[Bristol-Birds] Kevin Hamed enrolls at UT to study fo doctorate degree

Kevin Hamed, a former chief park naturalist and nature center manager at Steele 
Creek Park
Nature Center in Bristol Tennessee,  has been accepted to graduate school at 
the University of
Tennessee-Knoxville where he will study for a doctorate degree.  He recently 
enrolled.

Kevin is an assistant professor of biology at Virginia Highlands Community 
College in Abingdon. 
He will remain on the faculty at Virginia Highlands during his studies at UT.  
Kevin took the
position as a fulltime member of the biology faculty at Virginia Highlands 
Community College
in August 2003. He filled the biology faculty teaching position formerly held 
by Doug
Ogle, a former long-time and prominent member of the college faculty. 

Kevin is a long-time subscriber to the Bristol Birds Net.

Hamed earned a B.S. degree in Biology from Tennessee Technological University.

He earned his masters degree in 2001 at East Tennessee State University 
studying the
"Life History and Distribution of the Tennessee Dace (Phoxinus tennesseensis) 
in 
Northeast Tennessee."  His thesis was published as: "Distribution of the 
Tennessee dace, 
Phoxinus tennesseensis, in northeast Tennessee." Journal of the Tennessee 
Academy of Science, 
January, 2005  by Alsop, Fred J., III; Hamed, M. Kevin.  He also published an 
article on Tennessee
Dace in the July/August 2002 issue of Tennessee Conservationist. 

At UT, he will work towards his degree under Dr. Matt Gray, an Assistant 
Professor of Wetland 
Ecology in the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, and a member of
 The Center for Wildlife Health.
 
Dr. Gray received his B.S. in fisheries and wildlife management from Michigan 
State
University, M.S. in wildlife ecology and statistics from Mississippi State 
University, and 
Ph.D. in wildlife science and mathematics from Texas Tech University. Dr. 
Gray's 
master's research focused on moist-soil management, seed mass prediction, and 
green-tree reservoir management. His doctoral research examined the influences 
of 
agricultural cultivation on amphibians using playa wetlands in west Texas. Dr. 
Gray
also performed wetland research in Puerto Rico between his M.S. and Ph.D., and 
did
a post-doc in ecology at Texas Tech University.

Prior to UT, Dr. Gray taught Statistics and Calculus in the Department of 
Mathematics 
and Statistics, Principles of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences, 
and 
Principles of Waterfowl Ecology and Management in the Department of Range, 
Wildlife 
and Fisheries Management at Texas Tech University. 

Dr. Gray's research interests include all aspects of wetland ecology. There are 
two 
primary focuses to his research program: (1) examining influences of humans on 
wetlands, and (2) managing wetlands for sustainable use. Dr. Gray's research 
explores 
wetland plant, amphibian, and waterbird communities.

Hamed spent seven years leading the Steele Creek Park Nature Center program 
through some
of its most productive years.  He joined the staff there before construction 
was completed
on the Nature Center.  He conducted the open house when the ribbon was cut at 
the front
door in a large public celebration.  He has remained active with the Nature 
Center as a member
of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Steele Creek Nature Center and Park 
where he has
recently served as vice president of the executive committee. He currently 
serves a term
on the Bristol Tennessee Parks & Recreation Commission to which he was 
appointed by the
city council.

He currently studies salamander populations at the South Holston Weir Dam 
Amphibian 
Wetlands, working in cooperation with Dr. Tom Laughlin of ETSU.

In April of this year,  Hamed's innovative use of technology to find and track 
salamanders 
earned him top honors at the Virginia Community College System's New Horizons 
Conference.
He was named a conference winner in the Innovative Use of Technology category 
for an 
ongoing research project that involves monitoring salamander populations on 
Whitetop 
Mountain and at the Tennessee Valley Authority's South Holston Weir Dam. His 
research 
also won Best In Show honors during the conference.

His field project funding is being provided by the State of Virginia Tech-Prep 
Initiative, a
Virginia Community College System National Science Foundation Grant, the 
Tennessee
Wildlife Resources Agency and a grant from the ETSU Research Development
Committee.

Hamed is being assisted by Jane Fleenor (former president of the Bristol Bird 
Club) of 
John Battle High School, Brandi Norman and Sarah Sawyers of Abingdon High 
School,
and Dr. Tom Laughlin from ETSU. To date, students and their teachers have spent 
more 
than 1,000 hours collecting and analyzing data, and the project is expected to 
continue
for 10 years. New Horizons is an annual conference sponsored by the VCCS to 
promote
the use of technology within Virginia's 23 community colleges.
Hamed joined the Bristol Bird Club more than 10 years ago.Let's go birding......

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN

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