BioScience articles from January 2007

BioScience archives from January 2007

Science's greatest challenge.(Editorial)(to make sure science is taken seriously)(Editorial)
January 1, 2007... The pace of progress in biological science, as in science generally, is staggering. As a young faculty member in the 1970s, I could not have conceived that we would soon have in hand the complete sequence of even a viral genome, much less a...

The foundation of a new conservation movement: professional society positions on economic growth.(Viewpoint)(Viewpoint essay)
January 1, 2007... The American Fisheries Society, American Society of Mammalogists, and Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) are contemplating position statements on the conflict between economic growth and conservation of fish, mammals, and biodiversity,...

Cannery row revisited.(John Steinbeck writings revived)
January 1, 2007... New research is reviving interest in the work of Edward F. Ricketts, a maverick marine biologist immortalized in the writings of John Steinbeck, who foresaw the impacts of overfishing in the Pacific more than 75 years ago. Today his scientific...

Researching teaching scientifically.(Eye on Education)(Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology)
January 1, 2007... While many educators recognize the importance of "scientific teaching," they are less certain about how to engage in this process. One approach taken by the developers of Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE; http://tiee....

Post postdoc: are new scientists prepared for the real world?(Washington Watch)(National Postdoctoral Association)
January 1, 2007... Postdoctoral researchers are an essential part of the scientific community, yet their status in the academic community often fails to reflect their significant role in advancing the nation's scientific research programs. Postdoctoral scholars...

Mercury contamination in forest and freshwater ecosystems in the northeastern United States.
January 1, 2007... Eastern North America receives elevated atmospheric mercury deposition from a combination of local, regional, and global sources. Anthropogenic emissions originate largely from electric utilities, incinerators, and industrial processes. The...

Biological mercury hotspots in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada.(Northeastern Ecosystem Research Cooperative research papers)
January 1, 2007... ********** Mercury (Hg) is a local, regional, and global pollutant that affects fish, wildlife, and human health. Recently, 71 scientists from New England, New York, and eastern Canada compiled and analyzed more than 30,000 observations of...

Building EDENs: the rise of environmentally distributed ecological networks.(environmentally distributed ecological networks)
January 1, 2007... Environmentally distributed ecological networks (EDENs) are growing increasingly important in ecology, coordinating research in more disciplines and over larger areas than ever before, while supplanting post hoc syntheses of uncoordinated...

Employing philosophical dialogue in collaborative science.(Thinking of Biology)
January 1, 2007... Integrated research across disciplines is required to address many of the pressing environmental problems facing human societies. Often the integration involves disparate disciplines, including those in the biological sciences, and demands...

Merging precaution with sound science under the Endangered Species Act.(Biologist's Toolbox)
January 1, 2007... Hypothesis tests, which aim to minimize type I errors (false positive results), are standard procedures in scientific research, but they are often inappropriate in Endangered Species Act (ESA) reviews, where the primary objective is to prevent...

Constructing a broader and more inclusive value system in science.(Professional Biologist)
January 1, 2007... A scientific culture that welcomes a diversity of participants and addresses a broad range of questions is critical to the success of the scientific enterprise and essential for engaging the public in science. By favoring behaviors and...

Complex dependencies.(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Plant-Pollinator Interactions: From Specialization to Generalization. Nickolas M. Waser and Jeff Ollerton, eds. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2006. 445 pp. $45.00 (ISBN 0226874001 paper). Ecologists no longer expect that field...

Blazing a biographic trail.(Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code. Matt Ridley. HarperCollins, New York, 2006, 214 pp. $19.95 (ISBN 006082333X cloth). In 2004, HarperCollins launched "Eminent Lives," a series of brief biographies of important historical...

Feelings do not a science make.(Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good. Jonathan Balcombe. Macmillan, New York, 2006. 256 pp. $24.95 (ISBN 1403986010 cloth). Jonathan Balcombe has broken what he describes as the scientific taboo on discussing animal...

New titles.
January 1, 2007... Aldo Leopold's Odyssey. Julianne Lutz Newton. Island Press, Washington, DC, 2006. 504 pp., illus. $32.95 (ISBN 1597260452 cloth). Atlantic Shorelines: Natural History and Ecology. Mark D. Bertness. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ,...

AIBS to promote public understanding of science in 2009 activities.(AIBS news; American Institute of Biological Sciences)
January 1, 2007... As scientists and educators are aware, understanding science requires more than the regurgitation of memorized facts. Science is a process and a method for explaining natural phenomena. An informed public understanding of the nature of science...

Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science forms, calls for organizations to join its network.(AIBS news)(Broadcast transcript)
January 1, 2007... AIBS is participating in the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), a grassroots effort linking universities, scientific societies, science advocacy groups, science media, science educators, businesses, and industry in a...

Meet the CEO of NEON.(AIBS news; National Ecological Observatory Network; David Schimel)
January 1, 2007... NEON, Inc., is pleased to announce that David Schimel, senior scientist from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), has been named CEO of NEON. Since 1992, Schimel has served as a terrestrial scientist in NCAR's Climate and Global...

AIBS attends NSDL meeting.(AIBS news)(National Science Digital Library )
January 1, 2007... Susan Musante and Oksana Hlodan from AIBS attended the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) 2006 annual meeting held October 18-20 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC. NSDL was launched by the...

Executive director's recent blog entries online at http://blogs. aibs.org/richardogrady.(AIBS news)
January 1, 2007... * Biologists in the public policy arena: Fellows or staff? Education or policy?

Recent education reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)(Calendar)
January 1, 2007... * AIBS Diversity Scholars application deadline is January 15 * 2007 AIBS annual meeting registration now open * 2006 AIBS annual meeting lectures available online * Call for proposals from NCEAS * Canon National Parks Science...

Recent articles online at www.actionbioscience.org.(AIBS news)
January 1, 2007... Original articles in English * "Animals: Tracing Their Heritage," interview with Nicole King, Departments of Integrative Biology and Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley * "Exploring the Foja Mountains of...

Recent AIBS public policy reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)(Report)
January 1, 2007... Public Policy Report for 18 December 2006 * Congress adjourns, having completed little work * GAO report reviews Smithsonian-Showtime partnership * New House committee chairs named * Governors expand competitiveness initiative...

Calendar of meetings.(Brief article)(Calendar)
January 1, 2007... Calendar of meetings February 4-9 American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Santa Fe, NM; http://aslo.org/ meetings.html 5-10 Weed Science Society of America, ...

The environmental impacts of a border fence.
January 1, 2007... A group of Arizona park and refuge managers, wildlife biologists, and conservationists has charged that building a wall along the US-Mexican border to keep illegal immigrants and drug smugglers out of the United States will fragment the Sonoran...