A graduate student from Texas Tech's Department of Natural Resources Management took third place honors for her research poster at the latest Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society's annual meeting in Fort Worth. Rasika Ramesh, a master's student from Thiruvananthapuram, India, focused her program on "An Amphibian's Dilemma: Wetland Site Selection and Community Assemblages in an Urbanized Setting."

Ramesh's study focused on suitability of available urban wetlands for amphibian use and reproduction in Lubbock. The long-term goal is to aid in prioritizing the city's lakes in terms of amphibian conservation strategies and to indirectly monitor ecosystem functions, she said.

"Lubbock is an ideal system for urban amphibian studies," she said. The wetlands characteristics of the community have been extensively modified for storm water drainage and agriculture, along with construction of roads, buildings and neighborhoods.

Since joining Tech's Natural Resources Management graduate program in 2010, Ramesh has worked in the laboratories of her co-advisors Gad Perry and Kerry Griffis-Kyle. Griffis-Kyle's research addresses how terrestrial-wetland linkages and spatial arrangement of water bodies influence wetland dependent species, while Perry focuses on ecology with an emphasis on conservation issues.

The theme for this year's wildlife society session, which drew about 500 participants, in addition to exhibitors, presentations and some 25 research posters, was "The North American Model, Is It Still Relevant?"

The Wildlife Society, founded in 1937, is an international, non-profit scientific and educational organization serving and representing wildlife professionals in all areas of wildlife conservation and resource management. One of the goals of the group is to assure a sustained diversity of wildlife and their habitats in Texas.

Written by Norman Martin

CONTACT: Mark Wallace, Chairman, Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2841, mark.wallace@ttu.edu

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