the study of biodiversity loss and the effects of anthropogenic activities, such as climate change. She focuses on a wide variety of systems and taxa including birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and insects, evaluating how species populations and communities are responding to a rapidly changing environment. Dr. Zipkin also works with management agencies and policy makers to determine approaches for mitigating species losses and strategies for effective conservation. Dr. Zipkin earned bachelor's degrees in mathematics and applied ecology from the University of Michigan, a masters in natural resources from Cornell University, and a PhD in biology from the University of Maryland. She has published over 70 peer reviewed articles and delivered more than 35 invited presentations at universities and symposia around the world. She was named an Early Career Fellow in 2017 by the Ecological Society of America and received an #ITeachMSU Award in 2019 for her dedication to student success. Dr. Zipkin loves working with the students in her lab and particular enjoys seeing EEB students get excited about statistics.
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Grad School Applications - Workshop and Panel Members:
Dr. Sarah Evans 
Dr. Cinnamon Mittan |
Sarah Evans is an associate professor based at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS), studying how microscopic organisms function and respond to their environment. The lab is interested in what factors alter the diversity of microbial communities, as well as the ecosystem functions and services that microbes carry out, like increasing soil nutrients, emitting greenhouse gases, and facilitating plant and crop growth. Sarah is from Alabama and got her B.A. at Grinnell College and her PhD at Colorado State University. She has worked at many sites internationally before a more recent focus on US agriculture. She teaches Global Change biology and is interested in linking her work to sustainability and policy, and in mentoring and inclusivity in STEM. Cinnamon Mittan is a postdoctoral fellow at MSU based at Kellogg Biological Station. Cinnamon is a conservation geneticist leveraging genomic, physiological and transcriptomic data to inform conservation management. She is particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying adaptation in small populations faced with new environmental conditions. Previously, she explored these questions in introduced cane toads in Florida, the coldest place cane toads are found anywhere in their native or introduced ranges. Here at MSU, Cinnamon is using genomic data to help inform the management of the federally endangered Mitchell’s Satyr Butterfly, a species facing the dual pressures of small, fragmented populations and warming conditions. |
Funding Graduate School - Panel Members:
Dr. Lars Brudvig GRFP Panel 
Maya Wilson Brown GRFP Student Panel 
Madison Plunkert GRFP Student Panel |
Lars Brudvig is a Professor in the Department of Plant Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, at Michigan State University. The Brudvig Lab conducts research to guide the restoration of ecosystems damaged by humans, with a focus on grasslands and savannas in Michigan and longleaf pine woodlands in the southeastern United States. He teaches courses in botany and restoration ecology and works with undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs in research. Lars completed a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College, a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Iowa State University and, prior to joining MSU in 2010, was a postdoc with the Corridor Project in South Carolina. My name is Maya (she/her/hers) and I am a graduate student in plant biology and EEB! My PhD research investigates how plant populations disperse and persist in new habitats, with a focus on genetics. Madison (she/her) is a PhD student in the Plant Biology and EEB programs at MSU. She is interested in the evolutionary genetics of life history and shoot architecture variation in monkeyflowers. Her undergraduate research at the University of Maryland focused on molecular genetics of pigmentation and leaf development in the woodland strawberry. Outside the lab, she enjoys reading, hiking, and playing the violin. |
School Selection - Graduate Student Panel Members:
Riley Pizza 
Sophie Buysse 
Nan Nourn |
My name is Riley Pizza (They/Them) and I am a PhD student at MSU in the plant biology and EEB programs. I am interested in whether using local seed, rather than seed from further away, reliably results in the highest restoration success. To test this, I will survey young restorations in southwest MI to test if the establishment of restoration species is influenced by how local the sourced seed is. I will also utilize a long-term prairie experiment at Kellogg Biological station that manipulates seed geographic origin to understand its effect on trophic interactions and role in community assembly. I'm Sophie Buysse! I am a third year PhD candidate in the Josephs lab in the Plant Biology department and the EEB program. I grew up in rural Minnesota and graduated from the College of St. Benedict (a small liberal arts college) with a bachelor's degree in May 2020. My main research interest is the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. I studied this in trees during summer research as an undergraduate and now use a model organism, Arabidopsis thaliana. Outside of the lab, I like to go biking or hiking, grow vegetables in my garden, or cook new recipes. I am currently starting my 5th year at MSU as Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Fisheries & Wildlife. My research is based in Cambodia and biodiversity, where I am collaborating with NGOs and local communities to develop occupancy and connectivity models for various threatened species and assessing fire ecology within protected areas. Currently, I am a graduate teaching assistant for ISP 203L for this Fall semester and will be traveling back to Cambodia in January 2023 to continue field work and analyzing data with collaborators. I am a first-generation Cambodian-American college student and can speak Khmer (Cambodian). |