[Bristol-Birds] Kevin Hamed enrolls at UT to study fo doctorate degree
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:13:44 -0400
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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