The 2018 winners of the Osburn Scholarship are Zachery Beres and Megan Smith, in recognition of their recent first-authored papers and other forms of research excellence.

 

Beres, Z.T., X. Yang, L. Jin, W. Zhao, D.M. Mackey, and A.A. Snow. (2018) Over-expression of a native gene encoding 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) may enhance fecundity in Arabidopsis thaliana in the absence of glyphosate. International Journal of Plant Sciences 179(4). https://doi.org/10.1086/696701

 

Smith, Megan L., Megan Ruffley, Anahí Espíndola, David C. Tank, Jack Sullivan, and Bryan C. Carstens. (2017) Demographic Model Selection using Random Forests and the Site Frequency Spectrum. Mol. Ecol. 26(4562-4573). https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.14223.

 

The Raymond C. Osburn Memorial Graduate Scholarship, EEOB’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Research, is given to exceptional PhD students who have published at least one outstanding, first-authored publication based on research carried out in the EEOB Graduate Program.  Applicants are ranked in terms of various metrics for evaluating research excellence, including the student’s best publication, other publications (if any), journal impact factors, and presentations at professional meetings.  The award includes scholarship funds that vary from year to year based on earnings from the endowed fund (approximately $2,500 per recipient in 2018).  Previous winners are Ben Titus, Stephen Murphy, Ariadna Morales, Paul Blischak, and Alejandro Otero-Bravo.