Today was the first day of UTC’s two-day ReSEARCH Dialogues conference that highlights student and faculty research.
Last semester (FA2017), Meleena Livesay took Individual Studies credit with Dr. McCarragher to explore topics related to invasive species. Part of her assignment was to write a literature review on the topic of Road Ecology as it relates to invasive species. While reading the literature, she found a study conducted in Indiana that had well-defined methods for exploring the relationship between exotic invasive species density and distance from roadways. To investigate whether the findings from that study hold true for road networks in the city of Chattanooga, suitable study sites had to first be identified based on the described set of site location parameters in the study. Her Individual Studies experience ended with a mini project that used GIS and remote sensing techniques to identify suitable study sites for future invasive road ecology research in the city of Chattanooga. The site selection methods and findings, along with future research plans were presented in her poster today.
Congratulations to her on her first successful poster presentation!
Shannon McCarragher, Ph.D. 