2023 #SpeirSquad News
July 2023
The #SpeirSquad presented at the Arkansas Water Resources Center Annual Conference in Fayetteville. Shannon gave a plenary talk entitled "Taking edge-of-field monitoring to the next level." Undergraduates Brynnen Beck, Deo Scott, Lilly Stults, and Ire Tamayo presented on the work they are conducting in the Speir Lab. Undergraduate Claire Meara presented her EcoREU work that she has been conducting over the summer.
June 2023
We welcomed a new program associate, Alana Strauss, to the #SpeirSquad at the beginning of the month. Alana will be primarily responsible for assisting with the Arkansas Discovery Watershed/Farm project.
Shannon presented a poster at the Gordon Research Conference on Catchment Science in New Hampshire. Her poster was titled "Spatial variation in sediment export is linked to watershed attributes in non-perennial streams in Alabama, USA." Results indicate slope may be a key predictor of sediment loss in intermittent streams; however, impacts to downstream systems may be minimal at baseflow.
The #speirsquad hosted a guest at the end of the month. Abagael Pruitt, a PhD student at the University of Notre Dame, joined Shannon and Alana in Mississippi, where they conducted testing on a new Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry (MIMS) method.
May 2023
The #SpeirSquad celebrated the end of the semester with a lab hike on the Markham Hill trails near campus!
Undergraduates Deo Scott was awarded a Bumpers College Undergraduate Research and Creative Project grant! Deo is documenting the effects of restoration on Mullins Creek a decade following the original restoration. He is sampling for physical variables (temperature, pH, conductivity), nutrients, and macroinvertebrates.
April 2023
We welcomed two undergraduates, Brynnen Beck and Claire Meara, to the #SpeirSquad! They will be partner on a project for their honors theses quantifying the impacts of freshwater salinization in urban streams. Brynnen will be exploring salinization impacts on denitrification in urban stream sediments, while Claire will be looking at salinization on sediment microbial respiration in urban stream.
Undergraduate Jacob Major completed his first round of experiments to quantify phosphorus desorption dynamics in stream sediments.
Lilly, Jackie, Ire, Deo, and Jacob all presented their work at the University of Arkansas National Undergraduate Research Week Poster Competition. Jacob won 3rd place in the Natural Sciences category as well!
April showers bring... summer algal blooms? The #SpeirSquad's amazing crew had their research featured in a recent article by the UofA Division of Agriculture. Check it out here!
March 2023
Shannon gave an invited seminar on scaling up conservation for water quality preservation at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's National Sedimentation Lab in Oxford, MS.
The #SpeirSquad will add a master's student in the fall! Caroline Anscombe will be working in urban streams in Fayetteville, AR.
February 2023
Shannon presented on scaling from fields to a whole watershed at the Arkansas Discovery Farm Conference. Jacob Major also presented a poster there on his undergraduate work, winning the first place undergraduate spot in the poster competition!
January 2023
We welcomed two undergraduates, Ireyra Tamayo and Lilly Stults, to the #SpeirSquad for the spring semester! Ire will be exploring changes in peak flows in the Beaver Lake Watershed, and Lilly will be looking at the effects of conservation on sediment loss at the edge of field using Arkansas Discovery Farm Data.
Current undergraduates Jackie Todd and Jacob Major were both awarded Bumpers College Undergraduate Research and Creative Project grants! Jackie will quantify nutrient uptake in the White River, while Jacob will explore the effects of land use on phosphorus dynamics in Brush and Richland Creeks. Jacob also received funding for his project from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
Shannon presented on the benefits of on-land and in-stream conservation for water quality improvement at the Arkansas Soil and Water Education Conference meeting in Jonesboro, AR.
The #SpeirSquad presented at the Arkansas Water Resources Center Annual Conference in Fayetteville. Shannon gave a plenary talk entitled "Taking edge-of-field monitoring to the next level." Undergraduates Brynnen Beck, Deo Scott, Lilly Stults, and Ire Tamayo presented on the work they are conducting in the Speir Lab. Undergraduate Claire Meara presented her EcoREU work that she has been conducting over the summer.
June 2023
We welcomed a new program associate, Alana Strauss, to the #SpeirSquad at the beginning of the month. Alana will be primarily responsible for assisting with the Arkansas Discovery Watershed/Farm project.
Shannon presented a poster at the Gordon Research Conference on Catchment Science in New Hampshire. Her poster was titled "Spatial variation in sediment export is linked to watershed attributes in non-perennial streams in Alabama, USA." Results indicate slope may be a key predictor of sediment loss in intermittent streams; however, impacts to downstream systems may be minimal at baseflow.
The #speirsquad hosted a guest at the end of the month. Abagael Pruitt, a PhD student at the University of Notre Dame, joined Shannon and Alana in Mississippi, where they conducted testing on a new Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry (MIMS) method.
May 2023
The #SpeirSquad celebrated the end of the semester with a lab hike on the Markham Hill trails near campus!
Undergraduates Deo Scott was awarded a Bumpers College Undergraduate Research and Creative Project grant! Deo is documenting the effects of restoration on Mullins Creek a decade following the original restoration. He is sampling for physical variables (temperature, pH, conductivity), nutrients, and macroinvertebrates.
April 2023
We welcomed two undergraduates, Brynnen Beck and Claire Meara, to the #SpeirSquad! They will be partner on a project for their honors theses quantifying the impacts of freshwater salinization in urban streams. Brynnen will be exploring salinization impacts on denitrification in urban stream sediments, while Claire will be looking at salinization on sediment microbial respiration in urban stream.
Undergraduate Jacob Major completed his first round of experiments to quantify phosphorus desorption dynamics in stream sediments.
Lilly, Jackie, Ire, Deo, and Jacob all presented their work at the University of Arkansas National Undergraduate Research Week Poster Competition. Jacob won 3rd place in the Natural Sciences category as well!
April showers bring... summer algal blooms? The #SpeirSquad's amazing crew had their research featured in a recent article by the UofA Division of Agriculture. Check it out here!
March 2023
Shannon gave an invited seminar on scaling up conservation for water quality preservation at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's National Sedimentation Lab in Oxford, MS.
The #SpeirSquad will add a master's student in the fall! Caroline Anscombe will be working in urban streams in Fayetteville, AR.
February 2023
Shannon presented on scaling from fields to a whole watershed at the Arkansas Discovery Farm Conference. Jacob Major also presented a poster there on his undergraduate work, winning the first place undergraduate spot in the poster competition!
January 2023
We welcomed two undergraduates, Ireyra Tamayo and Lilly Stults, to the #SpeirSquad for the spring semester! Ire will be exploring changes in peak flows in the Beaver Lake Watershed, and Lilly will be looking at the effects of conservation on sediment loss at the edge of field using Arkansas Discovery Farm Data.
Current undergraduates Jackie Todd and Jacob Major were both awarded Bumpers College Undergraduate Research and Creative Project grants! Jackie will quantify nutrient uptake in the White River, while Jacob will explore the effects of land use on phosphorus dynamics in Brush and Richland Creeks. Jacob also received funding for his project from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
Shannon presented on the benefits of on-land and in-stream conservation for water quality improvement at the Arkansas Soil and Water Education Conference meeting in Jonesboro, AR.