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.

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!

Dan Simberloff elected to National Academy of Sciences

Photo from http://www.tipsconf.ca/

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.

Grad student awards

The following EEB students received awards from Biology (open to all UTK biology departments):

Hollaender Award

Phillip Hollingsworth

Science Alliance Award

Katie Stuble

Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal

M. Noelia Barrios-Garcia

Cokkinias Award

Romina Dimarco

Dr. Roland Bagby passes away

Dr. Roland Bagby, a professor emeritus of the former zoology department (now part of EEB), passed away on Monday, April 2. A memorial service is planned at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church at 7 pm on Thursday, April 12. For more information about Dr. Bagby, please see here. Links to some of his publications are here.

Bagby, R.M, A. M. Young, R. S. Dotson, B. A. Fisher, and K. McKinnon. 1971. "Contraction of single smooth muscle cells from Bufo marinus stomach" Nature 234: 351-352.

Bat Conservation International Scholarship to Jennifer Krauel

UTK EEB PhD student Jennifer Krauel (a member of the Gary McCracken lab) was awarded a Bat Conservation International Student Research Scholarship for her project "Linking bat and insect migratory behavior: Tadarida brasiliensis and their agricultural insect prey in Texas.

Joshua Birkebak earns NSF DDIG grant

PhD student Joshua Birkebak, a member of the Brandon Matheny lab, was awarded an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG) for his project, "Systematics, ecology, and evolution of the Clavariaceae (Agricales)". 

Public debate on warfare and evolution

As part of the Darwin Day events, co-sponsored by NIMBioS, there was a public debate about the role of warfare in fostering early social evolution. See below for a link to coverage of the debate, and for the audience vote results.

Public Debate: Was warfare a creative force in early social evolution?

Darwin Day in the press

Darwin Day Tennessee has been picked up in numerous media outlets. A selection so far:

• Knox News: Humphrey on the Hill
• The Republic, Columbus, Indiana
• VolunteerTV
• Tennessee Today
• WATE (TV station, Knoxville, TN)
• Jackson Sun, Jackson, TN
• The Tennesseean, Nashville, TN

Darwin Day events begin

Darwin Day Tennessee has begun its three days of festivities celebrating Darwin and the importance of his theory of evolution for science. The first event is a public outreach table, running over the next three days. There will also be lectures, a discussion, a teacher workshop, and many other events. See the Darwin Day Tennessee website for full information.

PNAS paper on extinction risk

Alison Boyer, Research Assistant Professor in the UTK EEB department, recently coauthored a paper in PNAS on the drivers and hotspots of extinction risk in marine mammals.

Abstract:
The world's oceans are undergoing profound changes as a result of human activities. However, the consequences of escalating human impacts on marine mammal biodiversity remain poorly understood. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identifies 25% of marine mammals as at risk of extinction, but the conservation status of nearly 40% of marine mammals remains unknown due to insufficient data. Predictive models of extinction risk are crucial to informing present and future conservation needs, yet such models have not been developed for marine mammals. In this paper, we: (i) used powerful machine-learning and spatial-modeling approaches to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of marine mammal extinction risk; (ii) used this information to predict risk across all marine mammals, including IUCN “Data Deficient” species; and (iii) conducted a spatially explicit assessment of these results to understand how risk is distributed across the world's oceans. Rate of offspring production was the most important predictor of risk. Additional predictors included taxonomic group, small geographic range area, and small social group size. Although the interaction of both intrinsic and extrinsic variables was important in predicting risk, overall, intrinsic traits were more important than extrinsic variables. In addition to the 32 species already on the IUCN Red List, our model identified 15 more species, suggesting that 37% of all marine mammals are at risk of extinction. Most at-risk species occur in coastal areas and in productive regions of the high seas. We identify 13 global hotspots of risk and show how they overlap with human impacts and Marine Protected Areas.

EEB Newsletter

The most recent version of the EEB Newsletter has appeared. You can download a PDF, submit items to the editor, or get an email subscription here.

Nature paper on White Nose Syndrome

Photo from Indiana State University press release

UTK EEB postdoc Justin Boyles recently coauthored a Nature article establishing Geomyces destructans as the infectious agent causing White Nose Syndrome, a disease that destroy entire colonies of bats.

Sanders awarded grant for effect of climate change on ants

EEB Associate Professor Nate Sanders was recently awarded a $171,286 grant from NSF for studying "The climate cascade: functional and evolutionary consequences of climatic change on species, trait, and genetic diversity in a temperate ant community ". For more information about the grant, go here.

Jaime Call named "Most Courteous Employee"

Jaime Call, a staff member in the EEB main office, has been named as UTK's most courteous employee for Sept. 2011. Note that UTK has roughly 15,000 employees, so the competition is fierce.

Below is some of the information used in her nomination:

• “Jaime is always a huge help in the EEB office. I collaborated with another peer to start the EEB undergraduate club and I don't think that it would have been established if it were not for Jaime Call. She's always energetic and willing to drop everything she is doing just to lend a hand. If anyone is deserving of roses it is definitely Jaime.”
• “She is incredibly helpful whether it's your first time in the office or you see her every day. She never brings any personal issues into the workplace and always greets you with a smile no matter what her day has been like.”
• “I am a new research faculty member at UT. Jaime Call has been extremely helpful over the past few months as I have moved to UT. She has repeatedly exceeded my expectations and gone out of her way to make sure that my grants, classes, and office were set up correctly. She has recently proved to be even more vital in the workings of the department as a senior member of the office staff has just retired.”
• “Jaime is always so helpful with any administrative problems. All of us in EEB are pretty much guaranteed that she'll do all she can to help solve a problem and also do it with a smile.”
• “Jaime is the most helpful person in our department. She is always cheerful and willing to help anyone, from undergraduates, to graduate students, to faculty and staff. She goes out of her way to find solutions to problems and does so with a smile. I can't think of anyone more deserving of roses than Jaime!”
• “Every time I see Jamie, she always has a smile on her face, and she is always willing to go the extra mile to help out a student or co-worker. I personally cannot think of a better person to receive roses, she truly is an inspiration to me each and every day. Thank you for the consideration.”
• “Jaime is one of the best, most efficient and friendly administrative assistants I have ever worked with! Coming from ORNL to UT she was always there for me, answering silly to very difficult questions! Please send the roses to her, she would be so happy!”
• “Jaime is always very helpful and friendly whenever you enter the EEB office. She might be juggling a phone call, some computer meltdown, and photocopying tons of papers for a professor, but she always greets you with a smile and gets whatever you need done!”“I can't even begin to expound upon what a pleasure it is to work with Jamie Call. She greets everyone who comes to the EEB department & manages to juggle a million different jobs. She is always happy to help and if she can't figure out your problem, she can point you in the right direction. I see her helping graduate students with submitting NSF grants (and faculty as well), helping undergrads figure out their class schedules & other random problems, ordering equipment, dealing with difficult (and happy) faculty.... She makes my life, and the lives of many in our department and the university, much easier. She also is in charge of fielding email & visits from the public ("I found this in my yard, what it is") -- which are not infrequent. She interacts with us all with good humor and a smile. I know that EEB is lucky to have her as the face of our department & I know the undergraduate students, graduate students, random people wandering by, and people with ecological questions! Our faculty is lucky to have her as a member of our university. Jaime deserves a bigger thank you than we could give her individually -- and I think this award would mean a lot to her.”
• “Jaime is the first face you see when you walk into the EEB office every day. She is always happy and cheerful. Throughout my 4 years as a graduate student, Jaime has helped me numerous times even though she isn't required to. She's helped me navigate the University grant system, the graduate school requirements, and my own departmental requirements. I know when I'm having a problem I can go to Jaime for help. She definitely deserves roses.”
• “Jaime has been extremely helpful to faculty, post-docs, graduate and undergraduate students in our department. Jaime never hesitates in helping anyone and goes beyond the call of duty to ensure you get what you need.”
• “Jaime is always helpful and super cheerful about doing her job. She goes the extra mile to help everyone that comes by her desk.”
• “Jaime is always helpful and has a fantastic eye for knowing when you have no idea what you're doing or where to look for things.”
• “Jaime is the most friendly and helpful person in the world. She is always ready to help with anything she knows about and help to find answers if she doesn't already know them. She is approachable and a great smiling face for everyone to see as they come into the EEB office. She is a great problem solver and even though she puts up with a lot from people in the department she is always in a good mood.”
• “Jaime is always willing to help students that stop by the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department office, no matter what she is working on and no matter what the student needs. She is very knowledgeable about the department and office workings, and if she doesn't know the answer to the problem, she is always quick to find somebody who can help.
• In addition to her helpfulness, she's always positive and willing to lend a friendly ear. Jaime is simply an outstandingly positive and necessary part of the EEB department, and she is truly deserving of being recognized by the Positive Recognition Committee.”
• “She is one of the best people that I have met. Last year I was traveling overseas and I got one of my bags stolen. In my bag I had my passport and ID. I am an international student, so I needed to get a new visa to come back to the US. She personally takes care of all the paper work to get documentation from UT. Finally, she is always ready to help you, and always with a big smile.”

PNAS paper on dispersal and coexistence

A recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Michael Bode, Lance Bode, and UTK EEB assistant professor Paul Armsworth examines a novel mechanism that maintains diversity in patchy habitats. Abstract is below. See the full paper here. 


Abstract: The coexistence of multiple species on a smaller number of limiting resources is an enduring ecological paradox. The mechanisms that maintain such biodiversity are of great interest to ecology and of central importance to conservation. We describe and prove a unique and robust mechanism for coexistence: Species that differ only in their dispersal abilities can coexist, if habitat patches are distributed at irregular distances. This mechanism is straightforward and ecologically intuitive, but can nevertheless create complex coexistence patterns that are robust to substantial environmental stochasticity. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is noted for its diversity of reef fish species and its complex arrangement of reef habitat. We demonstrate that this mechanism can allow fish species with different pelagic larval durations to stably coexist in the GBR. Further, coexisting species on the GBR often dominate different subregions, defined primarily by cross-shelf position. Interspecific differences in dispersal ability generate similar coexistence patterns when dispersal is influenced by larval behavior and variable oceanographic conditions. Many marine and terrestrial ecosystems are characterized by patchy habitat distributions and contain coexisting species that have different dispersal abilities. This coexistence mechanism is therefore likely to have ecological relevance beyond reef fish.

Ecology Observatory in Oak Ridge

The Knoxville News-Sentinel newspaper recently covered the establishment of a UT/ORNL site as one of 20 ecological observatories funded as part of a new $434M national program. See the article here. Members of EEB will be heavily involved in this research.

Paul Ehrlich addresses UT

Famed ecologist Paul Ehrlich addressed an audience at UT as part of the Baker Center Interdisciplinary Group on Energy and Environmental Policy series. For more information, see this article in UTK's student newspaper, The Daily Beacon.

PNAS paper on complex codon usage patterns

EEB grad student Premal Shah (now a postdoc in the Plotkin lab at the U. of Pennsylvania) and his adviser, Associate Prof. Mike Gilchrist, recently published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on "Explaining complex codon usage patterns with selection for translational efficiency, mutation bias, and genetic drift."

Abstract: The genetic code is redundant with most amino acids using multiple codons. In many organisms, codon usage is biased toward particular codons. Understanding the adaptive and nonadaptive forces driving the evolution of codon usage bias (CUB) has been an area of intense focus and debate in the fields of molecular and evolutionary biology. However, their relative importance in shaping genomic patterns of CUB remains unsolved. Using a nested model of protein translation and population genetics, we show that observed gene level variation of CUB in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be explained almost entirely by selection for efficient ribosomal usage, genetic drift, and biased mutation. The correlation between observed codon counts within individual genes and our model predictions is 0.96. Although a variety of factors shape patterns of CUB at the level of individual sites within genes, our results suggest that selection for efficient ribosome usage is a central force in shaping codon usage at the genomic scale. In addition, our model allows direct estimation of codon-specific mutation rates and elongation times and can be readily applied to any organism with high-throughput expression datasets. More generally, we have developed a natural framework for integrating models of molecular processes to population genetics models to quantitatively estimate parameters underlying fundamental biological processes, such a protein translation.