I work at a small private primarily undergraduate school and we are currently ramping up our field courses, especially associated with our new Urban Ecology program. We plan to integrate more molecular techniques and other lab based techniques into the field courses, to show students that modern ecology is a mix. We are also planning a new field techniques course for our incoming grad students, who come from all the schools discussed here that have dropped their's. So send your students to us!
Dr. Russell Burke Professor, Chair Donald E. Axinn Distinguished Professor in Ecology and Conservation Department of Biology Hofstra University -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Malcolm McCallum Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 11:37 AM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] [PossibleSpam] Re: [ECOLOG-L] Loss of field-based courses Sure, many do. However, I just interviewed at a land grant last week that had only ichthyology from what I could see. I guess they could have been hidden somewhere and I missed them. Its not that hard to miss! :) M On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 10:08 AM, Chris Ayers <cay...@cfr.msstate.edu> wrote: > It seems like the land grant institutions still have productive applied > programs with many field-based ecology courses and studies. The Wildlife > Society and other organizations still have conferences with many > presentations of studies of field-based data collection. > > Christopher R. Ayers > Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture > Mississippi State University > Cell: 804-239-2137 > Office: 662-325-8611 > cay...@cfr.msstate.edu > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > [mailto:ECOLOG-L@listserv.umd.edu] On Behalf Of David L. McNeely > Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 9:07 AM > To: ECOLOG-L@listserv.umd.edu > Subject: [PossibleSpam] Re: [ECOLOG-L] Loss of field-based courses > > I have been observing this for some time now. Organisms and their habitats > are being written out of biology, so far as direct experience with them is > concerned. We soon will have no means of knowing what is going on in nature, > as no one will be investigating nature, or even have a clue as to how to do > so. It is somewhat disconcerting to attend conferences and witness paper > presentations where it is clear that the presenter has never seen a living, > wild specimen of the organism being reported on and would not know how to go > about finding one. > > The Southwestern Association of Naturalists has recently approved, to be > awarded for the first time at its annual meeting in San Diego next April, a > new Student Field Natural History Award. Details concerning this competition > will be available on the SWAN web site and in the annual call for papers, but > essentially it provides a prestigious award and a monetary prize for the > outstanding paper which includes a substantial field component presented by a > student member at the annual meeting. More details will appear on the SWAN > web site and in the annual call for papers for next year. To qualify for the > competition, the investigation reported on must have been carried out on the > natural history (essentially ecology and evolution) of organisms in the > southwestern portion of North America (as defined by SWAN) where they occur > in their environments. > > I would encourage ESA and other societies to consider implementing awards for > field based studies. > > David McNeely > > ---- David Inouye <ino...@umd.edu> wrote: >> 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. > > -- > David McNeely -- Malcolm L. McCallum, PHD, REP Department of Environmental Studies University of Illinois at Springfield Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology “Nothing is more priceless and worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It is a many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists, and nature lovers alike, and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans.” -President Richard Nixon upon signing the Endangered Species Act of 1973 into law. "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - Allan Nation 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. 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