They are intelligent, inquisitive, fun to hang with, and exceedingly capable of securing funding. What more would an advisor want?
Tony Frazier is studying the development of a brain region associated with spatial ecology in rattlesnakes, specifically focusing on the effects of testosterone on neurogenesis within this brain region. He is a field rat but is now being handcuffed to the cryostat to analyze the brains from his field experiment last year. He was recently awarded a 2010 Gaige Award for graduate student research from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Besides snakes and brains, he enjoys going for runs in the oak woodland and PBR.
Nick Pollock is studying the reasons why male lizards are more heavily parasitized by ticks than female lizards. As of yesterday he has collected all of the data from his multiple lab and field studies and will now be crunching data and writing. He won a 2009 Gaige Award, and was recently awarded a research grant by the Chicago Herpetological Society. Besides lizards and ticks, Nick enjoys cooking and engaging in questionable photo-opps.
Matt Holding is a new graduate student in my lab who is studying the effects of translocation on neurogenesis and the stress response in rattlesnakes. He is currently in the middle of some serious field work, and is TAing my Herpetology class. Matt was recently awarded a research grant from the Herpetologists' League. He was also awarded a National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship, which is perhaps the most prestigious award that a new graduate student in the sciences can get. Matt enjoys asking lots of questions and daydreaming about being David Attenborough.
Congrats to my boys for being fabulous and recognized as such by their scientific societies!