Tag Archives: outreach

Why a scientific society needs a blog

Posted on June 13, 2012 | 5 Comments

I’ve been involved with the Entomological Society of Canada for a long time.  It’s a wonderful community of Canadian entomologists sharing an interest and enthusiasm for arthropods. The ESC’s activities are mostly centered around  its annual conference, its range of publications, and it offers a suite of awards and scholarships.  The society’s website also hosts career opportunities, photo contests, and a range of other rich and varied entomological content. The latest, big news for the society is that on 1 June, the ESC officially launched its own blog.  This blog was the brainchild of a few members of the society, and two great Canadian entomology bloggers, Crystal Ernst and Morgan Jackson, are the administrators of the blog.

The ESC blog: http://escsecblog.com/

So…why does a scientific society need a blog?  What’s the benefit to members of the society, to the society itself, and what’s the benefit for the broader entomological community?  Here are some thoughts about this:

1) Visibility:  it’s a tough time for scientific societies – funding is tight, and for a lot of people, the value of memberships to societies may seem less important than it once was.  Therefore, increased visibility though an on-line presence is important. A static website is essential, but a blog has a fluidity and dynamic presence that is hard to match with a website.  An active blog with well-written and interesting content will do a lot to increase a society’s visibility.  The visibility from an active blog is also global in its reach.

2) Opportunities to contribute:  the ESC blog will have dozens of contributors – means anybody with an interest in entomology (regardless of their profession and educational background) has an opportunity to write something for a broader audience.  Blog posts are often easier to write, they are shorter than research papers, and the content need not be vetted through a peer-review process.  It’s a forum for creative ideas, stories, photographs, and fun facts about insects.  The blog already has a couple of nice examples to illustrate this point.  For example, Chris Cloutier, a naturalist at the Morgan Arboretum on the Island of Montreal, just wrote a lovely post about the Hackberry Emperor.  Chris is an example of a different kind of entomologist – he’s not a research scientist, nor is his primary profession Entomology.  However, he does outreach, has a wealth of expertise and  talent, and he has a lot to offer the entomological community.  These kind of opportunities create an environment of inclusion for a society – members have a voice and can share their ideas and expertise.  Non-members can also contribute and recognize that there is a strong community associated with the ESC (…and perhaps some of the non-members will see the value of the society and join).

Screen shot of Chris Cloutier’s post

3) Economics: more than ever before, scientific societies are struggling to maintain members, and balance their books.  A blog is a cheap and effective way to promote their science to the world and the cost can be as little as a domain name.  I can think of no other method by which a society can promote itself at this cost point.  You could even argue that the time for static websites may be coming to a close since they are costly to host, require people with specific technical skills, and require a lot of back-end support.  The good blog sites can be administered by people with relatively few of these skills (I’m proof of that!!).

The ESC logo

4) Marketing and branding:  a high quality blog helps a society get its brand to a broad audience, and helps to market the society to the world.   The ESC has a long and wonderful history, but its main audience over the years has mostly been academics, research scientists, and students of entomology.   The ESC brand has excellence and quality behind it and that kind of brand should be shared, expanded, and through this process, the society will hopefully gain positive exposure and more members.

5) Communication: At the end of the day, knowledge is something to be shared.  Scientific communication is a fast-changing field and one that is making all of us reconsider how we talk and write about our interests.   I think we all have a responsibility to do outreach.  There is so much mis-information out on the Internet, and people with specialized and well-honed skills must be heard and must have a means to share accurate information in a clear and effective manner – e.g., a society blog. I also think many entomologist are perfectly positioned to do effective outreach (I’ve written about this before).  Part of the ESC’s mandate is dissemination of knowledge about insects and social media is a key piece of any communication strategy.

What do you think?  Can you think of other reasons why scientific societies need to embrace social media?  Please share your ideas!

I will finish with a stronger statement:  scientific societies are perfectly positioned to have the BEST blogs on the Internet.  A scientific society is a community, a community with history, and a community built on high level of expertise.  A scientific society also provides a structure and framework for bringing together high quality knowledge about a particular topic.  A blog can be amazingly strong with this kind of support.  A society is also about people and these people work tirelessly behind the scenes to facilitate the dissemination of high quality content.   These people, structured in committees, and with oversight from an executive committee, can provide tangible support that will help to keep a blog from becoming unidimensional.  The ESC’s blog administrators (Crystal and Morgan) know how to keep the content of high quality, and know how to put all the pieces together – and they know they can do this because they have an entire community behind them.  The society is committed to supporting the blog and for that reason, there is reason to be optimistic about its long-term success.  Please follow the blog!    

→ 5 Comments

Posted in Outreach

Tagged , , , ,

Holistic views of ecosystems: linking salmon and butterflies

Posted on May 17, 2012 | 4 Comments

Beautiful Anchorage, Alaska

I’ve spent most of my week in beautiful Anchorage, Alaska.  I was attending a workshop that brought together scientists from Northern countries to discuss an Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring Plan. The goal of this ambitious plan is to include all key taxa, include all northern countries, and find ways to standardize methods and harmonize data.   There were a half dozen bird experts around the table, numerous experts on Arctic vegetation, a large contingent of mammal experts, and one arthropod expert (me).  This is a situation I have been in before, and will be in again in the future – largely because arthropods are not “charismatic” nor do they typically fall into management plans.  Regardless, I welcomed the opportunity to discuss ways that Arthropods can and should fit into large-scale, and long-term monitoring plans in the Arctic (there are, by the way, some tremendous arthropod monitoring programs underway – the Zackenberg research station in Greenland, for example, has been collecting arthropods using standardized protocols for almost 20 years)

The workshop was exciting, challenging, motivating, and overall a wonderful opportunity to discuss the interdisciplinary concept of biodiversity monitoring.   A great example of an interdisciplinary approach was a presentation we heard about using traditional knowledge to understand the Natural Indicators of the Salmon run in the Yukon River, a river that drains out to the ocean in Alaska. This was organized/facilitated by the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association.  This presentation highlighted a project where Elders were asked about what helped them understand the Salmon run in the river – a critically important process for people living in this part of Alaska.  I was amazed to hear that for some Elders, the appearance and activity of certain species of butterflies (and sometimes biting flies) was one of the indicators that was used to predict when the Salmon would run.

An Arctic Butterfly

Yes, you read correctly: Butterfly activity indicates the Salmon run.   The claim that activity of insects relates to the Salmon run is not a direct connection as the insect activity was considered as a “Correlative indicator”.  The observation is that when certain insects appeared and were active, so were Salmon, hence the correlation.  This does make some biological sense as many of the environmental factors affecting butterflies are probably also important to salmon.

The Yukon River Drainage Association went on help to produce a children’s book titled “When Will the Salmon Come?“. This is a richly illustrated, beautiful book that discusses all the Natural Indicators that Elders use to know when Salmon will appear on the river, and the insect activity is highlighted.   A children’s book is a wonderful way to connect with a broad audience.

When will the salmon come? (the book cover)

Being a skeptical scientist, I went and searched the literature for anything ‘published’ on the topic of Salmon and butterflies, and I could not find anything.  This does NOT mean it’s not a real and important observation. It means that it is a truly fascinating and curious correlation that was observed by Elders living close to the river, and by people who likely approach nature from a holistic standpoint.  I need to do this more; we all need to do this more. Natural systems are interdisciplinary yet we often study them in silos, defined by a specific taxon or system.

In sum, I was most pleased to be the lone entomologist in a large interdisciplinary workshop  about biodiversity monitoring in the fragile Arctic – my horizons were certainly broadened.  The story of butterflies and salmon made me take a step back and consider how different groups of people can bring different perspectives and all are equally valid.  In other words, keep an open mind, and think of this story when you see some butterflies passing by…they could be telling you an important story - you just have to listen.

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Arthropod research, Natural History, Outreach

Tagged , , , , , ,

Is the Emerald Ash Borer in Montreal a real threat?

Posted on May 7, 2012 | 1 Comment

You may have heard about the latest insect pest to invade Quebec – it’s a small beetle, known as the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis), that feeds on ash trees.  The species has been detected in about 15 trees on the Island of Montreal, and it has made headlines in the local French and English press.  In this post I wanted to provide some perspectives and context to this invasion, and ask whether this is a real threat, or mass hysteria.

The short answer:  yes, the Emerald Ash Borer is a real threat to Ash trees, and it is VERY important for people to watch for this species.

Emerald Ash Borer, Photo from Forestry Images, Copyright: Debbie Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

The long answer:  There is a lot of information on the Internet about this species, and I will not repeat it all here.  Instead, I will try to stick to the main facts, and highlight some of the recent research that has been published about the species.  I do recommend people spend time on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) website devoted to the species.

History of Introduction:

The Emerald Ash Borer is native to parts of Asia, and for that reason, it is considered as an Introduced species (or alien, or exotic) in North America.  Many people use the word ‘invasive’ to describe the species -but this term should be paired with the word Introduced, as this species is invasive in the sense of spreading fairly quickly to new regions and introduced in the sense of not being indigenous to North America.

The Emerald Ash Borer probably arrived in North America in the 1990s (or even 1980s) but was not officially detected until the early 2000s, and that detection was in Michigan, and then almost simultaneously in Windsor, Ontario.  It is believed that the species was introduced by accident through wood packing material – this is a very common route of introduction for a host of species, notably wood-boring beetles.  Since the first detection, the species has been found in many regions of Ontario, Gatineau (Quebec), and it has been in Montreal for over a year (the first detection in Quebec was in Carignan, south of Montreal).   It is likely that the introduction to Montreal was a separate (but related) introduction from elsewhere in Ontario or the USA – e.g., via movement of wood debris, firewood.  It is unlikely that the Emerald Ash Borer came to Montreal through its own dispersal – if so, it certainly would have been detected in may regions between Montreal and SW Ontario.

Appearance, Habits, & Hosts:

The adult form of the beetle is quite attractive – the adults are rather small (about 8-14 mm in length – this is about the length of my own pinky finger-nail), metallic green, and its head is somewhat flattened and shield-like.  It is fairly distinctive and I don’t think it is easily confused with any native species.  It is in the family Buprestidae, which have the common name of “metallic wood boring beetles” – many Buprestids share a similar body shape (or habitus) to the Emerald Ash Borer.  The larvae of the species is ‘grub-like’ in some ways (see below), and the larvae are the most active feeding stage -it’s at this stage that they feed underneath the bark of Ash trees, and can slowly kill the tree through their feeding activities (they essentially girdle the tree).  It may take several years for tree mortality to occur.

The different life stages of the Emerald Ash Borer. Photo from Forestry Images, copyright, Debbie Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

The adults lay eggs on the host tree, and the larvae burrow into the bark, make “feeding galleries” (serpentine shaped), moult, grow, and eventually pupate and exit the tree through a ‘d-shaped’ exit hole – after pupation, the adults will eat leaves, fly around, mate, and the process starts again.   Adults usually appear from mid-May until the early summer.  Although not ‘vigorous’ flyers, the Emerald Ash borer can disperse many kilometres.

Galleries made by the larvae of the Emerald Ash Borer, photo from Forestry Images, (c) Michigan Department of Agriculture, Bugwood.org

The hosts of the Emerald Ash borer, as recorded in North America so far, are trees within the genus Fraxinus – i.e., ash trees.  These are extremely common trees as both an ‘urban’ tree on streets and in parks within the city, but also occur naturally in local forests (e.g., the Morgan Arboretum).   There is sometimes confusion about the “Mountain Ash” trees – this is not a ‘true’ ash, so it is not a host for the Emerald Ash borer.

Many species of wood-feeding beetles generally prefer to feed on, and complete their life cycles, on recently dead, weakened, and/or decaying trees.  However, the Emerald Ash borer is different:  it will feed upon and lay its eggs in healthy trees as well as weakened/damaged trees, and this is certainly one of the reasons why the species is of significant concern.

(Local) Management of the Emerald Ash Borer:

The city of Montreal (together with the CFIA) is taking the threat for the Emerald Ash Borer very seriously, including monitoring, targeted use of a bio-pesticide, and in providing information to the public, especially about movement and disposal of branches / firewood / yard scraps, etc. In some areas, a Ash-tree removal program has been used to stop the spread, with mixed results.

Education is extremely important with this pest: early detection is important to stop the spread, but so is limiting movement of any wood.   Ash trees are not as recognizable as other species, and for that reason, when you have wood debris around, the city is asking you to call 311 for proper wood disposal.  For further details, you can call you local municipally or click here for details.    Again, the ability to detect the species will provide the best chances for limiting further spread and further damage.  You ALL are invited to become an entomologist!  Study the photographs of the Emerald Ash Borer and develop a search image – if you see the species in your yard, call 311, or your local municipal office and have the experts determine the best course of action.

Recent Research on the Emerald Ash Borer:

This has been a rather dramatic increase in the number of papers that have been published on Agrilus planipennis.  Using that species name as a search term, you can see the increase in scientific interest based on the following graph pulled from Web of Science:

Number of publications, by year, on the Emerald Ash Borer, from Web of Science

I am pleased to report that a biological control program has been started in the USA – parasitic wasps that use the Emerald Ash Borer as a host have been released, and are showing some potential at helping to control the pest – some good details are available here.   Duan et al, have just published a paper reporting the incidence of parasitism for many hymenopteran parasitoids, and have also shown that woodpeckers account for a lot of mortality of the Emerald Ash Borer larvae, and ‘undetermined factors’ (includes diseases, potential host plant resistance) can also cause significant mortality (by the way, increased woodpecker activity on Ash trees could be a sign of an infestation).

Sobek-Swant et al. published a paper in January 2012 – they were curious about whether the species might be limited by cold winter temperatures – this is an important mechanism to test, especially at our (relatively) northern latitudes.  However, under laboratory conditions, the authors found that the Emerald Ash Borer will unlikely be limited by ‘climatic’ factors, and instead, the presence of its host trees will be the most important factor.  In other words:  the species may eventually be found throughout the range of its host.

About a year ago, Ryall et al. published a very important paper on the Emerald Ash Borer.  In this work, the researchers point out that the species is difficult to detect at low population levels, mainly because it make take several years before really noticeable mortality of Ash trees occurs.  In other words, the larvae are ‘cryptic’ and may be doing damage before we can fully detect either the species or the damage to the tree.  Detection methods can be destructive (e.g., stripping bark) so the authors propose using a relatively non-destructive branch-clipping technique to do monitoring for the species.  This is something recommended to cities so that they can do broader areas of monitoring without destructive sampling.  This can help significantly in pinpointing where the species is, and can help inform the best management strategy.

In 2011, Mercader et al. also published a paper of practical importance.  In this work, the researchers simulated three management options for the Emerald Ash Borer to see which was most effective.  Their three scenarios were: (i) removing the host tree (ii) girdling (killing) ash trees to attract ovipositing female beetles and destroying the trees before the larvae develop (this is a type of ‘trap tree’, i.e., you attract the species to a location and then trap and kill them) and (iii) applying a systemic insecticide. Their results suggest that the best way to stop or reduce the spread of Emerald Ash Borer is through the use of a systematic insecticide.

Outlook: 

I am pessimistic that we will see success in eradicating the species from Montreal and surrounding areas, but slowing the spread is important and could allow for researchers to develop and fine tune other management options.   Again, please educate yourself and learn what the Emerald Ash Borer looks like, and please do not move around wood and branches from your property to another location.

Emerald Ash Borer, on pin. Image from Forestry Images, (c) Pest and Diseases Image Library, Bugwood.org

References:

Duan, J., Bauer, L., Abell, K., & Driesche, R. (2011). Population responses of hymenopteran parasitoids to the emerald ash borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in recently invaded areas in north central United States BioControl, 57 (2), 199-209 DOI: 10.1007/s10526-011-9408-0

Sobek-Swant, S., Crosthwaite, J., Lyons, D., & Sinclair, B. (2011). Could phenotypic plasticity limit an invasive species? Incomplete reversibility of mid-winter deacclimation in emerald ash borer Biological Invasions, 14 (1), 115-125 DOI: 10.1007/s10530-011-9988-8

Ryall, K., Fidgen, J., & Turgeon, J. (2011). Detectability of the Emerald Ash Borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in Asymptomatic Urban Trees by using Branch Samples Environmental Entomology, 40 (3), 679-688 DOI: 10.1603/EN10310

Mercader, R., Siegert, N., Liebhold, A., & McCullough, D. (2011). Simulating the effectiveness of three potential management options to slow the spread of emerald ash borer populations in localized outlier sites
Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 41 (2), 254-264 DOI: 10.1139/X10-201

(thanks to Chris MacQuarrie for helping me with this post)

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Arthropod research, Outreach

Tagged , , ,

Did field guides help you develop a passion for natural history?

Posted on April 30, 2012 | 6 Comments

Does this happen to you? …. I get a warm fuzzy every time I see that stack of field guides on my bookshelf:

Some field guides on my bookshelf

This has me thinking about what sparked my interest in biology and more specifically, natural history. A lot can be attributed to my childhood – which was idyllic. I grew up in Lakefield, Ontario, and spent a lot of time playing in streams, old fields, and forests, and summers always included canoeing and camping. I recall, from a very young age, that my father would always point out ferns, mosses, trees, birds, dragonflies, etc. After pointing out these plants and animals, he would then proceed to pull a field guide out of his backpack and together we would flip through the pages and learn about what we were seeing. My father was not fixated on any one group of plants or animals, and his collection of field guides reflected this. Sometimes he would bring along a guide to birds, other times it would be for mosses and ferns. It didn’t matter which one he happened to bring along – they were all amazing.

Now, as an entomologist/biologist, and as someone with a career in the field of natural history, I can say with confidence that this exposure was really important. Although my father had the most significant influence on my interest in biology, I do think that the field guides played a role in sparking my passion for natural history. The field guides opened the door to a world of diversity, and allowed a young boy to recognize a variety of sophisticated concepts about species: white pine trees are widely distributed and they looks similar (but not identical) to other species of Pinus, some butterflies are common while others are rare, the common loon is only around in the summer because it migrates, species have many names (including one that is difficult to pronounce, and that has two parts to it). A field guide is a treasure-trove of dense, concise and attractive biological data, and ‘real’ field guides help children appreciate biodiversity to an impressive level of detail. I think this is why part of my proposal for a ‘backyard biodiversity project‘ included the purchase of authentic field guides.

We can learn a lot from field guides, and I am a little concerned that the digital age is changing the way people interact with “guides” to nature. Mobile apps, and other on-line tools are wonderful (e.g., the Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification) and provide access to a large audience, but they don’t allow for the tractable hands-on process of flipping through a guide without an agenda and without focus. The physical process of using a field guide allows you to (accidentally) learn about species that you may not have otherwise searched for. Having a variety of field guides on the bookshelf, and out on the coffee table, can really spark an interest in natural history and potentially change someone’s life.

I am very keen to hear other stories about field guides… do you attribute your own passion about natural history to a past connection with field guides? Please share your experiences!

(you can comment, below, and/or use the hashtag #fieldguides on Twitter)

                                                                 Thank you, Dad.

At the Arctic Circle, with my Dad.

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Natural History, Outreach

Tagged ,

What’s that spider on my ceiling?

Posted on April 26, 2012 | 13 Comments

A few weeks ago I wrote about a “fashionable urban jumping spider” – one that is found inside and outside of your homes.  Today I wanted to focus on two other synanthropic spider species that tend to be very common inside our homes, and more specifically, on the ceiling, and with a particular fondness for crown moulding.  You probably already know exactly what I am talking about – small (< 1 cm in length), cream-coloured spiders that build silken retreats at the junction between walls and ceilings, and that often scurry up and down walls and around your house.  These are most likely one of two species within the family Miturgidae, in the genus Cheiracanthum.  Here’s a lovely photo of C. inclusum taken by Spider Joe  (thanks for the permission to use this photo! You can view more of his work here)

Cheiracanthum inclusum - photo (c) J. Lapp, reproduced here with permission

In North America, the two species of Cheiracanthum that you may find in your home are C. inclusum and C. mildei.  Searches on the Internet (and sometimes in the scientific literature) reveal that these are commonly referred to as “yellow sac spiders“.  This common name is largely a hold-over from when Cheiracanthum was previously within in the family Clubionidae, which are all commonly called “sac spiders”.  The yellow part obviously refers to their cream-like colouring.   Personally, I think that “ceiling spider” is a better common name, because that’s where they are very commonly found.

Almost every house that I go into has Cheiracanthum tucked away up in the ceiling, and I think most Arachnologists would support this claim.  This means there you are most likely living in very close association with these spiders every day, and that they are likely distributed across most of (populated) North America.

The million dollar question: do they bite humans?  Any of you that have been following my blog will know my opinions about spiders biting humans.  I argued previously that spiders bites are exceedingly rare, and attention should be paid to more likely causes.

          By the way, that previous post has received a lot of attention, and I was rightfully accused of using a provocative title.  It’s true – I did use that extreme title on purpose, in part because I feel it important to contrast the incredible volume of misinformation out on the Internet about  “deadly” spiders.

Another photo of Cheiracanthum inclusum (C) J. Lapp, reproduced here with permission

There have been seven reported bites by Cheiracanthum in the literature for continental North America, including one case in Canada (Alberta, reported on by Leech & Brown in 1994) and they are summarized in this article by Rick Vetter and colleagues (2006).  The symptoms presented include pain, redness and swollen area around the bite mark, mild pricking sensation, itching and some nausea.  As Vetter et al. point out, “Effects of Cheiracanthum envenomation should be referred to as mild or moderate…”, and “…almost all Cheiracanthum bites hurt similar to bee stings..”.  So, yes, they can bite, and it hurts, and the symptoms disappear within a few days, at most.  What is most important to point out is that bites from Cheiracanthum are extremely rare – especially since these spiders are living in homes all across North America.  This blog post should, therefore, cause you to not worry about these spiders in your house.  If they really liked to bite humans, there would be hundreds of verified bites, and they would be occurring all the time. This just doesn’t happen. I do not consider it to be under-reporting, given the general hysteria about spiders.  This quote by Vetter et al. sums up this sentiment very well:

“Unfortunately, circumstantial evidence presented in the spider bite literature often evolves into convention (and incorrect) medical wisdom.  it is disconcerting to repeatedly see an almost predictable misconception where a medically inclined audience read reports that clearly state “suspected”, “probable”, or “reported” in alleged bite incidents, yet will transform this non-definitive data into conclusive proof of spider involvement”

Next time you are watching that lovely Cheiracanthum wandering around on your ceiling, just remember that it’s not a real threat to you, and it is fun and fascinating to watch.  It is catching annoying flies for you, and providing some natural biological control in your own home. Keep them around! Cheiracanthum have a lot of helpers, also:  I have documented a about ten different species inside my house over the past few years and I’m sure you have a similar diversity of house spiders, if you look hard enough.  I’ll have to write about a few more of those species sometime in the future.  Stay tuned!

References:

Leech, R. & T.M. Brown. 1994. The first Alberta record for Cheiracanthum inclusum (Hentz) (Araneida, Clubionidae), with observations on a human bite reaction.  Can. Entomol. 126: 187. http://pubs.esc-sec.ca/doi/abs/10.4039/Ent126187-1?journalCode=ent

Vetter, R.S., G.K. Isbister, S.P. Bush & L.J. Boutin (2006) Verified bites by yellow sac spiders (genus Cheiracanthum) in the United States and Australia: where is the necrosis?  Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 74(6) 1043-1048. http://www.ajtmh.org/content/74/6/1043.full

To learn some more facts about ‘venomous spiders’, visit Rick Vetter’s site or this site from the Royal Alberta Museum.

sciseekclaimtoken-4fa0334d0199a

→ 13 Comments

Posted in Arachnids, Natural History, Outreach, Spiders

Tagged , ,

The beauty of museums: whales, birds, biophilia and a tweeting Dinosaur

Posted on April 23, 2012 | 2 Comments

A HUGE inflatable whale at the Canadian Museum of Nature

This past weekend, I traveled to Ottawa to visit the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN) with my family. I’ve been to the CMN a few times before, and each time there are new things to see – this weekend it was the special exhibit titled “Whales Tohora“.  The content for this exhibit was effectively presented and we spent a long time learning about whales.  I was particularly impressed with how the exhibit dealt with the difficult issue of “whale strandings” i.e., when whales sometimes get stranded (sometimes in large numbers) on beaches or other low-laying coastal areas.  It’s a tricky situation because we (the all-knowing and all-powerful humans) want to save them, but it’s not always possible, nor is it always appropriate to do so.  The exhibit showed how some people and cultures see these strandings as a ‘gift’ from the ocean whereas other people are deeply saddened by such events and rally to save the whales.  The CMN did not shy away from tackling this issue, and they did it in a way that all three of my kids (ages 8, 10 and 12) were able to appreciate.

The rest of the whales exhibition was also enjoyed – from the tiny Hector’s dolphin skeleton to the life-sized blue whale heart (a plastic model, of course!), and we all learned about ambergris (and got to see and smell it, too).  I think I can now properly articulate the differences between porpoises and dolphins thanks to a huge poster illustrating all the groups from a phylogenetic perspective. And my kids were thrilled to learn how whales were terrestrial before they were aquatic. Go, Evolution!

Part of the CMN bird gallery

Whenever we go the CMN we always visit our favourite exhibits and the Bird Gallery is one of these.  This gallery is bright and expansive, and is filled with stuffed, dead birds. I must be honest – I really enjoy seeing all those dead animals.  This may sound morbid, but this kind of display really resonates with me.  The best way to illustrate biodiversity is to have biodiversity on display, in an open, and accessible way.  Specimens are needed to bring people closer to understanding and appreciating biodiversity.  I did observe some people playing on the interactive computer terminals and reading some of the content on the poster boards. Most people, however, were simply staring intently into the glass cases and looking in awe at the shapes, sizes and colours of bird biodiversity.  This happens in the bird gallery, but also in the mammal exhibit, where some terrific dioramas illustrate species in their natural habitats.  The CMN has got it right with these kinds of displays.

Being a good entomologist, we made sure to stop by the Animalium (too bad it is a bit hard to find, tucked away in the basement next to the theatre) to see some live Arthropods (and slugs and amphibians, too):

Up close and personal with some bugs and slugs

I am glad that they have live Amblypygids (aka tailless whip scorpions) to view (they are so bizarre-looking!), and seeing people squirm in fascination at the tank full of wriggly mealworms is terrific.  When seeing these reactions, I am reminded of E.O. Wilson’s arguments about the “Biophilia” Hypothesis. This is the innate and instinctive connection that people have with the natural world.   It is so obvious when you go to a natural history museum, especially somewhere like the Canadian Museum of Nature, where you can see a displays about the death of whales in one corner, stunning dioramas in another, and live cockroaches in the basement.  People wander through the galleries, and when they see displays of nature that make them feel good they have smiles on their faces.  They recoil and squirm at other times – and it is with the usual suspects (e.g., spiders, snakes, bats).  This visceral and squeamish reaction is STILL a reaction and this fills me with hope.

The day that Museums are empty and people have no reaction to biodiversity will, to me, represent a world that has completely lost its way.  Let’s keep supporting museums and help maintain biophilia.

A small part of a grassland diorama at the CMN

I can’t talk about a museum without mentioning the Dinosaur gallery.   It is very well done and the CMN, and you could hear the squeals of delight from a hundred feet away.  And I was pretty excited to get a tweet from “Vic the Dino“.  You can follow this mighty beast on twitter @VicTheDino

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Natural History, Outreach

Tagged , ,

The Biodiversity Challenge: A “backyard biodiversity” project for your local elementary school

Posted on April 16, 2012 | 2 Comments

Earth Day is approaching and it is, therefore, an appropriate time to think about ways to share the wonders of biodiversity.  Here is a proposal that was accepted by my local elementary school last year.   This proposal is about an inexpensive and effective way to make biodiversity science accessible and fun for a LOT of children. Please use this approach at your local school! Think big: let’s get schools across the country involved in a “Backyard Biodiversity Challenge”. All it requires is a few hours of your time, and most anyone that works in the field of biodiversity science can pull this together without much difficulty.  A small investment with potentially huge payoffs for our planet.

What is below is text that was used for part of formal proposal to my local elementary school – it needed to be approved through a number of pathways – please take this text, and modify it to meet your needs.  This exercise can be done without the purchase of field guides, but I felt having ‘real’ field guides available to the students was important.  In part, because such field guides were very influential in my own life, and helped to draw me into a life-long passion for biodiversity.

A 'biodiversity' card, done by a student in Grade 1

Backyard Biodiversity

Biodiversity is all the living things around us. Biodiversity is Life. It’s important for our well-being, and helps make a healthy planet. Biodiversity can be discovered by anyone at any age, and I would like to propose a school-wide activity about discovering biodiversity in your own backyard. An activity about biodiversity is also linked closely to Earth Day, Green Team activities, and helps promote a strong environmental ethic in students.

Learning Objectives:

• Hear about the concept of biodiversity, what it means and why it is important.
• Discover biodiversity “hands-on”, and in proximity to your school.
• Observe nature and write or draw about it.
• Produce a school-wide mural of biodiversity.
• Enrich environmental thinking for all students and staff.

The activity will have two components. First, Chris Buddle, a Professor at McGill University, who works in the field of Biodiversity Science, will deliver a school-wide 30-40 minutes presentation about Biodiversity. This presentation will help define the concept in an accessible manner, and will illustrate why biodiversity is important to all of us, and to the well-being of the planet. The presentation will include a photographic journey about biodiversity, from the rainforests of Panama to the high Arctic tundra. At the end of the presentation, Chris Buddle will outline the second component: a school-wide biodiversity challenge. The challenge will be an individual-based activity in which students will produce a natural history card about a species of interest. Each student will receive an index card, upon which they will discover a species in their local environment and write/draw about it. There are many different options, from birds they see in the schoolyard, to trees, to butterflies passing through, to grass on the playground.

Another example of a Natural History card, this one done by a Grade 3 student.

Different grades can adopt different approaches to the index cards: kindergarten students can simply draw a picture of their species; Grade 6 students can write the species name, draw a picture, and provide natural history facts (e.g., where it is found, what it eats, its biology). If teachers are willing and interested, the challenge can be adopted as a classroom project. For example, within a class, each student can be challenged to find and describe a different species so the class will have its own diversity of species. The activity will conclude several weeks after the challenge is initiated. Each index card from each student can be taped to a visible and accessible wall in the school; they can be arranged by obvious groups (e.g., plants, birds, insects) and left up for all to see.  In this way, all students can see the wall and the diversity of species can be easily viewed. It will be visually stunning, and will allow students to make a direct link between the individual species they discovered compared to what others have discovered.

Timing:

The biodiversity presentation can be linked as close as possible to “Earth Day” in April, and the challenge can start from then and run until later in the spring. It will be important to have the start of spring align with the challenge.

Resources:

• The presentation will be free; all is needed is some organization by the school about timing, planning, and technical assistance (e.g., a projector and screen would be required)
• Teachers will need to be willing to facilitate the preparation of the index cards. The idea is to document as much biodiversity as possible; to be effective, it would be ideal if teachers can help students find/explore different parts of biodiversity. Again, this activity could be linked directly to other parts of the curriculum.
• Index cards
• Field Guides: two sets of scientific field guides for a wide range of plants and animals. One set will be for the library; the second set will be housed with the Green Team. Students can access these field guides to help them discover biodiversity. Investment in “real” (i.e., professional style) field guides is potentially a life-long investment since some students will carry the love of biodiversity through their entire life. Many biologists trace the root of their career to flipping through field guides when they were young. The following field guides are suggested (approximate prices in Canadian dollars, are from http://www.amazon.ca):
o National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (~$21)
o Kaufman Field Guide to Mammals of North America (~$16)
o National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees-E: Eastern Region (~$16)
o A Field Guide to Wildflowers: Northeastern and North-central North America (~$17)
o The ROM Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Ontario (~$16)
o Mushrooms of Northeast North America: Midwest to New England (~$18)
o Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America (~$16)
o A Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexico (Peterson) (~$17)
o A Field Guide to the Beetles of North America (Peterson) (~$17)

Total Cost: approximately $154 x 2 = $308

Summary

The concept of Biodiversity is central to the health of the earth, and is linked very closely to a larger environmental ethic for society.  Yours is a perfect school to adopt this kind of school-wide activity; it’s small, close to nature, has an active Green Team, and is in an environmental conscious town. This activity may also draw positive press from the local media; it will be visually appealing, and has the benefit of student engagement at all grades and ages. The students will remember their “species” forever, and the school, overall, will gain awareness about biodiversity in their own backyard.

Note:  I originally posted this text about a year ago, on the Biological Survey of Canada’s blog about “Hosting a Biodiversity Event”, found here. 

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Outreach, Teaching

Tagged , ,

In praise of chalk: the value of teaching without technology

Posted on April 11, 2012 | 19 Comments

It is almost the end of the academic term, and time to reflect on the past year’s teaching.  Before I move into summer research activities, I like to take a little time to consider what changes to make in my teaching approach for the 2012-2013 campaign.  One thing, however, will stay the same:  I will continue to teach with a piece of chalk.  Perhaps this seems obvious to some, but at the University level, I think most Professors have long abandoned the chalkboard. I encourage all instructors to return to the chalk, and here’s why.

The dependable chalk and eraser.

1. Lights on! Using a chalkboard means the lights in a classroom have to be on, which keeps people more alert and engaged.  It is seldom that students fall asleep when the lights are up, but in a traditional lecture format, when the lights dim, the eyelids drop.

2. Take notes:  Students, when following along with an instructor who uses a chalkboard, take notes.  This means they are actively engaged in the content. This also means the cell phones are away.  When I teach with chalk, there is an alertness and level of engagement that I have not witnessed with other lecture formats.

3. Slow down:  related to the previous point, when teaching with chalk, the pace must be slow because it takes time to write on a blackboard, and it takes time for students to draw / write what is being delivered.  In general, I find that instructors (myself included!) try to cover too much content, and this usually ends badly.  Less is more.  Cover less material, but cover it well, and slowly.

4. Write, erase, write, erase:  the chalkboard allows for quick and efficient “changes” to a sentence, graph, or mathematical equation. You can change on the fly, and quickly adjust what you write, and fix mistakes.

 5. No faking it:  It is very, very difficult to give a lecture on a chalkboard if you don’t know the material.  You cannot depend on the powerpoint slide to guide you, instead you actually have to prepare carefully. No excuses.  Technology can be a crutch and allow an instructor to appear as if they know the content.  Go away, gimmicks.  Give me chalk.

6. Humour & Humility:  A Professor with a piece of chalk can have high entertainment value.  In one of my classes this term, I think some of the students may have a bet each class about whether or not I will drop another piece of chalk (and watch it shatter into a dozen pieces).  They think this is funny (and I appreciate that this is something that other people like about teaching with chalk!).  I also make a lot of mistakes. I forget how to do simple math, and I  make spelling mistakes.  They catch me, correct me, and enjoy this kind of interaction.  This humility makes the instructor seem like a real person.  Someone you might be willing to approach, and talk to.

7. Cost: Universities are under pretty immense budgetary constraints these days – I think data projectors are here to stay, but I don’t see much opportunity for investment in smartboards and/or tablets for everyone.  Chalkboards are in place.  Chalk is cheap.

The end of the lecture. Mistakes included.

This all sounds fine, but does it really work?

 Yes.

When talking about teaching metrics, my teaching scores have improved in classes where I use the chalkboard.  Comments from students are overwhelmingly in favour of this teaching approach.  They tell me that it is more engaging, and they appreciate the interactive nature. I personally find it a very rewarding experience and well worth the effort.

Speaking of effort, in the long-term, I think teaching with chalk reduces the amount of time it takes to prepare lectures.  It forces the instructor to drill down to the KEY FACTS and work to know them well without wasting time on Powerpoint slides.

You all know what I mean about Powerpoint: fiddle, fiddle, tweak, change font, re-size, re-align, insert picture, lighten, darken, group, un-group, new format, change the background, alter the bullets, etc etc etc.  Powerpoint is a TIME SUCK.  Stay away.

You might say, here: “come on, Buddle, you are out of touch and getting old” and  “Technology is our friend…. the chalk board – seriously???“  Let me clarify -  If I had the choice between a data projector and a chalkboard, I will pick the latter.  In my teaching environment, these are the only two real options.  If I had a ‘smart board‘  I would probably try it out and perhaps use it.  My children have smartboards in most of their elementary school classrooms and smartboards are impressive.  A smart board allows for a nice interplay between static and dynamic delivery of content.  There are also tablets and apps (e.g., see this post  and this one) that can really act like a smart-board, and although I have not yet used them, I have heard good things.  I would argue, however, that even these tools are not the same as the spontaneity and engagement that is possible with the good old chalkboard.  It’s not surprising that classrooms across the nation still install chalkboards: economical, efficient, engaging.

Caveats:  This approach may not work with all courses, and all types of content.  I use this approach mostly in a medium-sized Population and Community Ecology class, where the content is graphical, mathematical, conceptual and includes relatively few word definitions.  It is multi-layered content that does not depend on or need static visuals.  That being said, I do throw in the odd Powerpoint lecture, to mix things up a bit (this is especially true when images/photographs are important).

What do YOU think?   I’d love to hear your opinions (especially from students).

→ 19 Comments

Posted in Academia, Outreach, Teaching

Tagged ,

e-butterfly: Citizen science at its best

Posted on April 9, 2012 | 1 Comment

I am delighted that e-butterfly is up and running, and other bloggers have already noticed and commented on this resource.  e-butterfly is a Canadian-centric interactive data-base that lets you record butterfly species you see, build a virtual collection, keep track of your own ‘life list’, learn about other species, explore distribution maps, share with a broader community of like-minded people, and contribute to science and conservation.

e-butterfly screenshot

Yes, “contribute to science and conservation“.  This site is an amazing resource where you can use your love of butterflies to do some real and important citizen science.

I’ve not yet contributed to e-butterfly, but I did enjoy reading this post from from Adrian Thysse about his experience working through the process.  It seems straightforward, yet still rigorous.  I certainly plan on submitting records this spring (and I will try to get my kids involved too… a perfect opportunity to include them in a science project that spans the nation). In fact, I can see a lot of ways that e-butterfly could be incorporated into public school education…

I am pleased about e-butterfly for another reason too.  One of the people behind this resource is my former Ph.D. student Maxim Larrivée. While in my laboratory, Max worked on a fascinating project about canopy arthropods (spiders, beetles), and studied how these assemblages were structured in the forests of southern Quebec. Max became an expert with my ‘canopy crane’ (pictured below) – not for the faint of heart!

Max up in the canopy crane!

We are still working on some publications from his dissertation, but I am pleased that a few papers are already out, including work about general patterns of spider assemblages in the canopy , and this one about spider ballooning behaviour.

Max using a beat-sheet in the canopy (about 70 ft up!)

Max graduated a few years ago, and since leaving my laboratory has been doing a post-doc in Ottawa, first in Jeremy Kerr’s laboratory, and more recently, in a collaborative project with NatureServeCanada – and as part of that collaboration came e-butterfly.  I am really pleased for Max’s success, and I really think the e-butterfly site will take flight – it should.

Max is also an incredible photographer – you can view his work here: http://www.pbase.com/isotria

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Graduate students, Lab Publications, Laboratory News, Where are they now?

Tagged , , , ,

Wright good: its important. Twenty quick tips to help you out!

Posted on April 5, 2012 | 1 Comment

It is almost the end of the academic term. This means a LOT of students are busy writing term papers. This brings up the topic for this post: quick tips to improve your writing. Note: I do not claim to be an excellent writer, nor an expert on writing. I make a lot of mistakes, and if you have been following my blog, you undoubtedly noticed these (sorry!). I do, however, read many student papers, theses, manuscripts, research proposals, etc. With experience, you tend to develop an eye for common mistakes.

The mistakes I am referring to are easy to fix and I encourage you to go over this list in some detail. Writing is a skill that needs to be practiced and continually improved. One problem, however, is that we tend to have a lot of bad writing habits, and bad habits are hard to shake.

Below you will find a list of some of the most common scientific writing mistakes (thanks to David Bird, a colleague in my Department, for passing along his list, which formed the basis for this one). These are in no particular order because they all matter, equally! This is also a list that is far from complete – please comment and add your favourite ones.

Here is the list:

1) Know the difference between its and it’s
2) Know the difference between effect and affect
3) Incorrect use of “which” and “that” (I have trouble with this one!)
4) Split infinitives (Star Trek was incorrect – it should be “To go boldly…” instead of “To boldly go…”
5)  Use metric measurements (consistently)
Six) Consistent and proper use of numbers
7) Always use italics on Latin words
8) e.g., means “for example” and i.e., means “that is to say” (and if you use e.g. you do not need etc. at the end of your list)
9) “data” are plural
10) Watch for missing references either in the text or in the citation list
11) Inconsistent referencing style (follow the style guidelines)
12) Overuse of the word “that”, e.g. it is interesting that, studies showed that, etc.; generally most words before “that” can be eliminated
13) Beginning sentences with “There are…” (always write in the active tense)
14) Inclusion of unnecessary spacing, weird fonts, etc
15) Be consistent with your tenses
16) It is “First,…Second…..” not “Firstly,….., Secondly…..”
17) Either use U.S. (e.g. color) or British (e.g. colour) spellings, and be consistent about it
18) Be careful with jargon and acronyms: some are acceptable (e.g., DNA), but others are too discipline-specific (e.g., NMDS)
19) Don’t use contractions. Or, rather, “do not” use contractions in scientific writing
20) Watch out for run on sentences because they tend to annoy the heck out of a lot of readers and this can have the result of people feeling rather frustrated or perhaps bored when they try to distill the important information contained within your essay or final written report.

Without a doubt, the lack of consistency is the most common error of all.

Why does all this matter? I think you know the answer:

The affect of gammar and writing style that are incorrect is that it make you looks stupid and its a competitive world out their so you’d better work on being the bestest which you can.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Outreach

Tagged ,