Who's Who of the Cherry Lab

​Dr. Julia Cherry is the Director of New College and a Professor of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Wetland Ecology in New College and the Department of Biological Sciences. She graduated with her B.S. in Biology from Rhodes College in 1999. For her dissertation research, she studied the effects of herbivory and competition in water lily communities as an NSF IGERT Fellow, completing her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences in 2004. In 2005, she began working as a post-doctoral ecologist with Dr. Karen McKee at the USGS National Wetlands Research Center (now the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center) to explore biological controls on marsh elevation dynamics in a changing world. In 2006, she joined the faculty at the University of Alabama. Her current research interests include understanding the mechanisms by which tidal wetlands can adapt to, or mitigate the effects of, climate change.

Postdocs

​​Dr. Shelby Rinehart was a postdoc in the Cherry lab from March 2021 through August 2023. He is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental science at Drexel University. He is a community ecologist researching the ways in which animal biodiversity affects ecosystem functions in stressful environments. He received a B.Sc. from the University of Rhode Island in 2013 and his Ph.D. from the San Diego State University and University of California Davis Joint Doctoral Program in Ecology in 2018. Prior to joining UA, Shelby was a scientific advisor for Westlands Water District and a Zuckerman Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr. Adam Siders joined the Cherry Lab in August 2023. Adam has a broad background in aquatic ecology and is especially interested in the role of animals in ecosystem function, resource subsidies, and food webs. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida where he studied the effects of migrating manatees on spring-fed ecosystems during their annual winter migrations from the ocean to freshwater springs. He received his M.S. from Northern Arizona University where he studied how different, isotopically enriched leaf species function to provide carbon and nitrogen to aquatic insect consumers. Adam attended Kansas State University where he earned B.A. degrees in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology and in French.

Dr. Lorae’ Simpson was a post-doc in the Cherry lab from December 2018 through February 2020. She went on to serve as the Director of Scientific Research and Conservation for the Florida Oceanographic Society and is now a Supervising Environmental Scientist with the Bureau of Environmental Sciences at the St. Johns River Water Management District in Florida. She is a wetland ecologist whose research occurs at the intersection of ecosystem processes and the abiotic and biotic factors that influence them. She received a B.S. from California State University, Sacramento, in 2002 and her M.S. degree from Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania, in 2011. She received her Ph.D. in soil and water science at the University of Florida in 2016, where she studied how carbon dynamics were affected by spatial and temporal drivers in the salt marsh-mangrove ecotone. 

Current Graduate Students

Blake Ellett  is a Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) with 11+ years of experience in group management, stream and wetland delineations, field ecology surveys, data collection, mitigation, post monitoring, permitting, and reporting. He has served as a senior ecologist and senior environmental specialist for various environmental and ecological projects including municipal and transportation projects, biological inventory surveys, conservation easement assessments, and protected species surveys. He has research experience ranging from coastal wetland ecosystems to tropical plant diversity research in Ecuador. He has participated in protected species surveys, including plant surveys, bat acoustic surveys, mist netting, camera trap surveys, herpetological surveys, and aquatic surveys. He graduated with a degree in Natural Resource and Environmental Management with a Biology minor (2012) from The University of Alabama and has a Masters in Natural Resources (2016) from Virginia Tech University with a graduate certificate in global sustainability. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences in the Cherry Lab.

 Amanda Pasierbowicz joined the Cherry Lab in January 2023 to begin work on her M.S. in Biology as part of UA's Accelerated Masters Program. She is a National Merit Scholar whose research interests include the impacts of nutrient enrichment and herbivory on ecosystem functions in natural and restored coastal wetlands. She will receive her B.S. in biology and B.A. in criminology and criminal justice from The University of Alabama in May 2024.

Past Graduate Students (listed in alphabetical order)

​Dr. Anna Braswell earned her M.S. in Biological Sciences in 2010 for her thesis, "Interactive effects of hurricanes and fire on plant productivity, accretion and elevation of a saltwater marsh at Grand Bay NERR, Mississippi." She went on to earn her Ph.D. from Duke University, where she researched the drivers of coastal wetland extent and loss. She then completed a postdoctoral position at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She is now an Assistant Professor of Coastal Ecosystems and Watersheds at the University of Florida.

​Adam Constantin earned his M.S. in Biological Sciences in 2015 for his thesis, "Land cover change and wetland plant zonation in Weeks Bay, AL," after which he earned his M.B.A. from the University of Louisiana - Lafayette. He is currently an Environmental Scientist with HDR Engineering Inc. in Lafayette, LA. 

Jake Dybiec (1994 - 2023) was a Ph.D. candidate in the Cherry Lab. He joined the team in August 2020 to pursue his Ph.D. on the impacts of environmental variation on plant interactions and ecosystem stability in tidal marshes. During his time in the lab, he received a NOAA Margaret A. Davidson Fellowship to study the interactive effects of waves and nutrient enrichment on tidal marshes at the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Prior to UA, Jake received his M.S. in Biology from Central Michigan University in 2020 and his B.S. in Environmental Science from John Carroll University in 2017. 

Emily Fromenthal earned her M.S. degree in Biological Sciences in 2022 for her thesis, "Insect communities in restored and reference tidal salt marshes." Her research interests are focused on the diversity and abundance and pollinators in natural and restored coastal wetlands. Before coming to UA, Emily earned her B.S. in Biology from Nicholls State University in 2019. She now works as a General Biologist at the USGS Wetlands and Aquatic Research Center in Lafayette, LA. 

​Dr. Josh Jones earned his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences in 2015 for his dissertation, "The influence of changing environmental conditions on biological contributions to elevation in brackish marshes threatened by sea-level rise." After completing his Ph.D., Josh worked at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland for three years researching marsh responses to climate change. Currently, Josh teaches environmental science at the McDonogh School in Baltimore. 

Sara Martin earned her M.S. in Biological Sciences in 2015 for her thesis, "Determining drivers of plant community composition in a restored marsh: a complementary field and greenhouse study." She is currently an Extension Program Associate at Mississippi State University working on marsh restoration and coastal resilience projects. 

(photo: Bhamnow.com)

Mollie Nugent-Sheini received her M.S. in Biological Sciences in 2018 for her thesis, "Interactive effects of sediment and nitrate subsidies on elevation dynamics in a brackish marsh." After completing a one-year term with with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mapping wetlands in North Dakota, she joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in fall 2019. After graduating, she served as an Environmental Scientist with Arcadis in Colorado. 

​Rebecca Cripps Ramsey earned her M.S. in Biological Sciences in 2009 for her thesis, "Reconstruction of vegetation history and accretion rates in two brackish marshes: understanding past responses to climate change." After graduation, she worked as an Aquatic Biologist for Aquatic Resources Management, LLC in Kentucky before taking time off to start a family. She is currently a Research Analyst in the Shepard Lab at the University of Kentucky.

Diane Schneider earned her M.S. in Biological Sciences in 2014 for her thesis, "Determining the impact of oil contamination on coupled nitrification-dentirification processes in Juncus roemerianus and Spartina alterniflora marshes: A greenhouse study." After graduation, she worked as an environmental consultant in Birmingham, AL before moving overseas with her family.

Erin Smyth earned her M.S. degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Alabama in 2020 for her thesis, "Differences in biological structure and organic matter cycling between constructed and natural tidal marshes." After working for the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources in the Coastal Wetlands & Permitting Mitigation Bureau, she is now an Environmental Quality Analyst with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. 

​Dr. Nigel Temple earned his M.S. in Biological Sciences in 2016 for his thesis, "Resource allocation following hurricane sedimentation: above- and below-ground plant responses along a sediment addition gradient." In 2020, he earned his Ph.D. from Mississippi State University, where he researched wave impacts on natural and restored marshes as a member of the Sparks lab. He is currently an assistant professor in the Civil, Coastal, and Environmental Engineering department at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.  

Abbey Griffin Wood earned her M.S. in Biological Sciences in 2020 for her thesis, "Biological contributions to elevation differ within natural and constructed tidal marshes exposed to nutrient enrichment." After working for a year as an arborist with Bartlett Tree Experts, Abbey began teaching science at Veritas Academy in Savannah, GA.

Undergraduate Students

Numerous undergraduate students have assisted with projects or conducted their own research in the Cherry Lab. Many have been volunteers, while others have served as undergraduate workers on various grants, as students in the Undergraduate Research course, or as Emerging or Randall Research Scholars. Several students have presented their research at local or national conferences or co-authored publications, and in a few cases, they have continued as graduate students in the Cherry Lab.  

Current Students: ​ Jacob Fox, Emily Reiner, Morgan Sharbaugh, Abbey Wiggins

Past Students: Ky'era Actkins, Hasan Albasha, Blake Barnes, Spencer Bartle, William Belmonte, Maxfield Bell, Abbey Bold, Steve Cerna, Ben Christiansen, Cameron Clary, Logan Cofield, Thomas Conley, Ryan Cooper, Parker Davis, Colton Douthitt, Andrew Downing, Blake Ellett, Alan Gambril, Maggie Goodman, Maggie Guice, Richard Hall, August Hammill, Chad Hartley, William Holland, Will Kenan, Amelie Lagarde, Cassie Ledbetter, Sara Martin, Sarah Masterson, Monica McCann, John Moore, Holden Naff, Sarah Nelson, Matthew O'Connor, Mason Overstreet, Amanda Pasierbowicz, Andrea Popa, Mason Pope, Laura Purvis, Kevin Richardson, Hayden Rutter, Nick Sanders, Turner Sankey, Diane Schneider, Connor Shelton, Jill Shelton, Nikhil Singh, Erin Smyth, Trey Stevens, Will Thompson, Benjamin Trost, Sydney Turpin, Kaitlyn Via, ​Alissa Vincent, Dustin Whitaker, D.J. Whitley, Hayden Willis

Cherry Lab students after lab meetings (photo credit: J. Cherry)