Ecological Society of America

Plans for 2009-2010

• Upon returning in the fall, our chapter will actively recruit new members, especially within the freshman population. We will have a guest Ph. D. candidate from the University of Texas- Austin Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. She will help students understand what they need to do to position them to be a competitive applicant for graduate programs. She will also discuss her experience as a graduate student. Our chapter will attempt to engage as many students as possible in the plant demography research project, which will be under way as the semester begins. We will plan other field trips as described in our maintenance grant application.

Activities of 2008-2009

• Our first chapter meeting was in late October. The meeting lasted about an hour and thirteen students attended. We first discussed the purpose of SEEDS and the importance of having a SEEDS chapter on campus. We then had student speakers talked about their SEEDS experiences. One student explained her internship with SEEDS and the travels she went on because of the research. One student discussed her experience on the SEEDS field trip to Harvard Forest. These presentations allowed the other students to be informed of the opportunities offered by SEEDS. It was stressed that they should apply to these opportunities. We also discussed the up coming events for the spring semester.
• Our second chapter meeting was in early December. The meeting lasted about an hour and thirteen students, some of which who were new. We discussed potential projects for the SEEDS chapter. We had a detailed discussion of potential questions and methods to conduct research. We also talked about field trips involving looking at various habitats and how organisms utilize their environments. We also talked about future recruitment into the SEEDS chapter by publicizing events.
• After the winter break, we reconvened in early March for a birding expedition. We had a guest birder from California State University Monterey Bay who in the area for the Benthic Ecology Meeting. Two students attended, perhaps due to the day (Sunday). We birded for about an hour and a half. We were able to see several different birds and discussed their feeding methods and what they were feeding on.
• We are preparing for a fall project. We are currently reading literature of demography of plant populations. Our specific project will be focused on two local sunflower species, one restricted to clay soils, the other to sandy soils. The goal is to determine if different life history traits between these two species may in part account for their field distribution. We will have a meeting in middle May before students leave for the summer.
  

Faculty Advisors

• Dave Grisé
• Courtney Lee