The 2007 web page for Ecology will be available through Blackboard.

Remember our discussion of Acorns, Mice, Gypsy Moths, and Lyme Disease - that research took place at IES! I received the following email on the Ecological Society of America listserv:

Do you know students who would benefit from having a chance to do independent research in ecology this coming summer? Located in the Hudson River Valley 80 miles north of New York City, the Institute of Ecosystem Studies (IES) may be the perfect place for them.

The "Ecology in Context" undergraduate research program at IES is running for its 20th year in 2007. Ten students will join the unique IES research community to:

If you'll be here in January, mark your calendars!

Heres the announcement from the Oakley Center:

January 10 , 2007, 8:00 PM, Chapin Hall: Jared Diamond, UCLA - Richmond Lecture: "Collapse." Professor Diamond holds academic appointments in both geography and physiology, and has done pathbreaking work in evolutionary biology, but is known to a broad reading public as the Pulitzer Prize winning author of such books as Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997) and The Third Chimpanzee (1992). Most recenly, he is the author of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005).

I'll be participating in the Audubon's Society Christmas Bird Count for North Berkshire county this Saturday morning. If anyone is interested in joining me (bird ID experience not required), let me know ...

I wanted to highlight the opportunities for summer research with Williams College faculty. From the department webpage:

Each summer dozens of students are hired to assist Williams faculty in their research programs. Students work up to ten weeks and receive a stipend of $350/week (if they live in the dormitories their room is paid for, but they must pay for at least a few meals/week in the dining halls). If you are interested in this job opportunity you must first talk to faculty members to discuss your interest in doing research and the type of research being done in their labs. To facilitate this process, there will be an evening informational meeting about summer research one evening in early February, as well as a "lab open house" when current research students and faculty members will be available to answer questions. [Not all faculty will be hiring students this summer--a list of faculty who are hiring students will be available here in early February, but you are welcome at any time to look over the faculty webpages on this website.] After researching the array of research opportunities available, you should carefully read and complete the summer research application and submit it to the Biology Department by 11 PM on February 24, 2007.

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

from the San Francisco Chronicle

When the climate warms, there is a drop in the abundance of the ocean's
phytoplankton, the tiny plants that feed krill, fish and whales, according
to scientists who say the just-released research offers new clues to future
life under global warming.

Ocean temperatures bounce up and down, but over the past century they have
been warming along with the atmosphere. Nine years of NASA satellite data
released today in the journal Nature show that the growth of phytoplankton
drops in warm ocean years and increases in cooler ocean years.

For those of you that would like to take the Final Exam earlier than is scheduled, I will offer an alternative exam slot on Thursday December 14 at 1:00 P.M. in TBL (i.e., Biology) 202. Please email me if you plan to take advantage of this alternative.

The key for the second exam is now posted.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Extra credit opportunity (2.5% of 1 exam)

Come see Becky Irwin from Dartmouth speak about: "The role of floral traits in pollination and plant defense," this Friday at 2:30 PM in 112 TBL.

This paper just came out today in PLoS. Note that they use Ripley's K statistic for their analysis, just like you!

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0040344