Biological Sciences Doctoral Candidate Awarded Leggett Fellowship

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Zachery Zbinden, left, with biology professor Marlis Douglas on a research trip in Bhutan.

Zachery D. Zbinden, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences, is this year's recipient of the Harry and Jo Leggett Chancellor's Fellowship. The award supports a graduate student whose research is of significant interest to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

The award is named for Harry and Jo Leggett, who are outdoor enthusiasts and Arkansas natives. Harry Leggett is a 1957 U of A graduate. They couple established the Harry and Jo Leggett Chancellor's Fellowship to support a graduate student at the University whose research is of significant interest to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Zbinden's academic achievements and research experiences were recognized by a selection committee that included a Game and Fish Board representative. His research is focused on both fisheries and wildlife.

His dissertation research (conducted in the lab of Marlis and Michael Douglas, both professors in the department) employs a multivariate analysis of ecological and genomic data incorporating 3,000-plus individual fishes from 30-plus species across more than 50 Ozark Plateau locations.

Zbinden is also a research assistant on a $200,000, AGFC contract awarded to the Douglas Lab, entitled "White-tailed Deer in Arkansas: Genetic Connectivity and Chronic Wasting Disease."

It employs DNA-samples from 1,700-plus deer across 75 counties, and has identified eight unique subpopulations, many with signatures of deer transplanted from neighboring states 75 years ago.