I'm posting this for a colleague who wanted to remain anonymous but
would be interested in your comments. We've suffered the same loss of
field-based courses at the University of Maryland, but I think for
other reasons.
David Inouye
My ecology/evolution/plant diversity students are always shocked when
I tell them about one way in which the shift towards genomics in
ecology and evolution is largely responsible for the disappearance of
almost all field courses in my department (and probably
elsewhere). I don't think that this is exactly what you had in mind
regarding an example of "how rapidly and significantly ecological
science and evolution are changing", but I don't think it's too off-track.
We now have six evolutionary biologists in my department (including
myself), and only one of us (me) does any field work other than to
find-and-grind organisms for genomics work. The rest is computer
modeling and lab work, conducting Petri-dish and vial-based
experiments with flies or microorganisms. Not surprisingly, these
lab-based faculty are not only pale and wan, but they're completely
uninterested in -- and dismiss as too "noisy" -- field experiments
aimed to detect the process or outcome of natural selection in wild
populations. So, not only are they unable to teach field-based
courses (or even to run local field trips), but they're now raising a
cohort of graduate students who are exactly the same. While genomics
can answer certain kinds of questions in evolutionary ecology and
detect phylogenetic patterns that population-based studies of natural
selection cannot, I think it's really important to inform
undergraduates about this major political and financial shift in
evolutionary research, and to point out the kinds of questions that
cannot be addressed with genomics.
Invariably, these students are very surprised to learn that this is
part of the story explaining the demise of field courses. At my
institution, their lack of field experience prevents them from being
outraged, as they don't know what they're missing.
- [ECOLOG-L] Loss of field-based courses David Inouye
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