Just before the 2022 Fall semester, the department welcomed four of its newest professors to the F&WE community. Read below to learn more about each of them.

Associate Professor Jessica Hua received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014 and was a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University until 2015. She was recently an Associate Professor at Binghamton University where she served as the Director of the Center for Integrated Watershed Studies. Dr. Hua’s research aims to understand (1) the ecological and evolutionary consequences of environmental change on wetland ecosystems and (2) how outreach/community science efforts influence community perception and understanding of science. She currently leads an NSF CAREER-funded project that combines lab/field studies with a community science initiative to investigate how pollutants (e.g., microplastics, road salts, light pollution, pesticides) influence amphibian disease dynamics. Outside of work, she loves exploring the outdoors with her two kids. In her spare time, she is a professional disc golfer and likes playing basketball and ultimate frisbee. She is excited to meet new colleagues at UW and to explore Wisconsin! 

Assistant Professor Jennifer Raynor completed her Ph.D. at UW-Madison in 2017, and then worked as a Research Economist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 2017-2019. Following this position, Dr. Raynor was an Assistant Professor of Economics at Wesleyan University from 2019-2022. Dr. Raynor’s expertise is in natural resource economics and applied econometrics and is particularly interested in how to incorporate economics into fish and wildlife management decisions. Here in F&WE, Dr. Raynor will teach Decision Methods for Natural Resource Managers (F&WE 652). When she’s not working, Dr. Raynor enjoys backpacking, sailing, paddling, and snowboard. She is excited to meet new colleagues at UW and hopes to see a wolf for the first time soon!

Assistant Professor Amy Trowbridge received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2012. Before moving to UW-Madison, Dr. Trowbridge was an Assistant Professor at Montana State University. Her research focuses on understanding how climate variability alters a tree’s ability to chemically defend itself against biotic agents, namely insects. By better understanding the stress-induced physiological mechanisms driving these responses, we hope to improve our ability to predict when and where insect outbreaks occur. In the Department, Dr. Trowbridge is teaching Disturbance Ecology. Dr. Trowbridge is thrilled to collaborate with members of the F&WE community, as well as other scientists across campus who study plant-insect interactions. And when she is not working, you can find her enjoying time with family, having dinner parties with friends, baking, and hiking.

Teaching Professor George Meindl completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in 2014, then became a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University in 2015, Outreach Coordinator for the First-Year Research Immersion Program at Binghamton University from 2016-2020, and an Instructor in the Environmental Studies Program at Binghamton University from 2016-2022. Dr. Meindl’s expertise is in plan and soil ecology. As an instructor, he prioritizes integrating research experiences into undergraduate course offerings. This Fall, he is teaching the Forest Ecology Lab here in F&WE. Outside of work, he enjoys playing sports (e.g., disc golf, tennis, pickle ball) and spending time outdoors with his family. Dr. Meindl could not be more excited to join the UW-Madison community – his father is a Green Bay native and completed his undergraduate degree at UW-Madison, so even though he grew up in California, he has been lifelong Packers and Badgers! The Department is pleased to welcome Dr. Meindl as the first Teaching Professor (a new title at UW-Madison) in the department.

 

This article was posted in Awards, Faculty News, Undergraduate Student Resesarch and tagged Diversity in Conservation Interns, F&WE, Tim Van Deelen, Undergraduate Students.