November 2016
Yolo Bypass Birding
November 22, 2016
Despite rainy weather, Davis SEEDS recently had our annual birding trip at the Yolo Bypass, which is just outside of Davis. The Yolo bypass is in the heart of the Pacific Flyway and is a common wintering ground for many migratory birds. It is also home to many important local species as well. If you missed this trip but still want to experience birding with SEEDS, we will be going to the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge during winter quarter, which is also another important wintering spot for migratory birds.
|
CaL academy of sciences trip
November 22, 2016
Wow! What a trip! Davis SEEDS had the privilege to get a tour of the Cal Academy of Sciences in San Francisco by the renowned canopy ecologist Meg Lowman. We were also joined by the Berkeley SEEDS Chapter. We got to tour the basement of the museum, which is where the insect collections are kept. There are over 17 million specimens in the Cal Academy basement, many of which have yet to be identified.
We got to see many fascinating insects, including stick bugs, leaf insects, and an extremely beautiful collection of moths. One of the stick bugs was even a foot long! We also got a tour of Meg Lowman’s office and got to hear more about what working at museum is like. We even got to hear about the field research she has done in rain forest canopies and some more unconventional specimen collection methods, such as sweep netting the upper canopies from a blimp. Our group also got to experience the recently updated planetary show! The rest of our day was spent exploring the museum many exhibits. Students got to see the aquarium, the world of color exhibit, the rain forest dome, the living roof, and the natural history exhibit. In total, we had nearly 40 students from UC Davis who joined us on this trip. Everyone had a fantastic time! I already can’t wait for next year! We also made it into Meg Lowman’s Twitter! |
Davis Seeds T-shirt Signups!
November 2, 2016
Want everyone on campus to know what a cool club you’re in? You’re in luck! We are taking orders for Davis SEEDS T-shirts from now until November 21st! The shirts for this year will feature our classic Davis SEEDS logo on a forest green shirt. The shirts should be available to pick up at the beginning of winter quarter. We are expecting the price to be about $13. It may be different depending on how many people want to purchase a shirt. Please sign up here to order yourself (or your friends) Davis SEEDS shirts!
|
Graduate Student Panel
November 1, 2016
Thank you to all the graduate and undergraduate students that came out to our Annual Graduate Student Panel at our last meeting! We had a very diverse panel this year with lots of different fields being represented! We got to hear about research being done on campus along with opportunities for undergraduate students to get involved with internships. There were some really great discussions on how to decide on the right graduate school, choosing between a masters and a PhD, and tips on applying! If you were interested in contacting any of the graduate students at our panel, all of their names, emails, and descriptions are posted bellow!
Allie Weill ([email protected])
“I am a 5th year PhD candidate in the Graduate Group in Ecology. My research focuses on wildfire in chaparral-dominated regions and how fire affects plants, ecosystems, and people in California. I use a variety of approaches to look at these issues, from field and lab based evolutionary ecology to social science-based survey methods. I am primarily interested in careers outside of academia, including the conservation and science communication fields. See more at amweill.weebly.com.”
Allison Injaian ([email protected])
“I’m a Ph.D. student in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group, working in Dr. Gail Patricelli’s lab. I study the impacts of traffic noise at the molecular, physiological, behavioral and population levels in Tree Swallows. To date, I’ve found broad negative impacts of traffic noise exposure that may lead to conservation impacts. My field research takes place in Davis, CA during the spring quarters.”
Ann Holmes ([email protected])
“I’m a first year PhD student in ecology, and recently completed my MS in ecology at San Francisco State. I use genetic methods to study aquatic food webs and detect rare species. Our research findings can then can be applied to improve management and conservation. My lab at Davis is the Genomic Variation Lab: gvl.ucdavis.edu“
Brendan Barrett ([email protected])
“I am a 6th year Animal Behavior Graduate student and my research is primarily about extragenetic inheritance. Namely the population dynamics and ecological drivers of social learning (especially in non-human animals and currently wild capuchin monkeys), cultural evolution, and dispersal ecology and territorial inheritance in dusky-footed woodrats. I combine fieldwork, analytical, and statistical modeling.”
Chhaya Werner ([email protected])
“My research work is on the patterns of plant community regeneration after fire, and how that regeneration is affected by drought and climate change. I work in Sierra Nevada forests and in serpentine chaparral at McLaughlin reserve. I do observational fieldwork, manipulative experiments, and computational analysis and simulations. I worked with an amazing undergraduate assistant last year, and would love to work with more students, both as research assistants on my projects and as a mentor supporting their own research interests!”
Dan Smith ([email protected])
“I am currently in the Avian Sciences and Ecology graduate groups. I am interested in the relationship between wetland habitat and waterfowl use; specifically how wetland management strategies influence plant growth and production, and how waterfowl interact with their habitat both physiologically and behaviorally.”
Linda Barrientos ([email protected])
PhD student in Ecology, specializing on human ecology. My work is on water policy in California
Sarah Friedman ([email protected])
“I’m a second year Ecology graduate student in Peter Wainwright’s lab. In a large part my research uses a combination of phylogenetics, biomechanics, and functional morphology to study the ecological mechanisms that drive the immense diversity of body shapes seen in fishes.”
Allie Weill ([email protected])
“I am a 5th year PhD candidate in the Graduate Group in Ecology. My research focuses on wildfire in chaparral-dominated regions and how fire affects plants, ecosystems, and people in California. I use a variety of approaches to look at these issues, from field and lab based evolutionary ecology to social science-based survey methods. I am primarily interested in careers outside of academia, including the conservation and science communication fields. See more at amweill.weebly.com.”
Allison Injaian ([email protected])
“I’m a Ph.D. student in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group, working in Dr. Gail Patricelli’s lab. I study the impacts of traffic noise at the molecular, physiological, behavioral and population levels in Tree Swallows. To date, I’ve found broad negative impacts of traffic noise exposure that may lead to conservation impacts. My field research takes place in Davis, CA during the spring quarters.”
Ann Holmes ([email protected])
“I’m a first year PhD student in ecology, and recently completed my MS in ecology at San Francisco State. I use genetic methods to study aquatic food webs and detect rare species. Our research findings can then can be applied to improve management and conservation. My lab at Davis is the Genomic Variation Lab: gvl.ucdavis.edu“
Brendan Barrett ([email protected])
“I am a 6th year Animal Behavior Graduate student and my research is primarily about extragenetic inheritance. Namely the population dynamics and ecological drivers of social learning (especially in non-human animals and currently wild capuchin monkeys), cultural evolution, and dispersal ecology and territorial inheritance in dusky-footed woodrats. I combine fieldwork, analytical, and statistical modeling.”
Chhaya Werner ([email protected])
“My research work is on the patterns of plant community regeneration after fire, and how that regeneration is affected by drought and climate change. I work in Sierra Nevada forests and in serpentine chaparral at McLaughlin reserve. I do observational fieldwork, manipulative experiments, and computational analysis and simulations. I worked with an amazing undergraduate assistant last year, and would love to work with more students, both as research assistants on my projects and as a mentor supporting their own research interests!”
Dan Smith ([email protected])
“I am currently in the Avian Sciences and Ecology graduate groups. I am interested in the relationship between wetland habitat and waterfowl use; specifically how wetland management strategies influence plant growth and production, and how waterfowl interact with their habitat both physiologically and behaviorally.”
Linda Barrientos ([email protected])
PhD student in Ecology, specializing on human ecology. My work is on water policy in California
Sarah Friedman ([email protected])
“I’m a second year Ecology graduate student in Peter Wainwright’s lab. In a large part my research uses a combination of phylogenetics, biomechanics, and functional morphology to study the ecological mechanisms that drive the immense diversity of body shapes seen in fishes.”