Katherine R. Greenwald, a graduate student in Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology (EEOB) at The Ohio State University, has won the 2007 Rhonda and Paul Sipp Wetland Award of $1,000 from the Ohio Center for Wetland and River Restoration at OSU for her proposed research on using genetic data and GIS models to better predict how human development will impact amphibians, particularly the marbled salamander, found in wetlands. After being notified of the award, Katy stated, “This grant will be an enormous help, as I'll use the money to purchase necessary lab supplies and to cover the costs of running the automated DNA sequencer. Once I have the lab work completed, I will identify the landscape features that significantly impact dispersal in marbled salamander populations. I'll use this information to improve existing models, thereby aiding in the conservation of this (and related) species.” Katy’s advisor is Dr. Tom Waite in the EEOB Departmen.

Rebecca Tirado Corbala, an MS student in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University who is working with Dr. Brian Slater, won second prize of $500 in the Sipp competition to carry out research to use remote sensing, terrain analysis, and GIS, and modeling techniques to identify and classify wetlands in the Limon Province of Costa Rica..

An endowment to the Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park from the Sipp family in the name of Rhonda and Paul Sipp was established at Ohio State University to provide annual awards for students doing research on wetlands and rivers. This year (2007) is the second year that the award has been given. Winners in 2006 were Gwyn Elaine Boehringer from Wright State and Anne Altor from Ohio State University. The research can be basic or applied but should be part of a university research effort by a Center institution. Affiliates of the center are from Ohio State University, Shawnee State University, Wright State University, Kenyon College, Central State University, and Ashland University. Details of the program are at http://swamp.osu.edu