Awards and George H. Cook Scholars
(l-r) Mary Castellani (James Applegate Award for Outstanding Student in Wildlife Conservation), April Nguyen (M. Buell Award for Outstanding Student in Ecology), Maya Lee (Ning Moeller Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Scholarship), Dr. Kim Russell, Ashton Nagasuru (Teuvo Airola Memorial Award in Environmental Geomatics), Jack Coulson, (Smouse Award for an Outstanding Student in Evolution). Sarah Housel (Roger Locandro Award for Outstanding Student in Natural Resources), Grace Temple (E.B. Moore Forestry Award), Isabel Umali (Ning Moeller Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Scholarship).
2025 Senior Graduation Award Winners
Six awards are presented annually by the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources.
The award winners are as follows (see photo above):
2025 G.H. Cook Scholars
George H. Cook Thesis presenters, presentation titles, and their advisors:
Hannah Choi
"Tracking Wild Bee Movement Patterns in Urban Environments"
Advisor: Dr. Kimberly Russell, Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
Gwen Walsh:
"The Effect of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement and Nutrient Limitation on Diatoms"
Advisor: Kim Thamatrakoln, Marine and Coastal Sciences
Cielo Tumbokon:
"The Use of Mark-Recapture to Estimate Native Bee Populations in Green Spaces around Manhattan, NYC"
Advisor: Dr. Kimberly Russell, Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
Alyssa Latargia:
"Morphological and phenological trait change in herbaceous wetland plants in relation to temperature and precipitation patterns over the last century"
Advisor: Dr. Myla Aronson, Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
Jamie Lubov:
"Floristic Survey of Carnivorous Plants in New Jersey"
Advisor: Dr. Lena Struwe, Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
Rox Bhandari:
"The Rate of Decomposition of Unmanaged vs. Managed
Sites
Advisor: Allyson Salisbury, Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
Tehillah Jenkins:
"A Blast from the Past: A Comparative Analysis of Extant and Historical Genomic Data in A. Crucians and A. Bradleyi"
Advisor: Dana Price, Entomology
April Nguyen:
"Biodiversity and the Perception of Thistles in New Jersey (Cirsium sp., Asteraceae)"
Advisor: Dr. Lena Struwe, Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
Ashton Nagasuru: Mapping Indigenous Land in Cotacachi, Ecuador: Sustaining and Bridging Cultural Relations to Nature"
Advisor: Richard Lathrop, Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
Elli Arbogast: (not pictured)
"Implementation of Cumulative Impact Analysis Under the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement"
Advisor: Dr. Cymie Payne, Human Ecology