Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues
As an unemployed individual with a Masters degree and 4.5 years of daily work experience using ArcGIS (as well as numerous other types of experience both in the field and office including state and federal jobs), I am still having an extraordinarily difficult time finding a job. Is there any advice other than ArcGIS that sets someone apart? It seems like it really comes down to who you know and networking your way into a job. However, I have tried the whole getting contacts for help to no avail too so I'm clueless on what else to do. I know there are tons of other people like myself having difficulty so I know I would appreciate getting back on subject as well for ideas on how we can get jobs. Thanks for input. Amberly Moon On Feb 18, 2013, at 8:58 PM, Silvia Secchi ssec...@siu.edu wrote: Exactly! We are now all feeding the troll. Let's talk about best strategies to be successful. I taught myself GIS after getting my PhD (which is in economics btw) and was very willing to collaborate, rip my writing to shreds and re-submit to end up with grant proposals that would be funded (note that English is not my native language). I did have a great boss who let me be a co-PI while I was a staff scientist at a research center, and that sense of responsibilities and rewards being aligned did help. It also helped that my boss was a woman who had children so when I had children myself I did not feel shunned. But the point is that those GIS and grant writing skills got me my tenure track job, because they gave me an edge over the next candidate. For people working in ecology, it is true that R has some terrific advantages, but if you work with people in geography (as I do), many of them use ArgGIS, so that is also a consideration... Silvia On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 8:54 PM, Miguel Cañedo mcanedo@gmail.com wrote: Seems to me that you completely misunderstood Dr. Olden's e-mail, who (to my understanding) just tried to help everyone to reject sexist comments like the one originally posted. I am not saying that this kind of comments should not be publicly disapproved, and probably just moving them into the spam folder is not the best solution, but I really don't see why Dr. Olden should take the blame for it when he was just trying to help. Best, Miguel. 2013/2/18 Leslie M. Adams leslie.ad...@comcast.net Now, I am the one who must speak up and voice my support for Yvette (and Chandreyee). While no slight may have been intended, as a female scientist I too experienced the responses Yvette cites - and especially the one recently posted by Dr. Olden - as belittling and dismissive. There is considerable gender bias in the fields of ecology and biology and it is important to object to it whenever it arises; whether intentional or not. Perhaps it is easy to counsel moving on when you are unaffected by this handicap personally, but to say that it is somehow unsuitable or inappropriate to address on this listserv is ridiculous and dismisses the tremendously damaging effect this bias has on many, many lives. It is also not lost on me that the issue of gender has somehow arisen in a discussion of the skills necessary for landing a job in ecology. I would suggest that this is no coincidence. Leslie M. Adams, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Plant Systematics Professional Training and Development University of New Hampshire http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ Home Office: 603 / 659-6177 Adjunct Associate Professor of Environmental Sustainability School of Undergraduate Studies (online) University of Maryland University College Adjunct Professor of Life Sciences Department of Liberal Arts New Hampshire Institute of Art We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. - Albert Einstein -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Julian Olden Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 1:04 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student#x2019;s Guide to Neces sary Skills for Landing a Job Hi Yvette, Apologies, but your interpretation of my suggestion is extremely misguided and flat-out wrong. My response was a cleaver way of saying that you can ignore the silly responses of particular ECO-LOGGERS (some of which have a track record of this behavior) by filtering your emails. Unfortunately your email has added fuel to a series of ECOLOG posts that have very little to do with the original premise of the Blickley et al. (2012). Let's all move on now. Cheers, Julian --- Julian D. Olden Freshwater Ecology Conservation Lab School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195 e: mailto:ol...@uw.edu ol...@uw.edu, t: (206) 616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 w:
[ECOLOG-L] IHE story TT is an alt career
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/19/research-aaas-meeting-notes-difficult-job-market-academic-science Interesting perspective that applies to my earlier post on job market and might be useful to those considering their options. Key feature for me was 8% of Biology PHDs find TT jobs, and the science market for advanced degrees is generally glutted. So, why do we keep saying their is an STEM shortage? My friends in computer science and engineering don't see one either. Having graduates = jobs is probably not any more healthy for a discipline, but suggesting their is a shortage when their is clearly not a shortage is simply charlatanism. Science is a great field, its an extremely competitive field, and all of us cannot make it to the top, some of us can't even make it to the plate for batting practice. Some of us can't hit curves, others can't hit at all, others can close their eyes and swing and get home runs every time. Employers want the latter, and most of us fall in one of the former more human categories. Its a reality many of us try to ignore because we really want to succeed in our field. However, being a success is not based on what job you hold, how much money you make, or where you live. Its about how you personally feel about what you have done. IF you take high energy physics try your best and get a D, what is there to be ashamed of? Likewise, if you got through a PHD or an MS you are more successful than the vast majority of others. It also shows you have one heck of a good head on your shoulders. You might not be able to hit a curve ball, but you know what...most people don't get up to the plate. Just do what will be best for your long-term health, satisfaction, and future. The rest tends to fall in place eventually. Not that this makes the present any easier. -- Malcolm L. McCallum Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology If the government is covering up the existence of aliens, then they are doing a better job of it than they do at anything else, Stephen Hawking 1880's: There's lots of good fish in the sea W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. -- Malcolm L. McCallum Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry School of Biological Sciences University of Missouri at Kansas City Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology 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. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! The Seven Blunders of the World (Mohandas Gandhi) Wealth w/o work Pleasure w/o conscience Knowledge w/o character Commerce w/o morality Science w/o humanity Worship w/o sacrifice Politics w/o principle Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
[ECOLOG-L] DEADLINE EXTENDED Call for Abstracts FLEPPC / SE-EPPC Joint Annual Conference
The Call for Abstracts for the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council / Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council Joint Annual Conference has been extended until Friday, March 1st. In addition, the Student Opportunities (poster competition and travel grants) deadline has been extended until that date. Please visit the symposium website to learn more about this exciting event: PLANT WARS The EPPCs Strike Back! and to submit an abstract. In addition to oral and poster presentations, four field trips are being offered to beautiful local areas with exotic pest plant problems. One field trip will include management training. Social/Networking events planned in conjunction with the conference include a social/poster session followed by a fishing tournament at a nearby pier (Tuesday evening), and a poolside banquet (Wednesday evening). Register before April 30th to take advantage of the early rate; late registration begins May 1st. The conference will be held at the Edgewater Beach Golf Resort. A block of rooms has been reserved at special rates that are available for the duration of the meeting as well as three days prior (May 17th May 23rd). Rooms front the Gulf of Mexico or an adjacent golf resort and include 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units with fully equipped kitchens. Please book early! Reservations made after April 29th will receive the group rate on a space-available basis only. Please check the symposium website often for updates on the program and CEUs that will be available from multiple states. We look forward to seeing you in Panama City Beach!
Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student¹s Gui de to Neces sary Skills for Landing a Job
Julian, I agree that filtering is a great way to make life better, but in this case I think you're shutting down a worthwhile conversation. Calling out bad behavior is how groups enforce norms, and I sure hope Ecolog has a norm against casual exclusionary remarks. Chandreyee, thanks for speaking up. I'm not female and I don't know if 30 counts as young around here, but Clara's remarks made me uncomfortable as well. That's not what I came for and if we're supposed to ignore it, whether technologically or by gritting our teeth, then there is no norm against it and we've created an exclusionary environment. --Chris On Feb 17, 2013, at 7:04 PM, Julian Olden ol...@uw.edu wrote: Hi Chandreyee, Here's a suggestion if you want to filter out certain threads or individuals from ECOLOG-L. Use the filter function on your e-mail program to re-route those threads or messages from particular individuals automatically to the trash folder. Next, never open your trash folder. Problem solved! This way you get the perks of ECOLOG (i.e., what it was designed for) without the headache. Cheers, Julian --- Julian D. Olden Freshwater Ecology Conservation Lab School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195 e: ol...@uw.edu, t: (206) 616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 w: http://www.fish.washington.edu/research/oldenlab/ skype: goldenolden The face of the river . . . was not a book to be read once and thrown aside, for it had a new story to tell every day. ‹ Mark Twain On 2/17/13 3:00 PM, Chandreyee Mitra chandreyee.mi...@gmail.com wrote: Are we just allowed to casually insult half the populace in a post here? In Clara's 7th, very well punctuated point, she wrote: 7. ...i am somewhat exercised by your post because, IMO, too many young, especially, female, applicants don't bring much to the table that others don't already know or that cannot be readily duplicated or that is mostly generalist-oriented... If this is so, I am curious as to what other groups are open to ridicule? Young - check. Female - check. cheers Chandreyee (a young(ish) female) On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 9:03 PM, malcolm McCallum malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org wrote: Clara, I agree. To be marketable in the workplace you must have skills that are in demand in the workplace. Its that simple. Too many students graduate without marketable skills. Marketability for grad school does not equal marketability for a job out of the BS. You want to get a job in ecological field? Here are the skills I recommend: 1. GIS 2. statistics 3. public administration 4. env/wildlife/fisheries policy law 5. Any and all instrumentation involving chemistry, molecular biology and micro. Why? Everything uses GIS today. Statistics are just plain required. If you are working in the public sector, PA will prepare you for what you actually do most of the time...paperwork. policy and law is mostly what you will be doing paperwork on (permits and permitting issues!) instrumentation may pick you up a research tech post. Also, if you go into the private sector, every one of those areas is highly marketable. If you have none of them, you are going to have a rougher time. Again, this is coming out of a BS. Ideally, you better have Wildlife + Wildlife Techniques if going into a wildlife field or Fisheries + fisheries techniques if going into a fish field. You might check the respective certification programs. Anything ecotox will help too. Malcolm On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 5:31 PM, Clara B. Jones foucaul...@gmail.com wrote: 1. ...assuming that your summary is an accurate reflection of the *CB*article... 2. ...i am shocked that there is no mention of actual skills...most of the traits you mention might be categorized as intangible...you need these skills to be a car salesman...not to impugn car sales-persons... 3. ...IMO, an applicant has a better edge if s/he brings something transferrable [marketable!] to the table that no-one else brings to the table... 4. ...often this something is one or more quantitative skill... 5. ...or, skill in a fundamental or hot area of research w long-term potential... 6. ...or, a grant... 7. ...i am somewhat exercised by your post because, IMO, too many young, especially, female, applicants don't bring much to the table that others don't already know or that cannot be readily duplicated or that is mostly generalist-oriented... 8. ...early-career applicants need to bring something with legs...as my Grandmother Jackson used to say...in other words, bring something to the table that can go somewhere [that the department and the college/university and the field want to go]... 9. ...clara b. jones On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 1:38 PM, Helen Bothwell helen.bothw...@nau.edu wrote: In a recent publication in Conservation Biology, Blickley et al. (2012) analayzed what skills are
Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student¹s Gui de to Neces sary Skills for Landing a Job
As a long-term ECOLOG member I have watched this list change from one filled with ecological ideas and cross-fertilization replete with many postings by senior scientists to one that is filled with job announcements (no jobs, seriously?), lots of posts about how messed up academia, government science positions, etc. are, and few posts by senior scientists. Certainly we're all a lot busier with forms, animal use certifications, FERPA training, and now at my institution a new continuing ed requirement for animal care and use, even though I've been studying these organisms for 30+ years. Okay, my point is that I suspect that is one reason (i.e., increased bureaucratic workload to keep a lab running) that ECOLOG has changed or perhaps evolved so that there are fewer posts that deal with substantive research issues or ecological debates and so many more about how effed up everything is. As more than one person has noted, sometimes these are even the same issue posted by the same person every 6 weeks or so. Frankly, although I'm deeply committed to mentorship, especially for unrepresented groups, I just don't have time to engage in most of what ends up on ECOLOG now, even when erroneous statements are made. I suspect that similar opinions are widespread among senior scientists. For mentoring of underrepresented groups I joined MentorNet www.mentornet.net/ about 10 years ago, and have found it a satisfying experience. I'm posting this because I think that it is a shame, ECOLOG used to function as an intellecutual fermentation vat for students, jr. scientists and sn. scientists, which is a valuable community function. Over and out. g2 -- Gary D. Grossman, PhD Professor of Animal Ecology Warnell School of Forestry Natural Resources University of Georgia Athens, GA, USA 30602 Research teaching web site - http://grossman.myweb.uga.edu/http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Egrossman Board of Editors - Animal Biodiversity and Conservation Editorial Board - Freshwater Biology Editorial Board - Ecology Freshwater Fish Sculpture by Gary D. Grossman http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Grossmans-Sculpture-Portfolio/124819124227147http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#%21/album.php?aid=2002317id=1348406658 Hutson Gallery Provincetown, MA - www.hutsongallery.net/artists.html My ukulele channel - www.youtube.com/user/garydg29
[ECOLOG-L] Graduate Assistant Herbarium Curatorship Now Open
Please see the posting below for a graduate position at the LSU Herbarium along with the associated contact information. ### I'm happy to announce the following position, ideal for an incoming graduate student: Louisiana State University Herbarium (http://www.herbarium.lsu.edu/) is seeking a graduate student interested in researching a broad botanical, ecological, or evolutionary subject that would utilize our prestigious facility and collections of over 200,000 vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, and fungi. While pursuing a degree in the Biological Sciences, the Graduate Assistant Curatorship would provide a stipend, equivalent to a teaching assistantship, and training in the techniques of collections management. The assistantship is part-time, requiring 20 hrs/wk of work in the herbarium during the Fall and Spring semesters under the guidance of the Herbarium Director and Collections Manager. Ideal candidates will be highly self-motivated, organized, and detail oriented in order to effectively succeed in databasing, georeferencing, imaging, filling, repairing, and annotating specimens. Additional activities include preparing loans and assisting with occasional collection trips. The location of the position is Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a cosmopolitan city central to the Gulf South within approximately an hour drive of many natural areas and New Orleans. One must formally apply and be accepted into a degree program in the Biological Sciences Department at Louisiana State University (LSU) (http://www.biology.lsu.edu/). Preference will be given to applicants interested in plant systematics, ecology, evolution, or related fields. For further information, please contact the LSU Herbarium Manager, Jennifer Kluse (jkl...@lsu.edu). Best Regards, Jennie -- Jennifer S. Kluse Research Associate Department of Biological Sciences Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA 70803 PH: (225) 578-8564 http://www.herbarium.lsu.edu/
[ECOLOG-L] Fwd: You can help protect federal RD funding. Sign the AAAS petition today!
I suspect many ecologists, from students to professors, may be concerned about this issue. Of course contacting your own elected representatives with a personal message is the best option, but here's one that takes less time, courtesy of AAAS. David Inouye In early January, Congress came to an agreement that delayed the automatic cuts triggered by sequestration until March 1. As of today, our political leaders have made little progress towards a comprehensive deficit reduction plan. This means that the sequestration remains very much within the realm of possibility. If sequestration does come to pass, AAAS estimates that we would lose $54 billion in federal scientific RD funding between now and the year 2017. As we once again move to the edge of the fiscal cliff we are asking you to http://app.aaas-science.org/e/er?s=1906lid=26917elq=69c72a9d1a96478087a11e228f6b021draise your voice in support of federal research and development funding. Please take a moment to http://app.aaas-science.org/e/er?s=1906lid=26917elq=69c72a9d1a96478087a11e228f6b021dsign the petition that we will share with leaders of both branches of government urging them to protect funding for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. http://app.aaas-science.org/e/er?s=1906lid=26917elq=69c72a9d1a96478087a11e228f6b021dThe time to act is now. If triggered, these spending cuts will have a massive and potentially devastating impact on our nationâs health, economy, and security. Indiscriminate cuts will do significant damage to the scientific enterprise, ending promising research projects, eliminating jobs, and stalling the innovation process. Letâs come together as a community and insist that the future of innovation be protected. Let's http://app.aaas-science.org/e/er?s=1906lid=26917elq=69c72a9d1a96478087a11e228f6b021dSpeak Up For Science. Together we can make a difference. Alan I. Leshner, CEO American Association for the Advancement of Science
[ECOLOG-L] Graduate Assistantships in Host-Consumer Ecology
The Brooks Lab at Mississippi State University is seeking highly motivated Ph.D. students interested in the role of host trait distributions and their effect on consumer dynamics and invasion. Much of the work in the lab centers around the interaction between two different species of cactus moth (one native and one exotic) and their host plants (Opuntiod cacti). I would like to recruit one or two new Ph.D. students (exceptional M.S. candidates will be considered) with interest in invasion ecology, population ecology, theoretical ecology and modeling, or host-consumer interactions. You can find out more by visiting the lab webpage at: http://cbrooks.wix.com/brookslabmain Interested students should send a current vita along with a brief statement of their research interests and goals to cpbrooks[at]biology.msstate.edu. Include any relevant (unofficial) test results from the GRE, TOEFL (if necessary), etc. Be sure to include both raw scores and percentiles. Information on Graduate Studies in the Department of Biological Sciences is available at http://biology.msstate.edu/degrees/graduate The Department of Biological Sciences at Mississippi State University is home to faculty with broad research interests in ecology and evolution. This group and the newly-renovated facilities in the department provide an excellent opportunity for an excellent graduate education in ecology.
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Definition of green
Jeffrey Various public conceptions of 'green', and various definitions of sustainability, are outlined here: *What Does it Mean to be 'Green'? * www.amazon.com/dp/1907962131/ref=nosim?tag=cranmorpublic-20 Best Simon m On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 8:36 PM, Corbin, Jeffrey D. corb...@union.eduwrote: Hello Ecologgers – Hopefully this isn't too tangential… On behalf of a colleague, I am looking for articles that investigate what the public perceives to be the meaning of green. Despite the fact that many of us subscribe to the concept of green or sustainable it can mean many different things. (Though perhaps sustainable is easier to define). And a related issue: are there other examples of movements that have grown around relatively poorly-defined concepts? Biodiversity could be one…No nukes another? I realize that this is more of a question for political scientists, but I thought some here might have some suggestions too. Thanks in advance! -Jeff Jeffrey D. Corbin Associate Professor Department of Biological Sciences Union College Schenectady, NY 12308 (518) 388-6097 http://jeffcorbin.org
[ECOLOG-L] Field position: Full time field assistants for tracking pit vipers in Hong Kong
Field position: Full time field assistants for tracking pit vipers in Hong Kong Location: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China Dates: 2 field assistants from June-August 2013 (90 days) 1 field assistant from September-November 2013 (90 days) Application deadline: April 1st 2013 or until filled I am a graduate student at University of Rhode Island and I am looking for volunteer field assistants in 2013 to help with full-time field work in Hong Kong. I am studying the effects of long-distance relocation on bamboo pit vipers (Cryptelytrops [Trimeresurus] albolabris) in Hong Kong, where these vipers along with many other 'nuisance' snakes are relocated on a large scale. I will be radio tracking bamboo pit vipers in forests, shrublands and grasslands. This is an exciting opportunity if you are looking for field experience in the tropics, experience with venomous snakes and other herpetofauna of tropical East Asia, are interested in making connections in the region, and want to pursue a career in field biology. Hong Kong is home to more than 50 snakes, 10 turtles, 20 lizards and 20 amphibians, with high diversity in other taxa as well. 40% of the land area is a set aside as protected country park and the mountainous landscape and rugged coastlines outside of the famous cityscape are stunningly beautiful. It is not too difficult to get around Hong Kong with only English, and it is a modern, cosmopolitan and culturally rich region with a lot to offer: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/china/hong-kong http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/conservation/hkbiodiversity/speciesgroup/sp Details: Field work consists of night visual encounter surveys to obtain snakes (40% of the time), and mostly day-time radio tracking to locate and observe the snakes (60% of the time). Night work will ease off and day work will increase as more snakes are tagged. Field assistants will be expected to work about 40 hours a week. Skills used/learned will include capture and handling of arboreal vipers, introduction to the herpetofauna of Hong Kong, radio telemetry, navigation and some laboratory techniques. Basic skills covered include fieldwork fundamentals and handling of data, using and taking care of field equipment. Field assistants will be expected to learn how to handle vipers safely with proper tools, although contact will be kept to a minimum. I will prefer to hire somebody interested in travel and who will take advantage of being situated in a place like this. There will be 1-2 days off per week to rest and explore Hong Kong. Field set-up: We will be living in a house in the middle of a country park, 20 mins drive from the main town of Sai Kung, and a 1 hour drive from downtown Hong Kong. Most meals will be cooked at home, and most lunches will be eaten in the field. 2 field assistants will share one room. I will be present for all field work and you will not be expected to work alone outdoors. Training provided for all techniques. Field work will be carried out mostly in Ma On Shan country park and Sai Kung East West country parks: http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/country/cou_vis/cou_vis_cou/cou_vis_cou.html Prerequisites-those with asterisks** particularly important - **Compliant to safety rules when handling animals - **Physically and mentally hardy and able to deal with uncomfortable situations (prolonged dampness, bad weather and heat, wet shoes, biting insects, thorny vegetation). - **Medical/travel insurance covering your stay in Hong Kong once you confirm the position - **Enthusiastic and with a good attitude - **Applicants must not be afraid to handle venomous snakes although no prior experience necessary; training provided. - Graduate or senior with a biology/ecology or related background - Field experience, preferably in a country different from residence and/or in remote areas - Reasonably fit and strong and able to hike up to 20 km a day (including uphill) - Detail-oriented and reliable with a sound work ethic - Ability to deal with erratic sleeping schedules - Adaptable with an interest in travel and learning about new cultures - No known allergies to wasps/bees as these are very common during the summer - An interest in field and wildlife biology is a must - Basic cooking skills Preferred (but not necessary) skills - Knowledge of Cantonese/Mandarin - Experience with snakes - Forest bushwhacking, machete-wielding, climbing, tire-changing skills - Valid drivers license (automatic transmission is fine) - Some telemetry experience Support: Room and board provided. I will cover all accommodation and food expenses. There will be weekly or more grocery shopping trips and meals will be cooked in turns. Any dietary restrictions and food preferences are fine. There will also be plenty of opportunities to eat
[ECOLOG-L] NERC PhD Position Available, Swansea University, UK
Scaling-up relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning Supervisors: Dr John Griffin, Dr Mike Fowler Project and aims A fully funded NERC PhD studentship is available at Swansea University, working with Dr John Griffin and Dr Mike Fowler. We are looking for an enthusiastic, highly motivated student interested in pushing boundaries in an exciting and important area of ecological research. This ambitious PhD project is aimed at extending our understanding of Biodiversity Ecosystem Functioning (BEF) relationships across spatial scales. Human activities are driving major declines in global biodiversity. Understanding how biodiversity loss will affect the ecosystem functions and services that underpin human well-being is a key question in ecological, conservation and sustainability sciences. While hundreds of experiments have explored BEF relationships, these have generally been restricted to small spatial scales and may not provide accurate predictions for the natural landscapes and ecosystems they aim to represent. Ecological niche theory suggests that more species are required to maximize ecosystem functioning at large spatial scales. The project will scrutinize this aspect of niche theory, with an important implication for conservation and policy: is each species more important for ecosystem functioning (and valuable services) than current experimental evidence suggests? The successful applicant will combine state-of-the-art empirical and modelling approaches to meet the research goals. The Gower Peninsula (an area of outstanding natural beauty on Swanseas doorstep) provides extensive and spectacular rocky shores, which host diverse ecological communities and offer an excellent outdoor laboratory for the project. Spatially-explicit, large-scale field surveys will be combined with experimental approaches to identify species ecological niches and determine natural BEF patterns. The student will also use Agent/Individual Based Models and other simulation approaches based on empirical data, to predict the impact of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning at different scales. The studentship will be based within the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (http://www.aquaculturewales.com/), situated in the Department of Biosciences at Swansea University, UK; a vibrant, growing, research led institution providing a high quality, diverse range of graduate training. The student will benefit from the complementary expertise of supervisors Drs John Griffin (empirical approaches) and Mike Fowler (ecological modelling), gaining multidisciplinary skills in field ecology, statistics and modelling. The student will interact with the large postgraduate community and world-class researchers in ecological and behavioural sciences within the Department of Biosciences. Training and collaboration will have a significant international component, where involvement in international Biodiversity working groups and attendance at international conferences will be encouraged. Applicant requirements Applicants should have or expect to receive a good BSc degree (First or Upper Second Class) in Biology or a related discipline, with good numerical skills and an enthusiasm for challenging themselves academically. Experience in any aspect of this project (field work, statistical/mathematical modelling, or computer coding skills) and MSc/MRes qualifications are desirable but not critical training will be provided where required. Informal enquiries are encouraged before application: please contact either Dr John Griffin (j.n.grif...@swansea.ac.uk; tel +44 (0)1792 295311) or Dr Mike Fowler (m.s.fow...@swansea.ac.uk; tel +44 (0)1792 295443; http://tinyurl.com/dywafuw). Application closing date: 11 April 2013 These studentships are open to candidates who have been ordinarily resident in the UK for three years preceding the date of application. Further details are available at http://www.swansea.ac.uk/biosci/postgraduate/researchtopics/scaling-uprelationshipsbetweenbiodiversityandecosystemfunctioning/
[ECOLOG-L] Abundance estimate references
Hello Ecolog Members: I've recently submitted an article about population size estimate of an endangered bird species. I counted birds during the breeding seasons at least five times per season for 10 years. For the sake of comparison, I have also included the mean and the highest count as an estimate of abundance. One of the reviewers is asking to include references of other studies or methodological articles about the convenience or advantages of using the mean or the maximum value of a series of counts. I have searched online, but could not locate appropriate citations/articles. I hope that someone in the list might help me about the references. Please reply me off list if you know any references in this area. Thank you in advance for your time. Sincerely, Nabin
[ECOLOG-L] The job market then and now
Greetings, While there is no doubt that the job market in ecology and evolutionary biology is tough, this has been true since at least the early 1980s. This year seemed like a very good year for job postings. One postdoctoral associate I know in plant ecology applied for nearly 50 university positions and he now has several excellent job offers. For some historical perspective from 1985 see: The Academic Job Market for Ecologists: Observations from Four Search Committees. Robert K. Peet, David C. Glenn-Lewin, Forest Stearns and Patrick C. Kangas. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. Vol. 66, No. 1 (Mar., 1985) (pp. 2-5). These authors were each on a search committee at four different universities. They concluded: The results of our searches indicate that (1) there are many applicants for relatively few academic positions; (2) a majority are male; (3) most have substantial publications records; and (4) most have several years of postdoctoral experience, most often in temporary positions. We were impressed with the talent and breadth of experience displayed by the applicants, and by their diversity. Clearly, in any reasonable job market, a majority would already have permanent academic positions. However, even with an improvement in the job market, the accumulated pool of postdoctoral applicants will likely remain, and finishing Ph.D.'s will need to expect several years of temporary positions while they build their credentials. I think this suggests that for most of the last 4 decades, the job market has been highly competitive. My undergraduate adviser warned me that jobs were scarce in 1981. This suggests to me that if you are not deeply committed and passionate about becoming a professor in the field of ecology, you might want to look elsewhere. Walter Carson University of Pittsburgh
[ECOLOG-L] Insects in Mexico this month?
Hello, I will be in Michoacan, Mexico next week. What sorts of insects should I be able to find there this time of year? My goal for the trip is to photograph as many as possible. Thanks! ATD of ATB -- Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Founder/Owner: All Things Bugs Capitalizing on Low-Crawling Fruit from Insect-Based Innovation http://allthingsbugs.com/about/people/ http://www.facebook.com/Allthingsbugs 1-352-281-3643
[ECOLOG-L] Biological Science Technicians NE Oregon
The Wallowa-Whitman NF will be hiring 1-2 temporary biological science technicians for the 2013 field season based out of Baker City OR. Technicians will assist with data collection on white-headed woodpecker plots and fire ecology plots from late-April through the end of September (dates are somewhat flexible). Appropriate training will be provided. Positions will require: Doing a variety of vegetation and fuels measurements, keying unknown plant species, installing and maintaining research plots, carrying a heavy pack with field and safety gear, hiking through rough terrain, using a GPS unit to navigate to and record field locations, using a PDA for certain types of data entry, driving Forest Service vehicles on paved and dirt roads, frequent camping, and working with others on a small field crew. There will be considerable travel and camping throughout northeastern Oregon. A strong interest in botany and/or ecology is required. Must be able to work with a small field crew in a variety of physical conditions, have a positive attitude, good work ethic, and enjoy field work, hiking, and camping. These are full-time positions. Dates: Late-April through the end of September. Dates are somewhat flexible. Location: Baker City, OR. Housing is not provided. Pay: GS-4 ($13.41/hour) GS-5 ($15/hour) for info about GS level qualifications: http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/IORs/gs0400/0404.htm Apply through USAJOBS for the Bio Tech (Plants) and/ or the Bio Tech (Wildlife) position with Baker City, OR as your selected location. #65533;Go to the USAJOBS site at https://www.usajobs.gov/ #65533;Enter announcement number TEMPOCR-0404-4-PLANTS-DT, TEMPOCR-0404-5- PLANTS-DT or TEMPOCR-0404-5-WLDLF-DT in the #65533;What?#65533; search field. #65533;Complete your USAJOBS application online and attach the required supporting documents. Be sure to document the required qualifications for these positions. Applications due March 4, 2013 Contact: Jenifer Ferriel, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, 1550 Dewey Ave. P.O. Box 907 Baker City, OR 97814, 541-523-1362 (office) or 541-519-4597 (cell), jlferr...@fs.fed.us
Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student¹s Gui de to Neces sary Skills for Landing a Job
This is an ecology listserv with individuals from all sorts of cultural backgrounds and upbringings. None of us is perfect, and many of us only see things through our own set of spectacles. Clara claims that some data support her suggestion. The appropriate response to this under a scientific forum is to: 1) request provision of that data. 2) provide alternative refuting data. 3) move further discussion off the listserv or to other forums that have more to do with the cultural underpinings of human behaviour and social justice. I posted an article on here about gender biases weeks ago, and it went pretty much ignored. I'm not sure what that means, maybe everyone has me filtered! :) (GOOD FOR THEM!). 4) start a discussion of the bigger issue (see below) without returning perceived attacks. Beyond that, there are all kinds of aspects of culture that garner respect and tolerance. I am not personally going to fling my values in the face of either side of this argument ON THIS FORUM (even though I have probably inappropriately done such dozens of times). Tolerance is not restricted to a person's own views, but to everyone's views. That means that we can discuss ecology and ecologically related topics with all people of all avenues. THis doesn't make Clara's statements right, nor does it make the respondent's views wrong. It also doesn't mean I agree with either, both or neither person. Can we just get along? I don't think personal attacks, deliberate or accidental, are needed on here. I'm sure Clara did not intend to offend anyone, likewise I'm sure the others did not enjoy being offended. Maybe you folks can come to some kind of understanding if you discuss it among yourselves. There is that possibility that you might learn something from Clara, and Clara might learn something from you if things are kept calm and nice. You might even uncover a collaborator or a friend where you thought you had an adversary or an opponent! All of us have misconceptions, all of us can misinterpret, and plenty of us are misinformed. It is better to discuss than argue. As for filtering, it works for the occasional person who just miffs you off continuously. But, in practice it takes a lot away from the discussions on this listserv. Even the most irritating sometimes have something worthwhile to contribute. Malcolm On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 9:22 AM, Chris Black blac...@igb.illinois.edu wrote: Julian, I agree that filtering is a great way to make life better, but in this case I think you're shutting down a worthwhile conversation. Calling out bad behavior is how groups enforce norms, and I sure hope Ecolog has a norm against casual exclusionary remarks. Chandreyee, thanks for speaking up. I'm not female and I don't know if 30 counts as young around here, but Clara's remarks made me uncomfortable as well. That's not what I came for and if we're supposed to ignore it, whether technologically or by gritting our teeth, then there is no norm against it and we've created an exclusionary environment. --Chris On Feb 17, 2013, at 7:04 PM, Julian Olden ol...@uw.edu wrote: Hi Chandreyee, Here's a suggestion if you want to filter out certain threads or individuals from ECOLOG-L. Use the filter function on your e-mail program to re-route those threads or messages from particular individuals automatically to the trash folder. Next, never open your trash folder. Problem solved! This way you get the perks of ECOLOG (i.e., what it was designed for) without the headache. Cheers, Julian --- Julian D. Olden Freshwater Ecology Conservation Lab School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195 e: ol...@uw.edu, t: (206) 616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 w: http://www.fish.washington.edu/research/oldenlab/ skype: goldenolden The face of the river . . . was not a book to be read once and thrown aside, for it had a new story to tell every day. ‹ Mark Twain On 2/17/13 3:00 PM, Chandreyee Mitra chandreyee.mi...@gmail.com wrote: Are we just allowed to casually insult half the populace in a post here? In Clara's 7th, very well punctuated point, she wrote: 7. ...i am somewhat exercised by your post because, IMO, too many young, especially, female, applicants don't bring much to the table that others don't already know or that cannot be readily duplicated or that is mostly generalist-oriented... If this is so, I am curious as to what other groups are open to ridicule? Young - check. Female - check. cheers Chandreyee (a young(ish) female) On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 9:03 PM, malcolm McCallum malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org wrote: Clara, I agree. To be marketable in the workplace you must have skills that are in demand in the workplace. Its that simple. Too many students graduate without marketable skills. Marketability for grad school does not equal marketability for a job out of the BS. You want to get a job in ecological field?
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Abundance estimate references
I don't know of anyone doing this, per se. Reporting a maximum count is often reported as the minimum number known alive (MNKA) at a given point in time. That might be the best you can do-be cautious of over-reaching from counts to abundance. Counts are typically adjusted for the observation process (imperfect detectability). It seems that by averaging your counts, you are trying to account for the observation variation, but abundance for your bird population isn't the same as bodyweight. You would average a sample of bodyweights to estimate the mean bodyweight of the population. Abundance is different. The true abundance is not some value between your highest and lowest counts, it is some value greater than any and all of your counts. Your average count is going to be a poor estimate of abundance. It is an estimate of your expected count given some true abundance--and that true abundance would have to be constant across the set of counts you are averaging for that to be sensible. Some use counts as indices of abundance. This interpretation requires assumptions about the constancy and uniformity of the observation process across all relevant counts and any others that you may wish to compare. The index interpretation may be suitable if your surveys controlled sufficiently for reasonable sources of observational bias. For an endangered bird in particular, this may be adequate--it depends a bit on how much is known/inferred currently of the species' abundance. For a quick treatment, this document and references therein seems pertinent: http://www.ebcc.info/wpimages/other/birdsurvey.pdf On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 11:34 AM, Nabin Baral nbaral2...@yahoo.com wrote: Hello Ecolog Members: I've recently submitted an article about population size estimate of an endangered bird species. I counted birds during the breeding seasons at least five times per season for 10 years. For the sake of comparison, I have also included the mean and the highest count as an estimate of abundance. One of the reviewers is asking to include references of other studies or methodological articles about the convenience or advantages of using the mean or the maximum value of a series of counts. I have searched online, but could not locate appropriate citations/articles. I hope that someone in the list might help me about the references. Please reply me off list if you know any references in this area. Thank you in advance for your time. Sincerely, Nabin
Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student¹s Gui d e to Neces sary Skills for Landing a Jo b
I feel for Clara Jones who is being blasted for sexism and I don't know what else, for what was presumably intended as a helpful word to younger aspiring scientists. Her point, as I saw it, was that too many young scientists develop only the general, generic skills of the discipline, while what is marketable is often very particular research skills. She suggests that this is more the case with young female than with young male scientists. Nothing in that suggests negative attitudes about the capabilities of young female scientists. It might suggest female scientists are (on average) less well mentored, or that they are (on average) shunted into less novel and exciting projects by grad school advisors. Or a host of other possibilities. I see no reason to tear into someone for posting such perceptions, Now you can blast me instead of her, Max Taub -- Daniel Taub Professor of Biology Southwestern University 1001 East University Ave Georgetown TX 78626 USA Phone: 512 863-1583 Fax: 512 863-1696 ta...@southwestern.edu
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues
Let's not forget that the original comment that triggered this whole discussion was made by a woman! I don't think it was intended to be sexist. It's not sexist to say, In my experience, women tend to do X and would be better off doing Y. It may be accurate or inaccurate, but it's not sexist. Jane Shevtsov On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Leslie M. Adams leslie.ad...@comcast.netwrote: Now, I am the one who must speak up and voice my support for Yvette (and Chandreyee). While no slight may have been intended, as a female scientist I too experienced the responses Yvette cites - and especially the one recently posted by Dr. Olden - as belittling and dismissive. There is considerable gender bias in the fields of ecology and biology and it is important to object to it whenever it arises; whether intentional or not. Perhaps it is easy to counsel moving on when you are unaffected by this handicap personally, but to say that it is somehow unsuitable or inappropriate to address on this listserv is ridiculous and dismisses the tremendously damaging effect this bias has on many, many lives. It is also not lost on me that the issue of gender has somehow arisen in a discussion of the skills necessary for landing a job in ecology. I would suggest that this is no coincidence. Leslie M. Adams, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Plant Systematics Professional Training and Development University of New Hampshire http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ Home Office: 603 / 659-6177 Adjunct Associate Professor of Environmental Sustainability School of Undergraduate Studies (online) University of Maryland University College Adjunct Professor of Life Sciences Department of Liberal Arts New Hampshire Institute of Art We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. - Albert Einstein -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Julian Olden Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 1:04 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student#x2019;s Guide to Neces sary Skills for Landing a Job Hi Yvette, Apologies, but your interpretation of my suggestion is extremely misguided and flat-out wrong. My response was a cleaver way of saying that you can ignore the silly responses of particular ECO-LOGGERS (some of which have a track record of this behavior) by filtering your emails. Unfortunately your email has added fuel to a series of ECOLOG posts that have very little to do with the original premise of the Blickley et al. (2012). Let's all move on now. Cheers, Julian --- Julian D. Olden Freshwater Ecology Conservation Lab School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195 e: mailto:ol...@uw.edu ol...@uw.edu, t: (206) 616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 w: http://www.fish.washington.edu/research/oldenlab/ http://www.fish.washington.edu/research/oldenlab/ skype: goldenolden The face of the river . . . was not a book to be read once and thrown aside, for it had a new story to tell every day. Mark Twain On 2/18/13 7:37 AM, Yvette Dickinson mailto: yvette.dickin...@gmail.com yvette.dickin...@gmail.com wrote: Like Chandreyee Mitra I was surprised by the comment included in Clara's list: 7. ...i am somewhat exercised by your post because, IMO, too many young, especially, female, applicants don't bring much to the table that others don't already know or that cannot be readily duplicated or that is mostly generalist-oriented... This is a sentiment that I have heard before in other venues and find abhorrent. I initially chose not to comment on it here, but I do support Chandreyee's in her comment. However, I am disgusted by the response Chandreyee recieved. To be told to simply use your email filter and not worry your silly little head over such matters is offensive. The concerns Chandreyee raised are legitimate, and should be addressed with the gravity and respect they deserve. I would like to remind all readers of ESA's code of ethics, particularly principle g. Ecologists will not discriminate against others, in the course of their work on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, marital status, creed, religion, race, color, national origin, age, economic status, disability, or organizational affiliation. Yvette Dickinson -- - Jane Shevtsov, Ph.D. Mathematical Biology Curriculum Writer, UCLA co-founder, www.worldbeyondborders.org “Those who say it cannot be done should not interfere with those who are doing it.” --attributed to Robert Heinlein, George Bernard Shaw and others
[ECOLOG-L] Mustelid Conference announcement
Colleagues from around the world are invited to a conference on the Biology and Conservation of Wild Mustelids, organised by the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, with the IUCN/SSC Otters and Small Carnivores Specialist Groups, at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, on the 18th - 21st March 2013. Please see the conference website www.wildcru.org/conference for details. Thanks! Lauren Dr Lauren A. Harrington WildCRU, Zoology, University of Oxford Recanati-Kaplan Centre Tubney House, Abingdon Road Tubney, Abingdon OX13 5QL, UK T +44 (0)1865 611126 F +44 (0)1865 611101
[ECOLOG-L] Fwd: Maine Natural History Science Seminars - On the coast - Specialty professional-level
In case anybody's interested: -- Forwarded message -- From: Eagle Hill Institute bon...@eaglehill.us Date: Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 4:23 PM Subject: Maine Natural History Science Seminars - On the coast - Specialty professional-level To: foell...@adelphi.edu Browser version here http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=94f5epkabv=0018RV34s7Da50S7QX1w1VnGicZqatYV_g5ewcXDNg0S-BpHb9lxeQDuY8G0FB58f6lN5y0zxHpPVtr8cCAvEoU880O3d-ZUIaj2HT4oqMhwIIL207CEkXPLACU8og9f1w7DWf1HulltWYoORwVsWRafCLOQZEnTGIYclmGqRNhdE1X62tPT6JiYedyjvhNdio0gEXKRAyEhXlV0MDghGUExCUhBXvnxoWb1_jYc868-LBzn11AP-UdceSh35za02GumDqP7uxboM5ZFofXr5cMrJbEx0Uog5c467D61qHLVZ2k8QiQqGQQXUwT_AhL-RP1sCm9mtvQKtbge2986wlocQ%3D%3D http://s.rs6.net/t?e=3e-xoooPeLoc=1r=1http://s.rs6.net/t?e=3e-xoooPeLoc=3r=1http://s.rs6.net/t?e=3e-xoooPeLoc=4r=1http://s.rs6.net/t?e=3e-xoooPeLoc=5r=1http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Maine-Natural-History-Science-Seminars---On-the-coast---Specialty---professional-level.html?soid=1110757545978aid=3e-xoooPeLo#fblike http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001SLrl8p5rK59b6q9SLePwDMn1zk3RwEI-Gke2nXOn9s9MxW6rW_ujokdcqTtI7UwJqCqgr8mmVyZdfCyAdxSqru69WLS8_emASjdFGaxGTDI= *... between Acadia National Park and Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge* *... Taught by top experts from North America, Canada, and Europe* * * *2013 Eagle Hill Institute Field Seminars * * * * * *Wetlands, Watersheds, and Other Landscape-level Seminars* ** Wetland Identification and Delineation: The Federal (Reg IV) Course August 18 - 24 Robert Lichvar, Cold Regions REL, US Army Corps Engineers (NH) Steve Sprecher, Resource Soil Scientist, NRCS Global Climate Change, North American Ice Ages, and Maine's Ice Age Trail September 8 - 14 Harold W. Borns, Jr., Research, Prof., University of Maine Orono *General Botany* * * * * Sedges, Rushes, and Grasses: Ecology and Taxonomy of Wetland and Upland Species June 23 - 29 Anton A. Reznicek, Professor, University of Michigan Field Botany with a Special Emphasis on Vascular Plant Morphology July 7 - 13 Susan Pell, Molecular Systematist, Brooklyn Botanical Garden (NY) Submersed and Floating Aquatic Flowering Plants August 4 - 10 C. Barre Hellquist, Prof., Massachusetts College of Libral Arts Taxonomy and Biology of Ferns and Lycophytes August 18 - 24 Robbin C. Moran, Researcher, New York Botanical Garden W. Carl Taylor, Researcher, Botany Dept., Nat. Museum of Natural History Trees and Shrubs of Northeastern North America: The Science of Dendrology August 25 - 31 John T. Kartesz, Dir., Researcher, Biota of North America Program Applied Field Identification of Grasses Aug 25 - 31 Dennis Magee, Consultant, Normandeau Associates (NH) *Lichenology* * * Lecideoid Lichens: Saxicolous and Corticolous Species June 16 - 22 Alan Fryday, Dir., Herbarium, Prof., Michigan State University Lichens and Lichen Ecology June 23 - 29 David H.S. Richardson, Prof., St. Mary's Univ., Halifax (NS) Mark R.D. Seaward, Professor, Bradford University (England) Lichens, Biofilms, and Stone July 14 - 20 Judy Jacob, Senior Conservator, National Park Service (NY) Michaela Schmull, Research Assoc., Farlow Herbarium, Harvard U. Calicioid Lichens and Fungi and Old Growth Forest Ecology July 21 - 27 Steven Selva, Prof., University of Maine at Fort Kent How To Use Spot Tests and TLC To Help in Lichen Identification August 4 - 10 Scott S. LaGreca, Herbarium Curator, Cornell University (NY) H. Thorsten Lumbsch, Researcher, Botany Dept., Field Museum Nat. Hist (IL) *Mycology * * * ** Bryophylous Fungi July 7 - 13 Peter Döbbeler, Researcher, Ludwig-Maximilian Univ., Munich, Germany Mushroom Identification for New Mycophiles: Foraging for Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms July 28 - August 3 Greg Marley, Author, Consultant, Northern New England Poison Center Michaeline Mulvey, Mycologist Boletes of North America: A Field Seminar and Workshop September 8 - 14 Alan E. Bessette, Profess. mycologist author; Prof., Utica College (NY) Arleen R. Bessette, Professional mycologist and author *Bryology* * * ** Bryophytes and Bryophyte Ecology June 2 - 8 Nancy G. Slack, Professor, Sage Colleges (NY) (retired) Jeffrey G. Duckett, Researcher, Natural History Museum, London Liverworts and Liverwort Ecology June 9 - 15 Blanka Shaw, Res. Assoc. Duke U. (NC), Duke Herbarium Data Mgr. A. Jon Shaw, Professor, Duke University (NC) *Phylogenetics* * * Trichoptera Biomonitoring: Intersecting DNA Barcoding with Morphology July 21 - 27 Karl Kjer, Professor, Rutgers University Paul Frandsen, Graduate student, Rutgers University * * *Taxonomy and Biology Seminars - Zoology* * * ** Species Identification and Assessment of Northeastern Freshwater Fish Assemblages June 16 - 22
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues
Or is it (sexist)? See: Bias Is Hurting Women in Science, Panel Reports http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/science/19women.html?_r=0 Five Years After an Incendiary Remark, Signs That Harvard Is More Welcoming to Women http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/harvard-2/ -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Jane Shevtsov Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 1:36 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues Let's not forget that the original comment that triggered this whole discussion was made by a woman! I don't think it was intended to be sexist. It's not sexist to say, In my experience, women tend to do X and would be better off doing Y. It may be accurate or inaccurate, but it's not sexist. Jane Shevtsov On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Leslie M. Adams leslie.ad...@comcast.netwrote: Now, I am the one who must speak up and voice my support for Yvette (and Chandreyee). While no slight may have been intended, as a female scientist I too experienced the responses Yvette cites - and especially the one recently posted by Dr. Olden - as belittling and dismissive. There is considerable gender bias in the fields of ecology and biology and it is important to object to it whenever it arises; whether intentional or not. Perhaps it is easy to counsel moving on when you are unaffected by this handicap personally, but to say that it is somehow unsuitable or inappropriate to address on this listserv is ridiculous and dismisses the tremendously damaging effect this bias has on many, many lives. It is also not lost on me that the issue of gender has somehow arisen in a discussion of the skills necessary for landing a job in ecology. I would suggest that this is no coincidence. Leslie M. Adams, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Plant Systematics Professional Training and Development University of New Hampshire http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ Home Office: 603 / 659-6177 Adjunct Associate Professor of Environmental Sustainability School of Undergraduate Studies (online) University of Maryland University College Adjunct Professor of Life Sciences Department of Liberal Arts New Hampshire Institute of Art We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. - Albert Einstein -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Julian Olden Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 1:04 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student#x2019;s Guide to Neces sary Skills for Landing a Job Hi Yvette, Apologies, but your interpretation of my suggestion is extremely misguided and flat-out wrong. My response was a cleaver way of saying that you can ignore the silly responses of particular ECO-LOGGERS (some of which have a track record of this behavior) by filtering your emails. Unfortunately your email has added fuel to a series of ECOLOG posts that have very little to do with the original premise of the Blickley et al. (2012). Let's all move on now. Cheers, Julian --- Julian D. Olden Freshwater Ecology Conservation Lab School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195 e: mailto:ol...@uw.edu ol...@uw.edu, t: (206) 616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 w: http://www.fish.washington.edu/research/oldenlab/ http://www.fish.washington.edu/research/oldenlab/ skype: goldenolden The face of the river . . . was not a book to be read once and thrown aside, for it had a new story to tell every day. Mark Twain On 2/18/13 7:37 AM, Yvette Dickinson mailto: yvette.dickin...@gmail.com yvette.dickin...@gmail.com wrote: Like Chandreyee Mitra I was surprised by the comment included in Clara's list: 7. ...i am somewhat exercised by your post because, IMO, too many young, especially, female, applicants don't bring much to the table that others don't already know or that cannot be readily duplicated or that is mostly generalist-oriented... This is a sentiment that I have heard before in other venues and find abhorrent. I initially chose not to comment on it here, but I do support Chandreyee's in her comment. However, I am disgusted by the response Chandreyee recieved. To be told to simply use your email filter and not worry your silly little head over such matters is offensive. The concerns Chandreyee raised are legitimate, and should be addressed with the gravity and respect they deserve. I would like to remind all readers of ESA's code of ethics, particularly principle g. Ecologists will not discriminate against others, in the course of their work on the basis of gender, sexual
[ECOLOG-L] Summer 2013 Field Ecology Courses in northwest Montana at UM's Flathead Lake Biological Station
Are you looking for ecology courses to gain real field experience, where hands-on learning outside under the open sky is emphasized? Join us for summer session at the Flathead Lake Biological Station, a University of Montana Center of Excellence. From June 17 through August 9, 2013, we offer immersion-based, rigorous field-oriented classes. View this short video to see what makes attending Summer Session at FLBS a unique and valued experience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSiKq27fKREfeature=youtu.be - Accelerate your coursework: Up to 13 credits in 8 weeks and gain real field experience - Low student/instructor ratios with enrollment cap of 13 per course, geographically diverse student population - $1,755 for tuition, housing and meals per 2 week course - Many generous scholarships up to $4,000 available For complete information and online registration, go to: http://www.umt.edu/flbs/Education/SummerSession.aspx 2013 Summer Session Offerings: Field Ecology Landscape Ecology Conservation Ecology Stream Ecology Lake Ecology Ecology of Forests and Grasslands Alpine Ecology Seminars in Ecology Resource Management Quotes from our students-- -The instructor challenges you to think and act like a scientist. -The instructor is the best professor I've ever had, hands down. -The field experience and trips were amazing. This has been a once in a lifetime course. Absolutely wonderful. For a truly phenomenal field ecology experience in a spectacular natural setting, take an academic adventure to the Crown of the Continent in northwest Montana! Questions? Send us an email us at f...@flbs.umt.edu or call 406-982-3301. Flathead Lake Biological Station The University of Montana 32125 Bio Station Lane Polson, MT 59860-6815 USA 406-982-3301 Phone 406-982-3201 Fax f...@flbs.umt.edu www.umt.edu/flbs www.umt.edu/flbs/audiovideo/flbswebcams.aspx
Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student¹s Gui d e to Nece s sary Skills for Landing a Jo b
Hi Max, Clara and ECOLOG As a recently graduated MSc. student, I must say I agree with both Clara's original post and Max's response. I delayed responding as I didn't really want to wade into the forum dynamics on a non-technical topic, but also (now) would like to lend some support and feedback as I do think that Clara's comments held merit and were not (I presume, or taken by me) to be sexist. If Clara's professional experience has been that graduate students in general and female graduate students typically (not universally) arrive without a unique contribution to the skill set of a lab, then that in and of itself is the observation and situation that requires addressing. As Max astutely points out, if this is true for female graduate students more often, then it could very much point out an opportunity for improvement in terms of mentorship, skill-building opportunities, available projects, etc. If you as a professional have not observed this to be the case, then perhaps all is well, at least in your field and in the field of graduate students your department attracts. If you as a graduate student, particularly a female one (as I am), feel that this is the case, it is your responsibility to ameliorate the situation and recognize where you OR past supervisors have fallen short of providing opportunities for you to grow professionally, academically, and personally within your field of interest. Mentoring can and often does fall short of the mark, but in the limited amount of time from undergraduate to professional working scientist, I don't see a lot of room for waxing victim over not having a valuable, marketable and unique set of skills to offer. If, as a male or female graduate student (or anyone for that matter) your CV doesn't now have that set of skills that allows you to compete at the level you wish to compete at, for the types of positions and opportunities you want to achieve, decide on what would make you stand out, and get to work. I don't really see the value in crying foul while ignoring the obvious merit of someone pointing out a potentially real and totally fixable situation. Now can we talk about real ecology again? Best regards (and feel free to add me to the blastable list :) ). Susan Cousineau *** Anecdotally, in my M.Sc. program and over 2 years in a group of 27 students from 18 different countries, I continually observed that it was the boys that would hotly pursue opportunities to take courses that would build their skills, further their research, or put them in contact with others in their field. Of the female students I can think of a few that really stand out as having pushed their research and skill-building efforts, but not many that pursued external courses and funding opportunities as energetically. Perhaps I've been both lucky *and* fortunate, but I have also specifically chosen supervisors -- from my bachelor work upwards -- that were willing to allow me to propose and work on my own projects. As an undergraduate, for instance, I rather presumptuously proposed a research project to a supervisor (professor that I knew reasonably well from doing well in the class, of 175+ students) that required four months of fieldwork, on my own, in Amazonian Peru. I can hardly imagine anyone else having accepted such a ludicrous proposition but can only imagine that my demonstrated previous experience (traveling), language skills, and a well-researched and -written proposal gave me a leg up on demonstrating I was serious. Since then I've pretty much only chosen to work with supervisors that expressly encourage me to develop my own question within the framework of their research (with the exception of my final MSc. thesis, which for funding reasons I was rushed into a position in a lab that provided great fieldwork experience but despite a lot of talk, almost no opportunity in reality to develop my own work). I find now that I continually get great feedback on my CV (even if I don't get the job), and have a good long list of skills (Python, R, ArcGIS, LaTeX; project management and supervisory/training, teaching) that I'm continually working on to get where I want to go for my future Ph.D. work. (FYI: Spatial patterning in ecosystems, in relation to soil microbiology and disease dynamics, particularly in relation to indigenous and permaculture agricultural systems; and regenerative agriculture in general). Just my $0.02 (or €0.015). On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 1:17 PM, Max Taub ta...@southwestern.edu wrote: I feel for Clara Jones who is being blasted for sexism and I don't know what else, for what was presumably intended as a helpful word to younger aspiring scientists. Her point, as I saw it, was that too many young scientists develop only the general, generic skills of the discipline, while what is marketable is often very particular research skills. She suggests that this is more the case with young female than with young male scientists. Nothing in that suggests
Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student¹s Gui d e to Neces s ary Skills for Landing a Jo b
Do you really not see how one perpetuates the other? First female scientists - who already have to overcome societal beliefs that they are less capable then men - are singled out on a public form as being less prepared then male scientists - notably in the absence of evidence for this assumption. This is followed by respondents that find this offensive, who are subsequently dismissed - which leads to secondary argument that ultimately culminates in a silencing effect. And finally, we're back to - hey, what's wrong with pointing out that woman are less marketable than men Š maybe it will help themŠ Of course the assumption that woman are less marketable then men has never been substantiated or discussed - yet it's now evolved in the discussion as somehow factualŠ and even supported by evidence related to lack of mentoring and access to preferable opportunities by females. Therefore, does one not essentially lead to the other. If we believe women are less prepared do we not ultimately exclude them? The way I see it, the real problem is inappropriate, sexist assumptions that differentiate men from woman, followed by a lack of discussion and silencing that shuts down any attempts to argue against biased beliefs which ultimately feed a cycle that really needs to be discussed and brought under the microscopeŠ Two centsŠ On 13-02-19 3:17 PM, Max Taub ta...@southwestern.edu wrote: I feel for Clara Jones who is being blasted for sexism and I don't know what else, for what was presumably intended as a helpful word to younger aspiring scientists. Her point, as I saw it, was that too many young scientists develop only the general, generic skills of the discipline, while what is marketable is often very particular research skills. She suggests that this is more the case with young female than with young male scientists. Nothing in that suggests negative attitudes about the capabilities of young female scientists. It might suggest female scientists are (on average) less well mentored, or that they are (on average) shunted into less novel and exciting projects by grad school advisors. Or a host of other possibilities. I see no reason to tear into someone for posting such perceptions, Now you can blast me instead of her, Max Taub -- Daniel Taub Professor of Biology Southwestern University 1001 East University Ave Georgetown TX 78626 USA Phone: 512 863-1583 Fax: 512 863-1696 ta...@southwestern.edu
[ECOLOG-L] special issue of IEE on the future of publishing
Dear Ecolog, We have put together a special issue of Ideas in Ecology Evolution on the future of publishing for our discipline. The papers are all online and OA. I set up a quick blog for discussion and link throughs to the pdfs of all papers here: http://futurecopublishing.wordpress.com We welcome submissions anytime on this topic as it is our intention to keep it running as a regular section. The journal website is here: http://library.queensu.ca/ojs/index.php/IEE/index cheers, chris.
[ECOLOG-L] Postdoc fellowships in modeling and remote sensing at Los Alamos National Lab
Postdoctoral fellowship in modeling and remote sensing at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Summary: Postdoctoral positions are available within the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division to work on modeling or remote sensing of vegetation dynamics at the local to global scales. Successful applicants in the modeling realm will work with the most recent version of the Community Land Model coupled with the Ecosystem Demography model (CLM(ED)) in collaboration with the National Center for Atmospheric Research and other DOE national laboratories. The successful applicants in the remote sensing realm will focus on vegetation mortality monitoring, interpretation, and application to testing models at multiple scales (regional to global). In both cases, an emphasis on developing, testing, or applying CLM(ED) and remote sensing techniques to simulation and understanding of vegetation mortality and recovery is our main focus. Additionally, we encourage applicants who can work across disciplines and draw upon large and unique data sets to study linkages between large-scale climate and forest processes. This is a rolling application and will remain open for multiple applicants until February 2016. Required skills for modeling include experience developing or applying numerical simulation models. Required skills for remote sensing include experience using remote sensing techniques to quantify and interpret vegetation pattern changes. Required skills for both positions include demonstrated ability to publish peer-reviewed papers, effective written and oral communication skills, willingness to work in a team environment, and a Ph.D. pending or received within the last five years. Desired skills include knowledge of physiological, ecosystem, population, or community ecology; programming skills in Fortran; and data assimilation skills that integrate model and data. For more information or to apply please send a resume and a short statement of your future research goals to Nate McDowell (mcdow...@lanl.gov, http://climateresearch.lanl.gov/). Candidates may be considered for a Director's Fellowship and outstanding candidates may be considered for the prestigious J. Robert Oppenheimer, Richard P. Feynman or Frederick Reines Fellowships. For general information about LANLs postdoctoral program please refer to the Postdoctoral Program page (http://www.lanl.gov/careers/career-options/postdoctoral-research/postdoc-program/).
[ECOLOG-L] Is it possible to be interdisciplinary on your own?
Hi all, I have some questions that I hope will receive primarily some practical advice and possibly philosophical discussion , of course both are welcome! First some apologies- given the recent tensions in the maling list I wanted to make sure this request for advice in a confused period of my research process does not invite criticism for its nature or content. Please forgive any offence if you are studying these issues and have published relevant papers that answer my questions- no insult is meant - im just finding it hard to find detailed methodologies. Also apologies in advance if I misquote theory/ misuse the lexicon in your discipline. Lastly my apologies for my naivety in these issues - perhaps my questions are very well addressed I have just failed to understand the literature- perhaps I just need to read more, but I hope you will empathise or at least understand the reasons for my mind boggling. Its a little scary posting this to so many faceless people but I hope some of you may be able to provide some guidance. I am trying to use resilience/systems approach to undertake an interdisciplinary study looking information sharing, and its role mitigating human wildlife conflict and improving food security. I am trying to be very participatory/bottom up in nature. From my literature review (extensive review of more that 400 papers covering many disciplines) the social-ecological systems approach seems to be the way to go. The more I read the more I realise I have some underlying questions and concerns that I have not been able to address on my own- so (in the spirit of participation) I am calling for advice on the follow thoughts: *-interdisciplinary complexity- What to measure?* many papers (whether about HEC, natural resource management in general, or resilience to climate change), talk about the need to include methods/data and theory from several disciplines such as economics, governance, political science, social psychology, information pathways, ecology, anthropology, agricultural science, conflict management etc. etc., in order to address the complexity of the social-ecological system. At the same time they advise clear testable approaches with defined variables so as not to get lost in the complexity of including 'everything'. They suggest that careful consideration is given to deciding which factors to include in research and analysis without further suggestion of how to make such decisions. Also, it seems that few studies actually manage to integrate all these considerations despite claims to do so, or fail to follow their own recommendations, and instead take the easy way out by saying that future efforts should do consider socio-economic factors/governance issues not just the ecological.. Or socio-economic studies say next time we should include ecological factors... I realise science is a process built on previous research, so there will always be recommendations for improvement, but everyone is calling for integrated socio-ecological approaches yet there seems to be no advice (or little) on how to do actually this on the ground. - how to actually measure variables that contribute to resilience or adaptive capacity, how to integrate governance, psychology, climate and biodiversity in to one study. Modelling seems like a good approach and the relevant literature recommend to use multiple analyses to capture complex data- such as participatory mapping, mental models, fuzzy cognitive maps, agent based modelling, action research, social network analysis, vulnerability assessments, food security indicators, spatial analyses, and multivariate decision modelling- to name a few, and thats not including any ecological methods. At the same time they recommend participatory user-driven research -whereby the local farmers (in my case) help to guide the direction and nature of the participatory research. So here are a few questions that lead from these deliberations: 1) how do you work out (as a student) which modelling/approaches to use? 2) how do you decide which variables are important in your study if everything is so interconnected and apparently important (in regards to vulnerability and food security)? *Interdisciplinary teams:* people tend to refer to interdisciplinary research when they actually refer to what I consider 'multi-disciplinary'; many scientists each from a different discipline coming together to work on a unified project. 4) is it possible to carry out interdisciplinary work as a lone PhD student- rather than as a team of different disciplines together- can supervisors from different disciplines sufficiently advise a single interdisciplinary student? Can one student sufficiently learn/process and adopt theory and carry out methods from so many disciplines? I am an ecologist by training but I have taken (graduate level but introductory) courses in environmental anthropology, social psychology, GIS, and conflict management. But I do not have an economist on my
[ECOLOG-L] Call for Papers: Plant Ecology and Evolution in Harsh Environments
The Scientific World Journal announces a call for papers on plant ecology and evolution in harsh environments. We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles which advance our understanding of the role harsh environments have played in all aspects of the ecology and evolution of vascular and nonvascular plants, as well as that of algae and fungi. Researchers working with plants found on harsh substrates such as guano deposits, mine tailings, saline or alkaline flats, serpentine, limestone, and other rock outcrops are invited to submit manuscripts on their research. Researchers working with plants found in extreme environments such as alpine and arctic settings or man-made habitats such as agricultural settings, pavements, roadsides, roof tops, and waste disposal sites are similarly encouraged to submit manuscripts. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: -Adaptation to and speciation in extreme habitats -Ecophysiology of stress tolerance -All aspects of plant ecology, including cross-kingdom interactions, related to harsh environments -Evolutionary ecology and genetics of stress tolerant plants including ecological and evolutionary challenges to stress tolerant plants stemming from global climate change -Applied ecology, including the restoration and conservation of extreme environments Before submission authors should carefully read the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/author/submit/journals/tswj/botany/pee/. Manuscripts must be submitted by Friday, August 2, 2013. Questions regarding the special issue can be directed to one of the Guest Editors: -Nishanta Rajakaruna (nrajakar...@gmail.com), College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine -Robert Boyd (boyd...@auburn.edu), Auburn University, Alabama -Tanner Harris (har...@wra-ca.com), WRA, Inc., San Rafael, California
[ECOLOG-L] 2013 ESA Annual Meeting: Reminder! Contributed Oral and Poster Abstracts Deadline Feb 21
Call for Contributed Oral and Poster Abstracts 98th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America Minneapolis, Minnesota August 4-9, 2013 http://www.esa.org/minneapolis Deadline for Submission: Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time Please note that the submission form will close precisely at 5:00 PM Eastern Time even if you have not completed entering your submission! We invite submissions of abstracts for contributed oral and poster presentations at the 98th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. The theme for the meeting is Sustainable Pathways: Learning From the Past and Shaping the Future. Abstracts related to this theme are highly encouraged, but submissions may address any aspect of ecology and its applications. We also welcome submissions that report interdisciplinary work, address communication with broad audiences, or explore ways of teaching ecology at any level. Contributed oral presentations are allotted 15 minutes plus 5 minutes for questions, and will be placed in thematic sessions scheduled Monday afternoon through Friday morning. By submitting an abstract, it is expected that authors will be available during any of these time slots. Abstracts will be placed in sessions based on themes ranked by the submitting author. Contributed poster presentations are placed in late afternoon poster sessions scheduled Monday through Thursday afternoon. Posters will be displayed all day preceding their session, and authors are expected to present their posters during the entire 2 hour poster session. Students planning to present at the meeting who are interested in applying for awards should visit the ESA website for more information: http://www.esa.org/aboutesa/awards.php For more information and to begin the submission process, please visit: http://www.esa.org/minneapolis/contributed.php Please note that invited speakers for Symposia, Organized Oral Sessions, and Organized Poster Sessions should NOT submit using the contributed form. They should submit their abstracts by following a unique link sent by email in late January. These abstracts are also due on February 21, 2013 at 5:00 PM EST.
[ECOLOG-L] Post-doc to assess effects of environmental change on lake chemistry
We are seeking a post-doctoral research associate to work on a project that is a joint effort between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Northern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service. The research will focus on: 1) assessing decadal-scale baseline shifts in lake chemistry in northern Wisconsin, and 2) mechanistic experiments to discern effects of changing atmospheric deposition and climatic variability on lake chemistry. Responsibilities include: * Establishment of a productive collaboration with researchers at the Center for Limnology on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, WI (advisor Dr. Emily Stanley); at the Forest Service office and laboratory in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (advisors Dr. Stephen Sebestyen and Dr. Randy Kolka); and at the North Temperate Lakes Long Term Ecological Research site in Boulder Junction, WI as well as with resource managers on the Chequamegon-Nicolet and nearby National Forests. * Collating existing data for a metadata analysis of lake chemistry on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and surrounding areas. * Designing and directing field sampling campaigns for a series of study lakes, completing laboratory analyses on water chemistry samples for major solutes, and data processing. * Leading the preparation of publications for peer-reviewed scientific literature. Qualifications: Ph.D. in limnology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, geochemistry, ecology, or related fields prior to appointment and experience with field work in aquatic environments. Experience/interest in use of large data sets is desirable. This appointment is envisioned to be of two-year duration. Salary includes standard benefits of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, more information is available at http://www.grad.wisc.edu/research/postdocs/geninfo.html . Deadline for submission of applications is the close of business on Friday 22 March 2013. The position could begin as early as late April/May 2013. For more information on the position contact both Dr. Stephen Sebestyen (ssebest...@fs.fed.us) and Dr. Emily Stanley (ehstan...@wisc.edu). To Apply, email a single pdf file which includes: a letter of application, curriculum vitae, and names of 3 references (with telephone numbers and email addresses); to Denise Karns, dkka...@wisc.edu ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Denise Karns Center Assistant UW-Madison Center for Limnology 608-262-3014 dkka...@wisc.edu
[ECOLOG-L] Sap Flow Sensors for Corn
Hi all- I'm studying the relationship between groundwater depth and plant water use in a commercial corn field. Does anyone have any experience with sap flow sensors for this (or similar) research? I'm very new to the world of sap flow. Questions I've been thinking about: -What sensors have you had good luck with? It looks like Dynamax is the main company out there but I'd be curious about any others. -How many replicate sensors or measurements do you take per test plot? (in my case, the trials are different regions of the field with different GW conditions) -Can you find sensors that are continuously logging, to produce daily ET curves? Or do they generally take single measurements? Any other insights would also be appreciated. I'll compile my findings and report back to the list. Thanks, -Sam Zipper
[ECOLOG-L] is a wetland delineation cert. a top job skill?
Hello Ecologgers, I am hoping that you can weigh in on my question. As a young ecologist, I am working to acquire the maximal number of resume-bolstering skills before joining the job market. I check out the listings periodically to assess the most requested job qualifications, and I generally see the previously mentioned GIS and stats. I also see Wetland Delineation. I'll have the chance to get certified this spring, and I'd like some feedback on whether it's worth it before I spend the ~$1000. What's your opinion? Would wetland delineation certification make me a significantly stronger job candidate? -Anne
[ECOLOG-L] Job announcement: Black Tern Field Team Leader
One experienced avian field team leader is needed for surveys of breeding Black Terns in the Great Lakes region. The team leader will head one of two teams conducting surveys in either Michigan and New York, or Wisconsin and Minnesota during the Black Tern breeding season. Teams will travel between wetland survey sites throughout the season. Food and lodging (mostly at campgrounds) in the field will be provided, and lodging will be available in St. Paul, MN, as needed for the first and last weeks of employment. Responsibilities: Responsibilities of the field team leader include (1) hiking or kayaking in wetlands to count Black Tern nests and/or adults flying above the colony, (2) communicating with land owners and finalizing the team’s schedule for visiting assigned wetland survey sites, (3) keeping detailed records of surveys and communicating regularly with project leader about progress, (4) supervising one field assistant who will help with the surveys, (5) securing and caring for field equipment, and (6) managing the team’s project-related expenses and regularly submitting receipts for reimbursement. The field team leader may also be asked to assist with preparation of field equipment at the beginning of the field season and with data entry and validation at the end of the season. Qualifications: Applicants should have experience in conducting avian field surveys and nest searches; experience with marsh birds or colonial waterbirds a plus. Candidates who have or are working towards a B.S. or B.A. in wildlife biology, ecology, environmental science, or a related field are preferred. Strong communication, organizational, and money management skills are critical. Applicants should be able to swim, have prior kayaking or canoeing experience, and be able to lift 50lbs. Applicants must have a valid driver’s license. Applicants should be willing to work a flexible weekly schedule, with the timing and number of days off dependent on weather and land owners’ schedules. The successful candidate will demonstrate a positive attitude towards working outdoors in wet, muddy, summertime conditions, and an ability to embrace the unexpected. Approximate Dates of Employment: May 28 – July 19, 2013 Compensation: $14/hour To apply for this position, please send a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three people who can comment on the applicant’s ability to meet the job requirements to wyman...@umn.edu. Applications will be reviewed beginning on March 6th, 2013. Questions about the position may be directed to Kate Wyman at wyman...@umn.edu. -- Katherine Kate E. Wyman Conservation Biology Graduate Program University of Minnesota 200 Hodson Hall 1980 Folwell Ave Saint Paul, MN 55108
[ECOLOG-L] Job: Tenured Professor in either Systems Engineering or Information Sciences(free to forward)
A professor position is open in 2013. The tenured professor position is open in the fields of either Systems Engineering or Information Sciences broadly, including Biosystems Engineering or Social Systems Engineering, or Applied Sciences/Biology. We are looking for an excellent candidate who can lead his/her own field. We run the ad in Science (Jan 4 issue) and Nature web. The deadline is 4 March (via email). Feel free to contact me at the address below for any question. Contact: Jin Yoshimura at j...@sys.eng.shizuoka.ac.jp Position Opening: Professor of Systems Engineering Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu The Department of Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shizuoka University, invites nominations and applications for a faculty position at the level of tenure professor, as described below. Faculty of Engineering and Graduate School of Engineering will be reformed on April 2013 and the prospective professor will be affiliated to Department of Mathematical and Systems Engineering. 1. Position: Professor (one position) 2. Department: Department of Systems Engineering 3. Research field: Information Sciences or Systems Engineering 4. Teaching courses: Undergraduate and graduate courses in information sciences or systems engineering. 5. Qualifications: Candidates must have completed their Ph. D. Willingness to teach undergraduate and graduate students eagerly. 6. Starting date: July 1, 2013 at earliest(negotiable) 7. Application materials: Applicants should submit the following documents: (1) A CV with photo and email address (2) A list of publications (categorize under a) refereed journal papers, b) review papers, c) books, d) conference/proceeding papers with reviewed or not, e) patents, f) administrative records, and social activities, etc.) (3) an outline of previous researches and teaching activities (up to 2 pages) (4) research interests and teaching statements (up to 2 pages) (5) the list of research grants awarded with the specifications of principal/collaborate investigators (6) the names and addresses of two referees who have agreed (email/phone necessary) (7) major papers in pdf files (up to 5). Note that documents (1)-(6) should be combined in a single pdf file. 8. Deadline: Monday, March 4, 2013 (received). 9. Formal application and informal inquiries to: Jin Yoshimura, Chair, Search Committee, at jin(at)sys.eng.shizuoka.ac.jp, where (at) is @. Shizuoka University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Priority is given to a woman, foreigner and handicapped if qualified equally. The official retirement of the university is 65 (those reached/are reaching age 65 by 1st April will retire at 31st March). Jin Yoshimura j...@sys.eng.shizuoka.ac.jp
[ECOLOG-L] Job: Division Director for the NSF Division of Environmental Biology
The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA, is looking for a Division Director. This is a position for a rotator rather than a permanent position; rotators in DEB typically hold a faculty position from which they either are assigned to NSF or take a leave to be directly employed by NSF for one to four years. The salary range is $155,550 to $174,460 per year. For information and to apply, please go to https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/PrintPreview/ Most ECOLOG-L subscribers will probably recognize DEB as the division of NSF that funds most ecological research, through its four clusters: bullet http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503663org=DEBfrom=homeEcosystem Science Cluster bullet http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503664org=DEBfrom=homeEvolutionary Processes Cluster bullet http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503665org=DEBfrom=homePopulation and Community Ecology Cluster bullet http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503666org=DEBfrom=homeSystematics and Biodiversity Science Cluster (SBS) http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=DEB has more information about the Division. Not surprisingly, the Division Director is often a member of the Ecological Society of America (e.g., the current and previous one were).
Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student¹s Gui d e to Nece s s ary Skills for Landing a Jo b
I have to agree with Carolyn here. I am not going to say that Clara's observation is not data, but I can't help think, what if female and young were substituted with other groups -- ethnic-based, sexuality-based or some other kind of classification of people? I think there'd be a lot of words about that. So I don't see how this is much different than marginalizing another grouping of people. I also think that sexism can still come from the same gender (not that it should come from any). I've observed it many times, particularly during my Master's program among intelligent young, and competitive women. That said, it's observation and data. Facts. But emotional responses to this comment are another kind of data and fact. Something that when dealing with people, needs to be accounted for since none of us are completely objective in our observations of one another. As a young female graduate student, hearing Clara's observation worries me about what I need to accomplish during my degree. It also tells me several things --- 1) candidates are still judged by their gender and thus 2) I need to work even harder than my male counterparts to gain equal respect to overcome the preconceived notions of how useful I'd be as a new hire, and 3) should I wonder if I'm not being mentored well enough by my advisor compared to my male counterparts in the field? Maybe this will be a good thing in the end. Maybe I will have that much more of a competitive advantage because I'm aware of these biases. But this is based on one observation. I wonder why no one else has stated whether or not they share the same observations? I apologize if I've missed them. Because if this is mostly true, as a young woman, I'd like to know what I have to prepare myself for when looking for jobs. It also saddens me that even with the leaps and bounds of feminism in the last 50 years, we still battle sexism. Just because it's more subtle than before doesn't mean it's not there. If we continue to treat it like it's something to brush over, we let those stereotypes persist. Remember, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. All the best, Skylar NB: If you make a comment on a public listserv, you welcome yourself to people's responses, so I don't see what the problem is with people responding with how they feel about the issue given that the comment was put out in the open. -- Skylar Bayer University of Maine School of Marine Sciences Graduate Student of Marine Biology Darling Marine Center 193 Clark's Cove Road Walpole, ME 04573 skylar.ba...@maine.edu On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 4:30 PM, Carolyn Nersesian carolyn.nerses...@sydney.edu.au wrote: Do you really not see how one perpetuates the other? First female scientists - who already have to overcome societal beliefs that they are less capable then men - are singled out on a public form as being less prepared then male scientists - notably in the absence of evidence for this assumption. This is followed by respondents that find this offensive, who are subsequently dismissed - which leads to secondary argument that ultimately culminates in a silencing effect. And finally, we're back to - hey, what's wrong with pointing out that woman are less marketable than men Š maybe it will help themŠ Of course the assumption that woman are less marketable then men has never been substantiated or discussed - yet it's now evolved in the discussion as somehow factualŠ and even supported by evidence related to lack of mentoring and access to preferable opportunities by females. Therefore, does one not essentially lead to the other. If we believe women are less prepared do we not ultimately exclude them? The way I see it, the real problem is inappropriate, sexist assumptions that differentiate men from woman, followed by a lack of discussion and silencing that shuts down any attempts to argue against biased beliefs which ultimately feed a cycle that really needs to be discussed and brought under the microscopeŠ Two centsŠ On 13-02-19 3:17 PM, Max Taub ta...@southwestern.edu wrote: I feel for Clara Jones who is being blasted for sexism and I don't know what else, for what was presumably intended as a helpful word to younger aspiring scientists. Her point, as I saw it, was that too many young scientists develop only the general, generic skills of the discipline, while what is marketable is often very particular research skills. She suggests that this is more the case with young female than with young male scientists. Nothing in that suggests negative attitudes about the capabilities of young female scientists. It might suggest female scientists are (on average) less well mentored, or that they are (on average) shunted into less novel and exciting projects by grad school advisors. Or a host of other possibilities. I see no reason to tear into someone for posting such perceptions, Now you can blast me instead of
[ECOLOG-L] Marine ecology research technician
*Job Title:* Marine ecology research technician *Department:* Institute of Marine Sciences *Posting Position Category:* Marine hard bottom habitat research *Hiring Range:* $10.61 / hr *Proposed Start Date:* 7/1/2013 *Estimated Duration of Appointment*: This is a temporary position not to exceed 24 months. *Posting Open Date:* 2/19/2013 *Posting Close Date:* 3/11/2013 *Description of Work:* We seek a research technician for an applied marine ecology study investigating fish and invertebrate community structure on natural and artificial hard bottom. The two-year study will determine how fish utilize low- and high- relief hard bottom as a function of sedimentation dynamics and benthic community condition, especially in relationship to offshore wind energy development. Technician duties include field surveys and data management. Year-round field surveys will be conducted in North Carolina coastal waters using SCUBA equipment and scientific diving methodology. Data management will involve data entry, video processing and analysis, photoquadrat image processing and analysis, database management, and statistical analysis. This position will be based at UNC-CH Institute of Marine Sciences, 3431 Arendell St., Morehead City, NC 28557. *Education and Experience*: SCUBA experience with minimum of 75 logged dives and Rescue Diver certification. AAUS certification preferred. Bachelor’s degree in biology, marine science, ecology, or environmental science preferred. Preference will be given to recent graduates with long-term interest in obtaining experience that will prepare them for success in graduate school and in a marine conservation ecology career. Familiarity with statistical analysis using R or SAS and experience with ArcGIS are a plus. *Special Physical and Mental Requirements: *This work will require the ability to lift at least 50 lbs., to work in cold/hot, wet conditions, as well as during some early-morning and late-night shifts. Applicants must be willing to conduct offshore diving fieldwork while operating off of small boats and must hold a valid driver’s license. *ARRA funded:* No * * *Special Instructions: * Please direct specific inquires to Avery Paxton (project investigator), abpax...@live.unc.edu. The numerous marine research facilities and institutions in the Carteret County area usually allow opportunity for cost-efficient housing options.
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Is it possible to be interdisciplinary on your own?
Interdisciplinary approaches are those that occupy spaces that cross more than one discipline. -for example, I have a recent study in review that crosses political science, ecology, and communications. Multidisciplinary approaches are those that require input from multiple disciplines. -an environmental impact statement will require an ecologist, an economist, or people trained extensively in multiple fields. These two terms are widely interchanged and its difficult from reading any materials which is really intended. Yes, you can do interdisciplinary research by yourself. However, I will tell you right now that its difficult. WHy? Its not doing the research that is really all that hard. Its trying to publish it. Typically, if you grab an interdisciplinary thread, there may only be one or two other people or groups working with that combination of disciplines. This can lead to problems with peer review. For example, you have learned the widely accepted technique A in discipline A, and you are using to address questions in discipline B that are of relevance to discipline C. EVERYONE in discipline A is very aware of technique A and it has been the subject of hundreds of papers, so many that people don't really even question its validity much anymore so papers don't even explain it. Sort of like we do with an ANOVA. No one will go into much depth about the mathematics behind an ANOVA. So, you finish the paper, you send it to one of the experts on technique A from discipline A and he/she tells you it looks great. Confident you have done things right, you submit it to the journal in discpline C. Guess what, the reviewers for the journal in Discipline C know nothing about this technique. You can spend pages explaining its validity, and they will still come back with such things as I'm not convinced this technique is valid. Most editors will just reject it then. You end up usually sending the paper to a journal in discipline A or B, where it is never seen by those who need to see it in disicpline C. That is the problem you face and the hurdle that is exceedingly difficult to leap. I had to face this with the use of fuzzy mathematics which continues to be a hurdle when I submit papers. I've also had to deal with it in a very recent paper. You just have to have patience and address your audience fully and carefully, then hope that one of your reviewers is not hard-headed, incompetent, or someone who views your outcomes as a threat. If you are doing research of a political nature, believe me, someone is going to be threatened, and you will cross paths with people who are unwilling to admit they can't evaluate the components of which they are unfamiliar. Multidisciplinary research is less problematic because you will typically have enough people from different disciplines so each has to understand the other, resulting in papers that communicate widely to audiences in the multiple disciplines. Its a bit of a bigger challenge than a strait out ecology paper. Both better be good, but interdisciplinary studies must get through some hoops the single-discipline paper would never face. malcolm On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 3:53 PM, Tania Bird taniab...@gmail.com wrote: Hi all, I have some questions that I hope will receive primarily some practical advice and possibly philosophical discussion , of course both are welcome! First some apologies- given the recent tensions in the maling list I wanted to make sure this request for advice in a confused period of my research process does not invite criticism for its nature or content. Please forgive any offence if you are studying these issues and have published relevant papers that answer my questions- no insult is meant - im just finding it hard to find detailed methodologies. Also apologies in advance if I misquote theory/ misuse the lexicon in your discipline. Lastly my apologies for my naivety in these issues - perhaps my questions are very well addressed I have just failed to understand the literature- perhaps I just need to read more, but I hope you will empathise or at least understand the reasons for my mind boggling. Its a little scary posting this to so many faceless people but I hope some of you may be able to provide some guidance. I am trying to use resilience/systems approach to undertake an interdisciplinary study looking information sharing, and its role mitigating human wildlife conflict and improving food security. I am trying to be very participatory/bottom up in nature. From my literature review (extensive review of more that 400 papers covering many disciplines) the social-ecological systems approach seems to be the way to go. The more I read the more I realise I have some underlying questions and concerns that I have not been able to address on my own- so (in the spirit of participation) I am calling for advice on the follow thoughts: *-interdisciplinary complexity- What to measure?* many papers (whether
[ECOLOG-L] So what does the science say? ... Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues
Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/09/14/1211286109 science faculty from research-intensive universities rated the application materials of a student—who was randomly assigned either a male or female name—for a laboratory manager position. Faculty participants rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant. These participants also selected a higher starting salary and offered more career mentoring to the male applicant. The gender of the faculty participants did not affect responses, such that female and male faculty were equally likely to exhibit bias against the female student. On 2/19/2013 4:15 PM, Hanberry, Brice B. wrote: Or is it (sexist)? See: Bias Is Hurting Women in Science, Panel Reports http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/science/19women.html?_r=0 Five Years After an Incendiary Remark, Signs That Harvard Is More Welcoming to Women http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/harvard-2/ -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Jane Shevtsov Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 1:36 PM To:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues Let's not forget that the original comment that triggered this whole discussion was made by a woman! I don't think it was intended to be sexist. It's not sexist to say, In my experience, women tend to do X and would be better off doing Y. It may be accurate or inaccurate, but it's not sexist. Jane Shevtsov On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Leslie M. Adams leslie.ad...@comcast.netwrote: Now, I am the one who must speak up and voice my support for Yvette (and Chandreyee). While no slight may have been intended, as a female scientist I too experienced the responses Yvette cites - and especially the one recently posted by Dr. Olden - as belittling and dismissive. There is considerable gender bias in the fields of ecology and biology and it is important to object to it whenever it arises; whether intentional or not. Perhaps it is easy to counsel moving on when you are unaffected by this handicap personally, but to say that it is somehow unsuitable or inappropriate to address on this listserv is ridiculous and dismisses the tremendously damaging effect this bias has on many, many lives. It is also not lost on me that the issue of gender has somehow arisen in a discussion of the skills necessary for landing a job in ecology. I would suggest that this is no coincidence. Leslie M. Adams, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Plant Systematics Professional Training and Development University of New Hampshire http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ Home Office: 603 / 659-6177 Adjunct Associate Professor of Environmental Sustainability School of Undergraduate Studies (online) University of Maryland University College Adjunct Professor of Life Sciences Department of Liberal Arts New Hampshire Institute of Art We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. - Albert Einstein -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Julian Olden Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 1:04 PM To:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student#x2019;s Guide to Neces sary Skills for Landing a Job Hi Yvette, Apologies, but your interpretation of my suggestion is extremely misguided and flat-out wrong. My response was a cleaver way of saying that you can ignore the silly responses of particular ECO-LOGGERS (some of which have a track record of this behavior) by filtering your emails. Unfortunately your email has added fuel to a series of ECOLOG posts that have very little to do with the original premise of the Blickley et al. (2012). Let's all move on now. Cheers, Julian --- Julian D. Olden Freshwater Ecology Conservation Lab School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195 e:mailto:ol...@uw.edu ol...@uw.edu, t: (206) 616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 tel:%28206%29%20616-3112 w:http://www.fish.washington.edu/research/oldenlab/ http://www.fish.washington.edu/research/oldenlab/ skype: goldenolden The face of the river . . . was not a book to be read once and thrown aside, for it had a new story to tell every day. Mark Twain On 2/18/13 7:37 AM, Yvette Dickinson mailto: yvette.dickin...@gmail.com yvette.dickin...@gmail.com wrote: Like Chandreyee Mitra I was surprised by the comment included in Clara's list: 7. ...i am somewhat exercised by your post because, IMO, too many young, especially, female, applicants don't bring much to the table that others don't already know or that cannot be readily duplicated or that is mostly generalist-oriented... This is a sentiment that I
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Abundance estimate references
Hi Nabin I think you'll also need to account for or show there was no interannual variation in factors that might affect observability/detectability (e.g. habitat changes). See David Anderson's views on such indices - http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/~anderson/free_index_values.html Cheers Matt Dr Matt Hayward Regional Ecologist, Australian Wildlife Conservancy PO Box 432, Nichol's Point, Victoria 3501 -Original Message- From: Kurt Rinehart rinehart.k...@gmail.com To: ECOLOG-L ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Wed, Feb 20, 2013 7:35 am Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Abundance estimate references I don't know of anyone doing this, per se. Reporting a maximum count is often reported as the minimum number known alive (MNKA) at a given point in time. That might be the best you can do-be cautious of over-reaching from counts to abundance. Counts are typically adjusted for the observation process (imperfect detectability). It seems that by averaging your counts, you are trying to account for the observation variation, but abundance for your bird population isn't the same as bodyweight. You would average a sample of bodyweights to estimate the mean bodyweight of the population. Abundance is different. The true abundance is not some value between your highest and lowest counts, it is some value greater than any and all of your counts. Your average count is going to be a poor estimate of abundance. It is an estimate of your expected count given some true abundance--and that true abundance would have to be constant across the set of counts you are averaging for that to be sensible. Some use counts as indices of abundance. This interpretation requires assumptions about the constancy and uniformity of the observation process across all relevant counts and any others that you may wish to compare. The index interpretation may be suitable if your surveys controlled sufficiently for reasonable sources of observational bias. For an endangered bird in particular, this may be adequate--it depends a bit on how much is known/inferred currently of the species' abundance. For a quick treatment, this document and references therein seems pertinent: http://www.ebcc.info/wpimages/other/birdsurvey.pdf On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 11:34 AM, Nabin Baral nbaral2...@yahoo.com wrote: Hello Ecolog Members: I've recently submitted an article about population size estimate of an endangered bird species. I counted birds during the breeding seasons at least five times per season for 10 years. For the sake of comparison, I have also included the mean and the highest count as an estimate of abundance. One of the reviewers is asking to include references of other studies or methodological articles about the convenience or advantages of using the mean or the maximum value of a series of counts. I have searched online, but could not locate appropriate citations/articles. I hope that someone in the list might help me about the references. Please reply me off list if you know any references in this area. Thank you in advance for your time. Sincerely, Nabin
[ECOLOG-L] Head Field Technician Required-Columbian ground squirrels/Rocky Mountains
Head Field Technician Required-Columbian ground squirrels Sheep River Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada We are looking for a head field technician to assist with, and coordinate, fieldwork on the ecology of a wild population of Columbian ground squirrels. The head technician will supervise 4-5 volunteers for the period of Apr 10 to Aug 31, 2013. Duties will include monitoring the phenology (when animals emerge from hibernation), reproduction and survival of individuals, data entry and data verification. Fieldwork will involve live-trapping and handling of animals, behavioural observation, radio-telemetry (to locate natal burrows) and assistance with the measurement of physiological (metabolism) traits on free-ranging animals. The successful candidate will have previous fieldwork experience, ideally in a field camp/station setting, have experience in data entry and management and show a high level of responsibility. Good organizational, multi-tasking and supervisory abilities are essential. Applicants who have experience working with terrestrial vertebrates will be given priority. Additionally, you should have an interest in a number of the following (the more the better!): ecology, evolutionary biology, wildlife, field biology, and animal behaviour. Periods of time will be spent camping and, as such, successful applicants need to enjoy the outdoors, be up-beat, positive, responsible and work well as a member of a team. All fieldwork will be carried out in the spectacular Rocky Mountains of southwestern Alberta, Canada, home to some of the most majestic wildlife in North America. You will be staying at the University of Calgarys R.B. Miller research station in Sheep River Provincial Park, Alberta (http://bgs.ucalgary.ca/facilities/facilities). You will interact with other researchers working with ground squirrels on a diversity of projects in behavioural and population ecology. Additionally, the field station is home to a number of other researchers working on a variety of projects, ranging from insects to large mammals. Salary is $1850/month. Food and accommodation are provided. If you wish to apply for this position, please send a CV with a cover letter and contact details of three references (with e-mail address), by email to Jeff Lane (contact info below), by March 07, 2013. Please indicate in your application that you are applying for the head technician position (we are also posting for volunteers). Note that due to Canadian immigration laws, North American citizens and permanent residents will be given priority. We thank everyone for applying, but only those selected for interview will be contacted. Only applicants available for the entire period will be considered. Contact: Dr. Jeff Lane u.columbia...@hotmail.com Department of Biological Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton, AB Canada T6G 2E9
Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student¹s Gui d e to Nece s s ary Skills for Landing a Jo b
Hi Skylar, I do not share the view that young women bring less to the table as ecologists. In fact, I am continually astounded by the strength, endurance, and intelligence of the young women (undergrads and graduate students from a variety of countries - US, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand) with whom I have worked in some very challenging field conditions in Southeast Asia. And these same young woman are adeptly mastering GIS, statistics, scientific writing, public speaking, and ecological theory (among other skill and knowledge sets). My advice to women soon to launch into a career or graduate school: just keep working hard, try to think the best of everyone, and do everything you can to increase your self-confidence. If you believe in yourself, it matters less what others think. Nancy ~ Nancy E. Karraker, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Wetland Ecology Department of Natural Resources Science University of Rhode Island 105 Coastal Institute at Kingston Kingston, Rhode Island 02881 USA Email: nkarra...@mail.uri.edu Phone: 401-874-2916 ~ - Original Message - From: Skylar Bayer skyla...@gmail.com To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 6:35:07 PM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student¹s Gui d e to Nece s s ary Skills for Landing a Jo b I have to agree with Carolyn here. I am not going to say that Clara's observation is not data, but I can't help think, what if female and young were substituted with other groups -- ethnic-based, sexuality-based or some other kind of classification of people? I think there'd be a lot of words about that. So I don't see how this is much different than marginalizing another grouping of people. I also think that sexism can still come from the same gender (not that it should come from any). I've observed it many times, particularly during my Master's program among intelligent young, and competitive women. That said, it's observation and data. Facts. But emotional responses to this comment are another kind of data and fact. Something that when dealing with people, needs to be accounted for since none of us are completely objective in our observations of one another. As a young female graduate student, hearing Clara's observation worries me about what I need to accomplish during my degree. It also tells me several things --- 1) candidates are still judged by their gender and thus 2) I need to work even harder than my male counterparts to gain equal respect to overcome the preconceived notions of how useful I'd be as a new hire, and 3) should I wonder if I'm not being mentored well enough by my advisor compared to my male counterparts in the field? Maybe this will be a good thing in the end. Maybe I will have that much more of a competitive advantage because I'm aware of these biases. But this is based on one observation. I wonder why no one else has stated whether or not they share the same observations? I apologize if I've missed them. Because if this is mostly true, as a young woman, I'd like to know what I have to prepare myself for when looking for jobs. It also saddens me that even with the leaps and bounds of feminism in the last 50 years, we still battle sexism. Just because it's more subtle than before doesn't mean it's not there. If we continue to treat it like it's something to brush over, we let those stereotypes persist. Remember, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. All the best, Skylar NB: If you make a comment on a public listserv, you welcome yourself to people's responses, so I don't see what the problem is with people responding with how they feel about the issue given that the comment was put out in the open. -- Skylar Bayer University of Maine School of Marine Sciences Graduate Student of Marine Biology Darling Marine Center 193 Clark's Cove Road Walpole, ME 04573 skylar.ba...@maine.edu On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 4:30 PM, Carolyn Nersesian carolyn.nerses...@sydney.edu.au wrote: Do you really not see how one perpetuates the other? First female scientists - who already have to overcome societal beliefs that they are less capable then men - are singled out on a public form as being less prepared then male scientists - notably in the absence of evidence for this assumption. This is followed by respondents that find this offensive, who are subsequently dismissed - which leads to secondary argument that ultimately culminates in a silencing effect. And finally, we're back to - hey, what's wrong with pointing out that woman are less marketable than men Š maybe it will help themŠ Of course the assumption that woman are less marketable then men has never been substantiated or discussed - yet it's now evolved in the discussion as somehow factualŠ and even supported by evidence related to lack of mentoring and access to preferable opportunities by
[ECOLOG-L] Climate Fellowship Opportunity - DUE DATE 3/1/13
Clean Air-Cool Planet is now inviting applications for our competitive 2013 Climate Fellowship program. CA-CPs Climate Fellowships pair outstanding students with important projects that will propel the US toward a low-carbon future. Fellows spend 10 weeks during the summer working on meaningful, challenging projects at CA-CP and with our partners. In return, Fellows receive a stipend, as well as supervision, mentorship, and unique networking opportunities. 2013 Fellows will also join a growing group of nearly 50 CA-CP Climate Fellowship alumni, the vast majority of whom have remained in the environmental/energy fields. Review available Fellowship postings and learn how to apply at http://cleanair-coolplanet.org/2013-fellowships/. All Fellowship applications must be received by March 1, 2013, in order to be considered. Please circulate widely. Regards, Clean Air-Cool Planet Team www.cleanair-coolplanet.org
Re: [ECOLOG-L] So what does the science say? ... Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues
Double-blind peer review, in which neither author nor reviewer identity are revealed, is rarely practised in ecology or evolution journals. However, in 2001, double-blind review was introduced by the journal Behavioral Ecology. Following this policy change, there was a significant increase in female first-authored papers, a pattern not observed in a very similar journal that provides reviewers with author information. No negative effects could be identified, suggesting that double-blind review should be considered by other journals. Budden et al. 2008 Double-blind review favours increased representation of female authors. Trends Ecol Evol 23(1):4-6 On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 7:08 PM, Denise Burchsted dburchs...@plymouth.eduwrote: Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students http://www.pnas.org/content/**early/2012/09/14/1211286109http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/09/14/1211286109 science faculty from research-intensive universities rated the application materials of a student—who was randomly assigned either a male or female name—for a laboratory manager position. Faculty participants rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant. These participants also selected a higher starting salary and offered more career mentoring to the male applicant. The gender of the faculty participants did not affect responses, such that female and male faculty were equally likely to exhibit bias against the female student. On 2/19/2013 4:15 PM, Hanberry, Brice B. wrote: Or is it (sexist)? See: Bias Is Hurting Women in Science, Panel Reports http://www.nytimes.com/2006/**09/19/science/19women.html?_r=**0http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/science/19women.html?_r=0 Five Years After an Incendiary Remark, Signs That Harvard Is More Welcoming to Women http://thechoice.blogs.**nytimes.com/2010/03/12/**harvard-2/http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/harvard-2/ -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto: ecolo...@listserv.umd.**EDU ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Jane Shevtsov Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 1:36 PM To:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues Let's not forget that the original comment that triggered this whole discussion was made by a woman! I don't think it was intended to be sexist. It's not sexist to say, In my experience, women tend to do X and would be better off doing Y. It may be accurate or inaccurate, but it's not sexist. Jane Shevtsov On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Leslie M. Adams leslie.ad...@comcast.net**wrote: Now, I am the one who must speak up and voice my support for Yvette (and Chandreyee). While no slight may have been intended, as a female scientist I too experienced the responses Yvette cites - and especially the one recently posted by Dr. Olden - as belittling and dismissive. There is considerable gender bias in the fields of ecology and biology and it is important to object to it whenever it arises; whether intentional or not. Perhaps it is easy to counsel moving on when you are unaffected by this handicap personally, but to say that it is somehow unsuitable or inappropriate to address on this listserv is ridiculous and dismisses the tremendously damaging effect this bias has on many, many lives. It is also not lost on me that the issue of gender has somehow arisen in a discussion of the skills necessary for landing a job in ecology. I would suggest that this is no coincidence. Leslie M. Adams, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Plant Systematics Professional Training and Development University of New Hampshire http://home.comcast.net/~**leslie.adams/http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ http://home.comcast.net/~**leslie.adams/http://home.comcast.net/~leslie.adams/ Home Office: 603 / 659-6177 Adjunct Associate Professor of Environmental Sustainability School of Undergraduate Studies (online) University of Maryland University College Adjunct Professor of Life Sciences Department of Liberal Arts New Hampshire Institute of Art We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. - Albert Einstein -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ecolo...@listserv.umd.**EDU ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Julian Olden Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 1:04 PM To:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] A Graduate Student#x2019;s Guide to Neces sary Skills for Landing a Job Hi Yvette, Apologies, but your interpretation of my suggestion is extremely misguided and flat-out wrong. My response was a cleaver way of saying that you can ignore the silly responses of particular ECO-LOGGERS (some of which have a track record of this behavior) by filtering your emails. Unfortunately your email has added fuel to a series of
[ECOLOG-L] Exciting internship projects in coastal Ecuador - spring 2013
We believe the strength of our intern programs lies in its encouragement of interns to give free reign to their creativity. Where you have experience, you will be given the chance to really apply it to build and design systems; to develop curriculum and put it to use. If you do not have experience, you will enjoy a steep learning curve and will not leave without having achieved a level of practical and theoretical knowledge and experience that will serve you for the rest of your life. To be clear: these internships are for self-starters and people with initiative. Despite the natural beauty of the land and the comfort of the program sites, conditions here are challenging - nothing is accomplished without surmounting obstacles. The spring session runs Tues, April 02 though Tues, May 28. Please see the website for more information: http://3malliance.org/index.php?id=320 Here are some projects we have in mind for the coming year... 1. Design build a micro-hydro power system - This is a great project for a recent engineering student wanting to put their knowledge to use and build up some practical experience, or for a pro looking to make a great contribution on an adventure in the jungle. 2. Continue an ongoing insect survey - Check out our Insect Bible here!: Chapter 1: Coleoptera http://3malliance.org/fileadmin/media/resources/intern_reports/JamaInsectGuideChapter1Coleoptera.pdf Chapter 2: Other http://3malliance.org/fileadmin/media/resources/intern_reports/JamaInsectGuideChapter2Other.pdf Chapter 3: Lepidopterahttp://3malliance.org/fileadmin/media/resources/intern_reports/JamaInsectGuideChapter3Lepidoptera.pdf 3. Develop a system for raising insects as chicken feed - liberate us from the tyranny of supplementing their diets with corn! A precocious intern could stack functions by selecting insects which are known to be edible and delectable to humans as well as chickens. Check out these links for inspiration http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/01/insects-food-emissions http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/aug/19/insects-food-crisis http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/31/insects-uk-diet-2020 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/nov/13/grubs-up-eating-insects 4. Elaborate upon a nascent hummingbird garden and continue an ongoing bird survey. 200+ species found so far! 5. Fungus identification research - there are more mushrooms here than I've seen anywhere else. Help us document this rich diversity. 6. SO MANY OTHERS! It's common that applicants suggest a project based on their own particular skills and interests. Feel free to propose your own!
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Science Publications Review bias prevention Re: [ECOLOG-L] So what does the science say? ... Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues
'Tis friction's brisk, rough rub [along with some grit], that provides the vital spark! --Alexander Reid Martin Effective squeaking is an art. WT Agitate, agitate, AGITATE! --Frederick Douglass' last words (if I remember correctly and my source was correct) - Original Message - From: Cynthia O'Rourke To: Wayne Tyson Cc: ECOLOG-L@listserv.umd.edu Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 8:57 PM Subject: Re: Science Publications Review bias prevention Re: [ECOLOG-L] So what does the science say? ... Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues It's apparently the norm in some fields, notably medicine, and I haven't heard of any ill effects, nor is it easy to imagine what the downsides could be for the general quality of publication. Maybe just not enough squeaky wheels? - Cynthia On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 11:45 PM, Wayne Tyson landr...@cox.net wrote: O'Rourke and Ecolog: Why isn't this a uniform policy? Bias has no place in science, but it's everywhere. In fact, I think the submittals should be blind as well, to ensure that papers are judged on merit only. Students could be used as screeners, with editors checking all submissions and the reasons for rejection/acceptance by the screeners, to keep costs and the editors' work loads down. Finally, of course, the authors' and reviewers' names should be published, and all comments published. There should be a reasonable amount of back and forth between the reviewers and authors in the blind, so that reviewers and authors can be frank. Nothing polishes like fine grit. WT - Original Message - From: Cynthia O'Rourke c...@umbc.edu To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 6:50 PM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] So what does the science say? ... Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues Double-blind peer review, in which neither author nor reviewer identity are revealed, is rarely practised in ecology or evolution journals. However, in 2001, double-blind review was introduced by the journal Behavioral Ecology. Following this policy change, there was a significant increase in female first-authored papers, a pattern not observed in a very similar journal that provides reviewers with author information. No negative effects could be identified, suggesting that double-blind review should be considered by other journals. Budden et al. 2008 Double-blind review favours increased representation of female authors. Trends Ecol Evol 23(1):4-6 On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 7:08 PM, Denise Burchsted dburchs...@plymouth.eduwrote: Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students http://www.pnas.org/content/**early/2012/09/14/1211286109http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/09/14/1211286109 science faculty from research-intensive universities rated the application materials of a student—who was randomly assigned either a male or female name—for a laboratory manager position. Faculty participants rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant. These participants also selected a higher starting salary and offered more career mentoring to the male applicant. The gender of the faculty participants did not affect responses, such that female and male faculty were equally likely to exhibit bias against the female student. On 2/19/2013 4:15 PM, Hanberry, Brice B. wrote: Or is it (sexist)? See: Bias Is Hurting Women in Science, Panel Reports http://www.nytimes.com/2006/**09/19/science/19women.html?_r=**0http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/science/19women.html?_r=0 Five Years After an Incendiary Remark, Signs That Harvard Is More Welcoming to Women http://thechoice.blogs.**nytimes.com/2010/03/12/**harvard-2/http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/harvard-2/ -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto: ecolo...@listserv.umd.**EDU ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Jane Shevtsov Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 1:36 PM To:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues Let's not forget that the original comment that triggered this whole discussion was made by a woman! I don't think it was intended to be sexist. It's not sexist to say, In my experience, women tend to do X and would be better off doing Y. It may be accurate or inaccurate, but it's not sexist. Jane Shevtsov On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Leslie M. Adams leslie.ad...@comcast.net**wrote: Now, I am the one who must speak up and voice my support for Yvette (and Chandreyee). While no slight may have been intended, as a female scientist I too experienced the responses Yvette
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Science Publications Review bias prevention Re: [ECOLOG-L] So what does the science say? ... Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues
It's apparently the norm in some fields, notably medicine, and I haven't heard of any ill effects, nor is it easy to imagine what the downsides could be for the general quality of publication. Maybe just not enough squeaky wheels? - Cynthia On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 11:45 PM, Wayne Tyson landr...@cox.net wrote: O'Rourke and Ecolog: Why isn't this a uniform policy? Bias has no place in science, but it's everywhere. In fact, I think the submittals should be blind as well, to ensure that papers are judged on merit only. Students could be used as screeners, with editors checking all submissions and the reasons for rejection/acceptance by the screeners, to keep costs and the editors' work loads down. Finally, of course, the authors' and reviewers' names should be published, and all comments published. There should be a reasonable amount of back and forth between the reviewers and authors in the blind, so that reviewers and authors can be frank. Nothing polishes like fine grit. WT - Original Message - From: Cynthia O'Rourke c...@umbc.edu To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 6:50 PM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] So what does the science say? ... Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues Double-blind peer review, in which neither author nor reviewer identity are revealed, is rarely practised in ecology or evolution journals. However, in 2001, double-blind review was introduced by the journal Behavioral Ecology. Following this policy change, there was a significant increase in female first-authored papers, a pattern not observed in a very similar journal that provides reviewers with author information. No negative effects could be identified, suggesting that double-blind review should be considered by other journals. Budden et al. 2008 Double-blind review favours increased representation of female authors. Trends Ecol Evol 23(1):4-6 On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 7:08 PM, Denise Burchsted dburchs...@plymouth.edu**wrote: Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/09/14/1211286109http://www.pnas.org/content/**early/2012/09/14/1211286109 ht**tp://www.pnas.org/content/**early/2012/09/14/1211286109http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/09/14/1211286109 science faculty from research-intensive universities rated the application materials of a student—who was randomly assigned either a male or female name—for a laboratory manager position. Faculty participants rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant. These participants also selected a higher starting salary and offered more career mentoring to the male applicant. The gender of the faculty participants did not affect responses, such that female and male faculty were equally likely to exhibit bias against the female student. On 2/19/2013 4:15 PM, Hanberry, Brice B. wrote: Or is it (sexist)? See: Bias Is Hurting Women in Science, Panel Reports http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/science/19women.html?_r=0http://www.nytimes.com/2006/**09/19/science/19women.html?_r=**0 http://www.nytimes.com/**2006/09/19/science/19women.**html?_r=0http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/science/19women.html?_r=0 Five Years After an Incendiary Remark, Signs That Harvard Is More Welcoming to Women http://thechoice.blogs.**nytim**es.com/2010/03/12/**harvard-2/http://nytimes.com/2010/03/12/**harvard-2/ **http://thechoice.blogs.**nytimes.com/2010/03/12/**harvard-2/http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/harvard-2/ -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto: ecolo...@listserv.umd.**EDU ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Jane Shevtsov Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 1:36 PM To:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Gender issues Let's not forget that the original comment that triggered this whole discussion was made by a woman! I don't think it was intended to be sexist. It's not sexist to say, In my experience, women tend to do X and would be better off doing Y. It may be accurate or inaccurate, but it's not sexist. Jane Shevtsov On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Leslie M. Adams leslie.ad...@comcast.netwrote: Now, I am the one who must speak up and voice my support for Yvette (and Chandreyee). While no slight may have been intended, as a female scientist I too experienced the responses Yvette cites - and especially the one recently posted by Dr. Olden - as belittling and dismissive. There is considerable gender bias in the fields of ecology and biology and it is important to object to it whenever it arises; whether intentional or not. Perhaps it is easy to counsel moving on when you are unaffected by this handicap personally, but to say that it is somehow unsuitable or inappropriate to address on this listserv is ridiculous and dismisses the tremendously damaging effect this bias
