Sat & Sunday : Monday : Tuesday : Wednesday : Thursday : Friday

Command Spanish: survival Spanish for the non-native speaker scientist in the field
Saturday, August 5 & Sunday, August 6, 8 am -12 pm
Organizers: Sybil Jackson Carter, Jacoby Carter

This program is NOT designed for bilingual scientists. Rather it is intended for use by scientists and other support staff who need to know limited and focused amounts of Spanish to function more productively in the field. Unlike traditional Spanish classes that attempt to teach the whole language over an unspecified time period, Command Spanish® classes utilize techniques that teach specific occupational language components in a limited time period. Basic expressions, cultural components, emergency vocabulary, and specific scientific field vocabulary will be covered using phonetic encoding, non-grammar based materials, generic Spanish, and qualified Command Spanish® certified instructors. This workshop is for two half days from 8 am -12 pm. Note: Registrants are expected to participate in both days of this two-day workshop.

Modeling patterns and dynamics of species occurrence
Saturday, August 5,, 8 am -5 pm
Organizers: Darryl MacKenzie, James Nichols

The occurrence of a species across a set of landscape units is a fundamental concept in ecology (e.g., species distribution, habitat modeling, metapopulation studies, long-term monitoring programs). However, to make robust conclusions about patterns and dynamics of species occurrence two important sampling issues must be explicitly accounted for; 1) only a fraction of the landscape units may be surveyed; and 2) the species may not always be detected when present at a landscape unit.

In this 1-day workshop participants will be introduced to the following topics: cutting-edge statistical methods for modeling patterns and dynamics of species occurrence, using models to address interesting ecological hypotheses, key aspects to designing studies of species occurrence, and available computer software with worked examples and exercises. Attendees have the opportunity to a copy of the instructor's recently published book Occupancy Estimation and Modeling: Inferring Patterns and Dynamics of Species Occurrence at the special discounted price of US$55 (RRP US$64.95). Contact Darryl (darryl@proteus.co.nz) to place your order which must be received by 24 July. For more information visit www.proteus.co.nz

Addressing environmental problems to stimulate undergraduate learning
Saturday, August 5 & Sunday, August 6, 8 am -5 pm
Organizers: Michele Hluchy, James Haynes

Over the past two decades, we have developed a multidisciplinary approach to science education that uses environmental impact analysis as a theme to tie together the complex array of sampling/classification skills, research/analytical techniques, scientific theories, and communication skills that students need to address environmental problems. Although there are many types of environmental analyses (assessments, audits, technical reports, etc.), just as there are different strategies to facilitate science education, we have found that focusing on environmental impact statements (EISs) offers a broad based, pedagogically sound and accessible way to introduce undergraduate students and faculty to applied environmental problem solving at the same time we are teaching how science in any discipline is done. Creative faculty across the nation, in disciplines ranging from earth sciences and biology to chemistry, engineering, geography and sociology, have adapted and implemented our approach in their courses and programs and the National Science Foundation has awarded us with a CCLI-National Dissemination grant to present workshops on this approach regionally and nationally. Over the course of the two-day workshop we will: discuss the approach, providing fully-documented summaries with easily adaptable sample exercises of the teaching methods and curricula; work with participants to develop ways to integrate this approach into their own courses/curricula; and provide strategies and methods to write competitive proposals to external agencies for funding to help them implement some of the exercises on their campuses. An example exercise will also be done by the participants. Upon completion of this workshop you will be reimbursed $50 for the registration.

Ecoinformatics—using informatics tools to enhance the productivity of ecology researchers
Saturday, August 5, 8 am -12 pm
Organizers: Anne Fiala, Nalini Nadkarni, Judy Cushing, J. Lee Zeman

The Canopy Database Project (http://canopy.evergreen.edu) brings together forest canopy researchers and computer scientists to address issues of data acquisition, management, analysis, and exchange for canopy studies at all stages of the research process. We have developed ecoinformatics tools for ecologists, documented and published datasets that use these tools, and characterized forest canopy structures. With support from the National Science Foundation we have developed three prototype tools: 1) a database designer (“DataBank”) which helps ecologists design, archive, and mine field databases without specialized database knowledge; 2) a visualization tool (“CanopyView”) which creates forest structure data visualizations from DataBank datasets; and 3) a reference website for canopy research (the Big Canopy Database (BCD, canopy.evergreen.edu/bcd). With these tools, forest ecologists can reap the benefits of databases and visualization without learning a computer programming language. Ecologists working outside canopy studies, such as grassland researchers, have also found these tools useful. We will introduce these tools in a hands-on workshop for ecologists. We will first compare merits of spreadsheets and databases. Then we will demonstrate DataBank by creating a customized Microsoft Access database package that includes data-entry forms and html and ecological metadata language ( EML ) documentation. Finally, we will visualize sample forest structure datasets using CanopyView. This workshop will enhance each participant's ability to carry out his/her research, including synthetic research, which requires combining of data from multiple sources. Participants are encouraged to bring Windows O/S laptops to the workshop. Attendees will receive a CD containing the tools, presentation slides, relevant papers, and visualization samples.

Using and contributing to EcoEd.net--the ESA 's digital library for ecology education
Sunday, August 6, 8 am -12 pm
Organizers: Jason Taylor, Ken Klemow

The Internet has revolutionized ecology teaching by giving instructors access to a wealth of resources like images, text-based information, and data. Those resources are typically made available by faculty who post files to their own websites, and must be found through search engines or hit-or-miss strategies. To improve the exchange of digital resources useful for teaching ecology, the Ecological Society of America ( ESA ) has created Ecoed.net, which is part of the National Science Foundation's National Science Digital Library. The goal of Ecoed.net is to provide educators an effective, easy to use website to contribute and locate peer reviewed, scientifically and pedagogically sound ecology education content, including images, lab exercises, data, essays, and other materials.

Ecoed.net is a partner in the Bioscience Education Network (BEN), a collaboration of more than ten professional societies and coalitions of biology education partners. BEN is funded by the National Science Foundation and coordinated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Thanks to renewed funding awarded in fall 2005, Ecoed.net promises to become THE website for all educators interested in obtaining or sharing digital resources covering a diverse array of ecological topics. To help ecologists effectively build and use Ecoed.net, the ESA 's Education Office is organizing a workshop that will have three purposes. First, workshop participants will become familiar with the history, organizational structure, and holdings of the website. The workshop organizers will show participants how to access EcoEd.net, and will demonstrate strategies for locating and obtaining content material of interest. Second, workshop participants will provide feedback concerning their perception of the site's effectiveness as a clearinghouse for digital ecology resources. Participants will work individually and in small groups to explore the site's holdings and comment on strengths and weaknesses in content and tools for identifying curricular resources contained by the site. Third, participants will learn how to contribute content to the site; thereby establishing a network of content providers that will ensure Ecoed.net achieves its goal of providing the best possible digital resources for teaching all areas of ecology.

Using the urban social-ecological system as a platform for integration of local and scientific knowledge
Sunday, August 6, 8 am -12 pm
Organizers: Hoski Schaafsma, Sara Borgström

One of the current issues of concern for ecosystem management is how to maintain biodiversity and create sustainable social-ecological systems. This issue has come into sharp focus as populations aggregate into expanding urban centers, making the interactions between the physical urban areas and their expansive ecological footprints even more obvious. The urban environment is a diverse center of different ways of knowing. One of these ways of knowing is local ecological knowledge, an upstart in the field, which has recently begun to gain acceptance by scientists and policy makers as an important additional source of knowledge about ecosystems on a local level. Local ecological knowledge is based on long-term close interactions between human communities and ecosystems. For this workshop we propose an integrated use of local ecological knowledge and scientific ecological knowledge systems to address the topic of Urban Ecological Knowledge. We want to challenge the participants to use this platform for investigating integration of different knowledge systems in order to identify methods for creating and maintaining sustainability. We will begin the session with a panel of speakers who will address issues of local ecological knowledge and urban ecology. Following that, we will break into working groups to develop methods of incorporating different knowledge bases into ways to understand sustainable social-ecological systems.

Projecting rates of invasive spread from demographic and dispersal data
Sunday, August 6, 8 am -12 pm
Organizers: Hal Caswell, Michael Neubert

The spread of an invasive species is determined by its demography and its patterns of dispersal. Demography describes how individual organisms “move” by development, through their life cycle. Studies of dispersal focus on how individuals “move”, via passive or active transport, through space. Recent developments have shown how to combine demography and dispersal into a single model incorporating both kinds of “movement.” In these models—integrodifference matrix population models—both development and dispersal can be stage-dependent. The models project the speed with which a population will invade an unoccupied space. This workshop will present an introduction to these models. Topics to be covered include: computation of the invasion speed from demographic and dispersal data; sensitivity and elasticity analysis of the invasion speed; LTRE analysis of the response of invasion speed to variation in dispersal and demography; and effects of seasonality, environmental stochasticity, two-sex interactions, and animal-mediated dispersal.

Ecology? Help establish guidelines for what every citizen should know
Sunday, August 6, 1-5 pm
Organizers: Rebecca Jordan, John Vaughn, Alan Berkowitz, Frederick Singer

The general public requires an understanding of general ecological concepts so they can help make decisions about the conservation and management of our resources. Given the development facing communities, it is essential that we promote ecological understanding in learning at all levels, from the primary classroom to adult opt-in experiences. Ecological principles should be infused into scientific and environmental literacy standards (e.g., K-12 standards, adult literacy guidelines, professional development benchmarks). To accomplish this, we need to answer: “What should every citizen know about ecology?” We are seeking to aid formal and informal educators in determining which concepts comprise essential understanding. Much of the educational information and resources provided by ESA are intended for undergraduate coursework and specialized study. Now, it is necessary for ecologists to consider the most important themes that all citizens need to understand. Following the model of Trombulak et al. (2004, Conservation Biology) which established conservation literacy benchmarks, we have planned a workshop for this endeavor. Themes to be considered were compiled by the working group (listed elsewhere) from ecology and environmental education texts. Workshop participants will divide into teams and amend themes as seen fit. Points of understanding that will help address each theme will then be listed. Output will be collected and compiled. The working group will mediate points of contention and a document will be distributed for participant review. A consensus document will be presented to the education committee during the following annual ESA meeting and is intended to appear as a publication in an ESA journal.

Practitioner research with TIEE
Sunday, August 6, 1-5 pm
Organizers: Charlene D'Avanzo, Bruce Grant, Deborah Morris

This workshop is designed to facilitate the use of TIEE (Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology) to help faculty improve their teaching and their students' learning. We will guide participants through the process of studying the effects of using a specific TIEE activity (e.g., an Issue or Experiment) on student learning based on underlying theories and research methods from educational and cognitive research. Ecologists may be surprised that faculty can study their own teaching scientifically and use their research findings to improve learning in their classes (from small seminars to large lecture classes). We refer to this as “practitioner research.” Participant outcomes include: 1) improved skills at asking researchable questions about teaching and learning; 2) broader base of assessment/research approaches and methods; and 3) enhanced ability to interpret one's research findings to modify one's teaching, i.e., to find out what works and why. Faculty who have already done “practitioner” research with TIEE will also describe their research and what they have learned about teaching and learning as a result.

Lessons from minority students: what educators need to know
Sunday, August 6, 1-5 pm
Organizers: Katherine Hoffman, Melissa Armstrong

This workshop will provide information and techniques for educators to better engage minority students in the classroom, lab, field, and research programs. With input from students and education professionals, learn how to create a teaching environment that attracts and embraces diversity. Many people want to know how to enrich their ecology institutions and programs with greater cultural diversity; this workshop will provide concrete ideas on how this can be accomplished. Also learn more about positive mentoring to culturally diverse students and the many meaningful ways you can communicate with students to be a good mentor.

How to do collaborative ecological teaching and research using web pages and online resources: a watershed approach
Sunday, August 6, 1-5 pm
Organizers: Carolyn Thomas, Bob Pohlad

The workshop will be led by ecology professors from six different colleges in the Southern Appalachians (participants in a collaborative small watershed research and teaching project called Collaboration through Appalachian Watershed Studies (CAWS)). The link to “Icons and Upstarts in Ecology” theme is through the upstart idea of collaborative research projects, like the acid deposition study (2005 CAWS project) being conducted at 5 different small college campuses, instead of the iconic model of research universities. We will show that education of students and the public about how watershed processes work is just as important as the iconic model of pure research by research scientists in our work to preserve our Earth. These CAWS scientists have been using the lab exercises from the online Small Watersheds Lab Exercise eManual in a variety of classes, sharing online their data collected on their watershed by classes, and having their students use the other colleges' watershed data to better understand the dynamic processes of a variety of small watersheds in the Southern Appalachians. These professors will share their experience and expertise in using these online lab exercises with the workshop participants. The workshop is a ½ day workshop with the following outline of activities: a) History and Evolution of the CAWS Collaboration by Dr. Carolyn L. Thomas and Evolution of the Web Page by Dr. Bob R. Pohlad, Ferrum College ; b) Overview of the Watershed Methods Manual by Dr. Jeffery Simmons, West Virginia Wesleyan; c) Workshop participants will perform 1 or 2 lab exercises from the eManual which include cross campus students and scientists led by Dr. Karen Kuers, University of the South and Dr. Richard Moyer, King College; and d) How to establish your own watershed site by Dr. Susan Monteleone, Lindsey Wilson College and Dr. Mark Lassiter and Professor Mike Sonnenberg, Montreat College

A conceptual model for integration of social, ecological, and economic rangeland research
Sunday, August 6, 1-5 pm
Organizers: Kristie Maczko, R. Dennis Child, Dan McCollum

Workshop participants will have the opportunity to critique and improve a conceptual model of interactions among social, ecological, and economic aspects of rangeland research and resource management in the context of an indicator-based assessment system. Ecological systems and processes, including reproduction, growth, death, decomposition, succession, migration, adaptation, water cycles, nutrient cycles, and carbon cycles, stage the biological interactions underlying forest and rangeland ecosystem viability. Social and economic infrastructures and processes, including demand, investment, depreciation, management, social regulation, production, consumption, social interaction, and institutional processes, characterize rangeland use and management, as well as the context in which rangelands improve or decline. These systems and processes intertwine and feedback, altering natural and human capital and conditions over time. The Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable ( SRR ) has developed an integrated conceptual framework to capture complex relationships among ecological and natural resource processes and intricate interactions with social and economic processes, capacities, and capitals. The SRR conceptual framework flows through three tiers of increasing specificity to show relationships among bio-physical and socio-economic indicators. Tier 1 represents Earth's ecosystems generally as two interacting environmental and human sub-systems. Tier 2 shows more detail about key conditions in each sub-system and elaborates processes that may change those conditions. In Tier 2, process lists remain general to provide a basis for integrating multiple resource systems such as forests, rangelands, and/or water resources. Tier 3 identifies conditions and processes relevant to a rangeland resource system in specific and illustrates the important interactions among rangeland ecosystem components. Please join us for presentation and discussion of SRR 's conceptual model.

A brief introduction to hierarchical Bayesian modeling in ecology
Sunday, August 6, 8 am -5 pm
Organizers: Kiona Ogle, Inés Ibáñez, Brian Beckage, Janneke Hille, Ris Lambers

Ecologists and environmental scientists are often faced with analyzing relatively complicated data. For example, ecological data sets are often spatially, temporally, or hierarchically structured; they may be missing relevant information; and they likely arise from nonlinear (and non-Gaussian) processes. Additionally, many contemporary problems in ecology require the synthesis of multiple sources and types of data. To accommodate the complexity of ecological data, hierarchical Bayesian statistical methods are emerging as a powerful tool for analyzing such data. The purpose of this day-long workshop is to provide an overview of hierarchical Bayesian modeling at a relatively introductory level. This includes presentation and discussion of basic concepts, including important elements of Bayesian statistics and the general hierarchical modeling framework. We will also provide a brief overview of WinBUGS (a free software package for Bayesian analyses) and we will illustrate how it can be used to implement a hierarchical Bayesian model. To complement the technical details, we will present case studies that employ hierarchical Bayesian analysis, where we focus on the modeling procedure in addition to the ecological problem. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to understand the fundamentals of hierarchical Bayesian modeling. We will provide reference materials so that participants can explore the topic in greater depth. These materials should serve as a jumping-off point for those interested in employing the methods in their own research or for those who simply want to familiarize themselves with the topic. Participants are requested to bring their own laptops; no computers will be provided!

Multiple linear regression using R
Sunday, August 6, 9 am -5 pm
Organizers: Rohan Sadler, Candan Soykan

Ecologists explore relationships between multiple processes in ecological systems as a natural consequence of ecological systems being highly complex. Consequently, data are often multivariate with important correlations “hidden” by complex interactions between processes. Multiple linear regression is a fundamental statistical analysis by which significant interactions can be identified and separated from “noise”. The workshop will serve as a practical introduction to the R statistical language by having participants step through the process of multiple linear regression. No knowledge of R is assumed. Hence, participants begin with the basics of R syntax and progress with a series of “mini-labs”. Topics include: data management; exploratory analysis of multivariate data; defining and using qualitative factor variables; applying and interpreting the model; variable selection; and regression diagnostics. Coverage of the topics will necessarily be brief, but participants will have successfully applied multiple linear regression tools to “real” ecological data by the end of the workshop. Participants are requested to bring their own laptops with R pre-loaded as no computers will be provided.

Innovative teaching and active learning in the biological sciences
Sunday, August 6, 8:30 am -4:30 pm
Organizers: Diane Ebert-May, Janet Batzli, Douglas Luckie

We invite postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and early career faculty to participate in a workshop modeling ‘scientific teaching', learning, and assessment in undergraduate science courses. We especially want to meet the needs of these future faculty and faculty early in their teaching careers. The workshop is based on current research about undergraduate science curriculum reform, how students learn, and how assessment improves student learning. We will focus on teaching in both large and small courses and address the hows and whys to: (1) actively engage students in learning in classroom and laboratory environments, (2) use cooperative learning, (3) develop multiple kinds of assessments based on goals that provide substantive data about student learning, (4) analyze and use assessment data to improve instruction, (5) use technology-based tools to improve learning, and (6) use an assessment database. We also will address the realities of time (again and again), student course evaluations, faculty evaluations, and establishment of networks for intellectual and practical support in teaching. By the end of the workshop, participants should be ready to design their first course and implement these ideas on the first day of class this fall! The fee includes continental breakfast, lunch, and snacks. For more information please contact: Diane Ebert-May, Michigan State University , 517-432-7171, ebertmay@msu.edu