The Ecology and Evolution journal club has been operating since about 2004, although with a few breaks here and there! The general philosophy of this journal club is located below. Please note: this is open to ALL students in the Faculty, regardless of Department. The prerequisite is that you are interested in Ecology and Evolution.
We are pleased to report that Journal Club is back in 2012. We will meet on some Thursday mornings, from 10-1130, in the Lyman Museum teaching classroom (basement of the Centennial Centre).
Our next meeting will be FRIDAY, 13 April, 2012 (12:00).
13 April – Dom Chabot will lead a discussion of this paper: Luther, DA and EP Derryberry. 2012. Birdsongs keep pace with city life: changes in song over time in an urban songbird affects communication. Animal Behaviour 83: 1059-1066. Download here.
5 April – Christine Barrie led a discussion of the following paper: Gloag et al (2011). The economics of nestmate killing in avian brood parasites: a provisions trade-off. Behavioral Ecology 23 (1): 132-140. Available here.
29 March, Emily Studd led a discussion of the following paper: Biedrzcki M.L., Jilany T.A., Dudley S.A. and Bais H.P. 2010. Root exudates mediate kin recognition in plants. Communicative and Integrative Biology 3:1 28-35. Available here.
15 March, Dom Chabot led a discussion of this paper: van Woerden, JT, Willems, EP, van Schaik, CP, Isler, K. 2011. Large brains buffer energetic effects of seasonal habitats in catarrhine primates. Evolution 66(1): 191-199. Available here.
8 March, Emily Studd led a discussion of the following paper: Lozier et al. 2009. Predicting the distribution of Sasquatch in western North America : anything goes with ecological niche modelling. Journal of Biogeography 36(9):1623-1627. Available here.
1 March, Christine Barrie led a discussion of this paper: Naisbit et al. (2011) Phylogenetic signal in predator–prey body-size relationships Ecology, 92(12), 2011, pp. 2183–2189. Click here to get to the paper.
Expectations for Everyone Participating in Journal Club
You are expected to attend regularly and participate actively in the discussion, regardless of the focus of the article. You are also expected to select one general interest paper from and Ecological or Evolutionary journal to be discussed during the term, and to receive approval for your selection from one of the instructors (these are C. Buddle, M. Humphries and T. Wheeler). Papers will be approved and schedules for discussion on a first come, first serve basis.
On the week your paper is being discussed, present an informal 5-10 minute oral summary of the paper, why you thought all of us needed to read this particular paper, and what you think are its strengths and weaknesses. Then, during the remainder of the session, try to lead the discussion by intervening if participants go way off topic, introducing topics that are not being considered, soliciting comments from those who haven’t had the opportunity to speak. Don’t worry about this ‘lead’ thing too much, the discussion will go where it goes, but just do what you can to ensure that your paper generates an informative, enjoyable discussion
Evaluation for Students Taking Journal Club for Course Credit
Your grade will consist of the four following components, worth 25% each.
1) Attendance and participation throughout the term.
2) Paper selection and, on the week the paper is discussed, your 5-10 minute summary and leading of discussion.
3) Two page (single space) summary of your selected paper (maximum half page) and its strengths and weaknesses as identified by yourself and the discussion group (maximum one and half pages). To be handed in within 1 week following the discussion of the paper.
4) Two page (single space) summary of someone else’s selected paper (maximum half page) and its strengths and weaknesses as identified by yourself and the discussion group (maximum one and half pages). To be handed in within 1 week following the discussion of the paper.
