Congratulations to our faculty
Congratulations to these wonderful faculty members of the Aquatic Sciences Center. They have successfully received a grant to write up a newer version of the Environmental Sciences textbook.
Members at GCSU Research Day 2025
Both of our club members, Lola Grant and Anna Agi, presented at the 3rd annual GCSU Research Day. Lola Grant presented her research "Evaluating the Effects of Temperature and Humidity on Hyperaccumulator Plant Growth" and is mentored by Dr. Sam Mutiti. Anna Agi presented "Hydrologically variable wetlands with legacy anthropogenic stressors and their effect on the chain forming araphid diatoms" and is mentored by Dr. Kalina Manoylov.
The latest community outreach
The Aquatic Sciences Center and Club as well as GCSU's Academic Outreach all took part in the ArtHealthy Festival in Milledgeville, GA on April 12th followed by Georgia Cyber Academy's Community Day in Macon, GA on April 16th.
Another Cleanup complete!
Members of the club as well as students of GCSU came together on Friday, April 11th, to help clean up Tanyard Branch Creek. We have been consistently cleaning this creek for the past two years and have seen lots of success in the overall decrease in litter. We are so grateful to those who have helped maintain this creek and can't wait to see how it continues to be maintained!
Spring cleanup
We have continued to make a difference at Tanyard Branch Creek over the past two years and would love to see this continue to grow! Join us on Friday, April 11th, from 2-4pm for a creek cleanup. We will meet at Herty Hall and all walk together, clean and walk back. Please wear clothes/shoes you are not afraid to get wet or muddy. GCSU's Academic Outreach will also be doing the chemical monitoring portion of our cleanup. Sign up here!
Spring movie Night
Interested in watching a movie with free popcorn? Join us, April 10th from 6-8pm in Herty Hall Room 313 for a documentary titled "Crapshoot: The Gamble with our Wastes." This is in collaboration with the Community Documentary Night as part of the virtual documentary nights. Following the movie night, there will be a virtual discussion on Zoom, April 20th from 7-9pm.
Movie Night RSVP
Virtual Discussion RSVP
Spring Symposium
Join us for our Spring Research Symposium from 4-6pm on Wednesday, April 9th. We will be in the Kenneth S. Saladin ISC. There will be posters featured as well as some oral presentations and light refreshments. Please join us for a fun event to learn about water! We are grateful to work in collaboration with Phi Kappa Phi, Academic Outreach and the GCSU Sustainability Council. RSVP Here
Congratulations to Dr. Sam Mutiti
Dr. Sam Mutiti, director of the Aquatic Sciences Center, advisor of the Aquatic Sciences Club, and mentor to many students, has won a Bobcat award! He was awarded with the Outstanding Service to Students Award. Members of his lab and his graduate assistant attended the Bobcat Awards ceremony on April 8th, 2025. Congratulations!
Students of our ASC Faculty winning at conferences
We would like to recognize the students of our Aquatic Sciences Center faculty for presenting at various conferences this semester. Sally Sir, mentored by Dr. Kristine White, presented at the Association of Southeastern Biologists (ASB) with her research titled "Diversity of Panamanian amphipods (Crustacea) within the parvorder Caprellidira." She won Best Oral Presentation in the Aquatic Biology section. Victoria Alden, mentored by Dr. Christine Mutiti, presented at the Georgia Academy of Science (GAS) with her research titled "Correlation between an invasive species' presence and the quantity of organic carbon in soil and tree biomass." She was awarded the Best Undergraduate Poster in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences section.
ASC MEMbERS AT GEORGIA ACADEMy OF SCIENCE
Four of our club members presented at the Georgia Academy of Science (GAS) conference March 7th and 8th, 2025 at Young Harris College. Wiley Bundy, Muzila Nchimunya and Megan Martin all three presented oral presentations in the Earth & Atmospheric Sciences section. Anna Agi presented her oral presentation in the Biological Sciences section. Both Megan Martin and Anna Agi won best graduate presentations for their respective sections. Congratulations!
atlanta science festival 2025
The GCSU Aquatic Sciences Center participated alongside several GCSU organizations at the 2025 Atlanta Science Festival. It was a successful event with lots of students from the community interested in science and we enjoyed getting to share our passions with them. We look forward to doing it again soon!
LET'S welcome Guest Dr. James W. Porter
GCSU's Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences and the Aquatic Sciences Center welcome Dr. James W. Porter for a guest lecture discussing "The future of coral reefs: It's not what you think." There will be a meet and greet Monday, March 3rd from 1:30-3 PM in the Kenneth S. Saladin ISC Atrium followed by the talk at 4PM in the Peabody Auditorium.
Member awarded summer program at the GA aquarium
Cami Cooper, a sophomore Environmental Science major with a concentration in Marine Science, was recently awarded the summer volunteer program at the Georgia Aquarium. She will start the summer in hospitality and greeter positions but hopes to eventually move to different aquatic fish and macroinvertebrate maintenance positions or dive operations later in the summer. With the skills she has developed within her major, we know she will do well!
Members win travel grants for upcoming conference
Wiley Bundy, Muzila Nchimunya, and Anna Agi all three won travel grants for their upcoming conference. These three will be presenting their research at the Georgia Academy of Science at Young Harris College on March 7th and 8th.
ASC MEmbers and their new careers!
Shannon Northen, Jaiden Stidston and Matthew Tessendorf have all accepted their first jobs and have started working or will begin working soon! Shannon Northen attended GCSU for her undergrad and will be graduating with her master's in May 2025. She just accepted a job with Ensafe as an Environmental Scientist. Jaiden graduated with her bachelor's in May of 2024 and accepted a job with Stantec as an Environmental Scientist as well. Matthew graduated in December of 2024 and recently accepted a job with Gaskins + LeCraw as a Field Survey Technician.
Congratulations to our ASC Members for getting into graduate schoool!
Congratulations to Anna Agi and Lauren Ballenger for both being accepted into their top picks for graduate school! Anna Agi will be attending NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina and working towards her Ph.D. in Crop and Soil Sciences and Lauren Ballenger will be attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and working towards her M.S. in Geology. They were both undergraduates of GCSU and Anna was even a GCSU M.S. student!
Dr. Melanie DeVore - Director of Georgia Native Plant Society
Dr. Melanie DeVore was recently named as director to the Georgia Native Plant Society. Congratulations on your accomplishment!
Holiday Cleanup
Join us for a holiday cleanup this Friday, November 15th, from 2-3PM! We will be cleaning Tanyard Branch Creek by College Station Apartments. Please meet us in front of Herty Hall wearing something that you are not afraid to get dirty. We will provide the trash picker-uppers and gloves as well as trash bags. Can't wait to see everyone there!
Cameron Brown publishes research
Congratulations to Cameron Brown for publishing her work titled "Environmental Drivers of the Divergence of Harveyi Clade Pathogens with Distinctive Virulence Gene Profiles" in the journal Microorganisms. She was a master's student in Dr. Andrei Barkovskii's lab and now attends Clemson University working towards her Ph.D. Read the paper here!
Congratulations to members of the Weese Lab!
Daquille Peppers, Caroline Fowler, and Jordan Yacoub all from Dr. Weese's Marine Lab recently collaborated on a paper. The paper, titled "Francisella orientalis detected in feral tilapia populations in Hawai’i" was published in the Journal of Aquatic Animal Health. This project was done during Peppers' master's program and both Fowler and Yacoub helped during their undergraduate research.
Dr. David Weese's Newest Publication
Dr. David Weese recently collaborated on a research paper titled "Genetic signature of river capture imprinted in several Schizopygopsis fishes from the eastern Tibetan Plateau." This paper was published in the journal Genes in Fall of 2024.
Congratulations to our faculty for their collaborative research grant
Dr. Doug Oetter of History & Geography, Dr. Christine Mutiti of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Dr. Jehan El-Jourbagy of Accounting & Business Law, and Mrs. Lori Hamilton of the Office of Sustainability collaborated on a grant awarded for $3,750. This grant is titled "Revisiting a Problem Practice: A 10-year Evaluation of Recycling Implementation at GCSU."
Congratulations to Dr. Christine Mutiti
Dr. Christine Mutiti was awarded a community-based engaged learning grant for $960. It is titled "Park Reclamation: Tackling and Invasive Species at the Oconee River Greenway in Milledgeville, Georgia."
Water eDUCATION dAY 2024
We love getting to share our ideas with the community and Bobcat families who come to town for Deep Roots and we love even more getting to work with our partner, GCSU's Academic Outreach. Thank you to everyone, both students and the community, for making this event such a huge success. See you for the same time next year!
Fall Symposium
Thank you to all of our students who participated in our latest Aquatic Sciences Center Symposium. It was a huge success and are already looking forward to the next research event so be keeping an eye out for it! It is always super exciting to see students' hard work pay off with their research.
Fall Creek Cleanup
Another successful cleanup for our group! We were able to clean up quite a bit of the stream and have officially adopted this stream through Georgia's Adopt-A-Stream program with help from GCSU's Academic Outreach. Thank you to everyone who came out to the cleanup and we hope to see you at future events!
Water week!!
Please join us and GCSU's Academic Outreach in a week full of water! We are so exciting to be partnering with AO and sharing our passion for water and aquatics. We have multiple events planned for the week so please sign up below!
Clean up
Movie Night
Research Symposium
Water Education Day
Water education day
After a successful water education day last year, we will again be partnering with GCSU's Academic Outreach for another day of water! Join us Saturday, October 19th, from 12-3PM in front of the Kenneth S. Saladin Integrated Science Complex where there will be multiple student tables demonstrating various water activities. This event is open to the University and people of the Milledgeville community and hope that you will join us! Please RSVP using the QR code or here.
Research symposium
The Aquatic Sciences Center is hosting another symposium! The symposium will be in collaboration with GCSU's Academic Outreach, Phi Kappa Phi and GCSU Sustainability Council and take place outside of the Kenneth S. Saladin Integrated Science Complex from 3 to 5 PM on Friday, October 18th. We will be in the atrium of the complex as well as outside, weather permitting. Please RSVP here or with the QR code!
Water Week movie
Join us for our first Aquatic Sciences Center movie night! We will meet and watch a fun and exciting movie related to water. The movie will be picked out closer to the event and location will be decided and posted later as well. We look forward to hanging out with you! Please RSVP using the QR code or the link here.
Tanyard branch creek cleanup
It is time for our semi-annual Tanyard Branch Creek Cleanup! Join us as we start off Water Education Week October 16th from 3-5PM. We will meet at Herty Hall just before 3PM and walk down to Tanyard Branch Creek by College Station Apartments. Please wear clothes that you do not mind getting wet or muddy. We look forward to seeing you all there! Sign up here!
Member Presented at National Meeting
Anna Agi, president of the Aquatic Sciences Club, presented at the North American Diatom Symposium (NADS) from October 2nd-6th, 2024 at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. She is a graduate student under the advisement of Dr. Kalina Manoylov. She gave a poster presentation with the title "Using species-level identification of diatoms to assess hydrologically variable aquifers." She also won a student travel award and the NADS Scum Run with her teammates.
Our club members at the Geological Society of America
Our club members, Tori Morgan, Muzila Nchimunya and Lauren Ballenger all recently presented at The Geological Society of America's Annual Meeting located in Anaheim, California. Both Tori Morgan and Muzila Nchimunya presented a poster in the Environmental and Engineering Geology Division with their project "Contrasting Tithonia rotundifolia and Lantana camara regarding carbon sequestration and phytoremediation in Pb and Cu soils." Lauren Ballenger gave an oral presentation in the Environmental Geochemistry and Health Division with her project titled "Climate change driven groundwater salinization and tree mortality." All three members have been mentored by Dr. Samuel Mutiti. Tori Morgan also won a student travel award.
Congratulations to our latest summer fellow!
Congratulations to Abigail Dugger from Dr. Kristine White's lab for completing the Aquatic Sciences Center Summer Fellowship. Her research focus is on amphipods.
Club Member excels at Summer internship 2024
Shannon Northen recently completed her summer internship with Fox Environmental as an Environmental Specialist Intern. She was tasked with conducting water quality testing in various cities, MS4 inspections, pond inspections, and wrote pond letters for the city of McDonough. She also helped with the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) for the city of Smyrna.
Aquatic Sciences Club Member at Society for Freshwater Sciences (SFS)!
Anna Agi presented at the Society for Freshwater Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from June 2nd-June 6th. Her project was titled "Taxonomic Precision Use of Diatom Communities in Hydrologically Variable Wetlands" under the mentorship of Dr. Kalina Manoylov.