The River Basin Center welcomed two new Spencer Fellows and a Butler Fellow this fall. Alivia Mayes and Sandesh Sigdel joined Odum School as Spencer Fellows and Ella Humphrey as a Butler Fellow.

Originally from Searcy, Arkansas, Mayes earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science with a concentration in biology from the University of Central Arkansas. She’s interested in stream ecology, ecohydrology and conservation of non-game fish species in the Southeastern United States. Advised by Seth Wenger and Phillip Bumpers, Mayes is working towards an M.S. in ecology with an Integrative Conservation and Sustainability focus. 

Sigdel is from Bharatpur in central Nepal and received a bachelor’s degree in forestry from the Agriculture and Forestry University in Hetauda, Nepal. He’s pursuing an M.S. in ecology, also with an emphasis on ICAS, with Charles B. Van Rees advising him. With an interest in wildlife ecology—particularly wetlands and freshwater ecosystems—he plans to research how river hydrology and management shape resource subsidies to bats.

Humphrey is from Omaha, Nebraska, and completed a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and wildlife from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. With an interest in freshwater ecology and conservation, she’s pursuing an M.S. in Ecology with Seth Wenger as her advisor.

The John Spencer Fellowship was created by family and friends to honor the legacy of the late John Spencer, a graduate student at the Odum School of Ecology. The Butler Fellowship was established by James E. Butler, Jr., a Columbus attorney who gifted $1 million to what was then the Institute of Ecology in 2006.