UGA Skidaway Institute grad student receives master’s degree

Now-former UGA Skidaway Institute and Savannah State University graduate student Ashleigh Price had a November she won’t forget.

On November 8, she successfully defended her master’s thesis before her committee and a public audience.

Ashleigh at her dissertation defense.

She officially received her degree on December 10. Ashleigh did most of her research as part of Marc Frischer’s lab at Skidaway Institute. The title of her thesis was Environmental Reservoirs and Mortality Associated with Shrimp Black Gill.

To cap off the month, Ashleigh gave birth to her daughter, Astra Jean Visconti at 7:10 p.m. on November 30.

Astra

Astra came into the world at 18.5 inches, and weighting six pounds and 10.6 ounces. Mother and baby are both doing well.

Arneson joins Brandes lab

Erin Arneson will be working as a research intern in Jay Brandes’s lab through the end of the year.

Originally from Chippewa Fall, Wis., Erin is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a degree in fisheries and wildlife management and a minor in marine biology. She originally came to Savannah to intern in Tara Cox’s lab at Savannah State University, while she figures out the next step in her career. She volunteered on one of Marc Frischer’s doliolid cruises, which evolved into an internship in the Frischer lab working with stable isotopes on the doliolid project. She recently moved to the Brandes lab, where she will be working on developing techniques to extract microplastics from sediment.

Erin plans to attend graduate school, but she is undecided on the direction of her future graduate work.

New grad student in Frischer lab

Lauren Lampoley is a new graduate student in Marc Frischer’s lab.

Lauren was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Ind., and received her undergraduate degree in biology in December 2015 from Purdue University. In January of this year, she began graduate school at Savannah State University studying marine science. Lauren is working on Marc’s doliolid project.

Lauren enjoys cycling, hiking and watching movies.

“I am really excited to be here at Skidaway,” Lauren said. “Everyone is kind and treats me like family. I could not have imagined a better place to do research.”