December 2013
Our lab sampled plants, fungi and bacteria from sites that were heavily oiled and not oiled during the BP oil spill. Demetra has lots of work to do in characterizing these diverse microorganisms. Sunshine travelled to Panama to catch up on some projects there and Kim explored northern Louisiana looking for Atta texana colonies.

We were awarded a Newcomb Institute grant for Emma Tower to join Kim’s project in Panama this upcoming summer!

November 2013
Our lab hosted “Girls in STEM at Tulane” and our visitors cultivated their own pet endophytes from Tulane’s native Louisiana plant garden. See the photo album on the Photos page.

October 2013
We were awarded a CELT grant from Tulane for Emma Tower and Taryn Farber to continue their work with us in Spring semester 2014!
New paper published: Van Bael, S. A., R. Zambrano and J. E. Hall. 2013. Bird communities in forested and human modified landscapes of Central Panama: a baseline survey for a native species reforestation treatment. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, DOI: 10.1080/21513732.2013.842187

August 2013
We are welcoming three new graduate students; Peter Tellez, Jordan Hoffmann and Stephen Suchy to the laboratory! Also Emma Tower and Taryn Farber are joining as a new undergraduate volunteers.

May 2013
Sunshine, Kim and Nathan are off to Panama for June and July, while Demetra and Stephen begin to explore fungal endophytes in Louisiana wetlands.

New paper published in Ecosphere: Coblentz, K. E., and S. A. Van Bael. 2013. Field colonies of leaf-cutting ants select plant materials containing low abundances of endophytic fungi.

April 2013
Our new laboratory is complete in 443 Boggs! Now it’s time to get some research going!

March 2013
Demetra Kandalepas joins the laboratory as our first Tulane post-doctoral researcher, and we collect our first Spartina for analyses of endophytic fungi!

Gabriel Patterson from Colorado College is awarded a STRI competitive internship to join the lab in Panama for summer 2013.

Renovations on the Tulane laboratory in the Lindy Boggs Building are coming to a close!

February 2013
New paper published in New Phytologist: Estrada, C., Wcislo, W., S. A. Van Bael. 2013. Symbiotic fungi alter plant chemistry that discourages leaf-cutting ants.
http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/030413_ants.cfm