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.
This page lists the current school year’s (Fall and Spring semesters) journal club meeting announcements and topics. If you’re looking for a past meeting, see the journal club meeting archive.
JOURNAL CLUB
Spring 2022
. . . Tuesday, March 1. Due to low/no attendance at multiple meetings, journal club will be cancelled for the remainder of the semester. Instead, we will attempt to do a once a month social happy hour with the first meeting being after Spring Break on Friday March 25th at 5 pm.
. . . Thursday, February 24. We will be meeting for Happy Hour at Rough Draft at 4 pm on Thursday. There are no reading materials for this week – just show up and catch up with your fellow EEBers.
. . Wednesday, February 16. Please make note of the new journal club hours: 4 pm on Thursdays.
This week, we will be reading the prologue and part 1 of Letters to a Young Scientist as well as two articles about scientific racism and E.O. Wilson.
[“Complicated Legacy of E.O. Wilson,” Scientific American] and [The Last Refuge of Scoundrels, scienceforthepeople.org]
In addition to a critical discussion of the book, we hope to foster an ongoing discussion on anti-racism in evolutionary biology and other STEM fields. Through discussion, we can all learn about barriers that deter students from diverse backgrounds from pursuing and retaining interest in STEM, learn about our own internal biases, and learn how to be proactive in changing our own thoughts and actions.
This week we will discuss grappling with long-standing historic racism in evolutionary biology, using E. O. Wilson’s legacy as a focal point.
. . . Wednesday, February 9. Emma will be leading this week’s discussion about rethinking the way scientists are assessed. Here is the Zoom link to join at 9 am on Wednesday. [Read paper online] [Download PDF Esposito et al 2022]
As part of journal club this semester, we will be reading Letters to a Young Scientist by E. O. Wilson over a series of weeks. We’ll discuss the the prologue and part one of the book on 2/16.
. . . Wednesday, February 2. Journal club will meet virtually at 9 am to discuss this paper on the evolution of plant communication. Natalie will be leading the discussion – thanks Natalie! [Zoom link to meeting] [Heil and Karban 2009, for download]
We will also be discussing Letters to a Young Scientist by E.O. Wilson for two journal club (2/16 and 4/16) sessions this semester. The chapter breakdowns will follow next week.
Fall 2021
. . . Friday, December 3. This is the last journal club of the semester. Alanna will lead a discussion on the evolution of sex chromosomes based on a paper in Nature by Jeffries et al 2018. As always, see you on Zoom at 4pm!
. . . Friday, November 26. Thanksgiving holiday, no journal club.
. . . Friday, November 19. Journal club will be virtual this Friday at 4 pm on Zoom. Meredith will lead a discussion about behavioral variation in salamanders. [American Naturalist]
. . . Friday, November 12. For journal club this week, we will be discussing a paper about new methods for studying hybridization in plants. We will meet on Zoom at 4 pm. Hope to see you then! [Folk et al 2017]
. . . Friday, November 5. Journal club will be meeting in person this week for happy hour at Carney’s at 4 pm tomorrow. Plan to meet up on the back porch.
. . . Friday, October 29. Milton will be leading a discussion on extreme heat events under climate change. [Download paper, Pandori and Sorti, 2021 or view online].
. . . Friday, October 22. For this week’s journal club, Erin will lead the discussion on inequities across generations to extreme climate events. [Thiery et al 2021] [Online version]
As usual, we will meet virtually on Friday at 4 pm via Zoom.
. . . Friday, October 15. Journal club will meet virtually this week to discuss a video on how to develop your academic writing skills. The video is a bit long… so feel free to jump in at around 20 minutes when the going gets good. Natalie will be leading this week’s discussion – thanks Natalie! We meet on Zoom at 4pm.
. . . Friday, October 8. Journal Club will meet in person this week for Happy Hour at Savage Brew Lab at 5 pm (location doesn’t open until 5). They have a large outdoor seating space, locally brewed beer, and a food truck. There will be no formal paper discussion.
. . . Friday, October 1. Benton will be leading the discussion on food production systems and biodiversity. The paper (see link) will be a jumping off point for a discussion on contradicting needs (i.e., feeding a growing population, developing the economy) in areas of high priority for conservation due to their wealth of biodiversity. We meet on Zoom at 4pm. Next week (Friday 10/8), we will be meeting in person at Savage Brew Lab for happy hour. [Science Advances]
. . . Friday, September 24. This week we will be discussing a paper on the hydra effect in relation to managing invasive species. Here is a link to the paper. We will be meeting on Zoom this week, here is the link. We will meet virtually next week, and will have our monthly in person meeting on October 8th.
. . . Friday, September 17. Emma will be leading the discussion on hawkweed genetic variation. As usual, we will meet at 4 pm on Friday on Zoom. [Loomis & Fishman, 2009]
. . . Friday, September 10. Jordan will lead this week’s journal club to discuss a paper about invasive species and soil carbon. We will meet online via Zoom at 4 pm. This link will be active all semester for online meeting. [Paper] [Zoom link]
. . . Friday, September 3. Journal club will kick off the new semester with an informal happy hour at 4 pm at Bee Creek Park in College Station.
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 either virtually or in person to discuss a paper related to ecology or evolutionary biology, a piece of science communication on a related topic (e.g., a podcast), or an issue relevant to the EEB community. This serves as a way for students to learn about cutting-edge research across our disciplines. Once a month, the club meets in person for an informal happy hour to socialize with other students in the program. If you are interested in leading a journal club session, please contact Nicole at nicole.scavo@tamu.edu.
Picnic and Crawfish Boil
Traditionally, EEBISO hosts a larger social event each semester such as a picnic in the fall and a crawfish boil in the spring. Given the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, EEBISO is discussing safe options for these events this year. More information to follow!
Additional activities
In addition to the activities listed above, EEBISO members also assist with other EEB sponsored activities such as the Ecological Integration Symposium (EIS), which happens every spring.
