Hi,
The National Geographic series Strange Days on Planet Earth has some good
segments--in particular the episode on trophic cascades would be good for
population biology. They specifically talk about a dam project in South
America that flooded a hilly rainforest, leaving behind isolated islands
that were formerly hilltops. Most of the predators swam away to the
mainland, but lots of other animals took refuge on the islands, creating
extremely dense populations. The absence of predators allowed herbivores to
run rampant, defoliating entire islands. They also talk about the trophic
cascade of wolf-elk-riparian vegetation in Yellowstone.
I believe there's also a PBS or National Geographic series on human
population biology, though I cannot recall the title just now...I think if
you search Google Video you can watch clips of these things.
hth,
Sarah
_
Sarah K Berke
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department of the Geophysical Sciences
University of Chicago
5734 S. Ellis Ave
Chicago, IL 60637
On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 11:00 PM, ECOLOG-L automatic digest system
lists...@listserv.umd.edu wrote:
There are 5 messages totalling 340 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Aquatic Technician - NEON - one year assignment - Boulder, CO
2. Movies to teach population ecology ???
3. Call for faculty to teach in new science general education initiative
at
Bard College (NY)
4. ACE - Golden Gate National Recreation Area Trail Crew Internship
5. EcoTone: Biodiversity is a delicate recipe
--
Date:Wed, 2 Jun 2010 10:42:04 -0400
From:=?windows-1252?Q?Laura_Reynolds?= care...@neoninc.org
Subject: Aquatic Technician - NEON - one year assignment - Boulder, CO
Overview
The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON, Inc.) is a nonprofit
science corporation dedicated to understanding how changes in climate,
land use and invasive species impact ecology. Currently under design is
the NEON project - an observatory comprising more than 60 environmental
and biological monitoring locations distributed throughout twenty domains
across the United States, Hawaii, Alaska Puerto Rico. The observatory
network will be the first of its kind designed to detect and enable
forecasting of ecological change at continental scales over multiple
decades.
The Aquatic Team will collect physical, chemical, and biological data on
streams and small lakes across twenty domains in the United States,
Hawaii, Alaska the Caribbean. The Team will define measurements, train
personnel, and perform QA/QC in order to produce high quality data
products for the research, education, and decision making community.
Term of Position
This position is as a term (one year), full-time position on the NEON
Aquatic science team.
Location: Boulder, CO
Position Summary:
The Aquatic Technician will assist the Aquatic Team with gathering
existing data and information on streams and ponds/lakes across the United
States. This includes water chemistry; plant, insect, and fish species
lists; aerial photographs; maps; and other historical information. This
information is critical for the Team to prepare the sites for
construction. The Technician will work independently searching for
existing literature and data, and as part of the Team to develop data
management tools.
The Technician will also have the opportunity to gain experience in GIS,
water chemistry analyses, and mapping of aquatic ecosystems.
The Aquatic Technician is expected to produce reports of NEON site
information and is encouraged to collaborate with the Staff to investigate
other publications.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
• Independently seek published data and information from libraries,
local NGOs, researchers, municipalities, Federal and State agencies
• Seek unpublished data from local researchers and NGOs
• Co-create data management system for historical site data: working
in collaboration with Aquatic scientists and the NEON Computing team
• Coordinate and compile disparate data and information for ease of
analysis and retrieval
• Work with NEON GIS to digitize and organize historical maps,
images, and aerial photos of sites
• Participate in the larger NEON science community
Education:
• Bachelor’s degree in aquatic ecology or related field.
Required Experience:
• Experience with university library research, including Web of
Science
• Ability to independently gather information from federal and state
agencies’ online data portals
• Ability to telephone interview researchers and scientists
• Demonstrated ability to write technical documents
Preferred Experience:
• Ability to create and interpret stream hydrographs
• Knowledge of freshwater water quality parameters
• Knowledge of GIS preferred
Skills and Abilities:
•
