[ECOLOG-L] Job posting: Mammal Population/Conservation Geneticist at NC Museum of Natural Sciences and NCSU
I’m sharing this amazing job opportunity on behalf of my colleague Dr. Roland Kays, whose email is at the end of this announcement, so please contact him if you have any questions: Senior Research Scientist, Biodiversity Research Lab Mammal Population/Conservation Genetics Salary Range: $72,172 - $137,456 Type of Appointment: Permanent Full-Time Location: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA Application Deadline/Closing Date: 1/31/2019 Training and Experience Requirements: Ph.D. in wildlife ecology, zoology, conservation biology, or related field. The NC Museum of Natural Sciences and the NC State University’s College of Natural Resources jointly announce a search to recruit a scientist with a research program in mammal conservation genetics, mammal population biology/ecology, and/or mammal population genetics. Potential areas of research expertise include (but are not limited to) population modeling, conservation genomics, or predator-prey interactions. Researchers with collections based research programs or international conservation experience are encouraged to apply. This joint position is shared between the NC Museum of Natural Sciences (Biodiversity Lab) and NC State University (Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology program in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources). The employee will be based at the Museum, and have non-tenure track faculty status and associated teaching and service requirements as a Research Assistant Professor with the University. The successful candidate will have an outstanding record of scholarly publications, research grant support, and public science engagement. The areas of responsibility of this position include: 1. Development of an original scientific research program. Some aspects of this research should be suitable for display in the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Biodiversity Research Lab, a glass-walled laboratory on-exhibit in the Nature Research Center wing of the Museum; 2. Shared management and administration of the Museum’s Biodiversity Research Lab, Mammalogy Unit, and Mammal collections; 3. Teaching one class per year related to conservation genetics in NCSU’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources; 4. Mentoring undergraduate and graduate students and/or postdoctoral researchers; 5. Engaging the public through science communication and/or participatory science. To apply: fill out the application from the link below and attach current CV, contact information for 3 references, and a vision statement. Please note that all information must be included on the state application, which is supplemented, but not replaced by, the CV. To view the complete posting and apply please visit: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/northcarolina/jobs/2272344/senior-research-scientist-biodiversity-research-lab?keywords=science=jobOpportunitiesJobs For additional information about the position contact Dr. Roland Kays (rwk...@ncsu.edu) —— Dr. Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program for Leadership in Public Science Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources 5223 Jordan Hall Addition, Campus Box 8008 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC 27695-8008 facultyclusters.ncsu.edu/people/mkatti about.me/mkatti Podcast: candle.science mka...@ncsu.edu +1-919-515-8638 Skype: Sahyadri ——
[ECOLOG-L] The Nature of Cities: Global Roundtable on Exotic Species in Cities
Hello Ecologgers, I invite you to participate in a forum at the The Nature of Cities (http://www.thenatureofcities.com/), a collective blog edited by David Maddox. Over the past two years, it has grown into an excellent site with many wide-ranging contributions on various aspects of urban ecology and nature, from scientists and practitioners from around the world. Full disclosure: I happen to be a regular contributor to this blog. Along with a steady stream of blog posts from myriad authors, David recently created a monthly roundtable feature, where a number of contributors from different cities/institutions/countries share their perspectives on a challenge in urban ecology and management, and then engage in online discussions through the comment threads in the roundtable. This month’s Roundtable is focused on the problem of exotic, invasive species in urban landscapes, and how we might manage them. I am one of about a dozen contributors to this roundtable. You can read all the contributed essays here: http://bit.ly/tnoc-exotics-roundtable The Roundtable is meant to be a forum for engaging a broader community in discussions. I know that this topic is of great interest to the Ecolog-L community, and would therefore like to invite all of you to the roundtable. I hope you’ll want to at least read the essays - but, more importantly, that you will share your thoughts by commenting in the forum. All of the authors will be participating in the online discussions over the next few weeks. Not all of them are on Ecolog-L, so while I welcome any comments here, I would urge you to also leave comments on the blog directly, at the above link. thank you, and I hope to see you there, Madhu ~ Dr. Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor, Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E San Ramon AVe Fresno, CA 93740 http://about.me/mkatti
[ECOLOG-L] Biodiversity can flourish on an urban planet
different from those in natural ecosystems, but still can support a variety of species. Species that evolve under such urban conditions may well represent what the future holds for much of Earth’s biodiversity. ~ Dr. Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor, Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E San Ramon AVe Fresno, CA 93740 http://about.me/mkatti
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Merits of invasion science
I’m not sure I understand this difference either. Don't all colonization events occur in ecological time? Whether it is through their own “natural” dispersal efforts, traveling under their own power, or through assistance by wind / water currents or other species that move faster or over longer distances (be they migratory birds to whom you cling, or airplanes in whose holds you may be transported, perhaps deliberately), every colonizing species does so through a few individuals reaching a new patch of habitat. How is there a fundamental difference in the ecological / evolutionary outcomes that result from such colonization events? Madhu ~ Dr. Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor, Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E San Ramon AVe Fresno, CA 93740 http://about.me/mkatti On Oct 29, 2013, at 8:12 AM, Meg Ballard mball...@udel.edu wrote: The difference is the scale of invasion, both temporal and spatial. There is a difference in moving from one pond to an adjacent one, where your natural enemies and competitors are likely to exist, vs intercontinental or oceanic movements that occur in short time scales rather than evolutionary time scales. On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 10:45 AM, malcolm McCallum malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org wrote: I mentioned this correspondence to a friend who works a lot in this field. This is what he/she said (i'm leaving off the name since he/she is not available to ask permission to expose it right now!): What I absolutely can't stand is the term invasion biology. It's colonization theory pure and simple. Anything can invade. Painted Turtles or Green Frogs to a new farm pond. Besides being misused, I think that the term prejudices the research approach. As for the debate, the best arguments against studying exotic species and their impacts are embarrassing. What has caused us to move from using colonization theory and to the new term invasion biology? Are they really different? I don't see a difference either. On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 9:58 AM, lisa jones lajone...@hotmail.com wrote: A quick and interesting editorial piece from Richardson Ricciardi Misleading criticisms of invasion science: a field guide in Diversity and Distributions (2013, 19: 1461-1467). A link to the article can be found here on the Canadian Aquatic Invasive Species Network (CAISN) website (listed near the bottom of the page): http://www.caisn.ca/en/publications I am sure there will be a response from those who see no value in invasion science but as one reviewer pointed out when invasions are driven by us (ballast waters, trade, aquaculture, you name it) and overcome wide ecological barriers... well, I would be very careful in saying that there is no problem. Lisa -- Malcolm L. McCallum Department of Environmental Studies University of Illinois at Springfield 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.
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Merits of invasion science
Really? You want us to go from “invasive” which is already contentious because it attaches some anthropocentric value to an ecological process, to even more strongly negative value-laden terms like “noxious” and “weed”? What room is there then, on a planet dominated by humans (and our values), for any range expansions or distributional changes by any species in response to, say, climate change? ~ Dr. Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor, Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E San Ramon AVe Fresno, CA 93740 http://about.me/mkatti On Oct 29, 2013, at 12:09 PM, David L. McNeely mcnee...@cox.net wrote: A better term than native invasive to apply to species that become pests within their native geographic range (Eastern Red Cedar is an excellent example in the southern plains and prairies) is noxious. Or, we might simply call them pests. Invasive makes no sense for such species. From where have they invaded? Hence, your sugar maple example would be a noxious weed species. The bull frog is a true invasive in that it did not occur in the western part of North America prior to introduction. David McNeely malcolm McCallum malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org wrote: Cattle Egrets were supposed to be a natural dispersal via anemochore as I recall, a one time event wasn't it? Invasive species need not be exotic species, at least from a continental perspective. For example, sugar maple is native to most forests in Illinois, but with changes in fire regimes it becomes invasive crowding out the oak-hickory. Sweetgum does a similar thing in southern wet forests, and there are a pile of other examples. these are NATIVE INVASIVES. Bullfrogs fall in between from a continental pespective. they are native to and widespread in North America, but they have been introduced into habitats in the west where they do not normally occur creating havoc. Technically, these are also exotic invasives at the regional or local level, but native invasives from a continental perspective. Lonicera japanicus is an exotic invasive in streams of North America, although some closely related Lonicera are NONINVASIVE EXOTICS, and some simply cannot even become established!! Likewise, asiatic mussels, zebra mussels, and an assortment of other species are EXOTIC INVASIVES. I don't know why we do it, but often we lump issues about exotics and those about invasives together under the same title. It really is not appropriate because the two overlap, but are not the same things. On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 10:12 AM, Meg Ballard mball...@udel.edu wrote: The difference is the scale of invasion, both temporal and spatial. There is a difference in moving from one pond to an adjacent one, where your natural enemies and competitors are likely to exist, vs intercontinental or oceanic movements that occur in short time scales rather than evolutionary time scales. On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 10:45 AM, malcolm McCallum malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org wrote: I mentioned this correspondence to a friend who works a lot in this field. This is what he/she said (i'm leaving off the name since he/she is not available to ask permission to expose it right now!): What I absolutely can't stand is the term invasion biology. It's colonization theory pure and simple. Anything can invade. Painted Turtles or Green Frogs to a new farm pond. Besides being misused, I think that the term prejudices the research approach. As for the debate, the best arguments against studying exotic species and their impacts are embarrassing. What has caused us to move from using colonization theory and to the new term invasion biology? Are they really different? I don't see a difference either. On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 9:58 AM, lisa jones lajone...@hotmail.com wrote: A quick and interesting editorial piece from Richardson Ricciardi Misleading criticisms of invasion science: a field guide in Diversity and Distributions (2013, 19: 1461-1467). A link to the article can be found here on the Canadian Aquatic Invasive Species Network (CAISN) website (listed near the bottom of the page): http://www.caisn.ca/en/publications I am sure there will be a response from those who see no value in invasion science but as one reviewer pointed out when invasions are driven by us (ballast waters, trade, aquaculture, you name it) and overcome wide ecological barriers... well, I would be very careful in saying that there is no problem. Lisa -- Malcolm L. McCallum Department of Environmental Studies University of Illinois at Springfield 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
Re: [ECOLOG-L] looking for help with birdsong
To the smartphone apps David mentions, I would add - and highlight - the iBird line of bird guides: http://ibird.com/ Available for many platforms, I find this the best designed field guide app, and the most used one on my iPhone. It has multiple recordings of most birds, and even shows waveforms of the song, which is much better than just verbal descriptions typical of many textual field guides that don't work for RK who raised the question here. And RK: if you are just getting into this, I would suggest subscribing to some local email listserv. Most local Audubon chapters and loca birdwatchingl groups throughout the US have email lists where people share observations and get help with identification of species they hear and see locally. For beginners, it is always best to find local bird experts to help with identification issues. Even when traveling to a new area for birding, it is common practice to look for and browse through local listservs (or yahoo or google groups) for recent observations and reports of rarities. I don't know where you live so I cannot recommend a particular list, but I'm sure you can find one with a little effort on google. Welcome to the joys of birdsong and birdwatching - you will never be bored as long as you have the passion to keep an ear cocked for the sounds of our feathered friends! :-) Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti http://about.me/mkatti On Apr 12, 2013, at 8:55 AM, David Inouye ino...@umd.edu wrote: If you have a smartphone, there are apps (some free, some not) such as https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zellenterprises.birdsongshl=enhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zellenterprises.birdsongshl=en http://www.sibleyguides.com/about/the-sibley-eguide-to-birds-app/ http://www.birds.cornell.edu/roundrobin/2011/07/22/new-500-bird-songs-free-to-play-on-mobile-devices/http://www.birds.cornell.edu/roundrobin/2011/07/22/new-500-bird-songs-free-to-play-on-mobile-devices/ http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/google-android/articles/81099.aspx
Re: [ECOLOG-L] A response to E.O. Wilson's opinion about math
The best response to Wilson's op-ed I have read so far is by Jeremy Fox on the Dynamic Ecology blog, which he has been updating with links to posts and comments by others on the internets: http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/e-o-wilson-vs-math/ If Wilson's intent was to provoke theoreticians and start a flame war, he sure has succeeded with this op-ed! While some of the arguments (from both Wilson and his critics) fall into the question-begging or point-missing category, many others are well worth a read, and more than a little thought. And the above blog post is a good place to start. Madhu - an ecologist who failed high-school mathematics (spectacularly), but went on to publish a mathematical model in Journal of Theoretical Biology. ~ Madhusudan Katti http://about.me/mkatti
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Bigfoot footage in TX (gag me).
But, but, but… they claim to have done exactly that, no? In this exclusive paper in the new journal De Novo: http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/02/bigfoot-genome-paper-conclusively-proves-that-sasquatch-is-real/ (ok, gag me now) Madhu On Feb 16, 2013, at 9:41 AM, Warren W. Aney a...@coho.net wrote: Presence of rare mammals can and is being verified through DNA analysis of hair or scat samples. The sasquatchers cannot be taken seriously until they do this in a replicable and independently verifiable manner. Warren W. Aney Senior Wildlife Ecologist Tigard, Oregon (503) 539-1009 -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of malcolm McCallum Sent: Friday, 15 February, 2013 18:12 To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Bigfoot footage in TX (gag me). I am very familiar with the Texas Bigfoot society folks having got in a tuff with them back in the early part of the decade. They are total charlatans, see this video of a bigfoot from the twitter of Melba Ketchum. Is there anything we can do to discredit these folks with the public? We really need to address this and make it obvious they are literally making stuff up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khHSX3ZYaKI -- 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.
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Buying a new laptop for grad school
Hello Cat, Congratulations on starting grad school! It is wonderful to read about your intense pleasure at starting such an adventure at a time when we hear so much about the over-production of PhDs, the shrinking funds for research, and the general malaise in higher education, yadda-yadda-yadda. May your generation find a cheerful way to rescue us all! I don't have a specific recommendation on your laptop needs, other than to say that I converted to the Mac when I joined graduate school several decades ago, in a program where everybody was an acolyte of that religion. The purchase of a PC in one of the labs for a specific research application not available on the mac was major news in our building… but that's another story. Let me just say that the mac os has served me well through research in diverse areas of ecology, although I have used windows and linux from time to time when relevant. The nice thing about recent mac hardware is that it runs reliably for a long time, and allows one to run all major operating systems, so that is a good reason to stick with it - but other options are available. It is good to remember that the computer is ultimately a tool (or a collection of tools) towards other real-life ends, even if it tends to take over our lives and inspires religious fervor! I am writing now because you invoked a different fervor by addressing us all as Eco-lovers - and I just came across a similar query as yours, but with a more eco-concern twist, being addressed in this week's Ask Umbra column on Grist.org: http://grist.org/green-living-tips/ask-umbra-should-i-buy-a-refurbished-laptop-for-college/ So, whatever brand or cult flavor of computer you decided to go with, consider getting a refurbished model - it may do the job as well as a new one, and give you some karma for keeping the toxic electronics out of the landfills for a little while longer. Enjoy ESA 2012 - which I am bummed to be missing, especially because I have played a part in several papers and a symposium on urban biodiversity (link, if I may add a pitch: http://eco.confex.com/eco/2012/webprogram/Session7780.html), but am stuck in distant Sweden for the duration (not that this is a bad thing). I will therefore be limited to following the meeting via live-tweets and other social media rather than in person. Hope your awesome research gets lots of attention and you get to talk about fungus to your heart's content. And may graduate school be an intensely pleasurable experience for you all the way through! :-) Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti http://about.me/mkatti On Jul 27, 2012, at 11:05 PM, Cat Adams wrote: Hi Eco-lovers, I have the intense pleasure of starting grad school this fall, and was wondering if this list-serv could generate any kind of consensus regarding what a best personal computer might be for me. I converted to the Mac religion a few years ago, and while I don't feel intractable in my new computer world-view, I am pretty comfortable with it. I don't intend to do heavy climate modeling or the like on my personal computer - I mostly want a computer for web browsing, running R, writing papers, citation programs (Zotero? Endnote?), blogging (perhaps shifting to host my own server), some video editing, and using not-too-complicated graphics programs. Until I make new friends, I might also want to run Netflix =P Regardless, I doubt I'll do all these things simultaneously, so my needs aren't extravagant. In addition to adequate processing speed and storage space, I want something that will be the least finicky with other types of equipment, for doing presentations and networking and such. It needs to be something sturdy that can do some globe-trotting with me; ie not too fragile for airport security in Bolivia. A built-in webcam would be quite handy for Skype, too. I plan to bring ~30 gb of files from my old lab to my new school, so I have all the protocols I worked on and easy access to all the old data. Do you highly recommend an external hard-drive for that? Or should I just throw it on the new computer? Or both?! I'm thinking both, but I'm very curious about your insight, and would be grateful for advice that can help me avoid lost data and other tech-disasters. Ideally, I'd get a new computer before ESA, but if I'm still shopping come the conference feel free to give me advice early Thursday morning when my lab mate presents on our awesome research! http://eco.confex.com/eco/2012/webprogram/Paper37476.html Or, just come talk to me about fungus :) I'm super stoked to dive into grad school. Hope to see many of you at the conference! Cheers, Cat
Re: [ECOLOG-L] overpopulation and the abuse of facts by religon
I'm glad the importance of empowering women in facilitating the demographic transition has been brought up in this discussion because it gets lost too often in debates about population growth and neo-Malthusian alarmism. Hans Rosling's videos on gapminder.org - esp. the one about the Bangladesh miracle - illustrate the demographic transition beautifully indeed! And he even shows that it is not overall development or affluence per se, but investment in women's health and empowerment and reduction of child mortality which are more critical, as in the case of Bangladesh to bring about the demographic transition. It constantly surprises me that ecologists who ought to be familiar with life-history theory and evolutionary trade-offs about reproduction so often forget to apply that framework to human reproduction! Or talk to women who bear the burden of reproduction and directly face those trade-offs. That said - let us also not forget that the religious fundamentalists in the US are influential enough to have shaped US foreign policy and aid funding in ways that actively prevent birth control information and means from being made available in some of those very countries listed by Sara Fann as having higher growth rates. So its not merely about convincing a few fundamentalists to have less children - their influence is far greater than their own reproductive output. Consider, for instance, the fact that most presidential candidates of at least one party in the US feel compelled to tout their own reproductive success while introducing themselves at a recent debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLtqCrlu_rUfeature=youtube_gdata_player While the clip is funny as presented by the comedian, one has to wonder about the cultural discourse within which these politicians operate. I don't think leaders of the other party will hesitate to tout their own reproductive success as well if asked about it. Speaking as someone from a country that inspired Paul Ehrlich to sound the alarm about the population bomb in the first place - I cannot imagine any present-day politician in India proudly proclaiming as part of an election campaign that they have 5 or 7 children! Peter adds the other huge elephant in the room: over-consumption! This is where the developed countries, with the US leading the pack, far outstrip the developing ones in terms of global ecological impact. We have to address consumption and the overall ecological footprint - and that is where it becomes especially critical to work on changing attitudes in the US and developed nations, even as we have to tackle the human- esp. women's- rights issues in all countries. What does the religious doctrine of human dominion over the rest of creation have to say about that? How are religious leaders addressing the resource over consumption side of the equation? Are they doing so at all? Madhu __ Dr. Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor, Dept of Biology California State University, Fresno On Dec 8, 2011, at 1:00 PM, Peter Søgaard Jørgensen psjorgen...@bio.ku.dk wrote: Good points Sarah and Eva. But, as you know, that doesn't put western, predominantly christian countries off the hook. Over-consumption is our analogy to the threat of population growth. So maybe we should be discussing religion's role in changing those habits? Enjoying the discussion, Peter PhD-student University of Copenhagen -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Eva Johansson Sent: 8. december 2011 09:38 To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] overpopulation and the abuse of facts by religon This site has elegant illustrations of Sarah's point: http://www.gapminder.org/ On 08/12/11 7:26 AM, Sarah Fann wrote: Why is this forum arguing about the influence of Judaic religions on population growth? If the population growth of the earth is going to be impacted it won't be by coaxing popular religions like Catholicism and Christianity to be lessfruitful. Despite the predominance of these religions in countries like the U.S. and Britain, the growth rate in these countries are decreasing and have been steadily for years. Why? Because women in these countries have access to education, healthcare, and birth control. More importantly, women in these countries are empowered to make their own decisions and aren't treated like property. On the other hand, the countries with the highest population growth rates such as Liberia, Burundi, Afghanistan, W. Sahara, E. Timer, Niger, Eritrea, Uganda, DR Congo, and the Palestinian Territories, etc have what sort of women's rights? What do you know, these are the countries where women lack education, are still traded under a dowry system, and have the vast majority of there personal freedoms removed. Some of these countries even put female rape victims
Re: [ECOLOG-L] What Can I DO?? Re: [ECOLOG-L] Message from Paul Ehrlich
On a lighter note, here's another take on the two sides arguing over climate change and whether or not it is anthropogenic: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fg%2Fa%2F2011%2F11%2F30%2Fhardscience.DTL Reminds me of that quote from Karl Marx: Philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways, the point however is to change it. Which brings us back to the original question - how do we change the way most of the world currently goes about its business in a more ecologically sensible direction? As I have no simple answer (many complex thoughts, perhaps...) allow me to duck back into occasional eavesdropping mode in this conversation under the excuse of having to deal with more immediate urgencies of the looming end-of-semester rush of the life academic. Madhu --- Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor Department of Biology California State University, Fresno http://www.reconciliationecology.org http://leafwarbler.posterous.com http://urban-faces.org
Re: [ECOLOG-L] a non Ivory Tower view of invasive species
On Sep 10, 2011, at 4:31 PM, Jane Shevtsov wrote: What fraction of the weeds affecting agriculture are native? Good question. Don't forget the corollary: what fraction of the crops being affected by weeds are non-native? ~ Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel:559.278.2460 Fax:559.278.3963 Lab:http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ULTRA: http://urban-faces.org/ Blog: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/ ~
[ECOLOG-L] As Ecosystems, Cities Yield Some Surprises - NYTimes.com
Some more media coverage from the ESA meeting in Austin: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/as-ecosystems-cities-yield-some-surprises/?src=tp#preview This is a nice summary of a day of conversations about urban stewardship I had helped organize, with two symposia and a workshop bringing together researchers from 21 urban research sites that are currently supported by NSF and US Forest Service through ULTRA-Ex (Urban Long-Term Research Area - Exporatory) Awards. Even as future funding for this network remains uncertain, it was great to bring together people from all the sites so we could start exploring commonalities and difference, and build cross-site collaborations. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel:559.278.2460 Fax:559.278.3963 Lab:http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ULTRA: http://urban-faces.org/ Blog: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/ ~
[ECOLOG-L] Ecologists Discuss World’s Problems in Austin - ESA11 report on KUT radio - a leaf warbler 's gleanings
Just heard a short report about the ESA meeting on KUT, Austin's local NPR affiliate station. It features some tidbits from Camille Parmesan and a few other ecologist voices. Nice to hear local radio coverage of the meeting: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/ecologists-discuss-worlds-problems-in-austin Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel:559.278.2460 Fax:559.278.3963 Lab:http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ULTRA: http://urban-faces.org/ ~
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Reply to: 'a few thousand ecologists meet... does anybody know or care?' -- A perhaps radical suggestion
Thank you, Kali, for not keeping your mouth shut! You make some very important points and I love your suggestion of having more opportunities for local public to participate for free. A free family ecology day like the science day they have at AAAS meetings would be a fantastic way to engage with the public. This particular meeting does have a couple of free events for the public, but I don't think they've been advertised well enough to actually draw many members of the public. As for media coverage, a local science reporter, JP, who heard about this meeting via someone's tweet about my blog post, is keen to cover the meeting - but got a real runaround trying to contact someone for credentials! JP left several comments describing his/her efforts, and the rather inadequate media outreach efforts from ESA - I hope Nadine Lymn and anyone else from among ESA officials read the comments and think about how to improve communications. Here again is the link to my post where you will find the comments: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/a-few-thousand-ecologists-meet-in-the-city-to We clearly need to do a better job of outreach, and I am glad my post has generated some discussion about the issue. Madhu __ Dr. Madhusudan Kat Associate Professor, Dept of Biology California State University, Fresno On Aug 8, 2011, at 1:58 PM, Kali Bird yours.is.the.ea...@gmail.com wrote: I have never posted to Ecolog before, but I felt I couldn't keep my mouth shut about this one. First, I don't think we can necessarily know why the news doesn't pick up on ESA more. Likely, it's because the general public doesn't care, but perhaps it may be that they are tired feeling like ecologists tell them that their lifestyles and values are wrong. Personally, I think it's because people don't care. In my experience speaking with the public, I always proffer an explanation of what I do immediately after saying that I am a 'microbial ecologist,' because most people I speak with don't even know what ecology is. Second, if these thousands of ecologists really want to engage the public, how about letting the locals come to ESA? I know that non-members are invited to attend, but honestly, you have to be wealthy or have a wealthy grant pay for you to come to be able to pay 500$ and take off days to a week from work to be involved in the meeting. My mother reads my Frontiers magazine religiously. She loves it. She is also part of a 'sustainability' group at her international corporation. She lives very close to Austin, has the ability to take time off of work, but as a middle-class citizen, simply cannot afford it. If these thousands of ecologists are really interested in engaging with the public, how about creating events at ESA for the locals that are affordable? My mother has no scientific background, but is smart, learns fast, and loves to learn. There are a lot of people like this everywhere we have meetings. Yet we preach engagement with the public from our over-air-conditioned conference rooms, doors closed and barred to those we wish to engage with. Phenomenal. I know our over-air conditioned convention centers cost a lot of money to rent and ESA is an expensive venture to host, but surely we can create some sort of scholarship fund for locals, special free events for public engagement (THIS is how you get in the news), or even a lottery for one-day passes to attend talks. Let's help people understand what in the world it is we do. If I could have afforded to send my mom to ESA, I would have done it in a heartbeat. She would have loved it and told all her friends, co-workers, and her church group all the things she learned. Do we want to engage more with people across religious boundaries? In the heart of a red state, what a boon actually engaging with the religious public would be. Kali Bird Graduate Student Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Re a few thousand ecologists
Hi Nadine, Thank you for clarifying ESA's embargo policy. I wondered if that was a big factor, and hope to see more coverage by the media as the meeting really gets going tomorrow. I was a bit surprised though not to find any mention of the opening plenary nor the benefit concert in the local papers - not even their event calendars? - especially because they are open to the public. Madhu __ Dr. Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor, Dept of Biology California State University, Fresno On Aug 7, 2011, at 4:18 PM, Nadine Lymn nad...@esa.org wrote: Hi All: In response to Madhu's query-- Because most scientific organizations such as ESA work under embargoes, you are unlikely to see advance news stories about the meeting. Once the embargoes begin to lift (the day a presentation is made at the Annual Meeting), the media will begin to cover the meeting. The exception was the belly button microbe story, where a reporter broke the embargo and we lifted it for everyone; hence the story is already out well before the research is presented at the ESA Meeting. Organizations use embargoes for both scientific meetings where new research is presented as well as for their journals. The idea is to give reporters advance time to learn about the topic, interview the researchers and put together a good story. The embargo gives all reporters the same amount of time to prepare their story. For a meeting, the embargo lists on the day the research is presented; for a journal, it is usually when the journal article is published. ESA distributed several embargoed press releases to all its trusted media contacts, as well as worked with many institutions' public information offices to encourage them to send out their own releases about the meeting if they have researchers from their institution presenting in Austin. About a dozen press are registered to attend and cover the Annual Meeting and we expect more to cover it remotely. The Society's Opening Plenary and Thursday's benefit concert are open to the general public free of charge and we sent out Public Service Announcements to all local news outlets. Austin EcoNetwork did this short blog promoting the these two events: http://www.austineconetwork.com/blog/ecological-society-america-rockin%E2%80%99-austin-night-nature-acl-%E2%80%93-live-concert-benefit-austin-enviro So, stay tuned, press coverage about the meeting will start rolling in once the meeting actually starts. If you have more questions and are attending the ESA meeting in Austin, you are welcome to stop by our Press Room, room 2 at the Convention Center. Cheers, Nadine Nadine Lymn ESA Director of Public Affairs Hello from Austin, folks! I would like to share some thoughts from my blog as I prepare for the ESA 2011 meeting starting here today, and wonder why this big meeting isn't in the news - anywhere: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/a-few-thousand-ecologists-meet-in-the-city-to I would appreciate any feedback, on why ESA isn't more in the news, or whether it is just my misperception. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel: 559.278.2460 Fax: 559.278.3963 Lab: http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ULTRA: http://urban-faces.org/ Blog: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/ ~
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Ecology and News Media Re: [ECOLOG-L] A few thousand ecologists meet in the city to discuss Earth stewardship... but does anybody know or care? - a leaf warbler's gleanings
Thank you for all your comments, folks. I wasn't expecting my idle musings of the morning before the meeting started to quite attract so much traffic to my blog. I seem to have hit a nerve - and hope that serves some purpose. In addition to comments on the blog and here, I appreciate in particular the response from Nadine Lymn, ESA's Director of Public Affairs. She attributes the lack of media coverage to the general conference embargo, so coverage should pick up in the coming days. The navel-bacteria story broke out early because someone apparently broke the embargo! So let us look forward to better media coverage over the coming days as more studies emerge from behind the embargo shield. I'm still puzzled by the lack of notice in the local papers about the opening plenary and the concert on thursday, both of which are meant to be free and open to the public! Did you (if you attended the opening plenary) notice many members of the general public in the audience (I didn't, from my limited view)? Another question for all of us ecologists: how many of us actively try to push our stories to mainstream media outlets, whether at conferences or upon publication? I'm genuinely curious. ~ Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel:559.278.2460 Fax:559.278.3963 Lab:http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ULTRA: http://urban-faces.org/ Blog: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/ ~ On Aug 7, 2011, at 6:49 PM, David L. McNeely wrote: Wayne and others, I don't think ESA will be ignored in Austin -- just as it has not been ignored in other cities where it has met in the past. I think the media will have reportage on the meeting once it is underway. So far as fingerwagging by ecologists: ESA could do a much better job of teaching the public who and what ecologists are, but a goodly fraction of the public has been mislead about that, and minds are hard to change. Now, if by fingerwagging you mean that some folks, whether they are ecologists or not, but are such under the public view, have been reminding government, industry, and the public that we have real problems, hmm . We do have real problems. They need fixing. Not telling government, industry, and the public about the problems is certain to result in them not getting fixed. I may be a fingerwagger. So may a lot of other responsible folks. David McNeely Wayne Tyson landr...@cox.net wrote: Ecolog and Madhu: Next to sociologists, ecologists take the cake for finger-wagging; thus they end up ignored. Maybe if they did less preaching and more explaining in terms others can understand, things would BEGIN to change. But don't expect it to flip overnight, it will take time to heal the mental scars that thousands of insults have ground into the public psyche, not to mention the misinformation. One way might be a fact-check source that reporters and Joe Sixpacks could depend upon. However, given the limited ability of ecologists to iron out rather simple matters among themselves, what chance would such a source have? Brainstorm that! WT - Original Message - From: Madhusudan Katti mka...@csufresno.edu To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2011 9:46 AM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] A few thousand ecologists meet in the city to discuss Earth stewardship... but does anybody know or care? - a leaf warbler's gleanings Hello from Austin, folks! I would like to share some thoughts from my blog as I prepare for the ESA 2011 meeting starting here today, and wonder why this big meeting isn't in the news - anywhere: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/a-few-thousand-ecologists-meet-in-the-city-to I would appreciate any feedback, on why ESA isn't more in the news, or whether it is just my misperception. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel: 559.278.2460 Fax: 559.278.3963 Lab: http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ULTRA: http://urban-faces.org/ Blog: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/ ~ - No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1391 / Virus Database: 1520/3819 - Release Date: 08/07/11 -- David McNeely
[ECOLOG-L] A few thousand ecologists meet in the city to discuss Earth stewardship... but does anybody know or care? - a leaf warbler's gleanings
Hello from Austin, folks! I would like to share some thoughts from my blog as I prepare for the ESA 2011 meeting starting here today, and wonder why this big meeting isn't in the news - anywhere: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/a-few-thousand-ecologists-meet-in-the-city-to I would appreciate any feedback, on why ESA isn't more in the news, or whether it is just my misperception. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel:559.278.2460 Fax:559.278.3963 Lab:http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ULTRA: http://urban-faces.org/ Blog: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/ ~
[ECOLOG-L] Very sad news: Professor Navjot Sodhi, tropical conservation biologist, has passed away.
This is very sad news indeed and a huge loss to the field of conservation biology, especially in the Asian tropics: http://wp.me/p76NL-vA Here's a moving personal tribute by his close friend and collaborator CJA Bradshaw: http://wp.me/phhT4-1w8 Prof. Sodhi will be missed indeed. __ Dr. Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor, Dept of Biology California State University, Fresno
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Science in China? Washington Post.
Is the vast majority of tenured academia really dead wood in America? Isn't this the same kind of thing being said about schoolteachers in the education reform debate in this country - that K-12 schools are full of bad teachers who can't be fired because of unions, etc., etc.? How real are either of these estimates which wield considerable rhetorical power? As a recently tenured faculty member, seeing my workload and responsibilities go up significantly since getting tenure, I'm genuinely puzzled by the dead wood phenomenon. We hear about tenure leading to stagnation all the time, but if the problem was so widespread, wouldn't US universities be far less successful than they have been? Sure, the problem of dead wood is real, and I'm guessing most of us can think of someone who fits that category. But how many of the tenured professors you know would you classify as dead wood? What percentage? Is it high enough to constitute a vast majority? That said, I like the idea of an academic's bill of rights and responsibilities... although the original bill left out the responsibilities part! I can see most academics endorsing the idea - but surely the code has to apply to administrators who run universities too, no? Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel: 559.278.2460 Fax: 559.278.3963 Lab: http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ~ On Monday, May 23, 2011 at 7:49 AM, Aaron T. Dossey wrote: Rather than a knee-jerk defense of tenure as a holy system/right, why not accept that there IS a problem and consider alternatives? I have recently proposed replacing it with an academic's bill of rights and responsibilities - a code for faculty including a list of reasons one CAN'T be fired (like teaching controversial topics, being overtly politically active, doing controversial research, etc.) and responsibilities including a list of reasons they CAN be fired (poor treatment of their employees/studentechs/postechs/staff, lack of productivity, lack of general work ethic and not taking care of their job responsibilities). It is a fact that tenure doesn't serve it's purpose - I know of no more silent, pacified tight-lipped go along to get along group of professionals I have experienced than tenured professors - so much for tenure creating academic freedom. All it does is keep dead wood afloat - protect tenured profs in cushy positions from having to mentor their students, from having to work hard and try to make as many discoveries and innovate as much as possible (even seek applications, marketable ones?, for the fruits of their research God duth forbid) - WHILE starving many OTHERS who DO have the passion, drive, talent and interest in aggressively doing all of the bullet points of a prof's job description, doing them well and doing a lot of them - from having careers at ALL. It's a common problem in America: too much investment in too few, while the vast majority languish, or are forced to serve those few. NOT a recipe for innovation or a healthy system for science! Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology On 5/23/2011 10:36 AM, Ganter, Philip wrote: Aaron, I have read your recommendations for improving science funding. I think you are taking a band aid approach to the problem. Peter Lawrence has suggested a much more fundamental change which would, if adopted, correct many of the faults addressed in your document and might be a viable alternative to the current system. See: Lawrence PA (2009) Real Lives and White Lies in the Funding of Scientific Research. PLoS Biol 7(9): e1000197. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000197 The heart of research is sick: a conversation with Peter Lawrence. 2011. Lab Science No.2 pp. 24-31 I also think your dismissal of tenure is a fundamental threat to the university system. I have watched as administrative incompetence has damaged the careers of more than one young scientist. Tenure is the only bulwark protecting academic freedom and shared governance (both as defined by the AAUP) and it is vital for maintaining quality in higher education. These institutional values are, in many instances, the only means of making administrations accountable. Of course, with academic freedom and shared governance comes the responsibility to participate in governance. Although I have no data to back this up, I believe that I have noticed a tendency for scientists to feel that their only duty to their institutions is to get grants, do research, and mentor students. Committee assignments are denigrated as a waste of time. Tenure, for these scientists, is considered unnecessary as the ability to bring in grant money
[ECOLOG-L] The National Science Foundation calls it peer review for a reason, Mr. Smith!
Colleagues, You may have heard or read about the recent announcement regarding what the incoming Tea Party driven congressional leadership wants to do about wasteful spending at the NSF. Here's my response: http://leafwarbler.posterous.com/the-national-science-foundation-calls-it-peer Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Associate Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel:559.278.2460 Fax:559.278.3963 Lab:http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ~
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Darwin at Dinner
Hello Stephen, Wonderful eye-opening analysis and article! Thank you for sharing it. I'm passing it on to my students, and other readers via my blog as well. You have now got me not only examining my plate (and food labels) even more closely than I already do, but also thinking this could be a good exercise to have students do for a class project! Similar to ecological footprint exercises many of us do in our classes. Have you thought about developing this into a lesson module? I think that would be a fantastic thing to start doing, even in grade school. What a way to bring the concept of biodiversity home to people, and getting them to think about how we interact with other species in this most intimate of ways. thanks again, Madhu On Sep 10, 2010, at 6:31 AM, Stephen Hale wrote: There is nothing more fundamental about our relationship with Nature than the species we eat. One evening, while trying to discern exactly what was in the bean casserole my traveling wife had kindly left in the fridge, I wondered: What is the biodiversity of my diet? How many plant and animal species do I consume regularly? And where did they come from? Later, I compiled a species list from one typical day for four meals: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. Then, using food labels and knowledge of where I bought the food, I tracked down their origin and ecological niche. If variety is the spice of life, we Homo sapiens are the spiciest of species. I calculated that in 24 hours, I ate 53 species spanning four biological kingdoms and five continents. Here’s why our diet biodiversity matters: www.grist.org/article/food-the-omnivores-delight-one-day-four-meals-and-53-species/
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Evolution textbook for non-majors?
I haven't taught a non-majors evolution class, but do teach an upper div core Evolution class for our majors. I think The Tangled Bank would make an excellent textbook for non-majors. Carl Zimmer writes really well, and has put together a wonderful overview of evolutionary biology in a way that is accessible to a wide audience. I'll be curious to hear what others have to say. Madhu On Sep 1, 2010, at 6:30 PM, Christopher Jensen wrote: Hello all! I am teaching a non-majors evolution course (http://www.christopherxjjensen.com/teaching/courses/evolution/) and have been using the McGraw-Hill textbook An Introduction to Biological Evolution by Kenneth Kardong. This book is working but I am considering a switch to a different book. For those of you who teach non-majors evolution, what textbook are you using? Do you like this textbook? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Also, I am curious if anyone has thought about using the newly-released book by Carl Zimmer The Tangled Bank. It's not exactly a textbook, but seems fairly accessible to non-majors. Finally, if anyone knows of an analogous listserv for evolutionary biology where I might post this, let me know that as well. Looking forward to and also very grateful for any help you can give. Thanks, Chris http://www.christopherxjjensen.com/
Re: [ECOLOG-L] the declining quality of academic life?
Bruce, Thanks for sharing that! It is thought provoking - and I have just skimmed through your excerpts - so I will refrain from commenting just yet. Instead, let me share another article - interview actually - about what's wrong with the American University System, which comes from a somewhat different angle: http://is.gd/dTIL2 I'll be curious to hear what Ecologgers think of both of these. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel:559.278.1460 Fax:559.278.3963 Web:http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ~ On Jul 30, 2010, at 3:03 PM, Bruce Robertson wrote: All, Im a postdoc searching for a faculty position in ecology. I just read the article below, which recently appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education. It paints a grim picture of academia, now and for the foreseeable future. I'm highly productive, love research and teaching and feel that academia is where I belong. Yet, I find myself very disheartened by many aspects of the current academic environment and this article seems to bear some of my perspectives out. I would really appreciate if any faculty would comment on this article as it relates to their experiencethough, if this article is correct, they will be far too busy to read this. :) Cheers, and article below-- Bruce Robertson Postdoctoral Fellow Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Current mailing address: 3310 West Main Street #101 Kalamazoo, MI 49006 206-718-9172 rober...@msu.edu Homepage: www.msu.edu/~roberba1/Index.html/ _ The *Chronicle of Higher Education* includes an article: The Ivory Sweatshop: Academe Is No Longer a Convivial Refuge by Sarah Kiewel. Here are some excerpts: [begin excerpts] With standards for tenure at major research universities rising year by year, professors say academe has become such a pressure-cooker environment that faculty jobs barely resemble those of a generation ago. Gone are the days when academe was considered a convivial refuge from the corporate world, a place where scholars had ample time to debate ideas--often during lunch or over drinks after class. Professors, particularly those at research universities, are simply working much more and much harder these days. They are competing for scarcer grant money, turning out more articles and books, coping with the speedup in communications afforded by better technology, and traveling the globe to establish the kind of international reputation that's now necessary to thrive. What I'm seeing now is junior faculty really just putting their noses to the grindstone, says Frank Donoghue, an associate professor of English at Ohio State University, who earned his Ph.D. in 1986. It's had the effect of transforming the culture of the academy into one that is much more businesslike. Assistant professors are producing article after article and research study after research study, says David D. Perlmutter, who directs the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. Then they're looking at the promotion-and-tenure committee and they're going, Wow, I've actually published more in the last six years than all of them combined. snip John B. Conway, chairman of mathematics at George Washington University, certainly remembers a time when getting through graduate school and finding a faculty job was much simpler. He earned his Ph.D. in 1965 after just four years and never completed a postdoctoral fellowship--a virtual requirement these days for scholars who want to work at a research university like his. Mr. Conway secured his first academic job, at Indiana University, without even applying for a position. His adviser put out some calls to department chairmen, and the deal was done. snip Robert G. Bergman, who holds a distinguished professorship in chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, agrees that times have changed. This job has gotten a thousand percent harder than when I started out, says Mr. Bergman, who began teaching in 1967. It takes a lot more time now, he says, for scholars to keep current with advances in their discipline. When I was starting out, one of the premier journals in my field, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, came out once a month, and it was relatively thin, he says. Now it comes out once a week, and it's much thicker. Because of declining state and federal funds, professors also spend more time trying to raise money for their own research. In fact, Mr. Bergman recalls a time during the late 1960s when someone from a federal agency called a chemistry professor at the California Institute of Technology, where
Re: [ECOLOG-L] evolution for non-scientists textbook
Just following up on my earlier suggestion, there is a positive review of The Tangled Bank in the recent American Biology Teacher: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1525/abt.2010.72.3.13 “For students of evolution or scholars who want to know the specifics about particular evolutionary processes, this is an excellent read. The fact that it is understandable to beginners and fascinating to scientists makes this book truly unique and valuable.” I would also recommend Carl Zimmer's excellent blog The Loom (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom) as a companion to any course on evolution. I like some of the other suggestions in this thread as well, especially Sean Carroll's book. Coyne is very good too, and Dawkins new book is probably dependable in getting the students' attention (I haven't read it). The Selfish Gene is too old to be used as a general text for a course on evolution. Moreover, with Coyne and Dawkins, I'd worry about alienating some of the religious-minded students. I would hesitate to use those in a non-majors class here in the central valley of California, for example. In fact, I suspect that Coyne's book may have played a role in pushing one of my own students (a grad student no less!) away from Biology because the evidence/arguments in that book were too strong for this religious student to handle. Of course that end result was good in some ways, but it depends on what your goals are with the class. Besides, your audience in Princeton (presuming it hasn't changed in the decade since I was there) will be rather different from what I face here in Fresno - so your mileage may vary! __ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB 73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 +1.559.278.2460 mka...@csufresno.edu http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ __
Re: [ECOLOG-L] evolution for non-scientists textbook
I'd look at The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution by Carl Zimmer. Here's the Amazon page for the book: http://amzn.to/acUSiw. On 5/10/10 7:01 AM, jbowen wrote: Hi All: In the fall I am going to be teaching an Evolutionary Biology course for students in the social sciences and humanities. No prior coursework in the natural sciences is required. I am curious if the list might have recommendations for a textbook that is appropriate for this audience. Thanks in advance for your input. -- __ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB 73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 +1.559.278.2460 mka...@csufresno.edu http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ __
[ECOLOG-L] In which energy development is more endangered than the Greater Sage Grouse
My thoughts on today's USFWS ruling that the Greater Sage Grouse is deserving of protection under the Endangered Species Act - but won't be listed as endangered at this time! http://blog.reconciliationecology.org/2010/03/in-which-energy-development-is-more.html I appreciate your feedback. Madhu __ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB 73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 +1.559.278.2460 mka...@csufresno.edu http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ __
[ECOLOG-L] RFID (or similar) tagging to track acorn dispersal
Greetings Ecologgers, I have a student in my lab beginning a study of the role of the Western Scrub Jay seed caching in the dispersal and regeneration of Oak species in the Sierra Nevada foothills oak woodlands. We plan to measure rates of acorn caching and retrieval by the jays using feeders, and also monitor the fates of cached seeds to measure their survival and germination. We will be radio-tracking some of the birds to track their foraging behaviors and ranging patterns, and also to follow them to caches, but this will be limited by our small budget. I am looking for ways to track the acorns themselves directly, and wondering if RFID / PIT tags is one way to go. I came across one paper (see below) where they used simple aluminium tags to mark acorns while monitoring dispersal/predation by rodents. A google search for RFID yields a ton of links for all kinds of commercial applications, and some for wild/domestic animal tagging, but not much for tracking seeds. Has anyone on this forum conducted/come across such a study where RFID tags or other kinds of tags might have been used to track seeds? If so, I'd like to find out more about the success/pitfalls of the techniques, as well as places to actually purchase the tags and readers. Thank you. Madhu __ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB 73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 +1.559.278.2460 mka...@csufresno.edu http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ __
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Coal Comfort: Margaret Palmer interviewed on Colbert Report...
Hi Bill, I don't have a Science subscription either, and was able to read it. The link in my blog post is one I got from Dr. Palmer's website , which has more documents. Here's a summary of the article: SCIENCE AND REGULATION: Mountaintop Mining Consequences M. A. Palmer, 1 ,2 ,* E. S. Bernhardt, 3 W. H. Schlesinger, 4 K. N. Eshleman, 1 E. Foufoula-Georgiou, 5 M. S. Hendryx, 6 A. D. Lemly, 7 G. E. Likens, 4 O. L. Loucks, 8 M. E. Power, 9 P. S. White, 10 P. R. Wilcock 11 There has been a global, 30-year increase in surface mining ( 1 ), which is now the dominant driver of land-use change in the central Appalachian ecoregion of the United States ( 2 ). One major form of such mining, mountaintop mining with valley fills (MTM/VF) ( 3 ), is widespread throughout eastern Kentucky, West Virginia (WV), and southwestern Virginia. Upper elevation forests are cleared and stripped of topsoil, and explosives are used to break up rocks to access buried coal (fig. S1). Excess rock (mine spoil) is pushed into adjacent valleys, where it buries existing streams. 1 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge, MD 21613, USA. 2 University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. 3 Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA. 4 Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA. 5 University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55414, USA. 6 West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA. 7 Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA. 8 Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA. 9 University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. 10 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. 11 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. * Author for correspondence. E-mail: mpal...@umd.edu If you still can't access it I can send you the PDF, although it is probably better to get that from the author! cheers, Madhu - Original Message - From: Bill Silvert cien...@silvert.org To: Madhusudan Katti mka...@csufresno.edu Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 10:10:47 AM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Coal Comfort: Margaret Palmer interviewed on Colbert Report... For those of us without Science subscriptions, how about a summary at least? Bill Silvert -- From: Madhusudan Katti mka...@csufresno.edu Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 12:30 AM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Coal Comfort: Margaret Palmer interviewed on Colbert Report... ... and my blog post about it: http://blog.reconciliationecology.org/2010/01/coal-comfort-or-why-you-must-toss-those.html Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel: 559.278.1460 Fax: 559.278.3963 Lab: http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ~
[ECOLOG-L] Coal Comfort: Margaret Palmer interviewed on Colbert Report...
... and my blog post about it: http://blog.reconciliationecology.org/2010/01/coal-comfort-or-why-you-must-toss-those.html Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel:559.278.1460 Fax:559.278.3963 Lab:http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ~
[ECOLOG-L] Fwd: [MigrantWatch] EclipseWatch - Watch animals as well as the eclipse on 15th Jan!
Ecologgers, As you may know, this friday, Jan 15th, some parts of the old world will see an annular solar eclipse. Those of us in North America will miss out on this eclipse, but people in its path have an interesting opportunity to participate in a collaborative project! EclipseWatch (http://www.eclipsewatch.in/) is an intriguing one-day citizen science / crowdsourcing project from the people behind India's MigrantWatch (http://www.migrantwatch.in/) program. So if you happen to be in the region, consider participating - see details below. And if not, perhaps you know someone from the region who can contribute, so please pass this along (via other emai lists / twitter / facebook / other social networks too!). cheers, Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740-8034 Email: mka...@csufresno.edu Tel:559.278.1460 Fax:559.278.3963 Lab:http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ ~ Begin forwarded message: From: Suhel Quader suh...@ncbs.res.in Date: January 13, 2010 8:55:08 AM PST To: MigrantWatch migrantwa...@googlegroups.com Subject: [MigrantWatch] EclipseWatch - Watch animals as well as the eclipse on 15th Jan! Reply-To: suh...@ncbs.res.in Dear MigrantWatcher, This email is an announcement for a one-day sister project of MigrantWatch. Do join! EclipseWatch invites enthusiastic people all across India to watch birds and other animals during the solar eclipse on Friday, 15th January. Humans have long looked at solar eclipses with a sense of wonder and fear. But we are not the only ones on the planet to react to such phenomena -- animals too change their behaviour during eclipses. Have you ever wondered how your pets and other animals around you change their behaviour during a solar eclipse? Contribute to finding the answer: participate in EclipseWatch! EclipseWatch tracks changes in the behaviour of animals in response to the solar eclipse across the country. All it takes to participate is to spend about a minute each hour through the day watching for flying birds and listening for sounds. Participants track certain 'indicator' species, which include crows, pigeons, sparrows, kites, dogs and bats. To sign up, and for more details, go to http://www.eclipsewatch.in Anyone can contribute in collecting valuable information at a nationwide scale. Such an effort has never been attempted before, and is not possible without your participation! So please join us, and spread the word to your friends! Until the 15th! Suhel (for EclipseWatch) Our apologies if you receive this message from multiple sources. Look for us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=248209759157 Website: http://www.eclipsewatch.in/ Email: eclipsewatch at gmail.com EclipseWatch Citizen Science Programme National Centre for Biological Sciences GKVK campus, Bellary Road Bangalore 560 065 -- You received this message because you are a registered participant in MigrantWatch. If you would like to unregister yourself from MigrantWatch, please send an email to m...@migrantwatch.in. If you would like to continue participating, but want to stop receiving announcements from MigrantWatch, send an email to migrantwatch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
[ECOLOG-L] Blogging about climate change on Blog Action Day
This may be a bit late (especially by the time this email gets posted to the list), but I'd like to note (for people who don't know) that today (Oct 15, 2009) is Blog Action Day, a global effort to get the blogsphere to act collectively to highlight a single issue. This year's topic is Climate Change, and as of this writing, over 10,000 blogs participated worldwide. You can read more about the event, and find out what people wrote about at: http://www.blogactionday.org/ Instead of inflicting my own contribution upon Ecologgers here, I invite interested readers to visit my blog Reconciliation Ecology, where I shared some thoughts on climate change. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 leafwarb...@gmail.com http://reconciliationecology.org/ http://www.fresnobirds.org/ http://www.valleycafesci.org/ http://blog.reconciliationecology.org/ ~
[ECOLOG-L] Reconciliation Ecology: El Condor Pasa
Greetings Eco-loggers, September 5th, 2009 was International Vulture Awareness Day. As part of this event, there was an effort to get people to blog collectively about Vultures. I would like to share with folks on this list, my own contribution to the blogathon: http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/2009/09/el-condor-pasa.html Feel free to leave your own thoughts upon reading this. regards, Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 leafwarb...@gmail.com http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://www.fresnobirds.org/ http://www.valleycafesci.org/ http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Notwithstanding that Agriculture is Anathema to Ecology, Consider Permaculture
Perhaps you are trying to be provocative... but why do you think that agriculture is anathema to ecology? On Aug 30, 2009, at 7:57 AM, Thomas Hardy wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S6kTlz6Mk4
Re: [ECOLOG-L] earmark spending
Great! Let's go ahead delist the bears so we can do unto them what we did unto the wolf in that same part of the country: http://tinyurl.com/4g74wa Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~ On Sep 28, 2008, at 12:03 PM, Andrew Turner wrote: You'all may want to read up on the grizzly bear issue a bit before choosing sides. This AP story is a good starting point. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5irG9_VulDpQnHaaAi3D4edO0Nd6gD9382C680 Andrew M. Turner Dept. of Biology Clarion University Clarion, PA 16214 814-393-2237 (Office) http://jupiter.clarion.edu/~aturner ---
Re: [ECOLOG-L] McCain on Bear Study
Hello, I too would like to know what this particular study was that McCain has been bashing. I'd read that he had joked about it on the campaign trail, but was still shocked to hear him trot it out again during the debate on national TV! Of all the examples of wasteful govt. funding, it is astonishing that McCain (whom I've known ecologist colleagues to regard as being reasonable on environmental issues and global warming) has been picking on this one. Surely there are many instances where the govt. has not just wasted, but literally lost track of way more than $3 million - e.g., in Iraq, where something like $9 billion went missing over there several years ago?. And he brought up the bear study again last night as a complete non sequitur in the context of questions about the banking collapse, which had very little to do with govt. spending on anything! Someone on this forum had recently asked about McCain's attitude towards science and what to expect should he get elected. If this example is anything to go by, and if you also consider his running mate's penchant for hunting wolves from the air in Alaska, the prospects for field biology in this country appear bleak indeed! And if that doesn't worry you enough already, perhaps I should share another tidbit I learned from a federal bear biologist just this week. It seems this biologist's proposal to consider spaying/neutering problem bears (i.e., those habituated to humans) was quashed by colleagues who feared that any suggestion of using birth control might raise a red flag with the pro-life groups aligned with those in power!! It was thought better (and sans irony) to simply shoot the bears than consider more humane (and perhaps ecologically more appropriate in terms of social behavior) options of population control. And this happened long before the McCain/Palin ticket even came onto the national scene. I don't know if, at this stage, any petition to the McCain campaign will make much of a difference. But it might be worth putting out a statement on what the taxpayer's got for that $3 million (as well as the 3.2 million for a seal study in Alaska I've also heard mentioned recently) to address popular perception that these studies are all a waste of money - which is what McCain is feeding off of among his followers. Heck, it might even be worth trying to get a bear biologist on something like the Colbert Report on Comedy Central (Stephen Colbert loves to talk about bears all the time!) to counter this perception! Maybe something the ESA's media people should take up. Madhu On Sep 27, 2008, at 6:15 PM, Matthew Warren wrote: Dear Ecologgers- I was very disappointed to hear presidential candidate Sen. John McCain clearly state during the first nationally televised debate that a 3 million dollar study on bear DNA in Montana was a waste of money. I do not know which study he was referring to, but to me this statement makes it very clear how much McCain values ecological research. The government spent 2,730 billion dollars in 2007. The 3 million dollar study accounted for about 0.0001% of the total spending. It seems that if the pittance spent on ecological research (relative to total spending) is reduced in this country, our natural systems will continue to go misunderstood or unknown, to the detriment of our citizens. If the PI's of the study mentioned care to express their concern, and the scientific value of the study, I would be happy to support and encourage a petition to Sen. McCain concerning the value of ecological research. If the PI's used part of the money to buy a Hummer to cruise the Montana backcountry, I would agree with Sen. McCain. Sincerely, Matthew Warren
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Politics and Science Funding
Chris Mooney's book The Republican War on Science (http://www.waronscience.com/home.php ) is one source of information the Bush administration's record on science. As for the potential alternative if the presidency changes party hands this november, its worth reading Obama's response to 14 key questions posed by the Science Debate 2008 group. You can find them on their website: http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=40 If anyone is interested, I have posted a few of my thoughts, especially on some of the environmental issues, here: http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/2008/08/obama-responds-to-science-debate-2008.html This election is quite pivotal for science and the environment, indeed, especially given McCain's pick for VP. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://www.fresnobirds.org/ http://www.valleycafesci.org/ http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~ On Sep 2, 2008, at 11:53 AM, =?ISO-8859-1?Q?G._Gramig?= wrote: Since the political season is heating up, I've been looking for some solid information documenting the state of scientific funding under Republican vs. Democratic leadership. Does anyone know of good articles or books on this subject? I want to be informed so I can argue persuasively. Personally I feel this election will be important in terms of future support for scientific research. Please share your ideas. Thanks! Greta
[ECOLOG-L] Summer edition of the Oekologie Blog Carnival
Hello, The Summer 2008 double-issue of Oekologie, the monthly carnival of blog writing on ecology and environmental science is now up for your reading pleasure at: http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/2008/07/reconciliation-oekologie-special-summer.html of try this tinyURL if the above is mangled by your email server/reader: http://tinyurl.com/6apfga And I'd like to thank those of you on this forum who submitted entries which I have incorporated into the carnival. I hope you don't terribly mind the context I have put them in! cheers, Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://www.fresnobirds.org/ http://www.valleycafesci.org/ http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Onomatopoeia animal names
Two examples from India immediately come to mind: House Gecko - Hemidactylus frenatus - is known as Tiktiki in Bangla (or Bengali) language. Tucktoo (local and English common name) - Gekko gecko - is another gecko found in Assam. I'm sure I can remember plenty of other examples if I sit down and think about it for a while. Madhu On Apr 19, 2008, at 1:21 PM, Warren W. Aney wrote: Is anyone aware of a comprehensive study or report on the onomatopoeia of animal names? Of course their are obvious examples such as chickadee, crow, kookaburra, katydid, cuckoo. And it seems there may be other less obvious examples in English and other languages, e.g., duck, cow (Latin bos, German kuh), titmouse (Scandinavian titt), pig (Latin sui), owl (Latin ulula). I also remember running across a speculation that human language may have first evolved as a means of communicating the presence of animals (imagine a proto-hominid running back to his clan calling out Woo-woo = wolf = vulpe = lobo). And can you come up with other possible examples? Warren W. Aney Senior Wildlife Ecologist Tigard, Oregon
Re: Heads up: The new Global Warming Denial
This, and a host of similar cool animations have been produced by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio and are available in much higher resolution from their website at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ A search for arctic sea ice on the main page will give you 27 matches, including the series used by the Washington Post article. There are, in fact, two versions of the 2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMSR-E... sequences showing the polar region from different perspectives, with Alaska or Greenland in the foreground. Madhu ~~~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~ On Oct 22, 2007, at 1:14 PM, joseph gathman wrote: There's a pretty impressive time-series animation of arctic ice shrinking at this page: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/ 2007/10/21/AR2007102100761.html?hpid=topnewssid=ST20071021007 I showed it today at the beginning of class. It takes no time and makes quite an impact. Joe __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: ecology in film and lit
This may not be quite what you have in mind, but one recent documentary I highly recommend is Darwin's Nightmare by Hubert Sauper. Not straightforward in terms of basic ecology, and may not be easy to watch - but it is one of the most powerful films I have seen in recent years about some of the devastating ecological and human costs of globalization. I'll be showing it to my Human Ecology class this semester, and think anyone interested in the fate of the earth and our own species ought to see this film. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~ I support ignorance. That is my philosophy. I have the tranquility of ignorance and faith in science. Other persons cannot live without faith, without belief, without theology. Me, I pass these by. I sleep on the pillow of ignorance. I don't know. I will never know. I accept it without tormenting myself. I wait. I do not fall because of this into nihilism, I try to recognise the connections --Claude Bernard On Sep 26, 2007, at 6:16 AM, Dr. Gary Grossman wrote: Dear Colleagues, At some point in my career I'd like to teach a moderately, large non-majors oriented course, delineating basic concepts in ecology and resource management, via film, art and literature. One idea would be to have the film, etc. illustrate the point which could then be reinforced via a book chapter or edited journal article so that they would be understandable by non-majors. Does anyone teach a course like this? If you do, would you mind sharing your materials? If you don't but have ideas about specific films, short stories, paintings, sculptures, etc. please let me know and please also tell us why you would chose that work (i.e. what concept it illustrates). I have a pretty good background in the visual arts, so help with literature and film would be appreciated. As an example of what I'm looking for, I would use the film Dersu Uzala by Kurasawa to illustrate the role of humans relationship to nature. Thanks for your help. g2 -- Gary D. Grossman Distinguished Research Professor - Animal Ecology Warnell School of Forestry Natural Resources University of Georgia Athens, GA, USA 30602 http://www.arches.uga.edu/~grossman Board of Editors - Animal Biodiversity and Conservation Editorial Board - Freshwater Biology Editorial Board - Ecology Freshwater Fish
Re: Christianity survey
Have you tried the National Center for Science Education (http:// www.natcenscied.org/)? I don't remember off the top of my head if they've done such a study or published in their Reports, but I'd suggest asking someone there about this. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~ I support ignorance. That is my philosophy. I have the tranquility of ignorance and faith in science. Other persons cannot live without faith, without belief, without theology. Me, I pass these by. I sleep on the pillow of ignorance. I don't know. I will never know. I accept it without tormenting myself. I wait. I do not fall because of this into nihilism, I try to recognise the connections --Claude Bernard On Aug 21, 2007, at 9:03 AM, O'Mara, Maureen wrote: Greetings list, I am wondering if any of you can direct me to research or a survey that has been done that would tell me the percentage of university professors that have Christian beliefs. I have a friend that has been fed the propaganda that university professors are not Christian. In my personal experience at two universities this is not true. He argues that it's because these professors are located in the western states and that those back east are not Christian. He has a hard time understanding how Christians can reconcile their beliefs with teaching science, specifically evolution. Yes, I believe he is a Creationist. I would like to correct, at least this part of his thinking, with some facts. It might also be good to show him any information that might be out there about scientists and spiritual beliefs. Thanks! Mo =20 Maureen O'Mara Biological Science Technician USDA / ARS / NPARL 1500 N. Central Ave. Sidney, MT 59270 (406) 433-9497 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Grasshopper research webpage: www.ars.usda.gov/npa/nparl/dbranson Grasshopper Management Website: www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/grasshopper =20
Fern-watching (was Re: primate watching)
Right after I caught up with the primate-watching thread on Ecolog-l post the ESA meeting last week, I found a lovely article on fern- watching in the Aug 13 issue of the New Yorker, by Oliver Sacks. I was moved enough to write about it on my blog, and would like to share it here as the article illustrates the potential of getting people excited about documenting biodiversity, and also raises some intriguing questions about the (micro-)biogeography of ferns in Manhattan. Read the original article by Oliver Sacks here: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2007/08/13/070813ta_talk_sacks and my commentary (embellished with a video) is here: http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/2007/08/joys-of-fern- watching.html If the links get broken by my mail server, you may search newyorker.com for Oliver Sacks to find his article, and look on the front page of my blog (url is below in my signature also) for my comments. I'd appreciate any feedback from ecologgers, especially those who might have some answers to the distributional questions. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~ In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. [Galileo Galilei]
Re: in Memorium yangtzee dolphin
On Aug 16, 2007, at 7:57 AM, Malcolm McCallum wrote: Good point,I am on the marine mammal listserv and never heard a thing about it. Perhaps because it was not a marine mammal, Malcolm? :-) The formal notice of the extinction of this dolphin was noted at least in a corner of the blogsphere - on scienceblogs (http:// www.scienceblogs.com/) where several bloggers wrote about it (often lamenting the lack of media coverage), and it was featured on the site's front page as the hot topic for several days. Even now, if you go to scienceblogs and look under the more hot topics section, you'll find Dolphin Goes Extinct listed from a week ago. Some of the posts there might be worth reading. Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~ In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. [Galileo Galilei] On Thu, August 16, 2007 4:07 am, William Silvert wrote: I find it odd that with all the discussion of species loss on this list, no mention has appeared of a major extinction of a charismatic species, the Yangtzee river dolphin. The loss of a large mammal seems to have occurred with just a small ripple in the news, and seems much less noteworthy than the birth of a giant panda. Bill Silvert Malcolm L. McCallum Assistant Professor of Biology Editor Herpetological Conservationa and Biology [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Fuel efficient/zero emissions automobiles
The idea may not be far from catching on- but only if they let us!! Right? I say this because just a little while ago, while driving to campus in my gas-guzzler minivan, I happened to be listening to Democracy Now (http://www.democracynow.org/), Amy Goodman's great show carried on the local Pacifica station here, and caught the last part of a segment on the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?, (which has now moved up to the top of my Netflix list) about how a potential alternative (the EV1) was actively crushed (literally - nearly all EV1 vehicles, most of which were on lease, were rounded up by GM and crushed!) by the very company that made them. And this was over 10 years ago! You can watch/listen to the Democracy Now interview with the film's director and a former GM employee here: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/13/1421243 As individuals, we can only choose from a range of available options - so I wonder how much impact individual life-style choices can have if that domain (of choices in the marketplace) itself remains unchanged and out of our control? Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~ Dreams and nightmares are made from the same materials. But this particular nightmare purports to be the only dream we are allowed: a development model that scorns life and adores things - Eduardo Galeano On Apr 13, 2007, at 12:52 AM, William Silvert wrote: I thank Wirt for this informative posting. One sentence in particular amused me (below). If you visit one of the colder Canadian cities during the winter you will see cars plugged into electric sockets, and outlets in many parking areas -- this is not because the cars run on electricity, but because they use block heaters. In cities like Calgary nearly all the cars have electric plugs sticking ou of the grills. In Europe there are already cities where electric power is commonly used for smaller vehicles. In Firenze (Florence) last year I saw power stations in many parking areas where people could plug in their motor scooters. The idea is not that far from catching on. Bill Silvert - Original Message - From: Wirt Atmar [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 7:34 PM Subject: Fuel efficient/zero emissions automobiles They didn't want people to think about the inconvenience and perceived unreliability of a plug-in vehicle while first trying to introduce the concept of a hybrid.
Re: historian of science/evolution
Wendee, I would suggest you consider Barbara Forrest, co-author of the excellent Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design and expert witness at the Dover trial of 2005. I happened to catch her great interview on the Point of Inquiry podcast recently, which you can download from here: http://www.pointofinquiry.org/?p=97 Here's how that program described her: Barbara Forrest is a philosopher and public intellectual at Southeastern Louisiana University. Widely praised for her compelling expert testimony in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial, she is a tireless defender of science education and the teaching of evolution in U.S. public schools. With Paul R. Gross, she is co-author of Creationisms Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design (Oxford University Press, 2004), which examines the goals and strategies of the intelligent design movement and its attempts to undermine the teaching of evolutionary biology. In this discussion with D.J. Grothe, Barbara Forrest examines the intelligent design movement, its history and its agenda, and the so- called wedge strategy, including the ID movements public relations efforts and other methods the movement has used to advance the widespread public acceptance of intelligent design. She also talks about the Discovery Institute and the implications of the theory of evolution for belief in God. And you will let us know who you go with, and how they do, won't you? :-) Madhu ~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://reconciliationecology.blogspot.com/ ~ Dreams and nightmares are made from the same materials. But this particular nightmare purports to be the only dream we are allowed: a development model that scorns life and adores things - Eduardo Galeano On Apr 11, 2007, at 7:55 PM, Wendee Holtcamp wrote: Does anyone know of any prominent historians of science, maybe someone who specifically focuses on the whole history of the evolution/creation controversy? I want to find someone well known - maybe who has gotten some media coverage - but it not being my field I really have no idea. I can do a google search but that won't really tell me that. Ideally they would be in the US but not absolutely necessary. Thanks!! Wendee ~ Wendee Holtcamp, M.S. Wildlife Ecology Freelance Writer-Photographer http://www.wendeeholtcamp.com/ http://www.wendeeholtcamp.com Bohemian Adventures Blog http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com/ http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com ~~~ CRIKEY!
Seeking textbook recommendations for a Human Ecology non-majors course
Hi, Next fall I am slated to teach an upper division non-majors course titled Human Ecology here at Fresno State. Its been a few years since this course was last taught here, and I will be doing it for the first time. Here's the catalog description for the course (as it was offered in the past): BIOL 110. Human Ecology (3 units) The study of the relationships between humans and their environment, both natural and man-made; emphasis on scientific understanding of root causes of current environmental problems. That's quite broad, and I can think of several ways to approach it in (and the recent discussions here on Ecolog-L give plenty to think about in this context). I am trying to decide whether to base my instruction around readings of papers or a textbook; the latter option might work better given that it is a non-majors course, likely to draw students from outside the sciences. I would therefore appreciate some suggestions from fellow Ecologgers for potential textbooks for such a course. And please share any experiences if you have taught or otherwise participated in such a course. thanks, Madhu ~~~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 559.278.2460 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mkatti http://reconciliarionecology.blogspot.com/ ~~~ In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. [Galileo Galilei]
Still Evolving, Human Genes Tell New Story - New York Times
In the light of the recent long thread on human evolution, ecologgers might find this interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/science/07evolve.html Madhu ~~~ Madhusudan Katti Assistant Professor Department of Biology, M/S SB73 California State University, Fresno 2555 E. San Ramon Ave. Fresno, CA 93740-8034 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~
