Principal Investigator
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DR. EDD HAMMILL
Contact: Edd.Hammill(at)usu.edu |
Current Students
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UMARFAROOQ ABDULWAHAB Umarfarooq is an Ecology PhD student in the Watershed sciences department, and is from Kogi state, middle belt of Nigeria. He received a BSc in Environmental Biology from the University of Maiduguri and an MSc in Conservation Biology from the A.P Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, University of Jos, Nigeria. Currently at Utah State University, Umarfarooq is part of a collaborative project focusing on the application of eDNA, species distribution modeling, and decision support systems to amphibian conservation science. His interests border on the various aspects of field research including landscape and spatial ecology, population ecology and behavioral ecology to answer questions that have application for the conservation of plants, birds, amphibians and other aquatic vertebrates. He relaxes by birdwatching, hiking and meeting people. Umarfarooq is co-advised by Dr. Charles Hawkins. Contact: or JOSH EPPERLY Josh is a MSc student in Watershed Sciences and Ecology, and is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is proud to be part of the multi-disciplinary research team on the Diamond Fork restoration project. The aim of the project is to understand the effects of reduced flow on fluvial processes and aquatic ecosystem functioning in Diamond Fork River / Sixth Water Creek, a system which historically has had artificially high flows. In particular, Josh is studying how macroinvertebrate populations in Diamond Fork / Sixth Water respond to different flow regimes. His research interests are aquatic ecosystem productivity and anthropogenic stressors on river systems. Josh is co-supervised by at USU. Contact: [email protected] |
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ANDREW WITT
Andrew is a MSc student in Watershed Sciences and Ecology. From Denver, Colorado, Andrew received a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and a B.S. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Now a graduate student at Utah State University, Andrew’s research involves using geospatial technologies to prioritize conservation efforts for Alaskan salmon habitat threatened by anthropogenic changes to the landscape. His research interests include large-scale conservation ecology, and how to balance conservation efforts with human expansion. With time off you might find Andrew with an acoustic guitar, or riverside with a fly rod. Contact: [email protected] Website: MARSHALL WOLF Marshall is an Ecology PhD student in the Watershed Science Department studying landscape scale restoration planning for riparian communities. He gained diverse research experiences working with tree-rings to explain riparian geomorphology and using stable isotopes to explain the ecology of aquatic ecosystems while earning his BSc in Ecosystem Science from Colorado State University. After undergrad, he worked for Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife conducting stream habitat and aquatic species surveys for a year before transitioning to a position investigating hydrologic and biogeochemical proccess at UC Berkeley. At USU he will be using conservation planning techniques in order to better understand the relationship between beaver restoration and aquatic community function at landscape scales. Between classes you might find him lapping Logan's mountain bike trails, stream snorkeling the Logan River, or patrolling for powder atop one of the many peaks in eyeshot of the Univeristy. Contact - [email protected] |
Previous Students
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JEFFREY HAIGHT
Jeffrey is a MSc student in Watershed Sciences and Ecology. Originally from El Sobrante, California, he received a B.S. in Environmental Science & Management from University of California, Davis. At USU, Jeffrey's research focused on mapping potential shifts in climate regime and landscape connectivity across Utah's ecoregions and modeling the prioritization of conservation efforts in light of projected regional change. His broad interests in global change ecology are based in studying how best to conserve and reconcile biologically-diverse ecosystems in landscapes that have experienced or are undergoing high levels of anthropogenic change, with particular focuses on urbanization and climate change. When he's not busy studying ecology, Jeffrey enjoys playing music, hiking, boating, and generally anything else that gets him outdoors. Jeffery is now a PhD student at Arizona State University Contact: [email protected] or [email protected] Website: |
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CHARLIE HINCHLIFFE
Charlie completed his honours thesis in 2015 under the supervision of Dr Edd Hammill at the University of Technology, Sydney. His research focused on the impact of invasive species on freshwater ecosystems at the community and ecosystem level, with specific regards to Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) in lentic ecosystems of New South Wales, Australia. Through this work he received a UTS University Medal for achieving the highest grade in his cohort. Charlie currently works in ecological restoration, specialising in wetlands, riparian zones and saltmarshes, and plans to continue his research career through a PhD in 2017. Publication Hinchliffe, C; Atwood, T; Ollivier, Q; Hammill, E. Presence of invasive Gambusia alters ecological communities and the functions they perform in lentic ecosystems. CSIRO Marine and Freshwater Research 68 (10), 1867-1876 |
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NIKKI BRAMWELL
Dr. Edd Hammill co-supervised me in the latter stages of my PhD (2015-2016) at the University of Technology, Sydney in Australia. My research investigated the importance of the identity of adjacent habitats in determining edge effects for a cross section of seagrass (Posidonia australis) fauna i.e. fish, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates and epiphytes (measured as epiphyte load) on the New South Wales coast. The research incorporated a manipulative aquarium experiment investigating the habitat combination and heterogeneity level preferences of select seagrass fish in the presence and absence of predatory threat. I am currently back in my home country (Jamaica) and am a full-time lecturer of Environmental Studies at the University of Technology, Jamaica in the Faculty of Science and Sport, Environmental Sciences Division. Publication: Ollivier, Q.R., Bramwell, N.A., Hammill, E., Foster-Thorpe, C. & Booth, D.J. 2015, 'Are the effects of adjacent habitat type on seagrass gastropod communities being masked by previous focus on habitat dyads?', Australian Journal of Zoology, vol. 63, no. 5, pp. 357-63. |
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QUINN OLLIVIER
Quinn's research interests are in environmental management and policy, biogeochemical cycling, trophic cascades effects on community structure, and ecosystem functions of coastal vegetated or 'blue carbon' ecosystems. Quinn completed his first research project under Dr Edd Hammill's supervision, investigating changes in community structure and distribution of benthic invertebrates due to habitat edge effects across posidonia australis seagrass beds. He then continued to complete an Honours year with Dr Hammill producing a first class thesis looking at how predator induced trophic cascades alter benthic communities and sedimentary carbon stocks in the Great Barrier Reef. Quinn is currently completing a PhD at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, researching the function of seagrasses, tidal marshes and mangroves as highly productive atmospheric carbon sinks, with the aim to aid in future environmental policy decisions and management across Australia. Publications and Theses: Honours Thesis, 2015, University of Technology Sydney, ‘How Predator Induced Trophic Cascades Affect Aquatic Below-Ground Communities and Sedimentary Organic Carbon’ Ollivier, Q., Bramwell, N, A., Hammill, E., Foster-Thorpe, C., and Booth, D, J. (2016) Are the effects of adjacent habitat type on seagrass gastropod communities being masked by previous focus on habitat dyads? Australian Journal of Zoology, 63(5), 357-363. Macreadie, P, I., Ollivier, Q., Atwood, T., Carnell, P., Ewers, C., Kelleway, J., Lovelock, C., Serrano, O. (Under Review) Carbon sequestration by Australian Saltmarshes. Scientific Reports. Ollivier, Q., Atwood, T, B., Madin, E, M, P., Harborne, A, R., Macreadie, P, L., Lovelock, C., Hinchliffe, C., and Hammill, E. (In Prep) Trait mediated trophic cascades in the Great Barrier Reef: How above ground processes shape below ground invertebrate communities. Atwood, T, B., Madin, E, M, P., Ollivier, Q., Hamill, E., Harborne, A, R., Macreadie, P, L., and Lovelock, C. (In Prep) Predators shape sedimentary carbon storage in a coral reef ecosystem. Hinchliffe, C,L., Atwood, T., Ollivier, Q., Hammill, E. (Under Review) Consequences of Gambusia holbrooki invasion at the community and ecosystem level. Marine and Freshwater Research. Bramwell, N., Ollivier, Q., Hammill, E., Booth, D. (In Prep) Effect of distance from rocky reef on the size class distribution of benthic mollusk communities within Posidonia australis seagrass beds of Jervis Bay. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. |
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COREEN FORBES
Coreen spent an undergraduate directed studies course exploring the consumptive and non-consumptive effects of predators in the Srivastava Lab supervised by Edd during his Post Doctoral appointment at UBC. Conducting experiments in protist microcosms allowed the study of many generations of a multi-trophic community in only a semester. This work was published in Oikos as an editor's choice article. Currently, Coreen is working towards a PhD in the O'Connor Lab at UBC. She studies metacommunity processes in eelgrass food webs and how climate change may affect these processes over multiple spatial scales. Publication: Forbes, C., & Hammill, E. (2013). Fear in the dark? Community-level effects of non-lethal predators change with light regime. Oikos, 122(12), 1662–1668. |