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August 2013

Welcome Annelise Morwy! Annelise is a new PhD student in the lab and the recipient of an AU CMB fellowship.

  • Alex Bentz received a research grant from the North American Bluebird Society. Congrats!

  • Welcome back Dr Amy Skibiel! Amy accepted a position at Auburn as Humand A& P lecturer.

  • Wendy is teaching Comparative Anatomy this fall.

May 2013

  • Congratulations Mark Sadler (COSAM undergrad research fellow), May Morgan Poundstone (AASD-STEM), and Michael Hobensack (Delta Chi) who all received fellowships to work in the lab this summer and beyond.

  • Congrats to all of the Hood lab ungrads who graduated this spring!

April 2013

  • Dr Hood gave an invited presentation in the 'Bone physiology under environmental stress' symposium at the Experiment Biology meeting in Boston and a seminar at Texas Tech University.

  • Aubrey Sirman was awarded a CMB Peaks of Excellence Summer Research Fellowship. Congrats Aubrey!

March 2013

  • The Hood lab welcomes Dr Greg Florant from Colorado State University to Auburn for a seminar.

January 2013

  • Dr Hood presented Amy's thesis work on ground squirrel energetics work at SICB in San Franscico.

  • The Hood lab welcomes Dr. Julie Richmond from Univ of North Florida to Auburn for a seminar.

  • Dr Hood and Dr Haruka Wada offer a new course - 'Reproductive Physiology, Ecology, and Evolution' - a current topics course for grad students and advanced undergrads.

  • Amy's ground squirrel milk paper is published in the Journal of Mammalogy.

August 2012

  • Alex Bentz (PhD student), Chih-Wei Chen (MS student) and Aubrey Sirman (MS student) join the lab.

  • Dr Hood will be teaching Comparative Anatomy this semester.

July 2012

  • Congrats Matt Ramirez! NSF had extra funds and turned his honorable mention to a full NSF pre-doctoral fellowship! A much deserved award - great job Matt!

  • Dr Hood presented a talk and poster on Amy Skibiel's PhD work at the Comparative Nutrition Society meeting in Pacific Grove, CA.

June 2012

  • Christina Schmidt's paper 'Calcium availability influences litter size and sex ratio in white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus)' has been accepted for publication in PLoS One.

  • Amy Skibiel's paper on 'Milk composition in a hibernating rodent, the Columbian ground squirrel (Urocitellus columbianus)' has been accepted for publication at Journal of Mammalogy.

  • Dr Hood's paper 'A Test of Bone Mobilization Relative to Reproductive Demand: Skeletal Quality Is Improved in Cannibalistic Females with Large Litters' has just been published in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.

  • Dr Hood will be presenting at the Comparative Nutrition Society meeting in Monterey, CA in July.

  • The Hood lab has weaned another PhD - Dr Skibiel congrats on an awesome job!

  • Please join us for Amy Skibiel's PhD defense - Monday, June 11, 10 AM, Funches 246.

  • Mouse world is complete and our mice have arrived from the Pott's lab! We're excited to see this project finally getting started.

April 2012

  • Congratulations Christina Schimidt! Christina has been awarded a post-doc at the University of Pretoria. She will be joining Nigel Bennett's lab and will work on mole rats.

  • Welcome new grad students! Alex Bentz, Chih-Wei Chen, and Aubrey Sirman will be joining the Hood lab in the fall.

  • Mouse world in nearly complete.

  • Spring bluebird insanity has begun! The birds were early and have been quite synchonous this year. Busy times!

March 2012

  • Congratulations Alex Bentz and Matt Ramirez! Alex will be joining the Hood lab in the fall. Alex has been awarded both a NSF pre-doctoral award and a CMB fellowship! Great job Alex! Matt received honorable mention for his NSF pre-doc fellowship.

  • Our study on litter size and bone metabolism has been accepted for publication in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.

  • Congratulations Matt Ramirez! Matt will be going to Oregon State University for his masters.

  • Congratulations Amy Skibiel! Amy has accepted a post-doc in Katie Hinde's lab at Harvard University.

  • This spring we will be studying stress and development in Eastern Bluebirds with Dr Haruka Wada.

January 2012

  • Dr Hood will be giving a presentation in the Animal Sciences department at Auburn on Jan 20th, 3PM, and at the University of New Orleans Jan 30th. She will be out of the office Jan 30-Feb 1.

  • Amy Skibiel, Matt Ramirez, and Dr Hood presented at SICB in Charleston, SC Jan 3-7, 2012.

  • Dr Hood will be teaching Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy Fall 2012.

November 2011

  • Congratulations to Dr. Christina Schmidt - the first PhD weaned from the Hood lab.

  • Nov 8th, noon, 247 Funchess - Christina Schmidt will defend her PhD thesis! Auburn folks - Please join us for her presentation titled: The effects of dietary calcium and skeletal calcium availability on reproductive performance in mammals.

October 2011

  • Dr Hood will be giving a presentation at the Museu de Ciències Naturals in Barcelona Spain. She will be out of the office Oct 16-21.

September 2011

  • A leucistic Ruby-throated hummingbird was recently seen in Opelika - chick here see photos.

  • Dr Hood will give a presentation on bluebirds Sat, Sept 17 at Auburn Univ. 'Arboretum Days.'

August 2011

  • Construction of our new flight cages is complete. Thank you Kaytee for this generous donation.

  • THANK YOU to all of the hummingbird enthusiasts that allowed us to collect juvenile birds from their yard.

July 2011

  • Hummingbird electrolyte study, phase II begins.

  • At AOU, Hood and Hill each took 1st place in the master's division in the Ostrich Uproar 5K and as a team took 2nd in the kayaking race.

  • Dr. Hood presented a poster at AOU titled 'Electrolyte and water balance in the ruby-throated hummingbird''.

  • Amy Skibiel completed her final field season for her PhD in Canada.

  • Field research for bluebird project ends.

June 2011

  • Bluebird field study, phase II begins.

May 2011

  • Congratulations to the Hood lab graduates: Matt Ramirez, Lauren Downing, Sarah Hand, Daly Latham, Jake McNeal and Dragos Rezeanu.

  • Matt Ramirez moved to North Carolina to complete an internship on sea turtles on Bald Island.

  • Amy Skibiel received an American Society of Mammalogist grant-in-aid of research award.

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