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Showing posts from 2018

All Scientists' Meeting 2018!

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Science is Collaboration The All Scientists' Meeting (ASM) took place at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California from Sept 30 th to Oct 4 th, 2018. ASM is a triennial (every 3 years) gathering of all Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and is usually very well attended. Asilomar was idyllic: an undulating shrubby terrain interspersed with pines, that raced towards the sea. The weather:   a cool and crisp autumn delight - a nice escape from the humidity of the 305! Such was the weather that some attendees, including a professor from the FCE Fisheries division, could not resists a jog.  The conference halls and meeting rooms were furnished with wood and stone, and adorned with fireplaces…I could go on and on. The theme of ASM 2018 - Next Generation Synthesis: Successes and strategies - brought together individuals involved in ecology and science outreach from the different sites of the LTER network. The goal was to reflect, evaluate, coll

Ecological Society of America: A pathway for professional development

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by Luke Lamb The 250 page meeting program can be daunting to students new to ESA but it's really FULL of opportunity. Every year ecologists from around the world get together at the Ecological Society of America ( ESA ) meeting for a week-long endeavor into all-things ecology. As a student whose only attended two ESA meetings, ESA2017 and ESA2018 , this meeting has already been instrumental in shaping my professional perspective on the field of ecology and how its members conduct themselves. My hope with this post is to provide some evidence of the benefits that being involved within ESA as a student provides and how to make the most out of future meetings! For starters, the ESA is organized into a variety of different sections and chapters . Chapters are organized regionally while sections are organized around a common interest, like everybody is a student, or early career researcher, paleoecologist, etc. ESA says : “[Section] activities are intended to encourage

Hungry for outreach? Try a Data Nugget!

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The title of our Data Nugget. If you are passionate about the broader impact of your data, you should consider incorporating it into a Data Nugget.  Data Nugget s are an opportunity for scientists to bring their data into the K-12 classroom. A Data Nugget is an activity, developed by scientists and teachers, that use real scientific data. Using real data in the classroom gives students experience working with "messy ecological data." Two summers ago I worked with my advisor , a Research Experience for Undergraduate student, and a Research Experience for Teachers intern ( RET ) to complete a study investigating how gradients of salt and phosphorus influence soil microbes. Our RET, Ms. Casal, was fantastic! Ms. Casal's background is in chemistry and she teaches at Felix Varela . Ms. Casal went into the field with us to collect samples, helped run analyses on samples in the lab, and co-designed our Data Nugget. Our RET, Ms. Casal, helping process samples in the l

Communicating your Science

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There are endless opportunities for graduate students to participate in science outreach! However, few receive proper training and are prepared to attend such events. We obviously know our research but translating that research to the general public is often difficult. Most outreach events require preparation and involve tabling. Having an activity that explains your research is essential to effective tabling. This is usually challenging to scientists who struggle to communicate the intricacies of their work to the general public. The science behind my activity. For example, how do I efficiently explain how I study how extracellular enzyme potential in peat soil changes with saltwater intrusion. To me, that is the simplest way of summarizing my research, but only a few scientists and I would understand it. I needed help translating what I do. If you are looking for a formal training experience to build up your science translation skills and effectively communicate your resear

What is Peat and Why is it Collapsing?

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Written by Benjamin J. Wilson For a background refresher on the impacts of sea level rise in South Florida, see my previous blog post. Figure 1. Feedbacks that lead to the creation of wetland peat soil. Peat soil is the backbone of many wetlands. It is full of organic-rich carbon that is formed when plants perform photosynthesis: they suck up carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere and use it to make roots. These roots go into the soil, and because decomposition is slow in wetlands, these carbon-rich roots are stored in the soil for very long periods of time, allowing the marsh to grow in elevation (Fig. 1). Under freshwater conditions, this carbon can be stored in the soils for thousands of years. This leads to a landscape full of pristine marshes that provide habitat for wildlife and are very efficient at filtering contaminants out of water (Fig. 2a). However, in some brackish marshes, especially in the Everglades, an exciting feature appears. From above, you can

Long Dissertation Short

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I am passionate about science communication, and I try to come up with accessible ways to present my research to the public. I know that my research is important and work hard to share its value with others beyond academia. I also know that many of my fellow graduate students are also committed to scientific outreach. I am not expert in science communication yet. However; I have sought opportunities to advance my science communication skills. I have plenty of advice to other graduate students looking to do the same, so I am going to write a series of blog posts explaining how I have translated my research to the public and what opportunities are available. Shelby Servais' dissertation summarized in a word cloud. Here is the first and most simple; I created a word cloud with the top used words in my dissertation. I think the dissertation is necessary to communicate the findings of your research in an academic setting. However, it is probably the least accessible format for

Hurricanes and Social-Ecological Systems: What Climate Change Means to Both

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Post by: Luke Lamb-Wotton   A satellite image from the 2017 Atlantic season. Pictured are Hurricanes Katia (left), Irma (center), and Jose (right). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.     For all of us living in coastal areas susceptible to high-energy storms, we all know too well the mayhem and devastation that can be associated with major landfalling hurricanes (category 3+). It took me a mere 3 months living in South Florida to experience my first run-in with one of these wicked storms.  On September 10 th , 2017, after Hurricane Irma swept through Cuba and prompted a mandatory evacuation order for the Florida Keys, Irma came screaming towards South Florida, originally predicted to make a direct hit on Miami-Dade but opted (to Miami-Dade’s relief) to take a more south-westerly track towards Tampa Bay. Regardless of the exact track, Irma’s expansive wind-field and storm surge still wreaked havoc on Miami-Dade’s infrastructure (some images can be found here ), contributing t