Re: [ECOLOG-L] how to measure area with Photoshop

[R Omalley]

There is a very interesting story behind this approach, having to do with a 
google earth engineer who lived near a proposed timber harvest in the Santa 
Cruz mountains that understated the extent of a clearcut. She successfully used 
google earth to accurately describe the proposal and demonstrate that it 
exceeded criteria for exemption. She has apparently become quite a conservation 
advocate. 
This is second hand information from a friend who works on marine protected 
areas for an environmental law firm. Others may have more specific information 
at hand?

Rachel O'Malley 
-Sent from my telephone

On May 19, 2014, at 7:41 AM, David Inouye  wrote:

> My brother's been using this technique to measure area by using images 
> grabbed from Google Earth.  Looks like it might work better for some of the 
> areas I've been measuring by walking the perimeter with a hand-held GPS 
> (Garmin) that can measure area that way.  He provided a link to this resource 
> for more information about the technique:  http://blog.duklabs.com/?p=219
> 
> David Inouye

Re: [ECOLOG-L] Livestock practice and ethics

[R Omalley]

Accepting your phd candidate's hypothetical premise that employees are "doing 
something terribly wrong," ask which she or he considers most 
unethical/untrustworthy among the following three parties:
1) the employees in some of the most unpleasant jobs known (slaughterhouse) who 
are "doing something terribly wrong, but ...seem to be doing their job," or
2) the owner/boss/"farmer" who conveniently neglects to investigate "those bad 
things you had suspicions about" even though they are readily apparent to a new 
hire and, by implication, would also be evident from simply "visiting farms to 
learn about where ...food comes from" or
3) the new employees who are also aware of "those bad things you had suspicions 
about" and risk their future employability in any sector to document and reveal 
them to the public and consumers rather than trusting you to do so? 

We have a tendency to expect workers to be so grateful to have a job at all 
that they should swear allegiance to an  unethical employer rather than protect 
the public good. 



On Mar 29, 2013, at 6:45 AM, "Mckee,Kathleen A"  wrote:

> Our culture is one of automatically responding to 'consumer demand' 
> regardless of consequences to quality of land, animals livelihood or water. 
> We decide to create engineered solutions to increase efficiency while 
> responding to this consumer demand as if it was this completely 
> uncontrollable hand coming from the sky.
> 
> We have a responsibility to have bi-directional communication with these 
> consumers and be open to altering what it is they demand. They are not 
> newborn babies that demand what they demand, they are conscious beings that 
> have emotions, brains and common sense. 
> 
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news 
> [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Yasmin J. Cardoza
> Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 4:22 PM
> To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
> Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Livestock practice and ethics
> 
> Hello all, I am posting this on behalf of one of our students in animal 
> science, Keena Mullen, with whom I shared this interesting discussion thread 
> and she wishes to provide her insights on the topic. Her e-mail address is 
> below if you wish to correspond to her directly. Cheers!
> 
> 
> 
> Yasmin
> 
> 
> 
> From: cefslist-ow...@lists.ncsu.edu [mailto:cefslist-ow...@lists.ncsu.edu]
> On Behalf Of Keena Mullen
> Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 9:12 AM
> To: Yasmin J. Cardoza
> Cc: CEFS List; Wilmer Pacheco-Dominguez; David Rosero Tapia; Santa Mendoza 
> Benavides
> Subject: Re: [cefslist] FW: [ECOLOG-L] Livestock practice and ethics
> 
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> 
> 
> Here is the response that I sent to Dr. Ganter last night. 
> 
> I received your post on the ECOLOG-list from Yasmin Cardoza at NCSU. I am a 
> PhD candidate in Animal Science at North Carolina State University, and I 
> would like to respond to your comments. I won't be able to address all of 
> your questions, but I would like to give you some points to ponder.
> 
> One of the major challenges that Animal Science faces is to produce animals 
> more efficiently so that we can feed the ever-growing population with less 
> land and resources. In order to do this, we have studied management 
> strategies to increase production of food from animals. These strategies 
> include those you mentioned - beak trimming, hormone usage, and "mass rearing 
> facilities". Many animal science programs around the country have a mandatory 
> animal welfare/animal well-being class that undergraduate students take. In 
> addition, research in recent years has focused on animal welfare and 
> assessing the natural behaviors of livestock, so that we can more adequately 
> allow these animals to express their natural behaviors. One example of this 
> research is the work of Dr. Temple Grandin, with whom you may be familiar. 
> Her work on cattle handling has greatly decreased the stress of cattle 
> heading to slaughter and her recommendations are being put into place 
> worldwide.
> 
> Another major issue that Animal Science is dealing with in regards to 
> increasing efficiency is that many consumers do not seem to care how their 
> meat has been produced. I say this, because consumers in the United States 
> spend very little of their income on food ( 
> 
> http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/01/america-food-spending-less)
> relative to other countries. Consumers demand cheap meat, so we strive to 
> come up with technologies to produce it more efficiently. Of course, there 
> are people who are concerned about where their food comes from, and that 
> growing segment of the population is demanding change. I work with 
> pasture-based and organic dairies and I see the great future in the market 
> for these operations - many are also Animal Welfare Approved. This label is 
> one way that consumers can make c

Re: [ECOLOG-L] Freezing Eggs: Solution for female grad students, post-docs, early-career researchers?

[R Omalley]

 The article forgot to mention that sperm deteriorate as well, so career-only 
men should freeze sperm early too! 
https://www.llnl.gov/news/newsreleases/2006/NR-06-06-01.htmltoo! 
https://www.llnl.gov/news/newsreleases/2006/NR-06-06-01.html
Of course, older women with frozen eggs should try to have  kids with a younger 
man or one who has some sperm frozen. 
Or adopt! 
And maybe, if we also had universal health coverage, universal childcare, and 
walkable comunities (critical for parental freedom from driving), as some 
countries do, and the expectation that fathers are up for co-parenting, as an 
ever-increasing number are, we would be able to add nuance to  the 
family/career dichotomy as a model. 

Rachel O'Malley 

Sent from my iPhone

On May 14, 2012, at 8:25 PM, "Clara B. Jones"  wrote:

> Ecolog-l: In recent discussions on this ListServ & elsewhere, some female
> grad students, post-docs, and early-career researchers have expressed
> challenges with "work-life balance", &/or changed priorities when they have
> 1 or more children before achieving a secure academic or comparable
> position in their specialty. Perhaps, freezing eggs for post-tenure or
> comparable status use would solve these problems? See this article [linked]
> from today's *New York Times*.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/us/eager-for-grandchildren-and-putting-daughters-eggs-in-freezer.html?_r=2&hp
> 
> 
> 
> 
> clara b. jones
> Blog: http://vertebratesocialbehavior.blogspot.com
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/cbjones1943

[ECOLOG-L] AP BIOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCE teacher, Santa Cruz, ca

[R Omalley]

> AP BIOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCE
> Pacific Collegiate School, a small, nationally recognized 7-12 grade charter 
> school in Santa Cruz with a college-preparatory focus, is looking to hire one 
> full-time teacher for four sections of AP Biology (taught primarily to 11th 
> and 12th grade students) and one section of introductory life science (taught 
> to 7th grade students).
> 
> PCS is an open-enrollment public school, and AP Biology is a graduation 
> requirement.  Therefore, applicants must be prepared to work with students of 
> diverse backgrounds and aptitudes to achieve a high level of mastery in the 
> subject area.  Applicants must also be excited about working with interested, 
> motivated students, and we will be looking for someone with a strong 
> background in the life sciences.
> 
> Ample training, resources, support and mentorship will be provided as 
> necessary, and salary is commensurate with experience. A valid California 
> credential is preferred but not absolutely necessary (though any interested 
> applicants who don't have a credential must be prepared to obtain a 
> credential in the near future).
> 
> To apply, please send a cover letter, curriculum vitae, college transcripts 
> and three letters of reference to the Faculty Dean, Ms. Tara Firenzi. It is 
> preferred that materials be sent electronically to tara.fire...@pcsed.org 
> , but materials will also be accepted through 
> the mail: 255 Swift Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060.
> 
> More information about the school is available at www.pacificcollegiate.com 
> .  PCS is an equal opportunity employer.

Re: [ECOLOG-L] Families in Science - Balancing your personal and professional life

[R Omalley]

This all started with a query about how best to bring kids along on 
fieldwork...  
It may be helpful to remind ourselves of our predecessors, to be able to 
believe in our own capacities.
I love the story of Dorothea Lange, who had two kids and two step-kids.  
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Lange#_
(forgive the Wikipedia source)
 
Excellence is defined in many different ways.  Sole-authored research papers is 
a mighty narrow definition of contribution to the advancement of knowledge, 
even if it (sometimes) may lead to the promotion of the individual. Seems like 
we need to work on social skills, too. 

Keep up the good work, all of you (us). 

Cheers,
Rachel O'Malley

Professor of Environmental Studies
San Jose State University
(and usually quite happy with my job, two kids, partner, thousands of current 
and former students, and colleagues... I only wish the polis were funding more 
education and ecology so that everyone who wants to work in this field, could 
do so).

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 29, 2012, at 3:02 PM, karen golinski  wrote:

> I wonder how a person who is regularly away from home from 6 AM until after
> 10 PM really raises a family? Most kids are sleeping during the "at home"
> time of 10 PM-6 AM.
> 
> It saddens me to think that people want to silence the discussion of
> positive models of work-life balance. Just because people have to work the
> long hours described below does not mean it is a good (or productive) way
> to live our lives.
> 
> On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 1:20 PM, Robert Hamilton 
> wrote:
> 
>> I must say that I find this conversation somewhat embarrassing, and hope
>> it never gets out into the public domain. I have and have always had
>> friends and neighbours who work 2 or 3 jobs to keep things going.
>> Literally going to work at 6AM and not coming home till after 10PM
>> working jobs at places like Walmart and McDonalds. Lots of people work
>> 8+ hours per say 50 weeks a year, like say my Dad, and had no problem
>> raising a family and contributing to the community. This whole thing is
>> a study in extreme narcissism. How's that for a wet blanket!
>> 
>> Robert Hamilton, PhD
>> Professor of Biology
>> Alice Lloyd College
>> Pippa Passes, KY 41844
>> 
>> 
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news
>> [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Jahi Chappell
>> Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 10:07 PM
>> To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Families in Science - Balancing your personal
>> and professional life
>> 
>> While putting resources into science, including ecology, is of course a
>> wonderful, necessary, and valuable thing, assuredly supporting our own
>> families with our presence, time, and energy (and societal resources) is
>> at least as wonderful, necessary, and valuable. Indeed, as many benefits
>> as flow from science and science funding, we know that having strong
>> families and communities makes everyone better off, ceteris parabus, and
>> having strong families and communities requires time and resource
>> investment from everyone.
>> 
>> Even granting the proposition that we in the US produce the "best and
>> most successful scientists in the world", all accounts indicate that we
>> certainly don't produce the highest average of "happy and most secure
>> and successful families in the world." We have a *lot* of those, but
>> alas, our median is likely much lower than our mean, and both are likely
>> behind countries like those Andres analyzed. So much of what so many are
>> lacking are basic needs, connections, support networks, and resources,
>> something depending as much or more on good and participatory governance
>> than new scientific discovery--we need more time for more participation
>> outside our work and research, not less.
>> 
>> On 4/27/12 10:22 AM, "David L. McNeely"  wrote:
>> 
>> This is not meant as a wet blanket, as I encourage family friendly
>> employment practices for all countries and for all occupations.  But, I
>> wonder how those figures would look if all areas of science were
>> considered?  It may be that smaller economies, and the Scandinavian
>> countries in particular, put a greater fraction of their available
>> resources for scientific research into ecology than do larger economies
>> and non-Scandinavian countries.  Is U.S. science more diversified than
>> Finnish or Icelandic science?
>> 
>> 
>> David McNeely
>> 
>>  Andres Lopez-Sepulcre  wrote:
>> Since we're at it, it did the same calculation for all four countries
>> ranked first in gender equality by the Global Gender Gap Report. All
>> four, as far as I remember, provide generous paternity leaves that
>> guarantee job security and can be shared between mother and father.
>> ISI indexed publications in Ecology per capita (countries ranked in
>> order of 'gender equality index')
>> Iceland: 1167
>> Norway: 1794
>> Finland: 1500
>> Sweden: 1361
>> Not only do these countries do s

Re: [ECOLOG-L] Children in the field Re: [ECOLOG-L] Backpacking with an infant?

[R Omalley]

Wow... Just tuned in.  Weird conversation. 

I took my breastfeeding 4-month-old to the Galapagos and to the Amazon 16 years 
ago, along with my 56-year-old (at the time) parents, after an unplanned 
C-section.  
The parents were definitively more trouble and at greater risk.  The C-section 
was long healed, after 4 months!

A dear friend of mine was raised along with his four sibs traveling up into the 
sierras by mule for a month each summer... Cloth diapers boiled in a big pot, 
the whole deal. Not only did they all survive, they grew into happy, 
respectful, well-adjusted adults. 

You should really try some of this stuff personally, before you form too strong 
an opinion. 

I've also had a fieldworker think it would be interesting to pick up a 
rattlesnake skin...  Not thinking. The whole field day was shot when we had to 
take the person to the hospital to make sure the ensuing bite was indeed "dry". 
You guess the gender and age (yep, old enough to know better). Stuff happens, 
we take care of it. The more of us who are involved in taking care of that 
stuff, the more satisfying the whole project will be. 

If ecologists eschewed fieldwork that involved hazards (ranging from broken 
ankles to Poison oak to tick bites), we would stay indoors. But we all know 
that's even more hazardous. Even for babies. 

My girls (now 11 and 16) climb trees and rocks (definitively not safe).  I only 
lament that now that they are older and I am busier, I don't make time to take 
them to the mountains enough!

Gear? A really comfortable front wrap carrier that faces both in and out so you 
can breastfeed while walking. And everything else in your regular kit. And 
maybe a mule. 

Have fun!

 

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 9, 2012, at 5:29 PM, Wayne Tyson  wrote:

> Well said Lis.
> 
> For what use the information might be, some young friends of ours do a lot of 
> work in the field all over the world and they frequently take their children 
> with them rather than consigning them to "caregivers." They took their 
> first-born son to Borneo at ten months. A few years ago when he was eight, he 
> was towing the canoe up the shallows of the river to the research station by 
> wading with the tow-rope over his shoulder and remarked, "Gosh, here I am in 
> Borneo, wading up a jungle river and my friends are back home in Boston 
> playing with video games. He got his scuba certification that year in 
> Indonesia even though he has to "wait" until he's ten to get certified in the 
> US. His little sister learned scuba last year at eight even though she has to 
> be nine even in Indonesia to get a card. The family that scubas together . . .
> 
> What kind of adults will these kids make, I wonder?
> 
> Oh, to have had parents like this . . . 
> 
> WT
> 
> - Original Message - From: "Lis Castillo Nelis" 
> To: 
> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 3:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Backpacking with an infant?
> 
> 
> I reassert that advice concerning the child’s well being was unsolicited in 
> the original post.  If a colleague over 50 asked for gear recommendations, no 
> one would have recommended that they avoid fieldwork because of the risk for 
> heart attack.  We assume they are intelligent enough to take care of 
> themselves.
> 
> We need similar assumptions for parents.  The original poster probably 
> already spoke with their pediatrician.  They may even have a medically 
> trained babysitter joining them at the top of the mountain. We don’t know and 
> it isn’t our business.  Instead of assuming the worst of each other, how 
> about assuming the best?
> 
> 
> In the future, if we are concerned about someone’s life choices, a short 
> email directly to the sender may be the better option.  Many young 
> researchers read this forum.  We need to be careful what message we send out. 
>  This thread showed some terrific support for families in science. 
> Unfortunately, it also showed that many colleagues doubt parenting decisions 
> of others, and that some colleagues think parents can’t be good scientists at 
> all.  If we want to diversify science we need to accept those who make 
> decisions different from our own.
> 
> 
> Good luck to all parents out there who choose to take your kids with you into 
> the field!
> 
> 
> Lis
> 
> 
> 
> Lisa Castillo Nelis
> NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
> Stanford University
> Gordon Laboratory
> Department of Biology
> Gilbert Building, Room 109
> 371 Serra Mall
> Stanford, CA 94305-5020
> 
> Phone: 650-725-6791
> Email: lne...@stanford.edu
> Home page: http://www.stanford.edu/~lnelis/
> 
> 
> -
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 10.0.1424 / Virus Database: 2411/4924 - Release Date: 04/09/12

Re: [ECOLOG-L] UC-Berkeley and other 'public Iv ies'in fiscal peril

[R Omalley]

Hmmm... My father earned enough as a junior faculty member to support a wife 
and three kids. My junior  colleagues certainly  cannot, at least in 
California. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 28, 2011, at 6:49 PM, "Judith S. Weis"  
wrote:

> Another element is that now faculty earn a reasonable living wage, while
> several decades ago they didn't.
> 
> 
>> One element in the increase in college costs, not just research, is
>> accountability. Congress has passed laws that had good objectives
>> (protecting human subjects, protecting animals, ensuring occupational
>> safety, reducing campus crime, ensuring no discrimination on campus,
>> ensuring fair value for federal student loans, etc etc.). Laws become
>> rules and regulations which are monitored and enforced by federal agencies
>> that have no real need to restrain themselves, so they add more
>> regulations, the better to enforce the intent of the law.  Universities
>> meanwhile, trying to stay in compliance, add senior administrators and
>> assistants and assistants to assistants to deal with the regulations.
>> These bureaucracies (well any bureaucracy) protect themselves and the best
>> way to be protected is to jump through every hoop the agencies put in
>> place. Because the university might get in trouble, compliance gets handed
>> what is often essentially a blank check.
>> 
>> 
>> Whole industries have developed around animal care, human subjects,
>> college accreditation etc. These classes and consultants  don't tell the
>> universities how to maximize compliance at minimal cost, instead they
>> suggest ever better and more expensive ways to be in compliance, selling
>> something the compliance bureaucrats are more than happy to buy.  Even
>> more senior administrators are brought on board and again, they need more
>> support staff.
>> 
>> 
>> For research, the more the university spends on compliance, the higher the
>> indirect cost it can charge the federal government, thus providing even
>> more money for compliance. Unless the funder is NIH, higher indirect means
>> the amount the researcher actually gets is smaller, so research loses. And
>> so it goes. With federal funds in short supply, the agencies should be
>> taking a look at compliance, but then they have their own compliance
>> empires to support.
>> 
>> 
>> Is the compliance industry the only cause of increased tuition costs? No.
>> As one of the articles mentioned, higher tuition makes a college more
>> attractive (never mind that like hotel room rates the list price is not
>> necessarily what you end up paying). State and federal governments no
>> longer feel education is so important so they have decreased support. This
>> is in stunning contrast to after World War II when the GI Bill jump
>> started American prosperity through essentially free higher education for
>> returning vets. Too many Americans, politicians and administrators now
>> seem to regard universities as factories that produce degrees, learning
>> being incidental. In that case, climbing walls and Jacuzzis make sense,
>> making one factory/college more competitive than another. So does hiring
>> of 'rock star' professors that, like professional athletes, lend their
>> names but not always their teaching skills to the university's "brand",
>> while driving up faculty salaries. 
>> 
>> 
>> More and more people are telling universities to jump and fewer and fewer
>> universities are bothering to ask why before they do. Until faculty and
>> students start asking why, the universities won't so things will continue
>> as they are, or get worse.
>> 
>> 
>> That's the way it is. Happy New Year.
>> 
>> 
>> David Duffy
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> David Cameron Duffy Ph.D.
>> Professor/PCSU Unit Leader/CESU Director
>> PCSU/CESU/Department of Botany
>> University of Hawaii Manoa
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> - Original Message -
>> From: Martin Meiss 
>> Date: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 8:10 am
>> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] UC-Berkeley and other 'public Iv ies'in fiscal
>> peril
>> To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
>> 
>>> Hi, Rick,
>>>   I don't think the answer is that
>>> simple.  I went to a small, private,
>>> liberal arts college from 1970 through 1974 and it cost my
>>> father about
>>> $3,000 per year for room, board, and tuition.  Now it would
>>> cost about
>>> $42,000, about a 14-fold increase.  Inflation, which I'm
>>> guessing has been
>>> about three-fold since then, obviously only accounts for a small
>>> part of
>>> that, and since it is a private school, declining government
>>> subsidies are
>>> not the reason.  The professors haven't all become
>>> millionaires.  The
>>> campus hasn't been plated with gold.  The students aren't
>>> getting an
>>> education that is ten times better than what I got.  This
>>> is a general
>>> trend, not just a phenomenon of my alma mater, and I really do
>>> want to know
>>> what the hell is going on.  My father had a bachelor's
>>> degree, and my
>>> annual college costs were about on

[ECOLOG-L] Faculty position: San Jose, CA- Environmental Policy & Science

[R Omalley]

> Please circulate

> San José State University
> San Jose, California
> ANNOUNCEMENT OF POSITION AVAILABILITY -- Application deadline Dec 1, 2011
> Subject to Budgetary Approval
> Assistant Professor – Environmental Policy and Science
> Department of Environmental Studies
> College of Social Sciences
> Job Opening ID (JOID): 14147
> Rank: Assistant Professor
> Qualifications:
> A Ph.D. in a social science, natural/physical science, or interdisciplinary 
> environmental field with expertise in environmental law and/or policy. 
> Priority given to applicants with analytical skills in climate change, 
> biodiversity, environmental justice, environmental impact assessment, 
> environmental education and/or green building. Applicant must have a strong 
> background in qualitative or quantitative research methods and should be a 
> scientist/analyst who has applied her/his background to solving 
> environmental issues. International experience and outlook is an asset. Must 
> demonstrate commitment to teaching in an interdisciplinary 
> undergraduate/graduate Environmental Studies department. Applicants should 
> have awareness of and sensitivity to the educational goals of a multicultural 
> population as might have been gained in cross-cultural study, training, 
> teaching and other comparable experience.
> Responsibilities: 
> Teaching responsibilities will include the Environmental Studies core courses 
> and others in the applicant’s specialties. Candidates should be prepared to 
> teach the introductory Environmental Studies course, upper division courses, 
> and graduate courses (see departmental course list at 
> http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/EnvStudies/courses/index.htm). Other undergraduate 
> responsibilities include advising students and supervising internships. 
> Applicants must be willing to supervise graduate research leading to the 
> Master of Science thesis. The applicant should have a defined research 
> program and be willing to seek external funding to support research and 
> department activities.
> A record of both effective teaching and scholarly professional achievements 
> is essential for tenure and promotion. We seek a teacher-researcher who is 
> committed to quality interaction with students at all levels, undergraduate 
> and graduate. Candidate must address the needs of a student population of 
> great diversity – in age, cultural background, ethnicity, primary language 
> and academic preparation – through course materials, teaching strategies and 
> advisement.
> Salary Range: Commensurate with qualifications and experience.
> Eligibility: Employment is contingent upon proof of eligibility to work in 
> the United States.
> Starting Date: August 20, 2012
> Application Procedures: For full consideration send a letter of application, 
> curriculum vitae, statement of teaching interests/philosophy and research 
> plans, transcripts, and at least three original letters of reference with 
> contact information by December 1, 2011 to:
> Dr. Lynne Trulio, Chair, Search Committee
> Department of Environmental Studies
> San José State University
> One Washington Square
> San Jose, CA 95192-0115