Blog post in MEE by one of my ecology heros

I think I'm OK with statistics. I can probably do 90% of statistics seen in most ecology journals. I'm not a statistician or a mathematician and I am hugely jealous of those that can do the remaining 10% that I don't understand and are able to write math/stat papers. 

Some in this field are giants: Robert MacArthur, Simon Levin, Marc Kery, Andy Royle (and all those guys from Patuxent). When it comes to estimating species richness there are two names: Robert Colwell and Anne Chao. 

Dr. Chao has a blog post here that is marvelous. The take-away: estimates of diversity are directly descended from Alan Turing. Great stuff. 

Biologizing on the Relay for Heat

I did the Relay for Heat this weekend and it was the most pleasant weather I've experienced for the relay. It was cool to cold but no snow and ice or winds that would blow you off the levee. We logged over 100 miles and I did my 4... very slowly. Achilles is still not 100% (after 16 months!) and I don't want to blow them out before the Galapagos trip. 

I always get a bird-of-prey on the walk and this iteration of the relay didn't disappoint. A Red-tailed Hawk being harassed by crows came by and then at the very end a Cooper's Hawk flew by. No eagles or falcons. So it goes. River was way up so no mergansers or diving ducks but there were Mallards and Canada geese in the flooded woods. Coolest thing was an Eastern Bluebird and Downy Woodpecker fussing at each other. There was a stonefly emergence too. 

Saying good-bye to a pet: Indie 2002-2016

We put down our border-collie mix rescue dog today. He was a fabulous dog and will be missed. 

On deck: week of 2/22

Study Abroad

• come up with medical waiver 
• meet with EF Tour representative 
• call interested high school students
• schedule meeting with provost

Bio department

• Finish off math/stat competencies 
• schedule meeting with math and cs dept
• grade biostat exams
• work on biostats lectures and homework (crap.. should do that tonight)
• read more Darwin for Galapagos trip
• write 4 or 5 letters of recommendation 
• deposit gifted money with school

Outreach

• figure out what to do with March WEBS lab
• dream about Northeast Pennsylvania Science Center
• schedule mist-netting for Hazelton STEM program at Nescopeck

Research

• think about fake fruit recipes
• update clay caterpillar website for EREN
• think about permits 
• think about barcoding

Study abroad baby steps

I'm going to start by second week of being the study abroad director. Still trying to grasp how all the parts fit together. 

Just sent emails to our three students studying abroad: two in Ireland and one in Spain. 

This past week we hosted the Panamanian Minister of Education and on Friday has Panamanian Cultural Day - I was hoping for food (of course) but there was dancing (I didn't partake). 

This week meeting with a faculty member that goes to Spain and I'll also start checking out the strategic plan. 

Asa Gray's 1860 review of Origin of the Species

Asa Gray was one of the USA's foremost botanist of the time and corresponded with Darwin before the publication of Origin and became friends through letters. Unsurprising then, that the review in The Atlantic is largely favorable. I love the language and Gray is a skilled writer. I didn't know that Darwin's nemesis Sir Richard Owen claimed to have come up with a better theory of species origins. 

One of things I stress in BIO 225 is the power of congruence between theories and Gray reiterates this: Lyell's gradualism (though Lyell wasn't the originator) meshes incredibly well with Darwin's theory. Alternative explanations, such as creationism, would need to mesh into Lyell or would need to rewrite geology and biology. Good luck with that. 

Cheat sheet for photography

This is superb.