Posted in Summer 2009 on July 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »
REU student Tyler Refsland presented during the Cooperator's Meeting on Wednesday, July 8th. His talk was titled
"Don't Underestimate the Young: Leaf Production and Biomass"
Most of the talk was about his current REU sponsored research on root biomass, and how to use algorithms to calculate root biomass. While his research is a work in progress, he talked about what his results are so far, and what he hopes to accomplish by the end of the summer.
Posted in Summer 2009, Uncategorized on July 9, 2009 |
During the Cooperator's Meeting, REU students Maggie Zimmer and Katie Harvey gave a presentation about their current work, entitled "Is there a riparian zone in the headwater catchments at HBRF? Evidence from the groundwater hydrology and soil morphology/chemistry"
They mainly talked about their current research in Watershed 3 at Hubbard Brook, concerning the hydrology and soil properties beside and around the streams. They also talked about what kinds of outcomes and products they hope to have at the end of their work this summer.
Posted in Summer 2009, Uncategorized on July 8, 2009 |
So while I am *busily* working on gathering material from the Cooperator's Meeting for the blog, I thought I'd throw up a few photos from the barn dance last night.
Tada!
Posted in Summer 2009, Uncategorized on July 8, 2009 |
Dr. James Collins is the Director of the Directorate for Biological Sciences at the National Science Foundation. Additionally he is a Virginia M. Ullman Professor of Natural History and the Environment in the School of Life Science at Arizona State University.
Essentially, he is very important.
He is visiting Hubbard Brook this week as the keynote speaker for the 2009 Cooperators Meeting, and spoke to the REU students Monday afternoon.
His talk included how he got interested in science, his work in biology, how the NSF works, and the future of careers in biology among other topics.
Personally, I thought it was great that Dr. Collin's took so much interest in what we as students are working on, and how we perceive the research world. The session was much more of a conversation than a lecture.
For audio from his talk, please click here: http://tiny.cc/JamesCollinsTalk
Did you always want to be a scientist? (And, why biology?)
While he was always interested in the natural world. Dr. Collin's initially wanted to be a pet store owner when he was younger (we're talking elementary school). Later on, his more realistic ideas included becoming either a pediatrician or something else in the field of biology. After working as a part of a research team in the Bahamas, he decided to pursue a career in research science.
What are some of your current projects?
His current work includes the biology and ecology of infectious diseases, diseases and wildlife, and how diseases can cause species extinction. Most of his work is conducted using amphibians (mainly salamanders), and studying the decline of organisms such as bats (via white nose syndrome) and chestnuts in the Eastern United States.
Additionally, he is busy working as the Director of the Biology programs at the National Science Foundation, and in his *spare* time he has just completed a book titled "Extinction in Our Times; Global Amphibian Decline". It can be found at the address below:
http://tiny.cc/ExtinctionInOurTime
Do you have any advice for aspiring young undergraduate scientists like us?
Posted in Summer 2009, Uncategorized on July 6, 2009 |
It sounds utterly unamazing, but the name doesn't give it credit.
The annual Cooperator's Meeting will occur at Hubbard Brook this week. The meeting is essentially a large conference for all of the scientists working at Hubbard Brook. It consists of short presentations about current scientific work, poster sessions, board meetings, and of course, the dinner and barn dance!
The scientific presentations are broken down into several categories, including heterotrophs (animals), hydrology (water movement), biogeochemisty, vegetation, and special work in Watershed One and calcium levels. Scientists will be coming from Cornell University, Syracuse University, SUNY ESF, the University of New Hampshire, UC Berkley, the University of Vermont, and Dartmouth College among others.
For more info, check out:
http://www.hubbardbrook.org/events/coop_meetings/09agenda.pdf
And it all is a whole lot cooler than it sounds.
Posted in Summer 2009, Uncategorized on July 3, 2009 |
Have a great 4th of July everyone! Next post will be on Monday, about the upcoming Cooperator's Meeting.