Informal Reading and Discussion Groups
(listing updated 10 Jan 08)

These meetings and discussions are open to anyone. To have your name added to a group's e-mail distribution list, e-mail the contact person listed for that group.

Evolution through Genetic Exchange Reading Group: Mondays, 1:00 p.m., 232 CON. Participants will read Evolution Through Genetic Changes by Michael L. Arnold and then focus on particularly interesting case studies. Contact person: Nikki Fogarty.

Evolutionary Genetics Discussion Group: Mondays, 4:00 p.m., 109 Conradi Building. Contact person: David Houle.

Population Genetics Seminar (BSC 5932): 2008 Organizational Meeting 2:00 p.m., Thursday, 10 January, 468 DSL. Each participant will make a formal 20- to 30-minute presentation about a recent paper on algorithms for fast searches in tree space, improvements in calculations on trees to speed up likelihood calculations, followed by group discussion of both the paper and the presentation.Contact person: Peter Beerli.

Sensory Systems Reading Group (BSC 5952): Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m., 237 BRF. Informal data and discussion of recently published journal articles are covered by alternating group leaders. Topics are focused on, but not limited to, the chemical senses and visual sytems using biophysical and genetics approaches. The weekly discussion leaders are posted along with the pdf files of the journals to be presented on the BSC 5952 web page. Contact person: Debra A. Fadool or James M. Fadool.

Ecology Discussion Group (BSC 5932-42): Thursdays, 9:00-10:00 a.m., 232 CON. Participants read and discuss papers on ecology. Website. Contact person: Nora Underwood.

Plant-Insect Interactions Discussion Group: Thursdays, 1:00-2:00 p.m., 232 CON. Contact person: Nora Underwood.

History and Philosophy of Ecology and Evolution Reading Group: Thursdays 2:15-3:15 p.m., 232 CON. We will tackle four big "issues" (adaptation, measurement, model systems, and invasive species) by reading both historical and current science papers and relevant literature from the history and philosophy of science. Can be taken as a course for 1 credit, but anyone is welcome to sit in. Contact person: Nora Underwood.

Complex Population Dynamics Discussion Group (BSC 5932-44): Fridays, 1:30-2:30 p.m., 232 CON. Participants will work on using maximum-likelihood methods to fit models to data, will read and discuss the 1997 book The Ecological Detective by Ray Hilborn and Marc Mangel, and will work with the R programming language. Contact person: Brian Inouye.

Macroevolution Reading Group (BSC 5932): Spring 2008 organizational meeting, Friday, January 11, 12:00 noon, 211 CON. The topic is anything macroevolutionary. Each week one volunteer chooses a paper, makes a five-minute presentation about it, and leads the discussion. Students formally registered for the course are required to lead one or two discussions; others may do so if they wish. Contact person: Scott J. Steppan.