Welcome

This blog contains news and other announcements from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Make sure to visit the department's home page for much more information (research, how to apply, and so forth).

Thursday, April 11, 2013

NSF Graduate Fellowships - Updated (again)

Five Six current or incoming EEB students were awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships or honorable mentions:

Awards:
Honorable mentions:
Update: Also note that Kelly Rooker, a graduate student in math who is in EEB faculty member Sergey Gavrilets' lab, was also awarded an NSF fellowship.

Update 2: Angela Chuang has decided to enter EEB in the fall; numbers have been updated to reflect this.

In the areas of ecology and systematics, EEB tied for 12th 9th place out of all universities in awards and honorable mentions (note that UTK EEB is the only department broken out; all other numbers were summed across all departments in other universities). In these areas EEB had more students honored than Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Yale, and many other universities with strong equivalent departments. Below is a table of EEB and all other institutions with any awards or honorable mentions ecology or systematics. Across all areas and departments, UTK got 12 awards and honorable mentions in total.


Institution Awards + Honorable Mentions
University of California-Davis 16
University of Washington 13
University of California-Berkeley 9
University of California-Santa Cruz 9
Cornell University 8
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 8
Princeton University 7
Texas A & M University Main Campus 7
University of Tennessee Knoxville, all departments 7
University of Tennessee Knoxville, EEB only6
Colorado State University 6
Michigan State University 6
University of Florida 6
University of Arizona 5
University of Colorado at Boulder 5
University of Georgia 5
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 5
Utah State University 5
Indiana University 4
Oregon State University 4
University of California-Santa Barbara 4
University of Chicago 4
University of Michigan Ann Arbor 4
University of Wisconsin-Madison 4
Pennsylvania State Univ University Park 3
Stanford University 3
University of California-Los Angeles 3
University of California-San Diego 3
University of Montana 3
University of South Florida 3
Yale University 3
Arizona State University 2
Harvard University 2
Montana State University 2
Oklahoma State University 2
Purdue University 2
SUNY at Stony Brook 2
University of California-Irvine 2
University of Hawaii 2
University of Idaho 2
University of Illinois at Chicago 2
University of Kansas Main Campus 2
University of Missouri-Columbia 2
University of Notre Dame 2
University of Pittsburgh 2
University of Texas at Austin 2
University of Utah 2
University of Vermont &amp State Agricultural College 2
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 2
American Museum Natural History 1
Boise State University 1
Boston University 1
Central Michigan University 1
College of William and Mary 1
Dartmouth College 1
Emory University 1
Florida Gulf Coast University 1
Florida International University 1
Florida State University 1
Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology - University of Hawaii Manoa 1
Humboldt State University 1
Humboldt State University Foundation 1
Kent State University 1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1
Miami University 1
Missouri State University 1
North Carolina State University 1
North Dakota State University Fargo 1
Old Dominion University 1
Portland State University 1
Rutgers University New Brunswick 1
Salisbury University 1
San Francisco State University 1
San Jose State University 1
Syracuse University 1
Texas State University - San Marcos 1
Trustees of Boston University 1
Tufts University 1
University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus 1
University of California-Riverside 1
University of Central Florida 1
University of Connecticut 1
University of Maine 1
University of Massachusetts Amherst 1
University of Nevada Reno 1
University of New Hampshire 1
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1
University of North Carolina at Charlotte 1
University of Oklahoma Norman Campus 1
University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras 1
University of Virginia Main Campus 1
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 1
Institutions with no awards or honorable mentions not listed.

Note that for this table, ecology and systematics correspond to NSF categories "Life Sciences - Ecology", "Life Sciences - Systematic Biology".

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Multiple EEB members receive Chancellor's Awards


The UT Chancellor's Office gives annual awards to recognize "extraordinary achievements" for faculty, staff, students, and other members of the EEB community. EEB-associated members received a disproportionate number of awards, including half of the awards for community service:

Gary McCracken -- Alexander Prize, recognizing superior teaching and distinguished scholarship

Rosie Gillespie, UT PhD 1986 (advisor Susan Riechert), won the Notable UT Woman award, which this year was given to an alumna


Ken McFarland — an award for Extraordinary Community Service, due to his commitment to the Wildflower Pilgrimage

PhD student Jess Welch — an award  for Extraordinary Community Service

GREBE (graduate student organization, EEB) — an award for Extraordinary Community Service

Hannah Long was named a Top Collegiate Scholar

And also Shanna Pendergast, who recently joined Biology as an advisor, won an award for excellence in undergraduate advising

Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage April 23-27


The 63rd annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is April 23 - 37. It is "an annual five-day event in Great Smoky Mountains National Park consisting of a variety of wildflower, fauna, and natural history walks, motorcades, photographic tours, art classes, and indoor seminars. Most programs are outdoors in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while indoor offerings are held in various venues throughout Gatlinburg, TN" (from its website). It includes numerous offerings by EEB people, including a mushroom walk with EEB undergrad (and incoming Matheny lab graduate student) Christine Braaten, a talk and ant hike with faculty member Nate Sanders, and a nighttime bat walk by McCracken lab members. Gene Wofford, director of the UT Herbarium and emeritus EEB faculty member, is one of the organizers of the pilgrimage.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Grants on effects of invasion on bats



EEB PhD student Jessica Welch, a grad student with Gary McCracken and Dan Simberloff, recently received grants to study how invasive species affect a bat. From her abstract:

Aguiguan, a small island in the Northern Mariana Islands, is home to the only known population of the Emballonura semicaudata rotensis, a subspecies of Pacific sheath-tailed bat. Immediate research is necessary to determine an appropriate approach to its conservation. Two ubiquitous invaders, feral goats and lantana shrub have dense populations on Aguiguan. It is unknown whether these invasive species affect the Pacific sheath-tailed bat.

The grants were funded by Sigma Xi and Bat Conservation International. Jess was also inducted into Sigma Xi as an associate member.

Monday, April 1, 2013

R-Encyclopedia of Life interface




Research assistant professor Barb Banbury and assistant professor Brian O'Meara recently received funding from the Encyclopedia of Life for creating an R interface to parse information from that site. This can be used to identify phylogenetic trends in amount of content for various groups, highlight taxonomic controversies, and in general make this data far more accessible for researchers. All their code is open source and is being developed in public. More information is available here. The figure above shows coverage of various plant species in different databases on a phylogeny of those plants (Asparagales); blue indicates better coverage.

Identifying bat fuel

PhD student Jennifer Krauel (a Gary McCracken student) was recently funded by Bat Conservation International for her project, "Identifying insect communities fueling bat migration in an agriculturally important area". Her project involves high throughput sequencing of bat guano to identify their food sources.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Student research on bats featured in local paper



EEB PhD candidate Riley Bernard was featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel for her research on white nose syndrome in bats in Tennessee. The full article is here. Riley is part of the McCracken lab.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

EEB undergrad wins in EUReCA competition

EEB undergrad Devin Jones won first place in the EUReCA undergraduate research symposium, Ecology, Evolution, and Water Quality category, at UT. Devin's poster was on "Fall Migration of Corn and Rice Strains of Spodoptera fruigperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Southwest Texas". She conceived of the project and performed all the field and lab work as well as the analyses. She was mentored by EEB Dept. Head Gary McCracken and EEB PhD student Jennifer Krauel.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Grad student featured on Today Show about WNS

UTK EEB graduate student Amanda Janicki (McCracken lab), as well as other scientists from UTK and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, was interviewed as part of an NBC Today Show segment about white nose syndrome. Video embedded below and available at http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50310493


Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Epigenetics and homosexuality

A recent paper by Bill Rice, Urban Fridberg, and UTK EEB faculty member Sergey Gavrilets, proposes that epigenetic factors, the switching on or off of genes by factors other than other genes, may lead to homosexuality. This work arises from a working group at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), which is on the UT Knoxville campus. For more information, see the press release and the original article.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Search for EEB Head


HEAD – DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (http://eeb.bio.utk.edu) at the flagship campus of The University of Tennessee in Knoxville is seeking a senior colleague for the position of Professor and Head. We are interested in a visionary individual able to lead a department that is already rich in potential to become one of the top EEB departments in the world. Candidates should evidence effective leadership and have a record of excellence in teaching and research in any area of ecology and evolutionary biology or related field.

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is dynamic with ambitious plans for future growth in all aspects of our scholarship. There is already much collaboration both among the 27 current faculty and 60 graduate students and with nearby scientists and mathematicians associated with the National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Oak Ridge National Lab, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The University of Tennessee is a faculty-friendly campus (http://provost.utk.edu/faculty-friendly/) and supports dual-career couples.

Applicants should currently hold or be eligible for promotion to the rank of Professor. The successful applicant will be expected to have achieved an internationally renowned research program, as well as to possess real insights into undergraduate and graduate teaching, administering a department and interacting with other university units. The Knoxville campus of  the University of Tennessee is seeking candidates who have the ability to contribute in  meaningful ways to the diversity and intercultural goals of the University.

To apply, please send the following in a single pdf-formatted document to mander16@utk.edu: (1) a cover letter that includes a vision statement for the head’s leadership role in the growth of an EEB department, a statement of teaching philosophy/experience and current research interests, and the names and contact information for three referees; (2) a CV; and (3) copies of three publications. Review of applications will begin on December 1, 2012 and will continue until the position is filled. The anticipated starting date is August of 2013.

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment and admissions without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or covered veteran status.

Eligibility and other terms and conditions of employment benefits at The University of Tennessee are governed by laws and regulations of the State of Tennessee, and this non-discrimination statement is intended to be consistent with those laws and regulations.

In accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, The University of Tennessee affirmatively states that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or disability in its education programs and activities, and this policy extends to employment by the University.

Inquiries and charges of violation of Title VI (race, color, national origin), Title IX (sex), Section 504 (disability), ADA (disability), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (age), sexualorientation, or veteran status should be directed to the Office of Equity and Diversity (OED), 1840 Melrose Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37996-3560, telephone (865) 974-2498 (V/TTY available) or 974-2440. Requests for accommodation of a disability should be directed to the ADA Coordinator at the Office of Equity and Diversity.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Gavrilets' work on monogamy featured in Slate

UTK Distinguished Professor Sergey Gavrilets' work on the evolution of monogamy, published in PNAS, has been featured in an article in the online magazine Slate. In his model, low-ranked males begin providing resources to females, who begin selecting them rather than higher-ranked males. Such behavior then becomes optimal for males higher and higher up the hierarchy.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Bats go where the food is




A recent paper in PLOS ONE by dept. head Gary McCracken and colleagues, including former UTK EEB grad students Veronica Brown and Paula Federico, as well as UTK postdoc Melanie Eldridge, analyzed insect DNA in bat feces. Their work suggests that bats change foraging locations to match prey abundance. It also supports previous researchers' findings that bats contribute substantially to agriculture, providing services that can amount to 12% of the value of a crop.

Abstract: 
The role of bats or any generalist predator in suppressing prey populations depends on the predator's ability to track and exploit available prey. Using a qPCR fecal DNA assay, we document significant association between numbers of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) consuming corn earworm (CEW) moths (Helicoverpa zea) and seasonal fluctuations in CEW populations. This result is consistent with earlier research linking the bats' diet to patterns of migration, abundance, and crop infestation by important insect pests. Here we confirm opportunistic feeding on one of the world's most destructive insects and support model estimates of the bats' ecosystem services. Regression analysis of CEW consumption versus the moth's abundance at four insect trapping sites further indicates that bats track local abundance of CEW within the regional landscape. Estimates of CEW gene copies in the feces of bats are not associated with seasonal or local patterns of CEW abundance, and results of captive feeding experiments indicate that our qPCR assay does not provide a direct measure of numbers or biomass of prey consumed. Our results support growing evidence for the role of generalist predators, and bats specifically, as agents for biological control and speak to the value of conserving indigenous generalist predators.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The importance of managing exotic invasive plants

UTK EEB grad student Sara Kuebbing was recently featured in a podcast by the Ecological Society of America. See more information at The importance of managing exotic invasive plants.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Evolution and Bullying

UTK Distinguished Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics Sergey Gavrilets recently published a paper in PNAS on the evolutionary origins of egalitarianism.  It shows why individuals may be selected for interfering in a conflict between a bully and a victim on the side of the victim.

Abstract:
The evolutionary emergence of the egalitarian syndrome is one of the most intriguing unsolved puzzles related to the origins of modern humans. Standard explanations and models for cooperation and altruism—reciprocity, kin and group selection, and punishment—are not directly applicable to the emergence of egalitarian behavior in hierarchically organized groups that characterized the social life of our ancestors. Here I study an evolutionary model of group-living individuals competing for resources and reproductive success. In the model, the differences in fighting abilities lead to the emergence of hierarchies where stronger individuals take away resources from weaker individuals and, as a result, have higher reproductive success. First, I show that the logic of within-group competition implies under rather general conditions that each individual benefits if the transfer of the resource from a weaker group member to a stronger one is prevented. This effect is especially strong in small groups. Then I demonstrate that this effect can result in the evolution of a particular, genetically controlled psychology causing individuals to interfere in a bully–victim conflict on the side of the victim. A necessary condition is a high efficiency of coalitions in conflicts against the bullies. The egalitarian drive leads to a dramatic reduction in within-group inequality. Simultaneously it creates the conditions for the emergence of inequity aversion, empathy, compassion, and egalitarian moral values via the internalization of behavioral rules imposed by natural selection. It also promotes widespread cooperation via coalition formation.

It has also garnered widespread press coverage:


Los Angeles Times: Evolution stands up to bullies
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-stop-bullying-20120813,0,7921942.story?track=rss
 
Health: Fight the Power: Standing Up to Bullies Benefits Us All
http://news.health.com/2012/08/13/standing-up-to-bullies-benefits-society-study-suggests/
 
Knoxville New Sentinel: Science and bullying: Why we are programmed to help others
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/aug/13/science-and-bullying-why-we-are-programmed-to/
 
Tennessee Today: UT, NIMBioS Study Finds Bullies Squelched When Bystanders Intervene
http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/2012/08/13/ut-nimbios-study-bullies-squelched/
 
Decoded Science "Egalitarian Drives as a Response to Bullying"
http://decodedscience.com/egalitarian-drives-response-bullying/16799

Discover Magazine: Against the Übermensch 
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/08/against-the-ubermensch/
 
Examiner.com: Bullying intervention is genetically evolutionary 'right thing to do’
http://www.examiner.com/article/bullying-intervention-is-genetically-evolutionary-right-thing-to-do
 
United Press International: Fighting bullies pushed evolution
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/08/14/Study-Fighting-bullies-pushed-evolution/UPI-73181344980881/?spt=hs&or=sn

Piteå-Tidningen (Sweden): Thus arose the sense of equality
http://www.pitea-tidningen.se/nara_dig/artikel.aspx?ArticleId=7081886
 
French Tribune: Standing against Bullying is in Genes 
http://frenchtribune.com/teneur/1212863-standing-against-bullying-genes
 
Folha de S. Paulo (Brasil): O altruísmo egoísta
http://teoriadetudo.blogfolha.uol.com.br/2012/08/14/o-altruismo-egoista/
 
Korea Herald: Fighting bullies pushed evolution
http://view.koreaherald.com/kh/view.php?ud=20120815000175&cpv=0

Московская правда (Russia): Математик открыл эволюционные корни чувства справедливости человека
http://www.mospravda.ru/news/13068/

РИА Новости (Russia): Математик открыл эволюционные корни чувства справедливости человека
http://www.ria.ru/science/20120813/722911416.htm

bigmir.net (Ukrain):   Чувство справедливости развилось у человека в ходе эволюции - математик
http://techno.bigmir.net/discovery/1523403-Chyvstvo-spravedlivosti-razvilos-y-cheloveka-v-hode-evolucii---matematik

Friday, June 22, 2012

Study on teaching highlighted by Science

Recent work by grad student Denise Kendall and assistant professor Beth Schussler was selected as an Editors' Choice by Science


Article abstract: Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are used extensively as instructors in higher education, yet their status and authority as teachers may be unclear to undergraduates, to administrators, and even to the GTAs themselves. This study explored undergraduate perception of classroom instruction by GTAs and professors to identify factors unique to each type of instructor versus the type of classes they teach. Data collection was via an online survey composed of subscales from two validated instruments, as well as one open-ended question asking students to compare the same class taught by a professor versus a GTA. Quantitative and qualitative results indicated that some student instructional perceptions are specific to instructor type, and not class type. For example, regardless of type of class, professors are perceived as being confident, in control, organized, experienced, knowledgeable, distant, formal, strict, hard, boring, and respected. Conversely, GTAs are perceived as uncertain, hesitant, nervous, relaxed, laid-back, engaging, interactive, relatable, understanding, and able to personalize teaching. Overall, undergraduates seem to perceive professors as having more knowledge and authority over the curriculum, but enjoy the instructional style of GTAs. The results of this study will be used to make recommendations for GTA professional development programs.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Hunting for aliens



UTK EEB PhD student Sara Kuebbing was recently featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel for her work as part of the Tennessee Exotic Plant Pest Council. She uses an iPad app to identify and track species that are invading the US from elsewhere, typically after introduction by humans. Such species can dramatically affect functioning of ecosystems: examples in the United States include kudzu, zebra mussels, and pythons.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

EEB grad students and NIMBioS staff meet with Se. Corker staff

(From left) Kelly Sturner (NIMBioS), Jessica Bryant (EEB), and Emily Austin (EEB) met with Hunter Bethea, a legislative assistant of Sen. Corker.




Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB) Department graduate students Emily Austin and Jessica Bryant along with Kelly Sturner, NIMBioS Education & Outreach Coordinator, were invited to visit the office of U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) to talk about NIMBioS’ and EEB’s involvement in the USA Science & Engineering Festival. The group spoke with Hunter Bethea, legislative assistant to Corker, about how participation in federally-supported science education and outreach programs, such as NSF research experiences for undergraduates and Department of Energy education programs, led them to pursue science careers, and now inspire them to give back through participating in science outreach.

EEB/NIMBioS at USA Science and Engineering Festival

Sarah Wood, undergraduate in the Classen lab, teaches elementary students how to measure plant traits.




The USA Science and Engineering Festival on April 28 and 29 in Washington, DC brought the excitement of science to people from around the country. EEB and NIMBioS teamed up and presented two booths in the festival. Emily Austin and Jessica Bryant, Classen lab graduate students, taught Science Fest attendees about fungal decomposition of wood using decaying logs in terrariums. Sarah Wood, an undergraduate in the Classen Lab, and Kelly Sturner, education and outreach coordinator in NIMBioS, taught visitors about intra- and inter-specific variation in Solidago plants by having them measure stem and leaf traits. Both booths encouraged observations, data collection and graphical analysis. Many Science Fest attendees were families with elementary or middle school-aged children, but several teachers were there to pick up science project ideas for their classrooms. In all, an estimated 300,000 people left the event having learned at least one thing: science is exciting!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Dan Simberloff elected to National Academy of Sciences


Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Science Dan Simberloff (see also Wikipedia entry), a member of the EEB department, was recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences. According to the NAS website:
"Members are elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive....
"The NAS membership totals approximately 2,200 members and 400 foreign associates, of whom approximately 200 have received Nobel prizes."
There are only eight other National Academy of Sciences members in Tennessee, only one of whom was elected in the past decade. Dr. Simberloff is the only current faculty member from any University of Tennessee campus in the Academy.