[ECOLOG-L] Ph.D. assistantship focused on the impacts of climate change on boreal forest soil organic matter biogeochemistry
Ph.D. assistantship focused on the impacts of climate change on boreal forest soil organic matter biogeochemistry. A Ph.D. graduate assistantship is available for a keen and motivated student interested in research and training centered around understanding the impact of climate change on boreal forest soil carbon reservoirs. This assistantship is available as part of an NSERC Strategic Project research team made up of foreign collaborators (Drs. Ronald Benner at the University of South Carolina, Sharon Billings at the University of Kansas, and Martin Moroni at Forestry Tasmania in Australia), provincial and Canadian Forest Service partners (Dr Kate Edwards-Atlantic Forestry Center). The project is focused on exploiting the established Newfoundland and Labrador Boreal Ecosystem Latitudinal Transect (NLBELT) with four sites located in western Newfoundland and southern Labrador. The project is currently focused on the potential alterations in microbial transformations of soil organic matter (SOM) and losses of relatively slow turnover pools of SOM that may occur with warming along this boreal forest transect. To isolate the potential impact of warming while maintaining an ability to apply the results to intact boreal forests, our group has been conducting investigations of soils along the NL-BELT and combining these with manipulative warming experiments to develop biogeochemical indicators of soil responses to increasing temperature. It is anticipated that this Ph.D. student will focus on the alteration of chemical and isotopic composition of plant and microbial biomarkers in order to assess the microbial mechanisms associated with variation in SOM pools with warming and across this boreal forest latitudinal gradient. Experience with soil microbial ecology, biogeochemistry and/or organic geochemistry particularly at the M.Sc. level will be important. Consideration of students seeking a M.Sc. degree will only be considered in cases where a strong background of experience in microbial ecology and/or organic geochemistry is demonstrated (e.g. successful B.Sc. honors thesis). Applicants should be willing and able to conduct field research at remote study sites for weeks at a time. This assistantship will be available as early as January 2012 through the Department of Earth Sciences or the Ph.D. program in Environmental Sciences at Memorial University (http://www.mun.ca/). Memorial is the largest university in Atlantic Canada. As the provinces only university, Memorial plays an integral role in the educational life of Newfoundland and Labrador (http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com). Offering a diverse set of undergraduate and graduate programs for almost 18,000 students, Memorial provides a distinctive and stimulating environment for learning in St. Johns (http://www.stjohns.ca/index.jsp), a very safe, friendly city with great historical charm, a vibrant cultural life, and easy access to a wide range of outdoor activities. Please direct inquires or send applications, including letter of interest and detailed curriculum vitae (including contact information for 3 references), to: Dr. Susan Ziegler Canada Research Chair in Environmental Science Department of Earth Sciences Memorial University St. Johns, NL A1B 3X5 Canada 709.864.2669 szieg...@mun.ca Applications will be considered until November 28, 2011.
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Chemical mixtures to cool down
Bom dia Matheus In Peru people make smoothies and I have taught many local indigenous communities to make ice by just stirring any salt (a fertilizer for example) and put what they want to cool down in the middle of the mixture. Please see that liquid nitrogen can be hard to find in far off places. Local Amazon parties are usually beer drinking by putting beer bottles in the middle of a cut in half oil cylinder full of water and fertilizer and they cool down and keep cool since salts have a lower freezing point than water (and beer?) and thus the temperature is kept low. I know that there was a movie about this years ago but the truth is that many of my indigenous friends are now able to bring unspoiled fish and game from (alas every year) longer distances all the way to the market without being met half way on the river by intermediaries that pay a very low price and pocket all the profits just by having fast boats and coolers with ice or freezers running on LP gas or generators. Fair trade has thus become a reality for many of them. I also taught them how to make make jam and marmalade using natural pectin from a bag of citrus crushed pips and juice and sugar, which has meant that they only have to haul sugar to their far off farms and the rest is already available from their own crops. All this has been done ad Honorem since I believe in making what I call St Peters points by being able to answer whenever those pearly gates ( or whatever you choose to believe in) are opened and someone (St Peter or whoever) asks what you did with your life and you answer a million dollars and be told that that is the next door down but if you have shared your knowledge and skills freely he (she,it) will let you through to whatever is on the other side, if anything and thus avoid taking fresh fruit to the market and those middlemen plus the added value involved. I work for the Explorer's Inn on the lower Tambopata River in SE Peru and I would like to invite scientists to check out this combination of Low Impact Eco Tourism and Conservation and Research because it just might fit your needs. I have successfully posted on this list looking for applicants for our ground breaking free Resident Naturalists Programme but we are also considered by Oliver Phillips from the University of Leeds and I quote “As you know, we still have many plans to continue working at EI as it is an absolutely critical research centre now for Amazonian ecology. This includes the project to construct the canopy tower (in place 42.5 metres high) , as well as monitoring the long-term plots (28 years now)”. And Yadvinder Mahli from the University of Oxford “We greatly value the support that the Explorer's Inn has given to scientific research over the years, something that has led to it being one of the most important sites in all of Amazonia for scientific research”. So please check our webpage www.explorersinn.com and contact us. Parabens Jan Jan H. N. Ygberg Public Relations Resident Naturalists Programme Coordinator EXPLORER'S INN in the TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE A PERUVIAN SAFARIS ECO LODGE – A LODGE WITH A DIFFERENCE Since 1976 A SHOWCASE OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST Peruvian Safaris S.A Alcanfores 459 - Miraflores Lima 18 - Peru Phone: (51 1) 447 Fax: (51 1) 241 8427 E-mail: safa...@amauta.rcp.net.pe / sa...@explorersinn.com Web Site: http://www.explorersinn.com Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/explorerslodge Twitter: @explorersinn Jan Ygberg Juan Fanning 380 Lima 18 Peru INT+(511) 446 1099 casa/home INT+(511) 989289637 celular/mobile jygb...@gmail.com personal email On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 5:05 PM, Matheus Carvalho meumi...@yahoo.com.brwrote: Hi all. For those that perform laboratory experiments or use chemical traps, the list below could be useful. Imagine you want to do an experiment at low temperature, but don't have a fridge, or any kind of cooler, or that you need to control other parameters like light or anything... I got it from another mailing list. Matheus C. Carvalho Senior Research Associate Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry Southern Cross University Lismore - Australia http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ostro De: Jason Curtis curt...@ufl.edu Para: isogeoc...@list.uvm.edu Enviadas: Quarta-feira, 28 de Setembro de 2011 0:40 Assunto: Re: [ISOGEOCHEM] Cryogenic Traps Hi Brian, Here is a message that I posted a bit ago. Original from Tom Guilderson: Content-Type: text/html Also in the archives. Tom Guilderson posted this list about 10 year ago. Jason for those that haven't archived this from 1996/1997 or are new to the list here is a useful suite of cooling mixtures courtesy of H. Karlsson Some Useful Laboratory Cooling Mixtures Mixture Mixture temperature (Centigrade) p-Xylene/Liquid nitrogen13 p-Dioxane/Liquid nitrogen 12
[ECOLOG-L] Advice on Integrated Tablets/Notebooks and GPS for Field Digitizing over Satellite Images
I would like to know if anyone has assembled a relatively low cost tablet/notebook and GPS system for digitizing land-use polygons over Landsat satellite images, with also capabilities of recording notes over satellite images collected during key informant interviews? I would appreciate recommendations of low cost tablets/notebooks (at least 10 inch screen) with stylus digitizing capabiliites, USB port for linking GPS, and sufficient capacity to run ArcMap with at least 1 Landsat image and several shapefiles running. Or, if there are other digitizing notepad/GPS assemblies options with these capacities, that would be appreciated. If you could share any field experiences, pros or cons, with the assembly that too would be appreciated. Thank you! Nathan Vogt Post-Doc Institutions and Land-Use Change in the Legal Amazon Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa Espacias (Brazil)
[ECOLOG-L] JOB ANNOUNCEMENT - USFWS BOTANIST GS-0430-11/12 NFHTC, San Marcos, TX
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT USFWS BOTANIST GS-0430-11/12 National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center, San Marcos, TX The San Marcos National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center (Center), San Marcos, TX, provides applied fishery and aquatic research and development capabilities to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. With an annual operation budget of approximately $1 million (base and soft monies) and a current staff of nine, the Centers applied research programs assist restoration and recovery efforts through the scientific development and evaluation of new methods, concepts, systems, and approaches. The Center currently maintains active applied research programs in the fields of Physiology and Ecology of fish, amphibians, aquatic invertebrates, and aquatic plants. The employee in this position coordinates and provides technical guidance for the aquatic plant activities for the Center and the Uvalde National Fish Hatchery, Uvalde, Texas. Activities include: managing the Texas wild rice refugium; obtaining funds, planning, conducting, and publishing the results of scientific investigations associated with Texas wild rice and other aquatic plant propagation, native aquatic plant restoration, aquatic plant population dynamics in the wild, and aquatic invasive species control and management; and participates in Centers educational and outreach programs. MAJOR DUTIES: TEXAS WILD RICE REFUGIUM - Responsible for design, establishment, and coordination of Texas wild rice refugium activities at two facilities (San Marcos NFHTC and Uvalde NFH). Assists in the updating and execution of the San Marcos and Comal Springs Recovery Plan. Assists in the development and execution of the Contingency, Captive Propagation, and Reintroduction plan for Texas wild rice. Develops long range plan to produce genetically sound propagated Texas wild rice to be used for possible restoration efforts. Develops standard operating procedures for Texas wild rice propagation. Participates in the acquisition and reporting requirements of Federal and state permits regulating Texas wild rice activities. AQUATIC PLANT RESTORATION AND RESEARCH Assists in stream restoration projects. Responsibilities include developing and maintaining partnerships; proposing, justifying, and obtaining funds; initiating, carrying out, and guiding projects to completion; and developing new technologies for research, propagation, and restoration projects. TO APPLY FOR POSITION R2-11-542065-CI-MP (Status Applicants): http://jobview.usajobs.gov/GetJob.aspx?JobID=102762011JobTitle=Botanistlid=609rad_units=milesbrd=3876pp=25amp;sort=rv%2c-dtexjbf522=0430jbf574=IN15jbf785=amp;vw=bre=134FedEmp=YFedPub=Ycaller=advanced.aspxAVSDM=2011-09-27+14%3a07%3a00 R2-11-542225-CI-DEU (General Public Applicants): http://jobview.usajobs.gov/GetJob.aspx?JobID=102762006JobTitle=Botanistlid=609rad_units=milesbrd=3876pp=25amp;sort=rv%2c-dtexjbf522=0430jbf574=IN15jbf785=amp;vw=bre=134FedEmp=NFedPub=Ycaller=advanced.aspxAVSDM=2011-09-27+14%3a07%3a00 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT Tom Brandt, 512-353-0011 ext 224, tom_bra...@fws.gov
[ECOLOG-L] Interpretation Education Specialist
In cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (SMNRA), the Great Basin Institute is recruiting an Interpretation Education Specialist. This position provides an opportunity to practice the art of interpretation at a high level of excellence in a spectacular environment and reveal the wonders of this mountain environment to an urban population. This position is responsible for developing and delivering live programs as part of a small team with two other staff members that provide program marketing, support and media development. An extended team of land management staff, exhibit designers, and non-profit leaders create a dynamic environment that supports the interpretive program. Primary duties of the Specialist will be to research, develop and present a variety of interpretive programs (e.g., campfire talks, night hikes, snowshoe hikes, picnic and campground roving) to large and small audiences both on and off-site that are based on SMNRA interpretive themes. The Specialist will also serve as a primary representative for the SMNRA education program at special events and a wide variety of outreach activities. Additional responsibilities include managing program registration, recording and reporting visitor contact statistics, and providing input for program schedules. Compensation: o $6,240 Living Stipend o $1,468 AmeriCorps Education Award* o Student loan forbearance* o USFS housing options available * AmeriCorps Education Award may be used for past, present or future education experiences, including payment of qualified student loans. Timeline: o 13 Week Term: October 01, 2011 (or upon availability) o Full time, minimum 40 hours per week o Working weekends, nights and holidays is required at various times Location: o Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (approx. 25 miles north and west of Las Vegas, NV) Qualifications: Experience: Three years or more of experience in planning or implementing historical and/or natural resources thematic interpretive programs (Graduate work in interpretation, social sciences, natural sciences, communications, or closely related fields may be substituted for desired experience); coordinating and working with groups, organizations and the general public. Education: Equivalent to graduation from college with a degree in interpretation, social sciences, communications, biology or closely related fields; Certified Interpretive Guide credential and/or Advanced Certificate of Completion in an NPS distance learning course desirable. Knowledge of: Interpretive theory, techniques, and media; historical and natural history features and values of Southern Nevada (desired); audio- visual and photographic techniques and media; private and public organizations concerned with historical and natural history interpretive programs. Ability to: Work independently and be a self-starter. Assume leadership and provide creativity in the planning and implementing of interpretive programs for diverse audiences; develop innovative solutions to interpretive problems; interpret historical and natural history to the lay person; analyze situations accurately and take effective action; maintain necessary records and author well-written reports; communicate effectively orally and in writing; establish effective relationships with those contacted in the course of work. Other Requirements: Possess a valid, state-issued drivers license and clean driving record; ability to work in harsh and rapidly changing environments, work in all types of weather conditions, traverse uneven terrain, carry upwards of 40 pounds in a backpack, and otherwise maintain good physical condition; and meet AmeriCorps eligibility requirements: (1) U.S. citizenship or legal resident alien status, (2) eligible to receive an AmeriCorps Education Award (limit of four in a lifetime, or equivalent of two full-time terms of service), and (3) pass National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) and federal criminal background checks. How to Apply: Qualified and interested applicants should forward a cover letter, their résumé, and a list of three professional references to Stacy Mitchell, at smitch...@thegreatbasininstitute.org. Please include where you found this position posted. This program is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or religion. Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
[ECOLOG-L] Position as Senior Landscape Ecologist at The Wilderness Society (Boise, ID)
Landscape Ecologist (http://wilderness.org/about-us/careers) Position Summary (General Description): The Wilderness Society seeks a Landscape Ecologist to join our Center for Landscape Analysis. This is an exceptional opportunity for a GIS professional to apply his or her spatial analysis, scientific, and communications expertise to land conservation and management challenges and work in the nexus between science and public policy. We seek a GIS professional who can apply their GIS, natural science, and communications skills to design and perform landscape analysis projects to further our land management and conservation programs. The primary role of this position is to provide landscape analysis expertise to support land management and conservation planning, with an emphasis on forest restoration, in Idaho and Montana and oil and gas related projects in Wyoming. This position will join the team of six scientists in our Center for Landscape Analysis (CLA)-a subset of the Research Department. The individual in this position will also be a member of the interdisciplinary project teams in the Bozeman and Boise offices consisting of Research, Communication, and Regional Conservation Department staff. The position will require balancing multiple complex projects and close collaboration with ecologists, economists, regional conservation specialists, policy experts, communicators, and external partners engaged in collaborative projects. The GIS work will involve designing spatial analysis projects with project teams, collection and preparation of GIS datasets, performing and programming GIS analyses, developing cartographic products (including on-line interactive maps), writing reports and other products stemming from the spatial analyses, and presenting the products to a variety of audiences. Projects in the Northern Rockies include: modeling the response of different forest restoration treatments in a mixed-severity fire regime; optimizing road decommissioning base on ecological and economic factors on national forest lands; and evaluating the wildlife impacts of oil and gas development. Primary Duties and Responsibilities: * Work on interdisciplinary program teams (and external collaboratives) to develop GIS or related spatial analysis research and applied projects to further organizational conservation goals in the Northern Rockies. * Collect, edit, manage, and organize GIS datasets for Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. * Perform, interpret, and present spatial analyses for land management and conservation using ArcGIS and related spatial analysis software. * Program spatial models as needed and provide documentation and support. * Create maps for posters, reports, presentations, interactive websites and other internal and external communication needs. *Communicate results (orally and in writing) to program team and external groups, including scientists, land managers, elected officials, and other audiences. * Assist with routine system administration tasks for the GIS workstation (e.g. system backups, software updates). Qualifications: * Master's degree in ecology, environmental science or a related field. (A Bachelor's degree may be substituted with additional 3 years of experience.) * A minimum of 5 years of experience in research or applied science GIS projects, including using ArcGIS software for analysis and cartography in areas of forest ecology, wildlife biology, land management or similar natural science areas. Special consideration will be given to candidates with experience in landscape fire effects modeling. * Passion for wildlands and their conservation * Experience with ModelBuilder and Python programming are helpful but not required. * Demonstration of strong organizational and data management skills. * Experience communicating technical information orally and in writing for scientific and non-technical audiences. * The ability to work both independently and interdependently, in a multi-disciplinary environment. * A willingness to travel. * Additional desirable qualifications include: experience interacting with the U.S. Forest Service and/or Bureau of Land Management, familiarity with the non-profit conservation community, knowledge of Northern Rockies landscapes. The mission of The Wilderness Society is to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. Building and applying scientific understanding of those places and the values they provide to human communities has long been a hallmark of the organization, and that work is led by The Wilderness Society's Research Department. It consists of experts in economics, ecology, law and landscape analysis, including 14 Ph.D.-level scientists. This team develops and deploys a base of knowledge needed to answer pressing questions about wildland stewardship issues such as
[ECOLOG-L] Call for Applications
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: The 2012-2013 AAAS Science Technology Policy Fellowships online application system is now open. The deadline for applications is December 5, 2011, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Interested applicants are encouraged to start their application early and contact their references as soon as possible. Please share this information with friends and colleagues who may also be interested in this opportunity. Opportunities Placement opportunities are available in congressional offices and 15 executive branch agencies. The five fellowship areas being offered from September 2012 through August 2013 are: * Congressional * Diplomacy, Security Development * Energy, Environment Agriculture * Health, Education Human Services * Roger Revelle Fellowship in Global Stewardship Eligibility To be considered for a fellowship, all successful applicants must hold a doctoral level degree (PhD, MD, DVM, etc.), in any of the following: * Social/Behavioral sciences * Medical/Health disciplines * Biological, Physical or Earth sciences * Computational sciences and Mathematics * Engineering disciplines (applicants with a masters degree in engineering and three or more years of post-degree professional experience also qualify). All degree requirements must be completed by the application deadline. Visit http://fellowships.aaas.org/04_Become/04_Eligibility.shtml to learn more about Fellowship eligibility requirements. Benefits Stipends range from approximately $74,000 to $99,000 (depending on years of experience and previous salary). Other benefits include health insurance, travel/training allowance and relocation allowance. For more information about benefits, visit http://fellowships.aaas.org/05_Support/05_index.shtml. Details To learn more about the AAAS Science Technology Policy Fellowships, visit our website at http://fellowships.aaas.org. Please contact the Fellowships staff at fellowsh...@aaas.org or 202-326-6700 with questions.
[ECOLOG-L] Help with thick plant parts using a LI-COR leaf chamber
Hello ECOLOG, We are attempting to measure transpiration from wetland plants in one of our study sites. Some plants are easier than others because the leaves and stems fit in the LI-COR 6400XT portable photosynthesis system standard 2x3 leaf chamber. We are having difficulty using this leaf chamber to measure transpiration from thick stems and leaves of other plants such as, Schoenoplectus acutus, S. tabernaemontani, S. californicus and Typha latifolia and T. domingensis. The leaf chamber can not build a good seal around these thick parts. We have tried adding extra padding in the leaf chamber using a packing material sponge and pool noodle foam but we are afraid there is still some leakage going on affecting our measurements. Please send us any ideas or suggestions on how to improve our seal when measuring thick plant parts using a 2x3 leaf chamber. Thank you, Jorge -- Jorge Ramos PhD Student Wetland Ecosystem Ecology Lab Arizona State University Personal website: http://solsgrads.asu.edu/ecojorgeramos WEEL website: http://weel.asu.edu
[ECOLOG-L] Ordinal vegetation data and mixed effects models
Hello Ecolog-ers, I'm analysing my Braun-Blanquet cover data for a group of vegetation structure variables (in diff habitat types) and am having trouble finding a definitive way to do this legitimately with mixed effects models, ANOVAs and ordinations. The issue is that the BB scale is an ordinal scale. Many studies have simply taken midpoint values of the scale classes and turned the ordinal data into a metric and analysed from there. To me this seems a bit dodgy, given that there are really only 9 values that these variables can take, rather than the 100 values that is implicit in the metric percentage of cover. I have read Podani's many papers on the issues and potential solutions for ordinations but I seem to be finding it more difficult to find literature with mixed effects models, or any kind of regression-based model. Has anyone else encountered these problems? Can anyone suggest some current literature on the matter? Thank you kindly, Liz -- Liz Pryde PhD Candidate (off-campus) School of Earth and Environmental Sciences James Cook University Thornbury, Melbourne
[ECOLOG-L] New on-line resources - Learning for Sustainability site update: Focus on social elements of sustainability
Learning for Sustainability (LfS) web portal Site update: September 2011 This email update provides a brief introduction to new resources that have been added to the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) site - http://learningforsustainability.net/ - in the past couple of months. The linked site newsletter provides direct links to new papers looking at complexity, engagement, adaptation and social capital. The site brings together resources that help address the social and capacity building aspects of managing collective interests within complex decision making environments. The LfS site highlights the wide range of social skills and processes that are needed to support constructive collaboration, and indicates how these skills and processes can be interwoven to achieve more integrated and effective outcomes. It brings links to several hundred annotated on-line resources from different sectors and geographic areas together in one easy to access place, and it concentrates on providing links to open access materials. The featured links in this newsletter are drawn from some of the new sections updated recently. Direct links to these papers are provided through the on-line update at http://learningforsustainability.net/newsletters/sep11.php - and they include the following: * Taking responsibility for complexity- This ODI briefing paper aims: to give readers the tools to decide when a problem is complex, outline why this matters, and provide guidance on how to achieve results in the face of complexity. * Liberating structures: A new pattern language for engagement- This recent OD Practitioner paper by Lisa Kimball looks at how managers can generate meaningful engagement that constructively transforms work and organizations. It shows that to facilitate significant, transformative changes in organizations we need to make a profound change in how people interact, not just at off sites and other special occasion meetings, but in all the get togethers that make up daily life in organizations. * Forests and Climate Change: Linking Adaptation and Mitigation- Climate change can be addressed by mitigation and adaptation. However, there is a need to explore the linkages between these two options in order to understand their trade-offs and synergies. This paper explores this issue using Latin American examples. * The Role of ICT in Building Communities and Social Capital- This paper examines the debate around the impact of ICT and argues that ICT supplements and transforms social capital rather than diminishing it. This update is posted on an occasional basis - please feel free to forward to interested colleagues. Feedback is welcomed, and visitors are encouraged to suggest papers, reports and other material to add. Thanks to those of you who have pointed to papers and other links for inclusion and sharing among the wider global community of practice in this area. The site has now been operating for more than 10 years and receives more than 600 visitors each day, with the highest number of visits in any one day being in excess of 1500. You can visit the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) site directly at http://learningforsustainability.net and your ideas and suggestions for links are welcomed. Wishing you all the best with your ongoing activities. Dr. Will Allen LearningForSustainability.net - http://learningforsustainability.net/ Helping people collaborate and innovate E-mail: w...@learningforsustainability.net
