Phyloseminar on "Making comparative methods as easy as ABC"

Faculty member Brian O'Meara is giving a phyloseminar on March 30 at 2 pm eastern on "Making comparative methods as easy as ABC" based on work by him and postdoc Barb Banbury. A phyloseminar is a seminar delivered online virtually -- people around the world can log in to watch and ask questions. For more information, see http://phyloseminar.org/.

Update: The seminar is over. You can see a recording at http://phyloseminar.org/recorded.html and the slides at http://www.brianomeara.info/talks.

Fellowship to study fleshy fungi

Brandon Matheny received a Carlos C. Campbell Fellowship from the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association to document fleshy fungi from the Smokies and southern Appalachians.

EEB Newsletter

The first issue of the new EEB newsletter has now appeared. You can download the PDF or email eebnews@utk.edu for more information.

UT EEB undergraduate at STEM Education Research Conference

Sarah Wood, an EEB sophomore, was one of 9 undergrads from across the state of TN selected to present a poster and attend the MTSU 5th annual STEM Education Research Conference Funded by Tennessee Space Grant and MTSU. For more information see this article in the Tennessean.

UT EEB undergraduate teaches science on the National Mall

UTK EEB undergraduate Sarah Jeanne Wood recently participated in a 2-day Science Expo on the National Mall, where half a million people came to learn about science and engineering. Sarah presented on her research on intraspecific variation in Solidago, done in collaboration with postdoc Lara Souza and EEB assistant professor Aimée Classen. For a detailed story, please see this article from UTK's Arts and Sciences magazine, Higher Ground.

REU supplement to Matheny grant

Brandon Matheny has gotten a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) grant from the NSF for his existing grant for a revision of Australian species of Inocybaceae. Quoting from the NSF REU site, "The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the REU program."

Grad student Joshua Birkebak receives award for taxonomy

PhD student Joshua Birkebak of the Matheny Lab received a Ben Woo Scholarship Award from the Puget Sound Mycological Society to revise species of Clavariaceae from the Pacific Northwest.

Grad student Mackenzie Taylor to become assistant prof. at Creighton U.

Mackenzie Taylor, a PhD student in Joe Williams' lab, is off to an assistant professorship at Creighton University directly from grad school. Mackenzie studies evolution of the progamic phase in water lilies (the stage between pollination and fertilization).

Boyer Science paper

Alison Boyer, a new Research Assistant Professor in EEB, just published a paper in last week's issue of Science.

The Evolution of Maximum Body Size of Terrestrial Mammals
Felisa A. Smith, Alison G. Boyer, James H. Brown, Daniel P. Costa, Tamar Dayan,
S. K. Morgan Ernest, Alistair R. Evans, Mikael Fortelius, John L. Gittleman,
Marcus J. Hamilton, Larisa E. Harding, Kari Lintulaakso, S. Kathleen Lyons,
Christy McCain, Jordan G. Okie, Juha J. Saarinen, Richard M. Sibly, Patrick R. Stephens, Jessica Theodor, Mark D. Uhen
Science 330, 1216 (2010);
DOI: 10.1126/science.1194830

Abstract:
The extinction of dinosaurs at the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary was the seminal event that opened the door for the subsequent diversification of terrestrial mammals. Our compilation of maximum body size at the ordinal level by sub-epoch shows a near-exponential increase after the K/Pg. On each continent, the maximum size of mammals leveled off after 40 million years ago and thereafter remained approximately constant. There was remarkable congruence in the rate, trajectory, and upper limit across continents, orders, and trophic guilds, despite differences in geological and climatic history, turnover of lineages, and ecological variation. Our analysis suggests that although the primary driver for the evolution of giant mammals was diversification to fill ecological niches, environmental temperature and land area may have ultimately constrained the maximum size achieved.