PROGRAM NEWS

• Undergrad Research Fellowship
• Field Trip
• Annual Meeting Update

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHT

• University of Puerto Rico

ALUMNI CORNER

• Controlling Medusa Head Grass

ALUMNI Mentor Bios

• Becky Begay
• Amber Finley
• Kimberly Komatsu
• Jorge Ramos
• Colibri Sanfiorenzo
• Jeramie Strickland

STAFF NEWS

• Lin Yang, Intern

OPPORTUNITIES

• Other Opportunities
• Scholarship
• Leadership

SEEDS Dispersal is published online six times a year with additional special issues by the SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education, Development, and Sustainability) program. SEEDS promotes opportunities to diversify and advance the profession of ecology.

Introduction
 Erin Vinson

Summer at ESA is turning out to be a very busy time!  In addition to enjoying the beautiful sunshine and warmth of summer, SEEDS has been very busy planning for the ESA Annual Meeting and the upcoming SEEDS fall field trip to the Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research site in Petersham, Massachusetts.  SEEDS is also very pleased to announce two new staff members.  We are very happy to welcome Rui Zhang (the SEEDS Intern) and Lin Yang (the Education Intern) as the newest additions to our ESA family.

SEEDS is very proud and honored to announce the winner of the 2008 Chapter of the Year Award.  The award goes to (drum roll, please) THE UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO AT RIO PIEDRAS’ SEEDS Chapter, Amá,Ké,Kachi,Ará (AKKA)!!!!!!!  Congratulations to all the SEEDS members and advisors of AKKA on all of your tremendous achievements!  The full article on the AKKA chapter can be found in this issue of Dispersal.
We also want to recognize the second-place winner, The University of Puerto Rico at Bayamón’s SEEDS Chapter, Leading Initiatives for Future Ecologists (LIFE).  Congratulations to both outstanding chapters for the incredible amount of dedication, energy, and hard work that went in to earning this award.  You both truly are our SEEDS heroes!

Within this newsletter you will find information about the ESA Annual Meeting.  SEEDS has many exciting events planned!  We hope to see many of you there.

SEEDS Leadership Meeting Article in the ESA Bulletin

The latest issue of the ESA Bulletin (July 2008) features a beautiful article titled "Voices of Hope in a Rapidly Changing World".  This article adds a voice to the SEEDS Program and all that it stands for by summarizing the SEEDS 2008 Leadership Meeting, hosted by ESA President Norm Christensen at Duke University.  The article was a collaboration by all who attended, with the primary authors including SEEDS students and alumni: Antonio Cordero, Serge Farinas, Lauren McGee, Lewis Reed, Edith Velasco, Raynelle Rino, Charlee Glenn, and Christina Wong.  Click to view the entire Bulletin issue or just the Article.

Program News

Undergraduate Research Fellowship
The SEEDS Undergraduate Research Fellowship applications will be posted on the SEEDS website.  Students will have until September 22, 2008, to apply. The SEEDS Fellowship allows undergraduate students to complete an independent research project. This project includes working with program staff to select a research site and mentor, writing a research proposal and budget, conducting research in the field and/or lab, analyzing results and writing a paper, and presenting research at an ESA Annual Meeting. Each Fellow has a research mentor - a PhD ecologist from the ESA membership - to provide support throughout the project. The SEEDS Fellowship is essentially a mini-thesis that prepares students for graduate school research. The SEEDS program also provides support through stipends, designated staff, networking with other Fellows, and leadership workshops. Undergraduate students with a graduation date later than spring 2010 are eligible to apply. More information about the SEEDS Undergraduate Research Fellowship can be found at www.esa.org/seeds/fellowship/.

Field Trip - Harvard Forest LTER, Oct 16 -19, 2008
The application for the fall SEEDS Field Trip will be posted on the SEEDS website. The application deadline to apply for the Field Trip is August 19, 2008. SEEDS Field Trips are designed to introduce undergraduate students to the field of ecology and to provide an opportunity for students already in an ecology/biology track to experience ecological research in a field other than what they are accustomed to. During the Field Trip, students will engage in field work, network with professional ecologists and graduate students, and learn about the history/culture of the area. The research focus of the Harvard Forest LTER focuses on ecological processes in the New England area that includes wind and fire, past climate change, land- use and management, atmospheric pollution, and projected increases in global temperature. More information on SEEDS Field Trip can be found at www.esa.org/seeds/fieldtrips/ and the Harvard Forest LTER at harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/research/lter.html

Annual Meeting 2008 Update
The 93rd ESA Annual Meeting will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from August 2-9.  As in the past, SEEDS has some very special events planned for this year’s meeting and we hope to see many of you there!

Graduate Students

Joel Abraham completed his PhD in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley. He will be working with SimBiotic as an Education Assessment Coordinator.

Amber Finley received her Masters in Environmental Sciences from the University of San Francisco. She has been working as a substitute teacher for the Vallejo City Unified School District since January, 2008, and has been actively involved with the SEEDS SEOI Committee.

Lauren Mc Gee - I'm graduating with a MS degree in Environmental Science from Ohio State University. I conducted my research on nitrogen and methane processing in low-head dam reservoirs within urban rivers and plan to present my research findings at the 2008 ESA Annual Meeting. Starting June 9th, I will be an environmental scientist for the USDA Rural Development in Washington, DC. I currently don't know what my exact responsibilities will be, but I do look forward to learning more about NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) evaluation process.

Jeffrey Ross received a Master of Forest Science degree from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES) on May 26, 2008. Jeffrey’s focal area in F&ES was centered on forestry, forest science, and the management of forests for conservation and development. Dr. Julian Hadley, Senior Research Scientist at Harvard Forest/Harvard University, supervised his thesis research, which sought to estimate aboveground carbon storage in an oak (Quercus spp.) dominated stand and to gain a better understanding of how natural disturbance regimes disrupt the forest-to-atmosphere carbon cycle. This fall, Jeffrey will join the Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group at the University of Montana, where he will begin pursuing a PhD under the guidance of Dr. John Kimball and continue his research on forest-to-atmosphere carbon cycling.

Undergraduate Students

Jarrod Blue graduated from Davidson College with a major in Biology. He will be starting a PhD program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Marla Striped-Face Collins graduated from Sitting Bull College with a major in Environmental Science.

Colleen Cooley graduated from Northern Arizona University with a major in Environmental Sciences. She is working with the Grand Canyon Wildlife Council for the summer.

George Livingston - I'll be graduating with a BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. After graduation: I'll be entering the Phd program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Texas-Austin in August to work on community ecology of tropical insects with Larry Gilbert and Mathew Leibold. Also, I was awarded an NSF pre-doc, and my involvement with SEEDS most likely helped me get the award.

Ashley Scioneaux - I graduated on May 10th from Xavier University of Louisiana. My major was Chemistry and my minor was Biology. I am now in graduate school at Miami University (Ohio) doing summer research for a Physical/Organic Chemist. I will begin classes in the fall, which will mark the beginning of my pursuit toward a Ph.D. in Chemistry (specifically Organic Chemistry). My ultimate goal is to do industrial research.

Carol Thomas graduated from SUNY-Syracuse with a major in Natural History and Interpretation. She is conducting research in Fairbanks for the summer and will hopefully work with a youth outreach program either in Fairbanks or Anchorage in the fall.

Ku`ulei Vickery graduated with a BA in Environmental Studies from the Univeristy of Hawaii-Manoa.

Brenda I. Castro-Voltaggio - I am from Puerto Rico and  I finished my Bachelors degree at the University of Puerto Rico- Rio Piedras. My major was in Natural Sciences, where I specialized in the Environmental Sciences. I am going to work  with an environmental consulting firm to get some work experience, and then attend graduate school to pursue a Masters in Environmental Management.  I like to thank the entire SEEDS group for giving me the opportunity to be a little part of you and get some experience and see what I can do in ecology. I hope to see all of you soon!!!!

Jallah Rouse graduated from Johnson C Smith University with a Biology major and a Chemistry minor. He is going on to graduate school.

2008 SEEDS Chapter of the Year

University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras’ SEEDS Chapter: Amá,Ké,Kachi,Ará (AKKA)

The Ecological Society of America’s SEEDS program announces with great pride and honor, the recipients of the 2008 Chapter of the Year Award: The University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras’ SEEDS Chapter, AKKA.   AKKA has worked extremely hard for all of the successes that have earned them the Chapter of the Year Award.  We are all very proud of AKKA and look forward to a bright future with them as our SEEDS Chapter Leaders!
Below are AKKA’s chapter mission and its fascinating history, in the words of AKKA chapter members Manuel Sanfiorenzo De Orbeta and Colibri Sanfiorenzo-Barnhard:

Chapter Mission

AKKA SEEDS main mission is to promote scientific research through ecology and its applications.  Our Chapter emphasizes the importance of science and the scientific method in everyday life.   We also emphasize the importance of trans-disciplinary fields of study, which include the natural science, the humanities, education and the social sciences.  In addition, AKKA promotes the personal and academic growth of its members by creating different spaces where they can learn, teach and question life through the integration of their ideas and thoughts about ecology, conservation and the natural world.  For active members this space is by far one of the most attractive aspects of AKKA.

Chapter History

AKKA has had a dense history of success in a short amount of time.  AKKA has had many successes for both the chapter and its members.  We are officially part of the university student organizations, where we have been able to acquire a small office for the use of all our members.  AKKA has created a web page (www.akkaseeds.org) in Spanish that has 103 visits since February 20th.  In this web page we are able to show local and international Spanish speaking people what AKKA SEEDS is all about and the activities that we have done and want to do in the future.  This coming year we hope to translate the web page into English.  We have 15 active members, all of which have an active role in the formation of the chapter.  All our members are doing research in the field of ecology or environmental science.  AKKA has established five main programs which we carry out throughout the year: 1) AKKA Conference Program, 2) Conference/field trip Program, 3) Educational Documentary Program, 4) Community Work Program and 5) Proposal Writing Program.

Our AKKA conference program receives about 20-30 participants per conference, including our active members.  Most of the conferences take place at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras campus in collaboration with the Graduate Biology Student Association in an activity called BioLunch.  In addition, the AKKA Conference Program has been invited to other UPR campuses (e.g. UPR-Bayamon) and Symposiums (e.g. Urban Ecosystem Symposium of San Patricio Forest).   The Conference/field trip Program was created in an effort to promote AKKA and maintain active involvement of students.  It has grown into a collaborative effort between graduate students and professionals in different field of study.  This program has been instrumental in achieving mentoring at various levels and maintaining active membership. The Educational Documentary Program, although in its infancy has already successfully posted a number of short documentaries on YouTube with a variety of themes such as cave ecology and who AKKA is and what it wants to do in the future.  Also, this program has been able to receive support from professionals in the field of documentary through workshops and active mentoring.  The Community Work Program is based on active collaboration between AKKA and local community organizations.  We are collaborating with CUBU to try and restore an urban forest as well as enabling the area so it can be used as a school yard laboratory for the adjacent schools of the community.  We are also working with GAIA to promote science in elementary schools around the island.  One of the programs that has been growing and hopefully will continue to grow is our Proposal Writing Program.  AKKA has successfully attained two maintenance grants and one special projects grant from the SEEDS program (*AKKA has now received two special project grants).  We have received funding support from the Institute of Tropical Ecosystems Studies, the Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation and the Natural Science Department to achieve the different programs mentioned above.  Today we are waiting for replies from the SEEDS Program and the Federal Program for Urban Reforestation in Puerto Rico of proposal written to further our programs.

AKKA has also been able to incorporate into the university administrative groups through the representation of our President, Manuel Sanfiorenzo De Orbeta, in the Environmental advice group of the senate.  Sanfiorenzo is also one of the lead organizers of the Committee for the Development of the University Century Park located in our campus.  AKKA has also 9 past and present members who have participated in SEEDS activities such as fellowships (2), field trips (2), leadership meetings (3) and ESA travel awards (2).  Finally, this year AKKA has also been full of recognition from our university and international organizations.  AKKA has been recognized by: 1)INVENTIO, the graduate research and technology magazine of the UPR, for its work in Mona Island, 2) Dialogo, UPR newspaper, for its work with the local community, 3) SEEDS Dispersal, for the collaboration with LIFE Chapter and 4) OTS- Manual for Best Practices for recruiting and Retaining Underrepresented Groups in Ecology and the Environmental Sciences, for our work as active educators and recruiters and our collaboration efforts.

All this success has not come easy for us.  We have worked very hard to keep AKKA active and representative in our community.  Sometimes we are fighting against the tides with administrative aspects of funding here at our University.  Nevertheless we always come back on top because of our great unity between student members and our collaborators.  As one of the AKKA founders I am extremely proud of what the students have accomplished in just one year and the ability they have to ignite fire and energy into everybody who comes for the first time to one of AKKA’s meetings.  I know that they will continue to grow as a team and as individuals.

Lewis K. Reed:  This film is about a project that I began when I was an undergraduate and working as a seasonal park ranger in California. I had kept a field journal and noticed over time that there were key differences in the timing of seed development in the invasive exotic medusahead grass and many of the plants that it was outcompeting which lead me to believe that I might selectively target medusahead by mowing during its seed development. I knew that I was lacking quantitative skills to design a field study so I took a biostatistics class at San Jose State University though it was not required for my undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies. I had thought the project might be a good start on a master’s thesis but ended up moving to Illinois to study tallgrass prairie restoration. I have since been fortunate to receive support from the Illinois State Academy of Science and the British Ecological Society to maintain this research as a side project.

Becky Begay
Becky Begay is from Fruitland, New Mexico.  She is currently in the Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS.  She graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with an emphasis in Biology at Haskell Indian Nations University in 2006.  Becky was born and raised on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.  As a result, she was taught to respect the land, air, water and animals because they are the elements that give her life and helps sustain her family and community.  She believes that the land and the environment encompass spirituality and hold intrinsic values.  This is what motivates her to become involved in ecology.  Becky’s upbringing has enabled her to pursue her education in the environmental sciences.  Her area of interest is in conservation ecology, wildlife ecology, desert ecology, and restoration ecology.  She is currently researching the effect of mid-summer haying on early and late flowering prairie plants.  Becky’s long-term goal is to assist Native American communities in conservation ecology and protecting tribal lands.

Amber Finley
Greetings Everyone! I am excited to be serving as a SEEDS Alumni Mentor for the upcoming meeting. My name is Amber Finley and I am a recent graduate of the University of San Francisco, Master’s program in Environmental Management. My particular interests in ecology include environmental education, traditional ecological knowledge, and environmental policy. I am a mom, to a beautiful nine year old daughter. I am an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (Three Affiliated Tribes) as well as a member of the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation (Sioux) from my maternal grandmother’s side. My ultimate goal is to bring more programs like SEEDS to underserved communities, such as my home on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. I hope to have more students take an interest in science in general, but in ecology in particular. I would love to see the day when all youth are educated about their environment and care enough to want to save it. I have been involved with the SEEDS program for about five years now. I have gone on field trips, attended Annual Meetings, and even temporarily filled the Program Assistant position. I love the SEEDS family so much and attribute much of my success in these past few years to this program. The people I have met and continue to keep in contact with, mean so much to me it’s beyond words. I hope to make your experience at this year’s Annual Meeting as enjoyable as my first meeting was. I look forward to meeting all of you soon!

Kimberly Komatsu
Kimberly Komatsu is entering her second year as a graduate student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University.  Currently, she is working in a plant community ecology lab at Yale under the guidance of Dr. Melinda Smith, studying top-down and bottom-up controls on community assembly and trajectories on Konza Prairie, Kansas.  After earning her PhD, Kimberly plans to work either as a professor at a research university or as a researcher with a non-profit environmental organization.

Jorge Ramos
I graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a BS in Environmental Science. Throughout my career I have focused my studies in the effects of human actions on wildlife - from insects all the way to marine mammals. I continue to work with SACNAS and SEEDS to promote the sciences and the science of ecology as a career to students from all backgrounds. Now at the University of Washington, I am investigating how different landscape attributes have an effect the amphibian species composition. Welcome new SEEDS students - please ask any of the mentors (including me) any questions you may have!

Colibri Sanfiorenzo
Hola!! My name is Colibrí. I am a first year graduate student at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras.  These past few years have been a wonderful time in my life.  I have become involved with ecology, education and SEEDS in Puerto Rico, the US and Chiapas Mexico.  My master thesis will be working in the Los Angeles ejido located in the buffer zone of La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas.  I will be looking at the relationship between vegetation structure and composition and cattle management strategies on natural tree recruitment in the buffer zone rangelands.  I hope to be able to contribute to efforts being done by ECOSUR to transition from conventional production systems to sustainable agroforestry systems.  Both rural and urban sustainability are important aspects of the projects I am a part of.  Recently I have started a proposal to create the first ever community based urban biological station in Río Piedras, PR.  In addition, I have become involved through the AKKA SEEDS Ecology Chapter doing educational documentaries of a variety of themes such as cave conservation in Puerto Rico. I hope to grow in the field of ecology and education to help bridge the gap between research and education.

Jeramie Strickland
My name is Jeramie Strickland. I am from Chicago and earned a B.S. degree in Animal & Poultry Science from Delaware State University in 2004. Prior to joining the SEEDS family in 2004, I interned with Michigan State University, Purdue University, Delaware State University, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and performed conservation and biodiversity research in Namibia, Africa. Before starting in the Ecology and Evolutionary Program (EEB) at Iowa State University in August 2006, I was Student Coordinator of the SEEDS program for the Ecological Society of America since January 2005. My position with ESA deepened my interest in ecology and solidified my decision to pursue a graduate degree in EEB at ISU. For my M.S. degree, I am studying spatial and temporal dynamics of depredation of Painter Turtle (Chrysemys picta) nests using both observational and experimental approaches in the field. I will earn my M.S. degree in December 2008. I also love to travel, breed dogs, play sports, and socialize.

Lin Yang, Intern

Lin is ESA summer education intern. Being knowledgeable in international business, she’s highly skilled in data collecting, market analysis and communication. She’s currently a master of international management candidate at the University of California, San Diego. Originally from Beijing, Lin developed a growing interest in environmental protection as she discovered she can no longer see the blue sky she used to see. She is very excited to intern at ESA, in a wish to combine her business knowledge with environmental economics. Lin will focus on developing a business plan for EcoEd Digital Library. Prior to ESA, she was a business reporter in Beijing, and in private sector business management in San Diego.

Rui Zhang, Intern

Rui Zhang is ESA's Summer and Fall 2008 education intern. She is from mainland China and is currently a Master of Public Administration candidate at Cornell University. Growing up by the Yangtze River and witnessing the pollution increase dramatically year by year, she has been interested in environmental protection programs since childhood. She is very proud to have participated in the "Saving the Yangtze River" project and helped arrange field trips for undergraduate students in 2004, which made a huge impact on water pollution management in China. After working as a conservation volunteer in Australia in 2006 and 2007, she was encouraged to learn more about ecology and environmental science. She is very excited to join ESA and is ready to combine her knowledge in public affairs and her strong interest in ecology and diversity to help develop the SEEDS program.

Other Opportunities:

The Wetland Foundation offers grants for travel to scientific conferences. These grants are open to students interested in wetland science.  For more information and to apply visit web.mac.com/karenmckee1/The_Wetland_Foundation/Grants.html. The deadline for applications is July 31, 2008.

Pacific Biodiversity Institute is looking for a field ecologist and potential field assistants to assist wildlife habitat survey work in the Selkirk Mountains in August, September, and October of this year. Compensation will be based on experience levels (12-25 dollars/hour). Field ecologist applicants must have a good knowledge of local flora and wildlife/habitat interactions. Assistant applicants must be comfortable camping and have experience doing forest inventory and/or vegetation survey work.  If interested contact Hans @ pacificbio.org. Attach your resume, at least 3 references, and a cover letter. Please reference the ECOLOG-L list serve as the way you found out about this job offer.

2008 Native Peoples Working Group Tribal Scholarship Program

The Native Peoples Working Group is offering scholarships to selected students to attend the 2008 Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society being held in Miami, Florida from November 8-12, 2008. The Native Peoples Working group will be hosting a Tribal Symposium titled Tribal Natural Resource Management in a Changing World from 8:00 to 12:10 on Monday, November 10 for all conference attendees.  Scholarship funds will be used to purchase airline tickets to and from the conference, conference registration as well as hotel accommodations for the conference. All Tribal/First Nations’ members currently enrolled in a natural resources related field are strongly encouraged to apply.

Nate Svoboda, Chairman - Native Peoples Wildlife Management Working Group
Wildlife Biologist
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
375 River Street
Manistee, MI 49660
(231) 723-1594

Email: nsvoboda@lrboi.com