New graduate students are welcome in my lab. If you would like to study parasites and earn a M.S. Degree in Biology here at Georgia Southern University's Department of Biology, contact me (opung@GeorgiaSouthern.edu) for more information. Stipends may be available.
The following is a list of graduate students who have worked in my lab, the title of their thesis project and related publications.
Paul H.
Davis
Thesis: Prevalence
of a Filarial Parasite of Raccoons that Occassionally Infects Humans in Georgia. 1995.
Related Publication: Pung, O.J., P.H. Davis and D.J. Richardson. 1996. Filariae of
raccoons from southeast Georgia. Journal of Parasitology. 82:
849-851.
Nancy E. Maxwell
Thesis: Survey of Blood Parasites Infecting Twelve Species of Birds from Georgia and South Carolina. 1995.
Related Publication:
Pung, O.J., N. Maxwell, E. Greiner, J. Robinette, and J.E. Thul.
1997. Haemoproteus greineri in wood ducks from the Atlantic
Flyway. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 33: 355-358.
Stephanie
M. Pietrzak
Thesis: Effect of Trypanosoma
cruzi Infection on Raccoons from St. Catherines Island. 1996.
Related Publication: Pietrzak, S.M. and O.J. Pung. 1998. Trypanosomiasis in raccoons
from Georgia. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 34: 132-136.
R. Darrell
Ellis
Thesis: Spatial Distributions of Gastrointestinal Parasites of Opossums. 1997. (Dr. Ann Pratt served as co-advisor.)
Related Publication: Ellis, R.D., O.J. Pung and D.J. Richardson. 1999. Site selection
by intestinal helminths of the Virginia opossum (Didelphis
virginiana). Journal of Parasitology. 85: 1-5.
Kristina M.
Mataxas
Thesis: Effect of Nest and Blood Parasites on Eastern Bluebirds. 1998.
Related Publication: Mataxas. K.M. and O.J. Pung. 1999. Effect of blood parasites and
hematophagous ectoparasites on Eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis)
reproductive success. The Oriole. 64: 41-46.
Alyssa K. Kunz
Thesis: Effects of the Trematode Parasite Microphallus turgidus
on the Predation, Swimming Endurance, and Behavior of the Grass Shrimp Palaemonetes pugio. 2003.
Related Publications:
Kunz, A.K. and O.J. Pung. 2004. Effects of Microphallus turgidus
(Trematoda: Microphallidae) on the predation, behavior, and swimming
stamina of the grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio. Journal
of Parasitology. 90: 443-445.
Kunz, A.K., M. Ford, and O.J. Pung. 2006. Behavior of the grass
shrimp Palaemonetes pugio and its response to the presence
of the predatory fish Fundulus heteroclitus. American Midland
Naturalist. 155:286-294.
Melody A.
Flowers
Thesis: Population Genetics of the Grass Shrimp Palaemonetes pugio
from South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 2004. (Dr. Quentin Fang was
Melody's co-advisor.)
Related Publication:
Flowers, M.A., Q.Q. Fang, and O.J. Pung. 2005. Population genetic
analysis of the grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio using DNA
single-strand conformation polymorphism. Georgia Journal of Science.
63: 232-242.
Brad Grinstead
Thesis: Ecology
of Hydrobiid Snails and Their Parasites on Skidaway Island. 2004.
Related Publications: Pung, Oscar J., Christopher B. Grinstead, and Stephen P. Vives. 2006. Variation in the geographic and temporal and distribution of Microphallus turgidus (Trematoda: Microphallidae) in grass shrimp (Palaemonetes spp.) on tidal rivers in subtropical southeast Georgia, U.S.A. Comparative Parasitology. 73: 172-178.
Pung, Oscar J., Christopher B. Grinstead, Kraig Kersten, and Catherine L. Edenfield. 2008. Spatial distribution of hydrobiid snails in salt marsh along the Skidaway River in Southeastern Georgia with notes on their larval trematode parasites. Southeastern Naturalist. In press.
Ashley Burger
Thesis: In vitro cultivation of the trematode Microphallus turgidus. In progess.