Reuters’s ScienceWatch has selected the Werren Lab’s recent Science paper on Nasonia genomes as a “new hot paper.” Their coverage includes an interview with Jack about this paper and its significance. In other exciting news from the Werren Lab, Jack and Michael Clark received one of the University of Rochester Provost’s Multidisciplinary Award to study venom function and evolution in collaboration with Alan Friedman (protein biochemistry – URMC).
Image from http://www.mftz.com/
Rochester just claimed the title of eighth best mid-size city in the United States for student life in the American Institute for Economic Research‘s college destinations index [pdf document]. We ranked particularly high in indices of student concentration (students/1,000 residents) and arts and leisure (arts, entertainment and recreation establishments/100,000 residents).
D. virilis image from http://mushi.didi-oto.com/
Our own Allen Orr will be presenting this Friday at 3PM in Hutch 316 on “Extinction and the population genetics of adaptation.” See you Friday!
Monday: Speciation discussion group. 2PM in Graduate Student Lounge. Ch. 5, Ecological Isolation (page 179-210) from Coyne and Orr.
Tuesday: EEB Journal club. 12:30 in Hutch 316. Korbel et al. (2007) Paired-end mapping reveals extensive structural variation in the human genome. Science. [link] (Don’t forget to read the supplement!)
Wednesday: Island biogeography discussion group. Noon in Hutch 337. Chapter 5 of The Theory of Island Biogeography Revisited (Toward a Trophic Island Biogeography). Bring some cash if you want to eat with us, we’re probably going to do Indian this week.
Have you considered using GIS for your research, but been scared off by the prospect of learning to use the cumbersome ArcGIS software? If so, you should consider Monroe County’s Intro to GIS Using ArcGIS 9.3.1, a two day class running this Thursday and Friday that’s free to Monroe County residents (there is a $300 fee for non-residents).
From Floridapfe's flickr stream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridapfe/)
EEB researchers may be interested in some of the talks at the Optical Society of America’s vision meeting, which will be held at the UR Medical Center in a couple of weeks. The first session covers comparative color vision across the animal kingdom, and a later talk assesses evolutionary models of color categorization. You can find the complete schedule and details on talks and presenters on the web. Speakers of interest include Nathaniel Dominy, Claude Desplan, Almut Kelber, Joseph Corbo and Kimberley A. Jameson. Oct 22/23 in the Class of ’62 Auditorium. – David Loehlin
A member of the fig wasp genus Apocryptophagus, one of few possible examples of sympatric speciation (image from figweb.org).
Monday: Speciation discussion group. 2PM in Graduate Student Lounge. Pages 111-178 of Coyne and Orr on parapatric and symatric speciation.
Tuesday: EEB Journal club. 12:30 in Hutch 316. Mardis (2009) Next generation DNA sequencing methods. Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics 9:387-402. [doi link]
Wednesday: Island biogeography discussion group. Noon in Hutch 337. Chapter 4 of The Theory of Island Biogeography Revisited (Whittaker et al.’s chapter on the rise and fall of volcanic islands). Bring $6 if you want in on pizza from Great Northern Pizza Kitchen.
Jack Werren introduces Mollie Manier's talk on sperm precedence.
Mollie Manier from Scott Pitnick’s Lab at Syracuse University just gave an excellent talk on sperm precedence to a packed house. If you missed the talk, be sure to check out the videos of sperm behavior within the female reproductive tract that are posted on the Pitnick Lab’s web page.
