EEB News Feed

New faculty book: The Changing Environment of Northern Michigan

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:01:29 -0500

Edited by Professors Knute J. Nadelhoffer, Alan J. Hogg, and Brian A. Hazlett, this new book covers the last century of scientific study of wildlife and environmental change at the U-M BioStation.

Northern Michigan is undergoing unprecedented changes in land use, climate, resource extraction, and species distributions. For the last hundred years, the University of Michigan Biological Station has monitored these environmental transformations. Stretching 10,000 acres along Burt and Douglas Lakes in the northern Lower Peninsula and 3,200 acres on Sugar Island near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the station has played host to nearly 10,000 students and a steady stream of top scientists in the fields of biology, ecology, geology, archeology, and climatology.

“The Changing Environment of Northern Michigan” collects essays by some of these scientists, who lead readers on virtual field trips exploring the history of people and science at the station itself, the relations of indigenous people to the land, the geophysical history of the region, characteristics of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, key groups of organisms and their relations to local habitats, and perspectives on critical environmental challenges of today and their effects on the region. Accompanying the chapters are color illustrations and photographs that bring the station's pristine setting to life. For further information and to order the book, visit the University of Michigan Press.

Learning about teaching: Ammerlaan awarded Teagle Fellowship

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Dr. Marc Ammerlaan was awarded the Teagle Fellowship for the 2009-10 academic year to examine the way students learn, funded by a grant through the U-M Center for Research and Learning on Teaching. Fellowship recipients include five instructors from the sciences, and five from humanities and social sciences who will form the Colloquium on the Science of Learning. Fellows are selected based on their commitment to teaching and collegiality.

The fellows read key articles, discuss papers critically and in relation to their own teaching and their students' learning, attend presentations by relevant experts, and trade perspectives. This year begins a new focus on multiculturalism and diversity. He finds it invigorating and rejuvenating to connect with faculty from across campus to share ideas, especially about how to reach students and learn new ways to present challenging, stimulating material to them. He’s excited about attending seminars that keep him thinking about teaching. At the end of the academic year, CRLT will host a forum for panels of Teagle Fellows to present commentary based on the literature and discussions.

New faculty book: Nature’s Matrix

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 15:30:21 +0000

Professors John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto have published a groundbreaking book, “Natures Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty.” They propose a radically new approach to the conservation of biodiversity based on recent advances in the science of ecology as well as political realities, particularly in the world’s tropical regions.

According to the book’s preface, their analysis stems from the current (and probably future) nature of tropical landscapes as being mainly fragments of natural habitat surrounded by a ‘sea’ of agriculture. Recent ecological theory shows that the nature of those fragments is not nearly as important for conservation as the nature of the matrix of agriculture and other management systems that surround them.

"We wrote this book partly to inform the conservation community that recent advances in basic ecological theory force their activities into a more expansive framework, especially with regard to the structure of tropical agriculture. Especially in a world where a billion people go hungry every night despite overproduction of almost all agricultural commodities, we want people to realize that the conservation of biodiversity and the struggle for food sovereignty are two sides of the same coin."

Vandermeer is the Asa Gray University Professor in EEB, Perfecto is the Charles Willis Pack Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and their co-author Angus Wright is emeritus professor of environmental studies at California State University Sacramento. For further information and to order the book, visit Earthscan, publishing for a sustainable future.

Brower Fellowship awarded

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 15:24:07 +0000

Jess Middlemis Maher is the 2009 recipient of the Helen Olsen Brower Memorial Fellowship in Environmental Studies from EEB, which is awarded annually to a graduate student working in applied sciences for the conservation of natural resources. The prestigious award provides one semester of fellowship funding for stipend, tuition and benefits. Sally and Caspar Offutt, Jr., endowed this fellowship in tribute to Sally's mother who graduated in biology in 1917 from the University of Michigan. Brower led a vigorous public life touching on wide-ranging endeavors from politics to war relief. She invariably found her greatest satisfaction with projects involving the outdoors. Maher’s research program measures the effects of the environment on individual health and fitness in amphibians, especially the effects of early experiences on later-life behavior and physiology. The 2008 Brower fellows were: Emily Farrer, Aley Joseph, Amanda Zellmer and Maher (this is the second consecutive year Maher has been selected).

Kurdziel’s bright IDEA

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:29:37 +0000

Dr. Jo Kurdziel, EEB lecturer and assistant research scientist, has been awarded a $100,000 grant for three years from U-M’s IDEA Institute for her project “Injecting assessment in the introductory biology curriculum to improve student learning and teaching.” Kurdziel is developing a collaborative team to assess, and ultimately improve, the new introductory biology sequence as part of this collaboration between the natural science departments in U-M’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, and the U-M School of Education.

IDEA stands for the Instructional Development and Educational Assessment Institute. Their mandate is to improve and advance, through research and practice, undergraduate science teaching and learning at all levels, including teacher training and collecting data on student learning. The team will have preliminary results by the end of winter term 2011.

Best poster prize

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:52:46 +0000

EEB graduate student Andreas Baeza won the Lotka-Volterra award for best poster presentation at the 2009 Ecological Society of America meeting. The poster was titled “On the emergence of conservation behavior in a land-use model with ecosystem services.” He collaborated with Professor Mercedes Pascual and Andy Dobson, a professor of EEB at Princeton. The Theoretical Ecology Section of the ESA awarded the tenth annual Alfred J. Lotka and Vito Volterra prize on the basis of merit, originality, and clarity of presentation. Congratulations!

Being a standout has its benefits, study shows

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:08:45 +0000

Research published in Evolution by EEB graduate student Michael Sheehan and Professor Elizabeth Tibbetts is featured on the U-M home page. Watch for an EEB research feature coming soon.

New species' numbers rise with rising mountains

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:07:14 +0000

"The major times of (species) diversification directly coincide with times of large tectonic events," said Professor Catherine Badgley, who presented the findings in September 2009 at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Bristol, UK.

Read more in Naturenews. Photo: Railroad Canyon, Idaho by Dr. Anthony Barnosky. The ridge in the middle ground has a series of fossil localities of Middle Miocene age. Data from these localities were part of the database that Professor John Finarelli and Badgley analyzed for the results presented in their paper.

EEB welcomes new lecturer

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:06:08 +0000

Dr. Laura Eidietis joins EEB from Hunter College of the City University of New York where she was an assistant professor of science education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching. Eidietis is coordinating BIO 171 (Intro to Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) and teaching the honors discussion sessions; teaching BIO 108 (Animal Diversity for non-majors); and teaching and coordinating graduate student instructor (GSI) training.

Eidietis received her Ph.D. in biology from U-M. Afterward, she spent two years as faculty in the Biology Department at Eastern Michigan University teaching mostly biology education classes. Her research interests in biology involve using biomechanical tools to help understand the migrations of lamprey. Specifically, she has recently looked at Pacific lamprey making their way up manmade ramps. She enjoys considering the interaction between the physics of the environment and animals.

In science education, she looks at factors that influence the inclusion of topics and activities in classrooms, specifically looking at teacher/instructor decision making. Most recently, this has focused on ocean and Great Lakes education.

“My husband and I are thrilled to be back in Ann Arbor -- he did his MBA at UM,” the Michigan native said, “and I'm thrilled to be back home. We are happily battling invasive species in our back yard and working on growing our family a little in the near future.”

In memoriam – botany legend

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 14:58:42 +0000

Professor Emeritus Rogers McVaugh was internationally renowned for his expertise in a wide variety of plants in the families Compositae, Myrtaceae, Campanulaceae, woody Rosaceae, and the flora of Mexico, as well as botanical history and nomenclature. He died Sept. 24, 2009 at the age of 100.

“Rog,” as he was known to his friends, began his association with the University of Michigan in the Department of Botany and Herbarium in 1946, following appointments at the University of Georgia and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was curator of vascular plants from 1946 - 1979, the year of his retirement, and director of the Herbarium from 1972 - 1975. He was named Harley Harris Bartlett Professor of Botany in 1974. His focus on the flora of western Mexico and collaboration with his former student, William R. Anderson, culminated in the acclaimed series “Flora Novo-Galiciana.”

Owing to McVaugh’s prodigious field work and expertise in neotropical families, which brought ceaseless gifts for determination from other collectors, the U-M Herbarium is a treasure trove for plants of Mexico and the families that were his specialty.

McVaugh received numerous honors for his outstanding scholarly contributions and remained active in research throughout his retirement. He was appointed research professor of botany at the University of North Carolina in 1980 and adjunct research scientist at the Hunt Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. His relatives and friends gathered for a joyous celebration of his 100th birthday in June. He was born May 30, 1909. He certainly left his mark at U-M and far beyond. Read more on the U-M Herbarium Web site.

Michigan Society of Fellows: EEB now boasts two Fellows

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:58:19 +0000

The Michigan Society of Fellows, under the auspices of the Rackham Graduate School, was established in 1970 with endowment grants from the Ford Foundation and the Horace H. and Mary Rackham Funds. Each year the society selects four outstanding applicants for appointment to three-year fellowships in the social, physical, and life sciences, and in the professional schools. In 2007, the Mellon Foundation awarded a grant to add four Mellon Fellows annually in the humanities, expanding the number of fellowships awarded each year from four to eight. These diverse young scholars share their creativity and excellence through interaction and mutual enlightenment, making a truly unique contribution to the quality of scholarly life at U-M.

EEB is fortunate to currently have two Michigan Fellows. Manja Holland joined EEB in 2008 after earning her Ph.D. with distinction from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She researches the ecology of disease with a particular focus on environmental contexts that promote disease emergence as well as collateral effects on communities. Her previous research focused on patterns of macroparasite infection and disease in amphibian hosts in the human-dominated landscapes of the northeastern U.S.

Holland is also interested in the broader role of parasites in structuring ecological communities and food webs and maintaining biodiversity. Holland taught Disease Ecology in 2008-2009 with Professor Johannes Foufopoulos.

Evan Economo, EEB's new Michigan Fellow, hails from the University of Texas at Austin where he earned his Ph.D. in ecology, evolution and behavior. His research interests are in three interrelated areas: biodiversity theory, which seeks to mechanistically explain patterns of diversity across geographic space and across the tree of life; the ecology, evolution, and biodiversity of ants in the Pacific islands, a spatially complex network of communities; and biological scaling, particularly the consequences of allometric scaling of metabolism for populations and ecosystems.

Professor and Chair Deborah Goldberg is currently a Senior Michigan Fellow. “It saves my sanity,” she says of her experience, “and reminds me why I wanted to be at a university.”

Historically, one to two Michigan Scholars have been appointed to EEB at a time. The most recent past scholars (and current assistant professorship locations) include: Mike Benard (Case Western, Cleveland, Ohio), Paul Fine (University of California at Berkeley), and Chuck Davis (Harvard). Application information is on the Michigan Society of Fellows Web site.

A day in the life of a graduate

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:57:11 +0000

EEB has launched a new Web page to give prospective students (and other interested parties) a glimpse of what it’s like to walk in a grad’s shoes.

EEB graduate RSS feeds launched

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:46:50 +0000

Click on the RSS links on the graduate student home page to stay informed about graduate funding, events and jobs. These RSS feeds replace the weekly graduate newsletter that used to be e-mailed to you.

A day in the life of a graduate

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:36:57 +0000

EEB has launched a new Web page to give prospective students (and other interested parties) a glimpse of what it’s like to walk in a grad’s shoes.

Faculty searches underway

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:37:16 +0000

The University of Michigan invites applications for two tenure-track assistant professor positions in microbial ecology: one in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; and one in the Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. (more)

Welcome Pej Rohani

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:36:09 +0000

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Professor Pej Rohani to EEB. He joins us from the Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia. His main research interests are theoretical ecology, infectious disease ecology and evolution, population dynamics, mathematical and computational modeling, and metapopulations. Rohani is also a professor in the Center for the Study of Complex Systems. He will teach cross-listed courses on infectious disease ecology and modeling infectious diseases.

He is currently researching the epidemiology of whooping cough, the transmission dynamics of the avian influenza virus in North American wild bird populations (for which he just received an NSF grant), the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (a stored product pest) and its competitor, the Almond moth, Ephestia cautella and their natural wasp enemies. Rohani is collaborating with Professor Aaron King, has written articles with Professor Mercedes Pascual and looks forward to collaborations with several others in EEB and epidemiology. “There are so many cool people around – it’s very exciting,” he said.

Rohani is an advisor to the World Health Organization helping to improve estimates of mortality and morbidity for measles and whooping cough. He has advised their QUIVER (Quantitative Immunization and Vaccines Related Research) committee for the past couple of years.

Wright wins best poster (again)

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:03:08 +0000

EEB graduate student Jeremy Wright received the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists’ Storer Award in Ichthyology for his poster, “Aposematism and MÜllerian mimicry in a group of Lake Tanganyikan catfishes.” He presented his poster at the society’s annual meeting in Portland, Ore. in July 2009 and captured the prize for a second consecutive year.

The annual Storer Award goes to the best single-author student poster presented at the meeting. Posters are judged on innovation, originality, and scientific significance, as well as quality of presentation and visual aids or graphic design. Wright’s poster is display in the Fish Division of the Museum of Zoology. Bravo!

In memoriam -- trailblazing scientist

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:09:57 +0000

Professor Emeritus Lawrence B. Slobodkin, who taught at U-M from 1953-1968 and was a key figure in the development of ecology and evolutionary biology as a modern science, died Saturday, September 12 at age 81.

He is being remembered as a trailblazing scientist, a quirky and inspirational professor, and an admired friend known for his quick humor and deep engagement with the arts, Jewish studies, and progressive politics. He was the founding chairman of Stony Brook University's Department of Ecology and Evolution.

According to Douglas Futuyma, distinguished professor of ecology and evolution at Stony Brook who studied under Slobodkin at the U-M, he helped advance the study of ecosystems from a descriptive science to one based on conceptual questions and hypotheses within a more mathematical framework. He furthered the ideas of the field's seminal thinker, G. Evelyn Hutchinson, under whom he'd studied at Yale before getting his doctorate in 1951 at the age of 23.

With two colleagues at U-M, he wrote a three-page paper in 1960 that "must be the most frequently cited paper in the entire field of ecology to this day," said Futuyma. Newsday press release.

Zak awarded Collegiate Professorship

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:08:50 +0000

Don Zak has been named Burton V. Barnes Collegiate Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, effective September 1, 2009. He is also a professor in EEB and an adjunct professor in Geological Sciences.

Barnes, a U-M professor emeritus, is a world-renowned forest ecologist who worked to understand the biology and ecology of forests over a career that spans multiple decades. “I’ve always believed that ecological ideas should be tested through field research and experimentation, and that, in turn, should be integrated into a teaching program. I’ve been inspired by Burt’s ability to do that seamlessly – it’s something I aspired to achieve.”

During his undergraduate education, Zak took an ecology course that required Barnes’ book “Forest Ecology” and remembers thinking, “this is something I want to do.” Zak co-authored the latest edition of the text, which he uses in his class Soil Ecology. He teaches the course this semester, and spends two afternoons in the field teaching students. Zak recently received the highest award given by the Soil Science Society of America for work in soil biology and biochemistry, the Francis Clark Distinguished Lectureship; he will deliver the lecture on November 3, 2009 during the Society’s Annual Meeting. He also received the 2006-2007 Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award from SNRE students.

Zak received his doctoral degree from Michigan State University in 1987, and completed a postdoc at the University of Minnesota. His work centers on understanding how composition is linked to function in soil microbial communities and how those links influence the flow of energy and cycling of elements in terrestrial ecosystems. There are thousands of microorganisms in any handful of soil that we know nothing about, he said. His research spans the gamut from molecular biology, working on gene transcription, to understanding how that can influence ecosystem processes. His work also investigates how ecological theory can be applied to microbial communities.

The professorship, which is for a five-year renewable term, is one of the highest honors the college and the university can bestow upon an eminent member of the faculty.

Google PageRank inspired coextinction research

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:25:03 +0000

Former postdoctoral fellow Stefano Allesina and Professor Mercedes Pascual created an algorithm inspired by Google’s PageRank, which rates Web pages based on pages that link to them. They applied their algorithm to a different kind of web – food webs. Their research was published in the online journal PLoS Computational Biology in September 2009.

The algorithm uses the links between species in a food web, which describes the complex eating relationships between species, to determine the relative importance of various species. Their research forms the basis for a more comprehensive treatment of extinction risk in ecosystems. Allesina just moved from the University of Chicago to an assistant professorship at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral fellow in Pascual's lab. See New York Times and BBC articles.

Kling named Collegiate Professor

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 15:11:21 +0000

George W. Kling has been awarded the Robert G. Wetzel Collegiate Professorship by the U-M Board of Regents effective September 1, 2009.

Wetzel was a professor of biology at the University of Michigan from 1986 to 1990. According to Kling, he is probably the most well-known aquatic ecologist in the world. He published 23 books and over 400 journal articles. His textbook, “Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems” is the classic treatise in the field.

“One special trait of Bob’s that I particularly admired was his commitment to supporting and encouraging young scientists in developing countries,” said Professor Kling. “Bob loved this university, and even after he left he visited many times in part because he had family in the area, but mainly to soak up the place and renew his feeling of being a part of our intellectual community. Much to our loss, Bob passed away in April 2005. In 1990, when I came to the university just one year after he left, I inherited his office and laboratory – I still think of Bob often as I sit at his old desk.”

Kling received his doctorate degree from Duke University in 1988 and was a postdoctoral fellow at The Ecosystems Center of the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole from 1988-1991. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1997. He received a National Academy of Sciences Young Investigator Award (1993), a National Science Foundation Presidential Faculty Fellowship (1995), the United Nations Sasakawa Award (2001) for his work on disaster reduction in tropical lakes, and the ASLO Ruth Patrick Award (2007) for applied work in aquatic sciences (2007).

He joined U-M in 1991 as a research scientist with the Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences and was a professor of biology for 12 years before he became professor of EEB. He is the associate chair of EEB’s graduate program. Kling studies ecosystem ecology and aquatic biogeochemistry.

The professorship, which is for a five-year renewable term, is one of the highest honors the college and the university can bestow upon an eminent member of the faculty.

Vandermeer appointed University Professor

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 18:33:54 +0000

John H. Vandermeer has been appointed as the Asa Gray Distinguished University Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology by the U-M Board of Regents effective September 1, 2009. Appointment to a Distinguished University Professorship is one of the most coveted honors conferred by the university upon a member of its faculty.

Asa Gray (1810-1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. He was instrumental in unifying the taxonomic knowledge of the plants of the North American continent. He was appointed a professor at the University of Michigan in 1838, but resigned before visiting Ann Arbor and served at Harvard from 1842 to 1873. Gray knew and corresponded with Charles Darwin and was one of Darwin's supporters, not only in support of the theory of evolution in the U.S., but also in solidarity with Darwin's extensive connections with and support for the abolitionist movement.

Professor Vandermeer received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1969. After a postdoctoral position at the University of Chicago he was professor of biology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook before returning to U-M. He has made major contributions in his three major areas of research: theoretical ecology, tropical rain forest ecology, and agricultural ecology. He is unique in his ability to integrate between them, particularly in his central role in the development of the rigorous ecological theory that now underpins the understanding of complex agroecosystems and the inevitability of surprise in complex ecosystems more generally. His most recent work has shed light on the role of complex systems and spatial dynamics in ecosystem function, emphasizing the coffee agroecosystem as a model system.

The appointment recognizes Vandermeer’s extensive and outstanding scholarly achievements, his commitment to excellence in education for his students, and his extensive contributions to the University of Michigan and far beyond.

Summer cruising

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:39:09 +0000

EEB Professor and Chair Deborah E. Goldberg spent July 3 - 15 cruising Norway’s fjords and Russia’s White Sea as the U-M Alumni Association representative. She presented lectures, enjoyed spectacular scenery, and learned a huge amount about the cultural and political history of the region. After the cruise, she took the opportunity to conduct field work in the mountains of central Norway as part of a new collaborative project on climate change and alpine vegetation.

Water quality improves after lawn fertilizer ban, study shows

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:25:59 +0000

Professor John Lehman and his students provide the first evidence of the effectiveness of lawn fertilizer bans in reducing phosphorous in the Huron River and two downstream lakes. Their research, published online Aug. 14, in the journal Lake and Reservoir Management shows that phosphorus levels in the Huron River dropped an average of 28 percent after Ann Arbor adopted an ordinance in 2006 that curtailed the use of phosphorus on lawns.

In an effort to keep lakes and streams clean, municipalities around the country are banning or restricting the use of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizers, which can kill fish and cause smelly algae blooms and other problems when the phosphorus washes out of the soil and into waterways. Phosphorus is naturally plentiful in southeast Michigan soils, so fertilizing established lawns with the nutrient is generally unnecessary.

The study already has attracted the attention of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), which invited Lehman to present the study results at a meeting earlier this year, and may well generate interest beyond Michigan's borders. Students Douglas Bell and Kahli McDonald were co-authors. The research was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the city of Ann Arbor.

U-M News Service press release | Lehman's project web site | Lake and Reservoir Management

Berry reappointed Herbarium director

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:42:44 +0000

Professor Paul E. Berry has been reappointed as director of the University Herbarium for a three-year term from July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2012.

Berry joined EEB’s faculty as professor in January 2006, when he also was appointed director of the Herbarium. His research interests are in plant systematics, and he currently directs a large collaborative project on Euphorbia and Croton, two large genera of the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. He teaches Systematic Botany (EEB 459) in the fall term. In the coming year, the Herbarium will be developing a more functional and useful Web site on Michigan plants, and it will be sponsoring a totally revised printed update of the three-volume “Michigan Flora.”

NSF honorable mentions

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:41:24 +0000

The National Science Foundation has granted honorary mention status to EEB graduate students John Marino, Leslie McGinnis and Lucy Tran as part of its 2009 Graduate Research Fellowship program. NSF confers honorable mention to meritorious applicants who do not receive fellowship awards. This is a significant academic achievement nationwide. For one year, they receive enhanced access to an open network of high-performance computers, data, tools, people, and high-end experimental facilities around the world to aid their development of novel scientific theories and knowledge.

Marino researches the effects of predation and parasitism on amphibians. Currently, he's focusing on the interactive effects of insect predators and trematode parasites on green frogs. Tran's research uses geometric morphometric techniques (studying the variation and change in the size and shape of skulls) to assess how ecological factors drive speciation in African and Asian colobine monkeys. McGinnis is a fall 2009 incoming doctoral student.

African lake’s gases threaten millions, reports journal Nature

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:17:50 +0000

Trapped methane and carbon dioxide in Central Africa’s Lake Kivu could be set loose by a quake or landslide, according to Professor George Kling. The carbon dioxide and methane entered the lake through volcanic vents. The gases are trapped in layers 80 meters below the lake’s surface by intense water pressure.

A similar situation on Lake Nyos in the Cameroon wreaked havoc in 1986 when a huge cloud of carbon dioxide bubbled up from the lake as a probable result of a landslide. Carbon dioxide is denser than air so the cloud traveled along the ground at 45 mph and suffocated everything in its path, including 1,700 people.

Lake Kivu is more than 3,000 times the size of Nyos and contains more than 350 times as much gas. The region is a center of volcanic activity. Most worrisome is that two million people live on the lake’s banks.

Energy companies are beginning to tap the lake’s methane to bring power to the region. Some researchers say this could reduce the risk of a gas eruption, while others worry that this activity could disrupt the lake’s equilibrium, making the situation more dangerous.

"It could be one of the great remediation projects of all time: mitigating a lethal natural hazard and at the same time bringing power to people who desperately need it," said Kling. "If it is done right."

Gene and species trees research funded

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:48:46 +0000

A grant on “Estimating species trees with population genetic approaches: working towards a new phylogenetic paradigm for 21st century phylogenetics” for $356,000 has been awarded by the National Science Foundation to Dr. L. Lacey Knowles. She is collaborating with Dr. Laura Kubatko, Ohio State University.

New approaches for estimating species trees represent a fundamental shift in how gene trees are used and interpreted. Knowles' research combines empirical investigation, simulation, and theory to verify that the intriguing promises from the theoretical realm can be realized in practice when the messiness of real data is taken into account in this new area of phylogenetics. The grant begins September 2009 for two years.

EEB’s very own artist

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:45:49 +0000

John Megahan is now supporting the graphic arts needs of EEB including publications, research and the Web in collaboration with faculty, students and staff. His primary appointment is with the Museum of Zoology.

Being the Museum of Zoology illustrator over the last 13 years has given me the opportunity to work on many fascinating projects with an amazing group of people,” he said. “In the coming years I look forward to expanding my relationship with EEB faculty, students and staff.”

Megahan studied biology and art over the years and in the early 1990s he decided to combine interests as a biological illustrator. He has worked on salmon in eastern Oregon, salamanders in western Oregon, sea lions and Marbled Murrelets (a small seabird) on the Oregon coast, and marine invertebrates in Oregon and Alaska. He has taught several classes as an adjunct lecturer at the U-M School of Art. A professional freelance artist, Megahan recently illustrated a children’s book for Sleeping Bear Press called “W is for Waves – An Ocean Alphabet” and the Pierre Paul Art Gallery showcased his paintings. He is a member of the Artists for Conservation, a non-profit, international organization dedicated to the celebration and preservation of the natural world. We’re lucky to have his skills! View his Fine Art & Illustration Web site. Painting by John Megahan, "Queen's View."

Mastodon bone unearthed in Portland, Mich.

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:37:33 +0000

Dan Fisheridentified a bone discovered in a Portland, Mich., back yard as a 10,000- to 13,000-year-old mastodon. (watch/read) Ionia Sentinel Standard article.

Baskerville in Ann Arbor News

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:36:25 +0000

Read the feature story on EEB graduate student Ed Baskerville in the July 12, 2009 Ann Arbor News. He was the impetus behind the Classical Revolution Ann Arbor, which takes classical music to the public at no charge. (upcoming performance) Photo: The Ann Arbor News, Alan Warren. Read the article.

Hunter is 100 percent EEB

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:12:42 +0000

Professor Mark Hunter has a 100 percent EEB appointment as of July 1, 2009. “I’m looking forward to maintaining strong research ties with my SNRE colleagues while taking the opportunity to explore new collaborations with the faculty in EEB,” Hunter said.

He will divide his teaching time between Introductory Biology (BIO 171) and a graduate course in plant-animal interactions. His research explores the role of plant quality in the population and community ecology of herbivores. It includes theoretical work on population dynamics and community assembly, and applied work on biological responses to environmental change. Hunter is also interested in linking together population processes with ecosystem dynamics.

Northernmost Michael Jackson remembrance above 68th parallel

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:04:26 +0000

EEB graduate student Sarah Barbrow and other Arctic researchers took a break from science to boogie down to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” in the northernmost tribute to the pop icon. Their re-creation of the famous music video took place at the Toolik Field Station in the foothills of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska.

The undertaking was a dual challenge: the scientists do not normally move in eight count steps (but they learned) and the visiting journalists had to cover a “non-climate change” news story. Melissa Gervais, a researcher and trained dancer from the University of Californa at Santa Barbara, taught them the dance during evenings after long days in the field.

The New Jersey Star-Ledger was impressed because “they only had three rehearsals” and “Arctic researchers are not generally known for their rhythm.” Jen Kostrzewski, a technician in Professor George Kling’s lab, was the brains behind the scenes due to a sprained ankle. Her first cassette tape was -- you guessed it -- "Thriller." (View video: The Great Beyond, Nature.com's science news blog and YouTube)

Nominate your exceptional student: GESI Doctoral Fellows Program

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:00:53 +0000

The Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute is now accepting applications for its 2010 Doctoral Fellows Program, which offers $50,000 over two years to exceptional Ph.D. students conducting interdisciplinary doctoral research related to sustainability.

Six doctoral candidates are accepted into the fellowship program each year. The deadline to apply for the 2010 academic year is October 15, 2009. If you have a student in mind for this respected program and funding opportunity, read about the application and nomination process. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact the institute by email or phone (734) 615-8230.

New photographer joins EEB team

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 16:16:04 +0000

Dale Austin, media consultant and photographer, whose primary appointment is in Geological Sciences, has signed on with EEB to assist with photography, research poster printing, and other departmental graphic needs. "Working in two departments lets me experience different approaches to our work at the U-M," said Austin.

When asked for a quote, his first inclination was “buy low, sell high,” but on reconsideration, Austin offers the following: “I enjoy being able to carry on the work of my late predecessor and good friend – one of the first people I met at U-M 25 years ago – David Bay."

Austin has 25 years experience in the field with U-M. He is a volunteer instructor for the American Red Cross, Washtenaw Chapter. He has participated in several disaster relief operations over the years, including the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as well as other floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. Sounds like a good guy to have on the EEB team!

Next stop for Connallon: Cornell

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:37:57 +0000

Tim Connallon will begin a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University in the lab of Andy Clark, a professor of population genetics, in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.

Moreno heading to Cornell

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:06:53 +0000

Diego Ruiz Moreno will begin a postdoctoral fellowship in July 2009 at Cornell University. Ruiz Moreno will be developing spatial and descriptive models of disease dynamics based on current datasets available for three parallel systems: sea corals, amphibian populations, and mosquito borne-diseases. He will collaborate with climate specialists and biologists to create a climate-based forecasting tool for corals and work with other members of Cornell's ecology and evolution of infectious disease community.

The position is primarily funded by a new award from the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future for research on climate effect on disease dynamics in the three systems. Additional funding is provided by an award from the Global Environmental Fund for Coral Reef Sustainability.

EEB welcomes senior secretary

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:04:25 +0000

A warm welcome to Sonja Botes, senior secretary, who officially began her position in February 2009, after serving temporarily in that role since September 2008. Botes is the first friendly face visitors to EEB see at the front desk. She provides secretarial support to the EEB chair, faculty and administrator as well as staff support for faculty recruitment, the Thursday Seminar Series and other special events. Botes is responsible for general office assistance, including updating the departmental directory. She is a recent graduate of Walsh College where she earned her bachelor’s of business administration degree in marketing.

“I enjoy working here because of the people,” said Botes, who is originally from the Providence of Guateng, South Africa. “The faculty, staff and students make this department one of the best places I’ve worked.”

Chatfield lands Tulane postdoc

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:16:37 +0000

Dr. Matt Chatfield begins his postdoc this summer in the lab of Dr. Cori Richards, an EEB alumnus, at Tulane University, New Orleans. He’ll be looking at the role of sexual selection in driving speciation in poison dart frogs in Panama and/or examining the susceptibility of southeastern frogs to the pathogenic chytrid fungus, which is responsible for mass die-offs in many amphibian species.

Wittkopp wins 2010 Russel Award

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:15:46 +0000

Professor Patricia Wittkopp will receive the most prestigious honor U-M awards junior faculty, recognizing exceptional scholarship and conspicuous ability as a teacher. The award includes a stipend of $1,200 and will be presented at the next Henry Russel Lecture, Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

Wittkopp teaches Biology 305 Genetics and EEB/MCDB 404 Genetics, Development, and Evolution. The Russel Award and Lectureship were established in 1925 with a bequest from Henry Russel of Detroit, who received three degrees from U-M. Recipients of the Henry Russel Lectureship and Award are chosen through a rigorous interdisciplinary review process involving some of UM’s most distinguished faculty, including former recipients of the lectureship and award.

Food-web theme issue editor

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:49:22 +0000

Professor Mercedes Pascual was among four scientists who compiled and edited papers for a theme issue of the June 27 2009 journal Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B titled “Food-web assembly and collapse: mathematical models and implications for conservation.” This issue brings together a series of papers that provide mathematical and biological insights into ways that food-webs are assembled as collections of interacting species.

More 2009 promotions

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:47:53 +0000

More 2009 promotions
Johannes Foufopoulos and Noah Rosenberg have each been promoted to associate professor with tenure (in their home departments), effective Sept. 1, 2009. Their dry appointments in EEB began in 2003 and 2005, respectively. Foufopoulos’ main appointment is in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment; Rosenberg’s is in the Department of Human Genetics. Foufopoulos researches wildlife infectious diseases, conservation biology, herpetology and ornithology. Rosenberg studies mathematical models in genetics and evolution, human population genetics and phylogenetics.

A funny thing happened

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 18:05:08 +0000

A funny thing happened
The Washington Post ran an Editor’s Query asking readers about a time they just couldn’t keep a cork in it. They published a reply from Dr. Allen Solomon about an incident at the U-M Biological Station in the 1960s involving Professor Elzada U. Clover, the namesake of Chair Deborah Goldberg’s Collegiate Professorship. Solomon was Goldberg’s first mentor in graduate school at the University of Arizona, before she gave up pollen for live plants, and a longtime friend. Read the story in the Washington Post.

Google Earth aids discovery of early African mammal fossils

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 18:03:40 +0000

Google Earth aids discovery of early African mammal fossils
A limestone countertop, a practiced eye and Google Earth all played roles in the discovery of a trove of fossils that may shed light on the origins of African wildlife.

The circuitous and serendipitous story features Professor Philip Gingerich and was recently the subject of a segment on the award-winning television series "Wild Chronicles," on public television stations (Episode 412—Looking Back). Read more: U-M News Service press release and view video

Bioblitzing the Indiana Dunes

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 17:56:26 +0000

Matt Chatfield was one of about 150 scientists who volunteered their expertise as team leaders to conduct surveys of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore for BioBlitz 2009. The 24-hour marathon’s goal was to compile species lists for the park for all groups of organisms. Chatfield’s target organisms were reptiles and amphibians.

He led three separate groups on surveys in three different regions of the park. The first group was an educational hike where he took a group of seven high school students on a walk through prairie/dune habitat and talked about reptiles, amphibians and how herpetologists study them. He led two groups of volunteers from the general public to survey for the local herpetofauna using aquatic funnel traps, dipnets and visual and acousitc surveys. This was the third BioBlitz conducted jointly by the National Park Service and the National Geographic Society.

BioBlitz was founded to help communities learn about the biological diversity of local parks and to better understand how to protect them.

Scientists back legislation to curb greenhouse gases

Thu, 28 May 2009 18:23:12 +0000

Professor Knute Nadelhoffer, director of the U-M Biological Station, said Michigan industries including Detroit automakers and the UAW support legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions in a May 19, 2009 Detroit Free Press article. Nadelhoffer is one of 178 Michigan scientists who signed a letter supporting the legislation (65 U-M scientists added their names, over half are from EEB). U-M Record Update

Gingerich’s fossil find on the History Channel

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:30:22 +0000

Professor Philip Gingerich was part of an international scientific team that recently announced discovery of a remarkably complete, well-preserved 47-million-year old fossil of an extinct early primate.

Known as Ida (pronounced “ee-da”), the fossil is thought to represent an early member of the lineage that gave rise to monkeys, apes and humans. Ida may help resolve a debate over which group of early primates gave rise to humans.

The find is described in a paper published online May 19 in the open-access journal PLoS ONE and also is the subject of a History Channel film, THE LINK, scheduled to premiere Monday, May 25 at 9 p.m., and a book, The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor (Little, Brown). Check the schedule for upcoming show times. U-M News Service press release

2009 faculty promotions

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:29:41 +0000

Paul Dunlap and Jianzhi Zhang have both been promoted to professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, with tenure, effective Sept. 1, 2009. They have been on the EEB faculty since 2001. Dunlap researches microbial symbiosis and phylogenetics. Zhang studies molecular and genomic evolution. Congratulations!

Maher wins NSF DDIG

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:28:29 +0000

Jessica Middlemis Maher will receive a doctoral dissertation improvement grant from the National Science Foundation for her project "Local adaptation of stress physiology in Rana sylvatica."

Middlemis Maher’s research focuses on understanding the fitness effects of generating a stress response to predator presence, and subsequent adaptation of that response under different environmental conditions. Chronically "stressing out" is usually costly for an organism, but the circumstances under which that cost would outweigh the benefit are poorly understood.

“I use wood frog tadpoles for this research, since they develop in ponds that contain varying densities of invertebrate predators and they produce stress hormones in response to chemical cues of predator presence,” she said. “In addition to gaining a better understanding of the adaptive consequences of responding to stressors, the results from this research will provide some insight into how amphibians in particular are able (or unable) to cope with chronic environmental challenges.” Her work is done primarily on the E. S. George Reserve. She receives $8,000 beginning June 1, 2009.

"Better Than Tea Leaves"

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:26:16 +0000

The May 2009 HHMI Bulletin features Professor Mercedes Pascual and her mathematical models that consider climate change, disease agents and human immunity. Will her models be a first step toward predicting future outbreaks of malaria or cholera? (read)

Sedio wins Smithsonian fellowship

Mon, 18 May 2009 19:30:26 +0000

EEB graduate student Brian Sedio won a $3,800 Smithsonian Short-Term Fellowship through the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to cover travel and expenses for field work in Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Sedio uses DNA barcoding to evaluate dietary specialization of beetles collected from 21 species of trees in the genus Psychotria.

Most outstanding EEB publication awarded

Fri, 8 May 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Emily Farrer won EEB’s Most Outstanding Publication Award for “Litter drives ecosystem and plant community changes in cattail invasion.” The paper was published in the journal Ecological Applications, Volume 19, Issue 2 (March 2009) pp. 398-412.

Every year one graduate student paper is selected based on approach of study, scope of findings, and insights into questions of broad scientific interest using multiple lines of evidence. The prize is $500.

NSF dissertation improvement grant award

Wed, 6 May 2009 17:50:37 +0000

EEB graduate student Shalene Jha has been awarded a dissertation improvement grant award from the National Science Foundation for her project "Miconia affinis in a tropical forest and coffee landscape mosaic: the population genetics of a buzz-pollinated understory tree.”

Jha will be studying pollen dispersal patterns of M. affinis within forest fragments and coffee farms. M. affinis is a buzz-pollinated tree that can only be pollinated by native buzz-pollinating bees, not by Africanized honeybees. Even though Jha graduates this semester, she is able to use the $14,900 award until her research is finished.

Smithsonian fellowship award

Wed, 6 May 2009 17:48:37 +0000

The Smithsonian Institution has awarded EEB graduate student Celia Churchill a 2009 Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowship. Churchill will work with Dr. Ellen Strong of the National Museum of Natural History to identify shared evolved traits (synapomorphies) underlying the ecological transition from sea floor (benthos) to sea surface (neuston) in janthinid snails.

The award is based on the merit of the recipient's research proposal, her abilities and accomplishments, and the extent to which the Smithsonian, through its research staff members and resources, can contribute to the proposed research. Churchill will receive $500 for research expenses, a stipend of $6,750, and the cost of relocation to Washington, D.C. The duration of the fellowship is three months.

Myers wins inaugural teaching innovation prize

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:18:27 +0000

Professor Philip Myers is among five faculty members being honored with U-M’s first Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize. He receives a $5,000 award honoring the most original approaches to teaching and creativity in the classroom. Myers was selected by a faculty committee from over 100 nominations from students, staff and faculty. Myers is curator of the Museum of Zoology. Myers founded and continues to manage the Animal Diversity Web, which contains thousands of detailed descriptions of species that have been contributed by students from more than 40 institutions in North America. ADW is one of the most widely used natural history databases worldwide, serving over five million pages to half a million users monthly. The ADW team includes Roger Espinosa, Tricia Jones, Tanya Dewey and George Hammond. An elaborate content management system dubbed “Mousetrap” provides workspaces for student authors to submit their work to their instructors for review. Each section has a place for free text, along with associated keywords, data fields for quantitative summaries, and bibliographic citations. Since 2007, a query system called Quaardvark has provided a new way for students to ask questions and download ADW data to explore natural history patterns and test hypotheses. Quaardvark opens up possibilities for active learning in many biological disciplines, including ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation. An interdisciplinary partnership between the ADW team and Nancy Songer, a professor in the School of Education, has produced the BioKIDS and DeepThink programs. These bring authentic science experiences to fourth- through sixth-grade students in Detroit Public Schools.

Mammoth surprise on the Today Show, April 24

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:48:35 +0000

Watch

Watch the National Geographic Channel Sunday

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:37:20 +0000

On Sunday, April 26 at 9 p.m., the National Geographic Channel airs “Waking the Baby Mammoth,” featuring Professor Daniel Fisher’s research. Ice Baby is the cover story in May’s National Geographic magazine. U-M News Service press release.

2009 NSF fellowship awarded

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:23:04 +0000

The National Science Foundation has awarded EEB graduate student David Marvin a 2009 Graduate Research Fellowship beginning fall 2009. Marvin will investigate the growth response of north temperate and neotropical lianas (woody climbing vines) to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide under forest gap and non-gap light levels.

The award is based on the recipient’s abilities and accomplishments as well as potential to contribute to strengthening the vitality of the U.S. science and engineering enterprise. The fellowship provides three years of support including tuition and a $30,000 annual stipend.

Baskerville awarded Department of Energy fellowship

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:44:18 +0000

Ed Baskerville has been awarded a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. The fellowship provides support and guidance to some of the nation’s best scientific graduate students and begins fall 2009. The program is administered by the Krell Institute.

Dear President Obama: Food is part of the crisis

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:43:16 +0000

Read Professor John Vandermeer’s Other Voices column in today’s Ann Arbor News. (April 13, 2009)

Miller begins Montana State postdoc

Thu, 9 Apr 2009 14:29:54 +0000

Recent graduate Dr. Zach Miller begins a postdoctoral fellowship in mid-April, 2009 at Montana State University to research the interactions among plant viruses, a tiny mite-vector, weed species and wheat. He will be working with Drs. Fabian Menalled and Mary Burrows. Miller is excited to be back in the mountains and he reports that his twin daughters are making many new friends. Happy trails!

Jha lands president’s postdoc at UC-Berkeley

Thu, 9 Apr 2009 14:25:11 +0000

Shalene Jha has received a University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Berkeley campus. Beginning in August 2009, she will study the landscape genetics of bumblebees across agricultural systems in central California. Jha will mentor undergraduates who will assist with her research, with an emphasis on underrepresented students, such as women and minorities. Jha has a great deal of experience mentoring undergraduates from her days in EEB.

Anderson receives TTI grant for student podcasts in evolutionary biology

Tue, 7 Apr 2009 15:26:29 +0000

Students in Dr. Lynn Anderson’s course, Biology 107 - Evolution of Life, will develop podcasts about the displays at the Exhibit Museum of Natural History. EEB lecturer Anderson has received a 2009 Teaching with Technology Institute grant of $2500 from the U-M Center for Research on Learning and Teaching for her project “Podcasting in Evolutionary Biology.”

The podcasts, which will include photos, will be geared to all ages and backgrounds, and will be made available to the public on the Exhibit Museum of Natural History Web site (for virtual visits) and with on-site digital players. Podcast subjects will range from fossil types, rock types and classification tools used to study the evolution of life, as well as the progression of life through time, starting with single-celled organisms through woolly mammoths and other mammals. Cool!

Zak awarded Clark Lectureship

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 18:32:59 +0000

Professor Don Zak has been awarded the Francis Clark Lectureship at the 2009 Soil Science Society of America meeting. It is the highest award given by the society for pioneering work in soil biology and biochemistry. Zak will give a lecture on November 3, 2009 at their international annual meeting November 1 – 5, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

ScienceDaily

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 18:31:38 +0000

Professor Mercedes Pascual is quoted in today’s ScienceDaily (April 2, 2009) about the possible connection between infectious disease and climate change.

Science outreach

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 17:38:08 +0000

EEB graduate students Michael Sheehan and Amanda Izzo published science outreach pieces for the Communication Special section for the April issue of Wasp Fancy. Happy APRIL FOOL'S Day! We've got to have some fun. Check out other April Fool's Day science hoaxes. Cover by Sheehan.

Vandermeer wins Imes and Moore Faculty Award

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:57:22 +0000

Professor John Vandermeer will receive the 2009 Imes and Moore Faculty Award for exceptional contributions toward recruiting and mentoring graduate students in the natural sciences who come from disadvantaged and non-traditional backgrounds. His service record in this area is longstanding and outstanding, according to Professor Terrence J. McDonald, Dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

A certificate of recognition and $3,000 will be presented at the fall meeting of the LSA faculty on October 5, 2009. “It gives me great pleasure to see you selected for this well-deserved honor for which you were nominated by your Chair,” the award letter from McDonald states.

“It is great that the University of Michigan recognizes the value of this sort of activity,” said Vandermeer. “If universities are to act as agents of social change, which I believe they should, non-traditional recruiting and mentoring should be promoted as an important part of that agency.”

EEB students judge SE Mich Science Fair

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:56:09 +0000

Sarah Barbrow, Jasmine Crumsey and Liz Wason helped judge the Southeast Michigan Science Fair at Washtenaw Community College on Friday, March 13 for students in grades six – 12.

“I think it’s important to remember that future scientists are today's kids,” said Crumsey. “Thus, encouragement of scientific thought and practice along with recognition of their hard work is important to ensuring the livelihood of our field in the long term.”

“How much ethanol can you produce from a week of kitchen compost waste? How does dendrochronology work? How does a water mill work (and can I build one)? There was a really diverse collection of project topics, with interesting and often very creative ways to 'test' hypotheses about their questions,” said Barbrow.

Wason likes seeing the thought process and achievements of the students. “This kind of event is also a good reminder of the bare bones of the scientific method, as well as the importance of conveying scientific results in effective ways that are easy to understand,” she said. Wason and Barbrow judged models and collections; Crumsey judged the life science exhibits.

Yap wins Barbour Scholarship

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:47:32 +0000

EEB graduate student Sandra Yap has been awarded the Barbour Scholarship for 2009-10 by the Rackham Graduate School. Yap joins a long line of outstanding women who, over the past 94 years, have become leaders in science, education, public service, medicine and other fields in their home countries all over the world. She will receive $16,800, tuition and health insurance for the academic year.

In 1914, the bequest of Levi L. Barbour established a scholarship program at U-M for women of the highest academic and professional caliber from the area formerly known as the Orient (encompassing the region extending from Turkey in the west to Japan and the Philippines in the east) to study modern science, medicine, mathematics and other academic disciplines and professions critical to the development of their native lands. Yap is from the Philippines and after graduation, she plans to join the faculty at the Institute of Biology at the University of the Philippines, Diliman campus (her alma mater).

Le Moine recognized as outstanding research mentor

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:53:19 +0000

James Le Moine, research laboratory specialist, has won the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Recognition Award for Outstanding Research Mentorship. The award recognizes contributions to the mentorship and development of future young scientists and researchers. He was nominated by his UROP student, Alexis DeGabriele, and was selected by a student selection committee.

Some excerpts from DeGabriele’s letter of nomination include: “Working as a UROP student has been one of the greatest experiences of my life and I know that this is primarily because of my research supervisor, James Le Moine. The unconstrained creativity with which he approaches his work is remarkable. He is never without a conjecture, and he is not afraid of crazy hypotheses. Just being around him inspires me to keep an open mind. He is also hilarious and kind, a combination that makes him very approachable. Jim gave me a chance despite my lack of experience and because of this I plan to major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.”

The recognition and $1000 will be presented at the public UROP Research Appreciation Breakfast and Award Ceremony on Wednesday, April 15 from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. in the Great Lakes Room in Palmer Commons.

Hoorah for Brown and Jha!

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:32:06 +0000

Congratulations to EEB graduate students Joseph Brown and Shalene Jha on their Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship Awards. The outstanding students will receive $27,000 over three terms, candidacy tuition and registration fees for fall and winter as well as GradCare health and dental insurance coverage for 2009-10. Brown studies avian phylogenetics and systematics. Jha researches pollination biology and tropical ecology.

Happy 200th birthday to Darwin

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:02:48 +0000

Happy 200th birthday to Darwin
Professor L. Lacey Knowles appears in a video singing happy birthday to the father of evolution. The video was posted by the Society for the Study of Evolution; Knowles is a council member. Look for Knowles at the very beginning.

Outstanding GSI award for Bebej

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:44:50 +0000

EEB’s Ryan Bebej has won an Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award for 2008-2009 from the Rackham Graduate School. The awards committee looks for qualities such as exceptional ability and creativity as teachers and demonstrated excellence as mentors and advisors. He was one of 20 chosen from an especially impressive group of nominees representing schools and colleges across U-M. The public awards ceremony will be held Friday, April 17, at 4 p.m. in the Rackham Amphitheatre, followed by a reception. He will receive a certificate of award and $1,000.

NCID funds part of EEB’s recruitment efforts

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:43:35 +0000

EEB graduate students Shalene Jha, Brian Sedio, and SNRE grad Jose Gonzalez visited the University of Puerto Rico in February 2009 to present a research symposium and to take part in a panel to answer questions about graduate school and U-M. The segment of EEB’s recruiting program that seeks to increase the diversity of the graduate student body is funded by a grant from the National Center for Institutional Diversity. The long-term goal is to ensure that the diversity of graduate students in the discipline, and ultimately of the professoriate, matches that of society at large. The $30,000 grant is for one-and-a-half years, and began in 2007. As part of the program, select students from partner universities visit UM’s campus to meet faculty and students in EEB and the School of Natural Resources and the Environment and participate in a field ecology course for the weekend. Partners for 2008 were: University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras and Mayaguez Campuses, Morehouse College and Howard University. So far, 12 students have visited campus through the program. EEB and SNRE students began visiting partner universities as part of the NCID program in 2007. Jha and EEB grad Mike Sheehan traveled to Morehouse College in 2008 where many Spelman College students were in attendance. EEB grads Sarah Cobey, Jahi Chappell and SNRE grad Solomon David visited Howard University in 2007. Professor John Vandermeer, chair of EEB’s Diversity Committee, presented a seminar and touted graduate school in EEB at Howard University in 2008. He travels to Morehouse College in April 2009. Future plans include expanding the program to include Tuskegee University.

Frontiers Master’s Program team wins diversity award

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:42:05 +0000

Congratulations to the Frontiers Master’s Program team for winning the inaugural University of Michigan Distinguished Diversity Leaders Award. The team includes: Professor Deborah Goldberg; Professor Mark Hunter, program chair; Professor Beverly Rathcke, associate chair for graduate studies (at the time); Christy Byks-Jazayeri, graduate coordinator assistant and recruiter. The award was created to honor those who stand out by demonstrating extraordinary commitment and dedication to diversity at U-M. An event is planned for May 5 to recognize the winners. The prize is $2,500 for professional development activities.

BART fellows exhibit at AAAS annual meeting

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:40:15 +0000

EEB graduate students Jasmine Crumsey, Rachel Vannette, and Liz Wason traveled to Chicago for the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in February. They displayed their Biosphere-Atmosphere Research and Training work to illustrate the interactions between biospheric and atmospheric processes.

The BART Fellows were invited by the National Science Foundation to be part of their exhibit. They talked with scientists, policymakers, the press, and families with children.

Photos: Lance Long, Electronic Visualization Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago

“We love the photographs but we really love the photographer”

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:31:29 +0000

David J. Bay was the self-described “photographer-at-large” for EEB and its predecessor departments for 34 years. He touched the lives of hundreds of faculty, students and staff with his humor, good nature and expertise. He passed away on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009 (born May 17,1948). He will be greatly missed.

Ann Arbor News obituary. For information on making a charitable donation in his name, please contact Sonja Botes or stop by 2019 Kraus Natural Sciences (administrative office) for a list. Headline quote attribution: Allen Bay, Dave's brother.

ID Day: mysteries solved

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:50:58 +0000

See the Ann Arbor News article and slide show of the 12th annual ID Day at the Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Sunday, Feb. 15, featuring many EEB faculty and students.

Zhang awarded $1.2 million NIH grant

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:50:14 +0000

Professor Jianzhi Zhang has been funded by a four-year National Institutes of Health grant entitled “Functional genomic approaches to duplicate gene evolution.” “The grant will allow us to tackle a series of questions regarding functional divergence of duplicate genes, by computational and experimental studies of the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its relatives” said Zhang. Upon gene duplication, two gene copies are identical in function. Functional divergence describes the way they gradually differ in function through the accumulation of mutations in evolution.

Oneal begins Duke postdoc

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:36:34 +0000

Former EEB Ph.D. student Dr. Elen Oneal has accepted and started a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University. She will be working with Dr. John Willis on the evolutionary genetics of adaptation in natural populations.

Knowles awarded UC Berkeley visiting professorship award

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:34:50 +0000

Professor L. Lacey Knowles was awarded a Visiting Miller Research Professorship Award from the University of California, Berkeley, for fall 2009. Her project is titled “Exploring biodiversity dynamics: benefits and challenges of genetic approaches.”

Genetic approaches can not only provide great insights into the processes generating patterns of diversity, but also have immediate consequences for preserving that diversity, according to Knowles. This includes biological systems that capture our imaginations and are often at the greatest risk of loss – recently originated species and evolutionary radiations. Yet, these are also the very situations where a disconnect between the way in which genetic data are interpreted and the actual underlying evolutionary processes can result in (i) a distorted picture of the history of speciation, and (ii) mis-specified targets of conservation concern. The proposed research addresses two areas in which this gap between the inferences we make with our genetic analyses and the biological realities we aim to capture may be bridged by recent advances – the identification of species boundaries and the direct estimation of species trees.

The focus of the work (i.e., population genetic approaches for estimating species boundaries and relationships) by its very nature also serves as a conduit for exchange between the traditionally separate fields of genetics and systematics. "I will be working with both empiricists and population genetics theoreticians across departments and museums, where the interdisciplinary strengths of the proposed research can be fully realized," she said.

Pascual named Collegiate Professor

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:57:29 +0000

Mercedes Pascual has been named the Rosemary Grant Collegiate Professor by the U-M Board of Regents. LSA Collegiate Professorships are chosen based on outstanding scholarship, teaching and service for five-year renewable terms.

Rosemary Grant is a professor emerita of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University. She and her husband, Peter, spent 30 years conducting field work in the GalÁpagos Islands where they have been tracking changes in the native populations of finch species. The morphological and behavioral changes they have observed among the finches in response to seasonal fluctuations in the local climate and ecology have allowed them to make conclusive studies of how natural selection works on populations within an observable time frame. This has been one of the most significant contributions to the field of evolutionary biology. Their lives and finch research were featured in the Pulitzer Prize winning book, “The Beak of the Finch” by Jonathan Weiner. They have won many awards for their work including, in 2008, the Darwin-Wallace Award, which is bestowed every 50 years by the Linnean Society of London.

“I admire Rosemary Grant’s work at the interface of evolution and ecology, for the deep biological insights and the long-term perspective it has provided on an ecological system,” said Professor Pascual. Pascual appreciates the way, as a woman scientist, Grant has combined her work with the rest of her life, spending several months a year in the GalÁpagos Islands. “I wish I could spend several months a year in a place like the GalÁpagos,” she added, and on the research front "and get to know a biological system this well over time.”

Great close-ups

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:12:04 +0000

EEB graduate student Mike Sheehan’s up close and personal photos of wasp faces are featured in the January 2009 issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine. The photos accompany an article about his research with Professor Elizabeth Tibbetts, which was previously featured on the EEB Web site. Sheehan was paid 80 pounds for his photographs, which is about $115.

NSF grant: The spider and the web

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:07:19 +0000

Professors Mercedes Pascual, U-M EEB, and Stefano Allesina, University of Chicago, were awarded a $636,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for their project "The spider and the web: inference in ecological networks."

Their research, which blends ideas from ecology, mathematics and computer science, will seek to improve existing models and develop new ones for the structure of food webs, the network of interactions between consumers and their resources in an ecosystem. They will also investigate the biological basis of structure and its relationship to dynamical properties such as species persistence and robustness to species losses.

Detroit students attend BioKIDS

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:01:02 +0000

Detroit students attend BioKIDS
Sixth graders from the Detroit Public Schools visited campus for the first BioKIDS Science Convention. Many EEB faculty and students attended to discuss ecosystems, biodiversity and ecology in the Great Lakes region with the students. Participants from EEB included the following graduate students: Sarah Barbrow, Jasmine Crumsey, Rachel Hessler, Aley Joseph, John Marino, Jessica Middlemis Maher, Elizabeth Wason, and these professors: Ines IbaÑez, Mark Hunter, Jo Kurdziel, Philip Myers and Knute Nadelhoffer.

Graham Fellowship awarded

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:26:02 +0000

Doug Jackson has received a 2009 Graham Graduate Fellowship of $50,000 from the U-M Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute to support his research topic "High-biodiversity agriculture for the future: Using the sciences of ecology and complexity to understand natural pest control in agro-ecosystems." He will be continuing his research in Chiapas, Mexico with Professors John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto.

Now in its fourth year, the Graham Graduate Fellowship Program provides financial support and academic collaboration for U-M doctoral candidates pursuing interdisciplinary research concentrating on environmental sustainability.

ESA best poster award

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:00:50 +0000

EEB Ph.D. student Clay Cressler has been awarded the Alfred J. Lotka prize from the Theoretical Ecology section of the Ecological Society of America for best poster presentation given by a student at the national meetings on original research in theoretical ecology.

The poster was titled "The foraging-predation risk tradeoff governs evolution of inducible defenses." The prize is $150 and a free journal subscription from Elsevier. Cressler is the president of Graduate Researchers in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (GREEBs) for 2008-2009.

Evolutionary gem of a paper!

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:00:13 +0000

The journal Nature has just released a list of incontrovertible evidence for evolution by natural selection entitled “15 evolutionary gems.” One of Professor Patricia Wittkopp’s papers from graduate school is listed as number 13 among Nature’s collection. Under the category, gems from molecular processes, it is titled “Microevolution meets macroevolution.” Papers were selected from those published in Nature over the past 10 years.

Zoology wet collection moving

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:57:52 +0000

The U-M Museum of Zoology’s priceless “wet collection” will be moving from the Ruthven Museum storage rooms to the U-M Herbarium building off campus. See the Ann Arbor News front page feature and a slide show

U-M Herbarium launches new Web site

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:52:40 +0000

You can now view the <a href="http://herbarium.lsa.umich.edu/index2.html">U-M Herbarium’s redesigned Web site</a> featuring new sections on research and news as well as supplemented collections information. Look for faculty and staff’s favorite plants featured throughout the site. Props to <a href="../people/administrative/piryan.html">Patrick Ryan</a>, administrative specialist, on the redesign.

Shade coffee benefits more than birds

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:25:58 +0000

Here's one more reason to say "shade grown, please" when you order your morning cup of joe. Shade coffee farms, which grow coffee under a canopy of multiple tree species, not only harbor native birds, bats and other beneficial creatures, but also maintain genetic diversity of native tree species and can act as focal points for tropical forest regeneration.

The finding comes from a study published by EEB Ph.D. student Shalene Jha and Professor Christopher Dick in the Dec. 23 issue of the journal Current Biology. Listen for Jha on NPR’s Science Friday on Friday, Dec. 26 beginning at 2 p.m. (U-M News Service press release)

Miller places second in USA 50 Mile Run

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:25:58 +0000

EEB graduate student Zach Miller ran the Tussey Mountainback 50 Mile in the USA 50 Mile Championship and finished in second place running 6:07:13. Wow.

LSA Distinguished Staff Award

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:22:32 +0000

LSA Distinguished Staff Award
Hats off to Chris Psujek, student administration manager for the Program in Biology, who was presented with the Kay Beattie Distinguished Staff Award at a special ceremony on Friday, Dec. 5. The award is presented to employees with over 15 years of service to U-M who have exhibited progressive career advancement, taken on increasing levels of responsibility, and sustained noteworthy performance throughout their careers.

“I don’t know what we’d do without Chris’ insight, expertise, and dedication,” EEB Chair Deborah Goldberg said, who was one of many who nominated her.

Psujek enjoys the variety of her job, working with students, faculty, and other units to solve problems. “It’s very exciting,” Psujek said. “It’s a very nice tribute and it certainly is an honor to have been nominated, and to be selected is an even greater honor.”

Psujek started her U-M career 26 years ago as an office assistant II and worked her way up through the ranks to her current position. In her free time, she is an avid tennis player who also likes golf, hiking, travel, as well as needlepoint and cross stitch. Congratulations!

Highly cited paper

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 18:54:16 +0000

Professor L. Lacey Knowles article “Delimiting species without monophyletic gene trees,” published in the December 2007 journal Systematic Biology, was identified as a fast breaking paper in the field of environment/ecology by Essential Science Indicators. Knowles research is featured on the Thomson Reuters ScienceWatch® Web site for December 2008.

New lecturer begins in January

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 18:53:09 +0000

Dr. Lynn Anderson joins EEB as a lecturer in January 2009. Anderson is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Notre Dame, where she is currently teaching a course on the history of life. She has extensive experience in teaching and academic advising. Her research interests are in paleoecology and biogeography, including molecular approaches to reconstructing glacial refugia. Anderson will teach a course in EEB each semester, and coordinate concentration advising and curriculum (jointly with the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology).

Dear Farmer in Chief

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 18:52:08 +0000

Dear “Farmer in Chief”
In a recent New York Times Magazine article, author and food activist Michael Pollan wrote an open letter to President-Elect Barack Obama about what he thinks he can and should do to remake the way we grow and eat our food. He cites the organic agriculture study by Professors Catherine Badgley and Ivette Perfecto, and M. Jahi Chappell, EEB Ph.D. student, and others in SNRE, in the article “Farmer in Chief.”

Vertebrate paleontology video

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 18:50:13 +0000

Professor Catherine Badgley appears in the new 33-minute video called “We Are SVP” on the Web site of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. The video, introduced and narrated by Sam Waterston, the star of "Law & Order," explains why their work is important for science and society.

(Evolving with Darwin blogspot

NSF grant helps fund workshop

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 18:47:55 +0000

NSF grant helps fund workshop
Professor L. Lacey Knowles has received funding from the National Science Foundation to support the Estimating Species Trees workshop, Jan. 10-11, 2009, at U-M. Additional funding has been generously provided by the U-M Museum of Zoology.

Prized pictures

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:58:44 +0000

The tallies have been made and the winning photos from the EEB student and faculty photo contest are as follows: First place goes to Zach Miller, EEB graduate student, for “Zach Miller and a curious visitor.” (left) Two photos submitted by LucÍa Luna tied for second place: “Professor Barry OConnor looking for mites in mice specimens under his microscope, Cutervo National Park, Cajamarca, Peru, ~3000 m,” (right) and “LucÍa Luna preparing specimens at Cutervo National Park.” Former postdoctoral fellow, Soochin Cho, captured third place with “grasshopper on top of a sunflower.”

Thank you to everyone for making this contest so fun and successful. We received 155 photo and 35 video submissions total! There were ten finalists. It was a pleasure to view all the photos and videos and see you all at work out in the field or in the lab. (more)

Kling’s research in Toledo Blade climate change series

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:57:48 +0000

The research of Professor George Kling was cited in a four-part series of articles on climate change in the Toledo Blade.

Thoreau's notes aid climate change research

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:50:41 +0000

Dr. Charles C. Davis, a former EEB Michigan Fellow and faculty member at the BioStation, who is now an evolutionary biologist at Harvard, used notes taken by Henry David Thoreau to glean insights into the effects of climate change on plants in Concord, Mass. Those findings appear in the Oct. 28 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and in an article in the New York Times on Tuesday, Oct. 28. See NY Times slide show.

Can scientists dance?

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 18:46:10 +0000

Recent EEB graduate Wendy Grus has entered an AAAS contest with an interpretive dance of her Ph.D. thesis on YouTube. Help her win by watching and passing it on.

'Fingerprinting' method tracks mercury emissions from coal

University of Michigan researchers, including Professor Joel Blum, have developed a new tool that uses natural "fingerprints" in coal to track down sources of mercury polluting the environment.

EEB photo and video contest: Overtime round!

The votes were too close, so we need round two! View the 10 photos that received the most votes. Choose your top three and email eeb.gradcoord@umich.edu by Friday, Oct. 24.

Check out MentorNet

U-M has joined MentorNet, the e-mentoring network for diversity in engineering and science, for the 2008-2009 academic year. MentorNet is an award-winning, nonprofit e-mentoring organization that addresses the retention and success of women and others underrepresented in these fields.

MentorNet’s One-on-One E-Mentoring program focuses on pairing undergraduate students, graduate students, post doctoral fellows, and early career faculty—particularly those underrepresented in engineering, science, mathematics, and technology—with academic, industry and government professionals in eight-month-long, email-based mentoring relationships.

Best ESA student poster

Kudos to Emily Farrer who won the E. Lucy Braun Award for best student poster at the Ecological Society of America meeting this year. Her poster was titled "The balance of positive and negative interactions in driving community dynamics." Farrer will receive the award at a ceremony at the ESA 2009 meeting in Albuquerque, N.M.

Green coffee-growing practices buffer climate-change impacts

Chalk up another environmental benefit for shade-grown Latin American coffee: Professors Ivette Perfecto, SNRE, and John Vandermeer say the technique will provide a buffer against the ravages of climate change in the coming decades. (U-M News Service press release)

Summer Skype study sessions keeps 2007 cohort connected
Several students stayed in touch over the summer and kept up with their studies with the help of a free Internet calling service called Skype. They used headsets and video cameras and took part in weekly conference call study sessions. Participants and their locations included: Liz Wason, Jasmine Crumsey, Judy Wan (BioStation), Sarah Barbrow (Alaska), Yancy Lo, John Marino (Ann Arbor), and Aley Joseph (Mexico).

Scientist to watch
Keep an eye on Professor Patricia Wittkopp who is featured in the October 2008 issue of The Scientist magazine as a “Scientist to Watch."

On a separate note, Wittkopp was invited to give the keynote address at the Recomb Comparative Genomics 2008 meeting October 13 – 15 in Paris titled “Genomic sources of regulatory evolution.”

From Paris, she heads to the National Association of Biology Teachers conference in Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 16. She will speak at a special section called "Illuminating Biology: An Evolutionary Perspective." Organized by Professor Doug Futuyma, the section is on how evolution influences other scientific disciplines and is cosponsored by the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center.

New Genomic Diversity Lab director
Dr. Liliana CortÉs Ortiz is the new director of the Genomic Diversity Laboratory and is responsible for coordinating usage of the facility.

The GDL, located in the Ruthven Museums Building, has molecular genetics equipment and computers available to support research activities of students and faculty from the Museum of Zoology, EEB and other departments at U-M. The GDL includes a main laboratory, a dark room for DNA visualization, a small conference room, and a room for ancient DNA work. The GDL contains all necessary equipment to perform molecular techniques (thermocyclers, centrifuges, freezers, dry baths, electrophoresis chambers, power supplies, photo-documentation system, to name a few) involved with DNA sequencing, microsatellite and amplified fragment length polymorphism work, and more. Five G5 Macintosh computers and a PC are available to GDL users for data analyses. For information on how to use the GDL please contact CortÉs Ortiz or Professor Bill Fink.

UMBS Centennial videos on YouTube
UMBS alumni Christopher and Kim Cerrudo put together a series of videos for the UMBS Centennial celebration. (More videos are linked from the right side in YouTube).

Recovery efforts not enough for critically endangered Asian vulture
Captive breeding colonies of a critically endangered vulture, whose numbers in the wild have dwindled from tens of millions to a few thousand, are too small to protect the species from extinction, an analysis by Jeff A. Johnson and co-authors, including Professor David Mindell, shows. The study was published online August 15 in the journal Biological Conservation. Johnson was an assistant research scientist at U-M when the research was done and recently accepted a position as an assistant professor at the University of North Texas in Denton. Mindell is a former U-M professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, now at the California Academy of Sciences. U-M News Service press release

Graduate student finds win-win housing situation
Ken Luzynski was featured in the Ann Arbor News on Thursday, Sept. 4. In exchange for assisting an older homeowner with jobs around the house, Luzynski gets a break on his rent.

Anderson awarded high honor
William R. Anderson, professor emeritus of botany and curator emeritus of the University of Michigan Herbarium, was presented with the Asa Gray Award at the international Botany 2008 meetings in Vancouver, Canada in July 2008. This is the highest honor bestowed by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists for outstanding contributions to systematic botany. Anderson’s research and collaborative projects are focused on the neotropical plant family Malpighiaceae and on floristics of Latin America.

New graduate Web pages
The EEB graduate Web pages have been redesigned and reorganized. Now more information is available for those after-hour questions when your friendly, neighborhood graduate office is closed. Check it out!

Become a UROP partner
Would you like help getting a new project started or expediting a project in progress? Would you like to introduce and recruit a diverse group of students to your field? You can become a research partner for bright and enthusiastic undergraduate students through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). See the one-page application.

Welcome new lecturer
Welcome to new lecturer, Dr. Katie Wharton. She will coordinate and teach the honors section of Biology 171, conduct new Graduate Student Instructor training in coordination with MCDB, and, this fall, co-teach General Ecology. Wharton just defended her dissertation on the evolution and behavior of social groups at Michigan State University and has been part of their college teaching certification program since 2004. She was an instructor in animal behavior and a teaching assistant in genetics, behavioral ecology, and organisms and populations.

Wright wins best poster
Congratulations to EEB graduate student Jeremy Wright who received the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists’ Storer Award in Ichthyology for his poster, “The phylogenetic distribution of siluriform venom glands.” The poster was presented at the society’s annual meeting in Montreal in July, and is currently on display in the Fish Division of the Museum of Zoology. The Storer Award is presented every year by ASIH for the best single-author student poster presented at the meeting. Posters are judged based on innovation, originality, and scientific significance, as well as quality of presentation and visual aids or graphic design.

NOAA grant award
Professors Mercedes Pascual and Aaron King have been awarded a three-year $395,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for their project “Cholera prediction: The role of the oceans and nonlinear disease dynamics.” This research is a natural extension of Pascual’s previous work with the Oceans and Human Health Initiative. Cholera is heavily influenced by oceanic variability across multiple spatial and temporal scales, providing a strong linkage between the oceans and human health. Cholera is ideal for the development and assessment of quantitative approaches for an early-warning system of disease risk based on ocean variability. Results from studying cholera can guide the development of similar models for bacterial pathognes in coastal waters and other climate-sensitive diseases.

New book: Ecology of Insects
Professor Mark Hunter is a co-author of the just released second edition of “Ecology of Insects: Concepts and Applications” from Wiley-Blackwell publishers. Completely revised and updated to include new topical study areas of insect ecology, the second edition of the successful text is geared toward general readers, professionals, and students at varied levels. Concepts include: The foundations of evolutionary ecology and population dynamics in ecosystem science as they are applied to topics such as climate change, conservation and biodiversity, epidemiology, and pest management. The new edition provides expanded coverage of physiological, genetic, molecular, and ecosystem aspects of insect ecology, using exclusive reference to primary literature and real world examples. Co-authors with Hunter are Martin K. Speight, University of Oxford, U.K., and Allan D. Watt, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh, U.K.

Benard to start professorship
Michigan Fellow Michael Benard becomes an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio this fall. Benard will teach classes in ecology and evolutionary biology, and conduct research on the evolutionary ecology of amphibians. He will continue to conduct some of his research at the University of Michigan's E.S. George Reserve.

Pascual promoted to full professor
Mercedes Pascual has been promoted to professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, with tenure, effective September 1, 2008. Pascual is considered to be among the very top theoretical ecologists in the world today. Congratulations!

Reappointments announced

The Dean and the Executive Committee of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts have approved the reappointments of Professor William L. Fink as director of the Museum of Zoology and Professor Knute Nadelhoffer as director of the Biological Station.
Fink’s three-year term is effective July 1, 2008 – June 31, 2011. He joined EEB’s faculty as an assistant professor and an assistant curator in 1982 and was promoted through the ranks to professor and curator in 1996. His research interests include biology and systematics of fishes, particularly Neotropical species, higher classification, and theory of systematics and biogeography.
Nadelhoffer’s five-year term is effective July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2013. He joined EEB in 2003 as professor and director of the BioStation. He specializes in ecological impacts of anthropogenic nitrogen deposition and the interaction of the nitrogen and carbon cycles. This area of fundamental societal concern is important in understanding the functioning of local ecosystems and the global biosphere.

New Frontiers
The 2008 Frontiers master’s students have begun their classes and research at the Biological Station. Pictured at this link

Spotlight shines on EEB's key ad
Nancy Smith, department administrator, has won the LSA Spotlight Award for spring 2008. Spotlight recognizes and celebrates the achievements, dedication and exemplary performance staff make to the successful operation of LSA. Three cheers!

Biodiversity Portal launched
If you’ve heard the buzz about the Biodiversity Portal and wondered what it was all about, now you can find out. (enter the portal)

Meet EEB’s student services team
Jane Sullivan is EEB’s new graduate program coordinator working with Christy Byks-Jazayeri, graduate program assistant and recruiter. Together, they support the graduate programs in EEB, and are responsible for all aspects of recruitment, admission and student progress. Sullivan works with the Ph.D. program; Byks-Jazayeri with the master's programs. They are excited about getting to know the incoming Ph.D. and Frontiers master's students, and getting into the swing of things this fall. Pictured: Christy Byks-Jazayeri and Jane Sullivan.

Cho to start professorship
Soochin Cho, postdoctoral fellow, will be an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Creighton University, Omaha, Neb., beginning fall 2008. Cho works in the lab of Professor George Zhang. At Creighton, he will teach genetics and study the molecular evolutionary genetics of sex determination in honeybees and other insects.

Liath Appleton aka Lefty LucyMuseum collections coordinator aka Lefty Lucy in roller derby
By day, Liath Appleton is a collections coordinator at the U-M Museum of Zoology. She was featured for being a Detroit Derby Girl in her other life in the Ann Arbor News June 5, 2008.

U-M BioStation turns 100
Watch a U-M News Service video

A boost for species conservation
The black ratsnake and the Blanding's turtle, two species of conservation concern in Canada, were the focus of research recently published online in Conservation Genetics. EEB graduate student Joseph Brown was a collaborator. The findings show how sophisticated analysis of population genetic data can be used to identify patterns of gene flow (the transfer of genes from one population to another) over different time scales and thus demonstrate how population dynamics can vary over time, possibly due to human influences. Such information can be used by conservation practitioners to better understand the dynamics required to maintain geographically separated populations of the same species. (read the article)

2008 faculty promotions
EEB is proud to announce the promotions of: L. Lacey Knowles to associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, with tenure, and associate curator, Museum of Zoology; Philip Myers to professor of zoology, with tenure, and curator, Museum of Zoology; and Yin-Long Qiu to associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, with tenure, and associate curator in the Herbarium.

Pascual appointed HHMI investigator
Professor Mercedes Pascual has been appointed as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. The $600 million initiative from one of the world’s largest private philanthropies will fund 56 of America’s most innovative scientists.
Pascual builds mathematical models to help identify when and how cholera, malaria and other diseases might become epidemics. This will enable public health agencies to prepare for or possibly prevent, life-threatening outbreaks. (U-M News Service press release)

Grads chill with fifth graders
An enterprising fifth grader at Thurston Elementary School in Ann Arbor emailed EEB because her classmates had argued about global warming. She wondered if someone could stop by to help them all chill out.
Doctoral students Sarah Barbrow and Jasmine Crumsey visited the classroom of Dr. Sherry Murphy. They discussed what climate change is, its causes, implications and impacts and how we can minimize our personal impacts.
“The fifth graders in Dr. Murphy's class are incredibly intelligent, curious, and inspired,” said Barbrow. “They already had a solid handle on why climate change is something we, as a society, have to deal with. They wanted to hear a bit more about why it is happening and what they can do about it. We were both very impressed with their enthusiasm and perspectives.”
Barbrow and Crumsey did an activity with the students, a global warming wheel card from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Murphy said their visit had an enormous impact on her students and she's looking forward to seeing them next year.

Welcome new colleagues

EEB is pleased to announce that Dr. Timothy James and Dr. Jeri Parrent have accepted faculty positions, beginning Jan. 1, 2009 and Jan. 1, 2010, respectively.
James is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Dr. J. P. Xu in the Department of Biology at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. He’s investigating mitochondrial inheritance in a model pathogenic yeast, Cryptococcus neoformans. Sexuality in this unicellular fungal species is unique because gametes can be divided into male and female roles. He will have a joint appointment in the Herbarium.
Parrent is a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. John Klironomos in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Parrent is investigating the role that microbial pathogen and mutualist communities play in determining the invasion success of plant species into novel habitats.

Johnson to teach in Texas
Jeff Johnson, research scientist, has accepted a position at the University of North Texas, Department of Biological Sciences and the Institute of Applied Sciences as assistant professor of evolutionary biology. He begins in June and will be teaching upper level undergraduate and graduate students. He will continue his research in systematics, phylogenetics and population genetics, mainly with birds with an emphasis in conservation.

Hunter awarded NSF grant

The National Science Foundation has awarded Professor Mark Hunter a $650,000 grant to study the causes and consequences of variation in plant defense as related to colonization by mycorrhizae, a symbiotic fungi within the roots of plants. The study system includes the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, three species of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and four species of insect herbivore.

The project will support the doctoral program of Rachel Vannette. The project will be linked to the education and research mission of the Frontiers Master’s Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, which hosts groups that are under-represented in the ecological sciences at the U-M Biological Station (UMBS) each summer. The Asclepias project will also contribute to other standing UMBS programs and public outreach initiatives. Understanding the role of mycorrhizal fungi in the expression of plant defense is of value to insect pest managers and those wishing to control invasive plant species. Finally, the proposed work is potentially transformative because it challenges the accepted notion that mycorrhizae play no significant role in the expression of plant defense.

Best wishes to Prof. Mindell

David Mindell, professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and curator of birds in the Museum of Zoology, has accepted a newly created post as dean of science at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. During his 14 years at U-M, Mindell has researched molecular phylogenetics and evolution of birds and other vertebrates using both nuclear and mitochondrial DNAs. He has also studied the evolution and phylogeny of retroviruses and their coevolution with vertebrates.

In his new role, which begins in July, Mindell will lead efforts to expand research in comparative genomics, to develop institutional collaborations with bay area university researchers and to promote greater public understanding of science with a focus on the evolution of life.

“We are grateful for the time we spent with David. His excellence has impacted many students and colleagues and his contributions to the university will be felt for many years to come. Please join me in wishing him only the best in his future endeavors,” said EEB Chair Deborah Goldberg, Elzada U. Clover collegiate professor.

Olympic volunteer
Huijie Gan, an incoming fall 2008 graduate student, has been volunteering for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She is pictured (right) in National Stadium with fellow volunteers. Gan received her bachelor’s in ecology from Peking University.

Most outstanding publication

Congratulations to Joseph Brown who was awarded Most Outstanding Publication for “Strong mitochondrial DNA support for a Cretaceous origin of modern avian lineages.” The paper was published in the journal BMC Biology 6:6.

Every year one graduate student paper is selected based on approach of study, scope of findings, and insights into questions of broad scientific interest using multiple lines of evidence. The prize is $500.

Connallon awarded Tinkle Scholarship
Tim Connallon has been awarded the Donald W. Tinkle Scholarship from the U-M Museum of Zoology. This $5,000 award is a special recognition of his research excellence. Connallon is researching the genetics of the fruit fly Drosophila. The scholarship was endowed by the family and friends of Donald W. Tinkle, former curator of herpetology and director of the Museum of Zoology.

Grus begins postdoc in Seattle
Recent graduate Wendy Grus began a postdoctoral fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash. She is looking at the effects of genetic variation within and between species on olfactory receptor function.

Best of the best
Xiaoxia Wang’s thesis “Molecular evolution in primates” received an honorable mention in the 2007 Distinguished Dissertation Award competition. Out of 700 dissertations produced at U-M last year, 51 were nominated for this award. Ultimately, eight awards and eight honorable mentions were conferred. Wang is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego. Her advisor was Professor George Zhang.

Three cheers for Rathcke
Professor Beverly Rathcke received the 2008 Rackham Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award from Janet A. Weiss, dean of the Rackham Graduate School on April 10. “It has been a privilege and a joy to work with the graduate students in EEB," said Rathcke. "This award is a true honor because it reflects the university’s investment in our students.”

Museum of Zoology illustrator publishes childrens’ book
John Megahan illustrated a new picture book published by Sleeping Bear Press titled “W is for Waves: An Ocean Alphabet.” Megahan is the senior biological illustrator at the U-M Museum of Zoology.

The Michigan Difference: Gifts at work
The research of Heidi Liere, Ph.D. student, is currently featured on the Michigan Difference Web site. One organic shade-grown coffee, please – with extra bats: If you get a chance to sip some shade-grown Mexican organic coffee, please thank the bats that helped make it possible. Read more about the research of Professors John Vandermeer, Ivette Perfecto and postdoctoral fellow Kimberly Williams-Guillén.

Interactions among species take center stage
The 2008 Early Career Scientists Symposium drew the largest and most diverse crowd to date with 150 registrants (up over 50 percent), 25 percent from other universities and registrants from physics, epidemiology, statistics, life sciences, human genetics, public health and more. The event focused on Networks in Ecology and Evolution on Saturday, March 15 at the University of Michigan. The speakers were from five different countries. From food webs to molecular networks, interactions among species took center stage at the symposium. As the speakers presented details of their favorite systems, common themes emerged, although the same idea was sometimes given different names. For example, canalization, robustness, stability or buffering all refer to a system running smoothly in the face of change.

NSF grant award
Congratulations to Jess Peirson who was awarded a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG) for his project entitled "Biogeography and evolutionary history of Solidago Subsection Humiles: Assessing patterns of post-glacial plant migration, differentiation and disjunction in North America." The $11,900 grant is for two years.

It’s Cornell for Chappell
M. Jahi Chappell has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University. Chappell will spend two years in the Department of Science and Technology Studies beginning in December 2008. He will contribute to the scholarship, research, and teaching at S and TS and spend time in EEB, collaborating and possibly teaching there. Congratulations!

Most detailed global study of genetic variation released
Professor Noah Rosenberg and his colleagues have produced the largest and most detailed worldwide study of human genetic variation, offering unprecedented insights into humanity's origins.

Microbiology textbook published
Professor Paul Dunlap and colleagues at Southern Illinois University have just published the newly revised 12th edition of the best selling majors microbiology textbook, "Brock Biology of Microorganisms" (Pearson Benjamin Cummings). As an undergraduate student, Dunlap used the first edition of this text in his first microbiology course, and he uses the current edition of the book, traditionally viewed as the most scholarly of available texts in microbiology, as the required text in his microbiology courses here at U-M. Translated into several foreign languages and considered the authority in microbiology, the book serves the large undergraduate and graduate microbiology audience at universities and colleges across the U.S. and abroad.