[ECOLOG-L] Invitation to join invasive plant impact experiment

[Jacob Barney]

All,
Despite the growing interest in invasion biology, the ecological impacts of
most invasive plants are poorly understood. Even for some of the most well
known invaders such as kudzu, we know very little of their ecological
impacts. When impacts are studied, the focus is often narrow (eg, litter
decomposition), precluding understanding broad impacts or interactions
among impacts. Therefore, we are organizing a globally distributed
experiment aimed at investigating the ecological impacts of invasive plants
. The Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN) is designed to address this critical
need. Such networks are the best means to answer big ecological questions
(eg, NutNet). Here we have designed a simple protocol to evaluate some of
the most commonly studied impacts in a consistent manner across diverse
systems and species.

Purpose:

   - Quantify broad ecological impacts of invasive plants by
implementing a cross-site
experiment requiring minimal investment of resources by each network
participant.
   - Collect data from a broad range of species, systems, and geographies in
a consistent manner to identify trends or idiosyncrasies of ecological
impact.

Objectives/Questions:

   1. Identify the ecological impact(s) of invasive populations across diverse
ecosystems, species, and geographies;
   2. Determine if impacts are consistent among species and systems;
   3. Does a legacy exist on ecological impacts, and is this legacy consistent
among species and systems?

Several folks have implemented the protocol on a variety of species, systems,
and geographies in 2013. We are looking to expand the network of volunteers
in the coming years. All species and systems are welcome. Participants will
agree to follow GIIN protocol and maintain the experiment on their own, and
we have designed the protocol to have minimal expense. Implementing the
protocol should take 1-3 days total per population and <$100.

If you are interested in participating please contact Jacob Barney (
jnbar...@vt.edu) for more details.

Cheers,
Jacob

__
Jacob Barney, PhD
Assistant Professor of Invasive Plant Ecology
Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science
Virginia Tech
435 Old Glade Rd (0330)
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Office: 540-231-6323
Lab Website 

[ECOLOG-L] Predatory journals, far and wide

[John A.]

    An article on the growth and operation of predatory journals, and their 
potentially corrosive effect on academic ethics:

   
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Blinded+scientific+gobbledygook/9757736/story.html

[ECOLOG-L] 8th International Deer Biology Congress and International Wildlife Management Symposium

[Rachael Urbanek]

It is our great pleasure to announce the "The 8th International Deer
Biology Congress and International Wildlife Management Symposium " (8th
IDBC & IWMS) to be held in Harbin, China, on July 27-31, 2014, which is
sponsored by the Northeast Forestry University,China,  the Scientific
Steering Committee of the International Deer Biology Congress and the
Southern Illinois University, USA. The main organizer is Northeast Forestry
University in Harbin, China.

The IDBC will highlight cutting-edge advances in all major disciplines of
deer biology, deer conservation & management, deer productions & ethics and
so on. This 5-day event will feature recent research in the form of
lectures and posters.  A number of important researchers have been invited
to give plenary lectures at the conference.

The IWMS is mainly organized by Northeast Forestry University, China and
Southern Illinois University, USA. Objective of the IWMS is to bring
together an international group of wildlife researchers and managers for
presentations of research results and discussions dealing with the
management and conservation of wild species.It focuses on wildlife
management topics and will also have several important plenary speakers.
The IDBC and IWMS will be held simultaneously in close proximity on the
university grounds making it easy to attend presentations of both venues.

We encourage our colleagues from all over the world to contribute to a
successful meeting. Please feel welcome to be involved whether you work in
wildlife research and management or with other species that interact with
them. We expect participation in this event from colleagues from all parts
of the world.

Trip of a lifetime, come to Harbin, China for a joint meeting of the 8th
International Deer Biology Congress and International Wildlife Management
Symposium (http://8th-idbc-iwms.yolasite.com).


Rachael Urbanek, Ph.D., Associate Wildlife Biologist ®
Assistant Professor of Wildlife Science
Arkansas Tech University
Department of Biological Sciences
1701 N. Boulder Ave.
Russellville, Arkansas 72801

[ECOLOG-L] Job Ad - Seasonal Seed Collector Region 9 USFS

[Pati Vitt]

Region 9 United States Forest Service Seasonal Seed Collector
 
Purpose: To collect and bank, or store, native seed from plant species on
Region 9’s Forester Sensitive Species’ (RFSS) List. Seed collected from
native plant populations on Region 9 United States Forest Service Land will
contribute to germplasm ex-situ conservation. The seasonal employee will
gain a tremendous amount of field experience with the regional flora,
training and knowledge of the Seeds Of Success and USFS Sensitive Species
collection protocols, and the ability to network and work with eastern USFS
staff on the following Forests: One position in each of Ottawa and Superior
National Forests. 
 
Duties and Responsibilities: 
• Correctly identify plant species on the Collection Target List
• Locate and document populations of plant species on the
Collection Target List via herbarium specimens and/or photographs
• Completion of seed collection for native species collections
for plants on the Collection Target List. 
• Scout and collect Fraxinus species contributing to the Ash
Conservation Initiative Project on USFS Land. 
• Maintain complete and detailed data records on all native seed
collections, per the Chicago Botanic Garden’s requirements. 
• Follow all protocols and shipping directions for seed
collections.  
• Constant communication with MARS-B staff to update on
collection progress and safety.
• Access to your own vehicle and a valid driver’s license
 
Position Requirements:  The seed collector should be extremely motivated, an
independent worker, and have an extremely strong work ethic. They should
feel comfortable being alone in remote wilderness areas. They should have
access to their own vehicle and a valid driver’s license. The ideal
candidate would also be well organized and attentive to detail. They should
have excellent plant identification skills. Ideally this person would have
the education equivalent to their Masters in botany or an equivalent amount
of field experience. They should have excellent communication skills for the
purpose of their own safety and to network with the local United States
Forest Service staff. 
 
• Plant Identification skills for the Regional Flora of Ottawa
and Superior National Forests
• Read topographic maps and navigate with a compass and GPS Unit. 
• Self-regulate their own bodies’ hydration levels.
• Follow any safety measures or regulations that the USFS requires.
• Camp or spend multiple days in a bunkhouse on USFS land in
remote locations. 
 
You may apply for positions via e-mail, mail, or in person.
 
To apply, submit your resumé and an Employment Application Form as well as a
Federal Affirmative Action Questionnaire (available at:
http://www.chicagobotanic.org/jobs/apply)
 
Send completed forms (PDF files) as an attachment to an email along with
your resumé to employm...@chicagobotanic.org.
 
Include the job title and requisition number in subject line of email.
 
Forms can also be sent via postal mail or completed onsite in the Barbara
Carr Administration Building at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
 
By Mail:
 
Attn: Human Resources
1000 Lake Cook Road
Glencoe, IL 60022

[ECOLOG-L] Smith College: Biology Lab Instructor – Biodiversity, Ecology, Conservation, and Physiological Zoology

[Jesse Bellemare]

Biology Lab Instructor – Biodiversity, Ecology, Conservation, and Physiological 
Zoology

The Department of Biological Sciences at Smith College invites applications for 
a full-time lab 
instructor to begin August 1st, 2014. We seek a candidate with experience in 
organismal biology and 
ecology, with at least an M.S. in biology, ecology, physiological zoology, or a 
related field. The 
successful candidate will have strong quantitative and teaching skills. For 
more information and to 
apply, visit http://apply.interfolio.com/24805. Review of applications will 
begin May 1, 2014. Smith 
College is an equal opportunity employer encouraging excellence through 
diversity.

[ECOLOG-L] MIT's Climate CoLab: Your ideas can help combat climate change

[Shane Easter]

At MIT’s Climate CoLab you can work with people from all over the world to 
develop ideas for what we can do about climate change, right now.

If you submit one of the winning ideas, you’ll be able to present it before 
government officials, business executives, NGO leaders and scientists who can 
help move proposals toward implementation, as well as share it at an MIT 
conference, where a $10,000 Grand Prize will be awarded.

Even if you don’t have new ideas yourself, you can help improve other people’s 
ideas and support the ones you find most promising.

Current contests address low-carbon energy, building efficiency, adaptation, 
geoengineering, shifting public attitudes and behaviors, and over a dozen 
other topics.  Students and researchers interested in building efficiency and 
building data analytics are especially encouraged to participate in the 
buildings contest (http://climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-
/plans/contestId/1300203). Entries are due July 20, 2014.

Can crowdsourcing save the planet?  Join the crowd and find out at  
http://climatecolab.org/

[ECOLOG-L] Hilton Pond 03/27/14 (Hummingbirds Galore)

[Bill Hilton Jr. (RESEARCH)]

This year my first Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont 
Natural History tied a record for earliest spring arrival on 27 March, and I've 
banded an unprecedented number of early spring ruby-throats in the month since 
then. My analysis of this phenomenon is the subject of my latest "This Week at 
Hilton Pond" photo essay for 27 Mar-21 Apr 2014. To access the installment, 
please see 
http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek140327.html

While there, don't forget to scroll down for lists of all birds banded and 
recaptured during the period; the returns are especially interesting, with a 
couple of very old American Goldfinches re-appearing in our traps. I also 
include numerous nature notes and an acknowledgement for recent supporters of 
our education, research, and conservation initiatives.

Happy (Spring) Nature Watching!

BILL

P.S. Please "Like" our new Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/HiltonPond 
for timely updates on nature topics. Follow us on Twitter @hiltonpond.

=

RESEARCH PROGRAM
c/o BILL HILTON JR., D.Sci.
Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
office & cell (803) 684-5852

Please visit our web sites (courtesy of Comporium.net):
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History at http://www.hiltonpond.org 
"Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project" at http://www.rubythroat.org

==

[ECOLOG-L] Publishing Internship at Frontiers - Ecological Society of America

[Eric Gordon]

Publishing Internship at Frontiers - Ecological Society of America

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is looking for an intern, to be 
based at its Washington, DC, office, beginning in early January, to help 
with the production of one of the Society’s journals, Frontiers in Ecology 
and the Environment (www.frontiersinecology.org).  
The internship is a great opportunity to learn about the scientific 
publishing process and how journals are produced. Depending on experience 
and aptitude, the intern will be involved in many different aspects of 
journal production, including editing/proofreading, writing, and image 
research, as well as other day-to-day activities of the editorial office. 
Experience with twitter an advantage.
The internship includes a small stipend. The successful applicant should 
have a background in ecology, environmental science, or a related 
discipline; an interest in, or experience with, publishing or science 
writing would be an advantage. Resumé and names/contact details of two 
referees, should be emailed to Dr. Sue Silver, Frontiers Editor-in-Chief 
(suesil...@esa.org). Please specify availability (a minimum of 3 months). 
Closing date for applications is May 5th, 2013.

The ESA is a non-partisan, nonprofit professional society, founded in 1915, 
to promote ecological science. Applicants unfamiliar with the ESA are 
encouraged to visit www.esa.org.

[ECOLOG-L] Register Now for Summer 2014 Field Ecology Courses at UM's Flathead Lake Biological Station

[flbs]

FOR A TRULY PHENOMENAL FIELD ECOLOGY EXPERIENCE IN A SPECTACULAR NATURAL 
SETTING, TAKE AN ACADEMIC ADVENTURE TO THE CROWN OF THE CONTINENT IN NORTHWEST 
MONTANA!

Join us between June 16 and August 8, 2014 for field ecology courses at the 
Flathead Lake Biological Station, a University of Montana Center of Excellence.

We offer immersion-based and rigorous field-oriented classes.

2014 Summer Session Offerings:
Field Ecology
Landscape Ecology
Conservation Ecology
Stream Ecology
Lake Ecology
Ecology of Forests and Grasslands
Alpine Ecology
Seminars in Ecology & Resource Management

Quotes from our students:
"The instructor challenges you to think and act like a scientist."
"The instructor is the best professor I've ever had, hands down."
"The whole class was an 'aha' moment! The course work was intense, but you 
learned real world experience doing field ecology."
"The field experience and trips were amazing. This has been a once in a 
lifetime course.  Absolutely wonderful."

Good reasons to attend:
- Accelerate your coursework: Up to 13 credits in 8 weeks and gain real field 
experience
- Low student/instructor ratios with enrollment cap of 13 per course, 
geographically diverse student population
- $1,815 for tuition, housing and meals per 2 week course


View this short video to see what makes attending Summer Session at FLBS a 
unique and valued experience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9fdUDbWbMo&feature=youtu.be

For complete information and online registration, go to: 
http://www2.umt.edu/flbs/Education/SummerSession.aspx

Questions? Send us an email at f...@flbs.umt.edu or 
call 406-982-3301.

Flathead Lake Biological Station
University of Montana
32125 Bio Station Lane
Polson, MT 59860-6815 USA
406-982-3301 Phone
406-982-3201 Fax
f...@flbs.umt.edu
www.umt.edu/flbs
www.umt.edu/flbs/audiovideo/flbswebcams.aspx
www.facebook.com/UMFLBS

[ECOLOG-L] EcoEvoLab Blog

[Casey terHorst]

Apologies (kind of) for the mass email of self-promotion, but I'm
hoping to draw your attention to our new blog... The EcoEvoBlog, which
can be found at http://www.ecoevolab.org.


The first blog post is now up: Does the Squeaky Wheel Deserve the Grease?
http://www.ecoevolab.com/the-squeaky-wheel/

If you'd like to subscribe to the blog, there is also a box in which
you can enter your email on the right hand column.

The goal of the blog is to generate discussions, rather than provide
information, so we hope that you'll participate. This blog is
completely a selfish enterprise for us in the lab. Sometimes there are
issues that we just want to get off our chest, or other issues on
which we want to get feedback from others. Sometimes we want to talk
about a really cool paper we just read, or sometimes we want to tell
everybody about something new that we just learned. In other words,
there isn’t a clear goal for this blog, other than to share what’s
going on in the lab with the outside world. It is intended to be a
forum for discussion and we encourage you to engage with us and with
others in this forum. We hope that you find it useful.

Casey

---
Casey terHorst
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8303
Office Phone: (818) 677-3352
casey.terho...@csun.edu

[ECOLOG-L] Forensic Entomology Workshop - Last Call for Participants

[Denise Gemmellaro]

Hello,
> 
>For the second year. the New Jersey School of Conservation together with 
>Montclair State University is organizing a two-week workshop on forensic 
>entomology; the workshop will be held at the NJ School of Conservation, in 
>Branchville, NJ, just about 1h from New York City. 
> 
>Forensic entomology is the study of insects associated with organic 
>decomposition. Students will observe and analyze the small ecosystem which is 
>created around and on decomposing carcasses, describe post-mortem phenomena, 
>collect entomological evidence and perform lab analysis to help establish PMI 
>(Post-Mortem Interval) or time of death. For those who are interested, 
>included in the workshop is also a guided visit to the Newark morgue, where 
>the participants will attend a lecture on common practices of legal medicine 
>and on how law enforcement forces handle dead bodies after they are 
>discovered; depending on availability, the participants will also have the 
>possibility to observe an autopsy.
> 
>Here is the brochure for the workshop
> 
>
>http://www.montclair.edu/csam/nj-school-of-conservation/summer-workshops/forensicentomology/
 
 
> 
>Participants will have two weeks of room and board, educational activities 
>(lectures, field work and lab work) and lots of recreational activities, such 
>as boating, archery and climbing. 
> 
>For information please contact Denise Gemmellaro at denisucci...@yahoo.com
> 
>Thank you and please feel free to pass this info to anyone who may be 
>interested.
> 
>Regards, 
> 
>Denise Gemmellaro