As a graduate student, networking and connecting with fellow student researchers is an important way to share information, discover innovative solutions to research problems, and even set up collaborations. EEBISO and journal club are two important ways to connect.
JOURNAL CLUB
Spring 2021
. . . Friday, April 16. For this week’s journal club, we will continue our discussion about mentorship but with a focus on how we can both recognize good mentorship and be good mentors to others in our labs (who often happen to be undergrads). Feel free to share papers or resources you know of in advance and we’ll put them in our handy dandy EEB Grad Drive. As usual, 4 pm on Zoom.
. . . Friday, April 9. We will be discussing healthy mentorship at Friday’s journal club. As usual, 4 pm on Zoom.
. . . Friday, April 2. We will discuss an article in The Atlantic about the sex lives of butterflies, as well as the following paper. Special thanks to Emma for finding this interesting topic and leading the discussion this week. As usual, 4 pm on Zoom. [Meslin et al 2017]
. . . Friday, March 26. We’ll be discussing ecological tipping points in tropical forests. As usual, 4pm on Zoom. [Roque et al 2018]
. . . Friday, March 19. No journal club, Spring Break.
. . . Friday, March 12. Last week we talked about trying some improv games – so we’ll plan on playing Ask the Expert and Academic Karaoke this week. No prep or reading necessary! See you Friday at 4pm on Zoom.
. . . Friday, March 5. This week, we’ll use part of the session as an opportunity for the newest cohort to get to know some of the more advanced EEB students. Then we’ll be talking about the impact the pandemic has had on wildlife with the help of the linked articles. See you Friday at 4pm on Zoom. [Popular Science] [Nature Ecology & Evolution]
. . . Monday, March 1. We’re looking for people to lead journal club sessions this semester. Instructions follow:
Choose a day you want to lead the journal club discussion and sign up on the linked Google Doc. We are trying to mix things up this semester, so discussion on papers, podcasts, videos, etc. are welcome! Also other activities are welcome, think academic karaoke (e.g., presenting random slides) as an example. Please contact Nicole Scavo with questions.
. . . Friday, February 26. We’ll be kicking off journal club again this week with a podcast discussion. The episode of Common Descent we’ll be discussing is on the sixth mass extinction… it’s a long podcast, so feel free to skip around (the main content starts at about 50 minutes). See you all on Zoom at 5 pm tomorrow. Meeting ID and passcode were included in the EEB distribution email if you signed up. Contact Nicole Scavo if you need help accessing the meeting.
Fall 2020
. . . Friday, November 13. We’ll be doing a quick dive into woodpecker social dynamics this week. We meet on Zoom at 4pm. Bring your friends and pets! [Barve et al 2020]
. . . Friday, November 6. Jamie Alfieri will be leading a discussion on gene ontology. As usual, we meet on Zoom at 4pm. Bring your friends. [Pavlidis et al 2020]
. . . Friday, October 30. Friday’s journal club discussion will tackle this paper on the origin and population genetics of ancient dogs. No one’s leading, so it’s just a general discussion. We meet at 4pm on Zoom. [Bergstrom et al]
. . . Friday, October 23. No paper discussion this week. Instead, a quick meeting about the health insurance opt in/information and anything else you’d like to discuss. We meet at 4pm on Zoom.
. . . Friday, October 16. This week’s journal club will be a discussion on the complexity and scaling in landscape ecology. No one is leading this week, so we’ll just be having a general discussion of topics with the intent of getting a few folks ready for prelims. As always, everyone is welcome and please invite your labs, home departments, and your pets. We meet at 4pm on Zoom. [Newman et al 2019]
. . . Friday, October 9. No paper this week! Instead, we’re going to take a little time to celebrate a few of our own: Zach Hancock, who will be defending his thesis this Friday, and Jamie Alfieri, who will have completed his prelims! So bring your beverage-of-choice to toast two of our own and chat. As usual, we meet at 4pm on Zoom.
. . . Friday, October 2. Emma Lehmberg will present a paper on feeding fish eggs to waterfowl to see if the fish would survive, perhaps evidence for a modified version of the classic fish eggs on duck feet theory (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, see this paper at phys.org)! Is this a regular enough occurrence to actually affect dispersal and colonization? Fish food for thought. As usual, we meet at 4pm on Zoom. [Lovas Kiss 2020]
. . . Friday, September 25. Natalie Hamilton will be leading a discussion on the poetically titled paper, “A nudibranch removes rival sperm with a disposable spiny penis.” Join us to discuss the evolution of simultaneous hermaphroditism and whether sperm competition is expected to evolve under such a system. We meet at 4pm on Zoom. (Note this Zoom link is different.) [Sekizawa 2019]
. . . Friday, September 11. No journal club today.
. . . Friday, September 4. Amanda Beckman will present a review paper on the dimensions of animal consciousness. Join us to discuss this interesting and thought-provoking opinion piece! We meet on Zoom at 4 pm (Central). [Birch et al 2020]
. . . Friday, August 28. EEB Journal Club returns to its regularly scheduled programming today. Zach Hancock will lead a discussion on JBS Haldane’s (1964) “defense of beanbag genetics.” For a bit of historical perspective, see the commentary from 2007 by James Crow (optional). A major component of this historical debate is simplifying assumptions in models and how useful they are when examining real populations. We meet on Zoom at 4 pm (Central). [Haldane paper] [Crow commentary]
. . . Friday, August 20. No journal club today.
EEBISO
The Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Interdisciplinary Student Organization (EEBISO) facilitates the formation of these connections by providing a relaxed setting for students to stay abreast of our ever-changing field(s), socialize with students from a vast array of departments and research backgrounds, have fun and make lasting friendships and collaborations in the process.
Below is a list of some of the events the EEBISO hosts. All are student-run, with the goal of fostering leadership and community within the graduate students participating in EEB.
If you want to get on the EEBISO (student organization) listserv, send an email to listserv@listserv.tamu.edu with SUBSCRIBE eebiso FirstName LastName in the body of the message.
Weekly Journal Club
Every week, EEBISO students meet up to discuss a journal article that is ecology or evolutionary biology-themed. This serves as a way for students to learn about cutting-edge research across our wide disciplines. See the journal club schedule on this page.
Monthly Shop Talks
The first week of every month, in-lieu of journal club, students may present talks in progress, a discussion about a new lab methodology they’re trying, photos from a recent field expedition, or data they’re trouble shooting to their peers for help and feedback. Pizza is often provided!
Weekly Happy Hours
EEB students and faculty at A&M know that relaxing after a long week in the lab is important for mental and emotional health—and many take part in this informal happy hour event held at Northgate (just north of campus) to relax and catch up with colleagues.
Fall EEBISO-hosted Picnic and Spring Crawfish Boil
Every semester, EEBISO officers and volunteers put together these often huge and always fun social gatherings. In fall, activities include eating great food catered from local businesses and a pre-Halloween/science themed costume contest. Our crawfish boil takes advantage of the spring crawfish harvest and is one of our most popular events.
Additional activities
In addition to the activities listed above, EEBISO members also play intramural soccer, go on camping adventures together, and often assist with other EEB sponsored activities, such as the Ecological Integration Symposium (EIS), which happens every spring.
