CAP ASM Poster Winners Announced

Winners of the 14th Annual Student Poster Competition that took place during the CAP All Scientists Meeting have been announced. This year, first place awards go to two posters: Elizabeth Cook, Sharon Hall, Ryan Sponseller, David Huber, Stevan Earl, and Nancy Grimm, “Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in Phoenix AZ is lower than expected: Findings from a methods comparison,” and Michelle Schmoker, Elizabeth Cook, Stephanie Amaru, Jennifer Learned, Scott Collins, and Sharon Hall, “Bottom-up vs. top-down regulation of desert annual plants in an urban arid ecosystem.” Both winners will receive $100 to spend on research supplies and materials. Erica Warkus, Dana Nakase, Sharon Hall, Osvaldo Sala, and Jennifer Learned’s poster, “Spatial associations between surface rocks and succulents in the Agua Fria National Monument,” will receive a runner-up award of a limited edition CAP coffee mug. Elizabeth Cook is a Ph.D. student in the School of Life Sciences. Michelle Schmoker and Erica Warkus were involved in CAP’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. Both are majoring in the biological sciences.

Brenda Shears Honored at CAP ASM

Brenda Shears was honored at the CAP All Scientists Meeting on January 13, 2012 at ASU’s SkySong for her “many and varied contributions to the success of the CAP LTER program.” Brenda served for many years as the project manager for CAP LTER and was instrumental in securing the first National Science Foundation grant for CAP in 1997. Many of CAP’s accomplishments over the years would not have been possible without Brenda’s leadership and dedication. We thank her for all that she has done and continues to do for CAP.