Four students receive Kansas Biological Survey Student Research Awards for 2025
LAWRENCE — The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research at KU has awarded $4,000 in funding this spring for student research to be conducted this year. Four students will receive assistance through the research center’s 2025 Student Research Awards.
The students’ work covers subjects such as plant-soil feedbacks, the effects of plants on the behavior of plankton in shallow freshwaters and parasites in small mammals in Kansas. During the 2025-2026 academic year, each student will present their research during one of the center’s Friday Ecology Seminars.
The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research houses a diverse group of ecological research and remote sensing/GIS programs. It also manages the 3,200-acre KU Field Station, a resource for study in the sciences, arts, humanities and professional schools.
“We have an outstanding group of awardees this year, conducting a range of research projects that include studies of plants and animals across both aquatic and terrestrial systems,” said Bryan Foster, who chairs the awards committee. “We are very pleased to provide funding that supports these exciting research projects.” Foster is a KU professor of ecology & evolutionary biology, a senior scientist at the research center and director of the KU Field Station.
The individual awards and their recipients are listed below. Each award is funded through KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU.
The Kenneth B. Armitage Award
The Kenneth B. Armitage Award provides support for research conducted by an undergraduate or graduate student at the KU Field Station. Alexandra Coveney, a senior in molecular, cellular & developmental biology from Hays, was awarded $1,000 in funding for her project, “How macrophyte beds in a shallow freshwater system influence diel vertical and horizontal migration of mesozooplankton taxa.” Her adviser is Ted Harris, associate research professor at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research.
The W. Dean Kettle Conservation Award
The W. Dean Kettle Conservation Award provides support for research conducted by an undergraduate or graduate student at the KU Field Station in the area of natural resource conservation. Mira Rausch, a junior double-majoring in molecular, cellular & developmental biology, and ecology, evolution & organismal biology from Olathe was awarded $1,000 in funding for her project, “Hybridization between Sciurus niger and Sciurus carolinensis in Kansas.” Her adviser is Jocelyn Colella, Robert W. and Geraldine Wilson Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and assistant curator of mammalogy at the KU Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Institute.
The Mari F. Pesek Award
The Mari F. Pesek Award provides support for research conducted by a graduate student at the KU Field Station. Mackenzie Grover, doctoral student in ecology & evolutionary biology from Lodi, Wisconsin, was awarded $1,000 in funding for her project, “Evaluating parasite community ecology among Kansas mammals.” Her adviser is Jocelyn Colella, Robert W. and Geraldine Wilson Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and assistant curator of mammalogy at the KU Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Institute.
Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research Award
The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research Awards provide support for research conducted by one or more undergraduate or graduate students. Yufan Zhou, doctoral student in ecology & evolutionary biology from Urumqi, Xinjiang Province, China, was awarded funding for his project, “Plant-soil feedback in explaining competition and overyielding across plant life histories.” His advisers are Maggie Wagner, associate professor of ecology & evolutionary biology and an associate scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research; and Jim Bever, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a senior scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research.