Current Topics in Ecology and Evolution

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EEB 3894 Overview

Undergraduate Seminar at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Spring, 2014
2 credits
Thursday 2:30-5pm
Room: TLS 181

Instructor: Bill Ryerson

Spring 2014 Syllabus: PDF

We will meet all the distinguished scientists on this semester's list of speakers. Student will be responsible for participating in each meeting. We will read at least one research article written by a different visiting scholar every week. After a half hour of discussion, we will meet the person behind the science and then hear them give an hour-long research seminar. This course is for undergraduate students interested in broadening their understanding of modern ecology and evolutionary biology by engaging in active discussion. Read this guideto writing response papers and preparing for discussion.

Grades will be calculated out of 140 points (10 points/week)

Attendance= 4 points/week Attend discussion and seminar every week.

Participation= 4 points/week Ask questions, volunteer comments and engage in constructive discussion with peers and speaker.

1 page response paper= 2 points/week Typed, double-spaced response to the research article.

Leading 1 discussion= 10 points Pick research article for the discussion, summarize and focus discussion with peers.

  • Email Bill (william.ryerson@uconn.edu) with article choice @ least 1 week before you lead seminar discussion.



Guide for Paper Discussion: guide.

Guide for Critically reading scientific articles: Reading.


Spring 2014 Seminars

(Thursday @ 4:00PM in BPB 130 unless otherwise noted)
January 30, 2014
Jonathan Wilson (Haverford College) Ecological and evolutionary insights from the study of fossil plants
February 6, 2014
Catherine Pringle (University of Georgia) Climate-driven acidification in Neotropical Streams: Evidence from a long-term research project in Costa Rica.
February 13, 2014 - Teale Lecture*
Anthony Leiserowitz (Yale University) Climate Change in the American Mind
March 13, 2014
Elizabeth Brainerd (Brown University) TBD
March 27, 2014 - Teale Lecture*
Steven D. Gaines (UC - Santa Barbara) What role will the oceans play in meeting the global demand for food?
April 3, 2014
Mark Moffett (Smithsonian Institute) TBD
April 10, 2014 - Teale Lecture*
Jane Lubchenco (NOAA) Climate, Weather, Oceans and Biodiversity: Science in Policy and Politics
April 17, 2014
Norman Wickett (Chicago Botanical Gardens) TBD
April 24, 2014
Bruce Patterson (The Field Museum - Chicago) TBD
May 1, 2014
Tracy Heath (Cal - Berkeley) TBD



EEB 3894 Semester Schedule

Trouble accessing the discussion article when off campus? First sign into the UConn VPN and then try the link.

Date Seminar Speaker Presenter Discussion Article
23 January Bill None - Discuss Syllabus, Website, Class Goals, How to read and interpret scientific literature
30 January Jonathan Wilson Bill 400 million years of plant hydraulics
6 February Cathy Pringle Erin Using stable isotopes to understand niche shifts
13 February
(Teale Lecture Series*)
Anthony Leiserowitz Pratibha American evangelicals and global warming
20 February Jessica Savage Dan Daylight and transpiration
27 February Emily Grman Sagy Dos Plant allocate differently to fungi
6 March Robert Coulautti Stephen Flower plasticity
13 March Beth Brainerd Sammy Bending in fish spines
20 March SPRING BREAK!
27 March
(Teale Lecture Series*)
Steven Gaines Arrian Marine Reserve Networks
3 April Mark Moffett What is a society?
10 April
(Teale Lecture Series*)
Jane Lubchenco Uday Climate change and conservation
17 April Norm Wickett Harley Ancestral polyploidy in plants
24 April Bruce Patterson Mary Climate and a lion's mane
1 May Tracy Heath Sagy Taxonomic sampling affects phylogenetics


* Seminars in the Teale Lecture Series are held in the Konover Auditorium of the Dodd Center (near the Homer Babbidge Library).