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September 2, 2014
UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications
UT Tyler Biology Graduate Student Earns State Recognition
September 2, 2014
Media Contact: Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)
September 2, 2014
Daniel Symonds of Tyler, a biology graduate student at The University of Texas at Tyler, received top recognition for the Raymond Neck Graduate Student Award at the third annual Texas Freshwater Mussel Symposium.
Symonds was recognized for his presentation titled, “The Importance of Tributaries to East Texas Mussel Communities.” The presentation detailed Symonds’ current thesis work, which seeks to display how mussel populations in tributaries are important to the community structure of river ecosystems.
Dr. Neil Ford, UT Tyler professor of biology, serves as his faculty adviser.
Held in Kerrville this year, the meeting was a gathering of government, academic and private entities interested in the conservation of the most imperiled group of organisms in North America, Ford said.
Other projects of the Rochester, New York native include the effects of electroshocking on reproductive freshwater mussels and the genetic sequencing of the freshwater mussel genus, Toxolasma.
The UT Tyler Department of Biology offers diverse undergraduate and graduate studies in life sciences for a wide range of career paths, from biology, biotechnology and medical technology to medicine, dentistry and education.
Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities the department integrates research as an important component of the learning experience.
For more information, visit the department homepage.
One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler features excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degrees are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of more than 7,500 high-ability students. UT Tyler offers courses at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine as well as a location in Houston.