University of Michigan
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Professor Barry OConnor toted some of what he calls the "oh my" display collections of insects to Spencer Elementary School in Brighton, Tuesday, Oct. 25. OConnor’s stepdaughter, Kim Lewicki, teaches third and fourth grade gifted students and the visit was a follow up to an insect biology unit the class covered this fall.

OConnor recalls a couple of years ago when one of the students was literally bursting with enthusiasm and said "This is the BEST day in my whole school life!" This year, he said, “the kids were quite enthusiastic and some were proud to show off the knowledge that they had gained from Kim's insect biology curriculum. There was even one boy who knew a number of the Latin names of the insects!”

The EEB Honorary “Photographer at Large” Contest is back and it’s open to U-M EEB faculty, students, postdocs and staff. Submit your best photos (up to three) of lab or field research, EEB people, science-related or nature shots through Friday, November 18, 2011.

See your email for a link to the CTools site and instructions on how to upload images.

The winner receives the honorary title for the year of “Photographer at Large” in memory of David Bay who was the self-described “photographer at large” for EEB and its predecessor departments for 34 years. He touched the lives of hundreds of faculty, students and staff with his humor, good nature and expertise.

The photos are always spectacular whether they are taken around the world or just around the corner. Looking forward to seeing through your lenses!

A painting dubbed “Guarding the Catch” by John Megahan, EEB scientific illustrator and graphic designer, is in the Artists for Conservation online exhibit, November 5 – 13, 2011.

The AFC exhibit is the world's top conservation-themed art exhibit  featuring over 70 original artworks for sale by over 50 leading nature and wildlife artists from around the world.

“The inspiration for ‘Guarding the Catch’ came during a road trip across the country,” said Megahan. “When my family and I were just entering Idaho, my wife, Anne, spotted this osprey on its nest just off the road. The light was just right so I decided to try and get a few photos. Close by was a hill that was almost level with the bird so I climbed it and got some great shots. The background unfortunately was pretty bad, with a barn, electric wires and buildings visible. So, I combined the osprey images with some shots I had taken of northwest forests. I used the beautiful brown colors of the light coming through the primaries and dark reddish browns of the osprey’s body as one main hue. The other is the bluish grey of the background forest. If you look closely at the colors of the clouds you can see that I pulled in a lot of reds, purples and browns to unify the two parts of the scene.”

“I was very excited that this painting made it into the AFC show. Entries come from the top 500 wildlife artists around the world. Unfortunately, it didn't make it into the 'live' traveling show, which is limited to the top 70 paintings. Mine made the online show, the top 120 paintings. Next year I will try again and, with luck, I'll make the live show.”

Recent EEB graduate Dr. Jess Middlemis Maher began a postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State University in October 2011 doing biology education research.

She is working in Dr. Diane Ebert-May's lab in the Plant Biology Department at MSU.  “Research in Ebert-May's lab links the concepts and processes of biology to theories in cognitive science, with emphasis on how students construct their understanding of biology,” Middlemis Maher said.  “Specifically, I am working on the national FIRST IV project, a model that uses professional development in 200 postdocs to reform undergraduate biology teaching practices.  Postdocs in the program are trained in the development of learner-centered, inquiry-based pedagogies, and we evaluate the change in teaching approaches and the outcomes for student learning and tenure promotion.”

FIRST IV (Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching) for Postdoctoral Fellows is funded by the National Science Foundation and associated with five regional field station networks throughout the United States.

EEB is happy to welcome Bethany Christoff, graduate program assistant / recruiter who joined the department in October 2011. Christoff will support the graduate programs in EEB, and is responsible for all aspects of recruitment, admission, and student progress in the master's programs.

Most recently, she spent five years at the Ohio State University with the Service-Learning Initiative and Office of Outreach and Engagement working to develop and support community-based learning and research opportunities. Previously, she worked as an outreach specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Christoff received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa in biology and her master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in environmental science and policy.

“I thoroughly enjoy spending time outdoors while running, bicycling, hiking, skiing, etc.,” she said. “I have a very active one-year-old son who keeps me on my toes! I am excited to be joining the EEB team, and I look forward to supporting our current students and working with the department to continually develop our recruitment strategies – with special focus on our Frontiers Master’s Program.”

The community presented all manner of disparate objects to experts at the U-M Museum of Natural History when it hosted the 15^th annual ID Day October 9, 2011, including moon coral, a rabbit tail and pike weed.

“ID Day is a fun way to show the community what we have ‘behind the scenes’ in our museum collections,” said Celia Churchill, EEB graduate student. Churchill and Paula Teichholtz, EEB graduate student showcased a variety of tropical shells displaying adaptations to predation risk (e.g., increased thickness, spiny sculpture, presence of an operculum, or "trapdoor"). “Visitors wanted to know how shells grow, why the insides of shells (nacre) feels so smooth, whether snails have brains, and why all the ‘cool shells’ come from Florida! Several kids brought shells they'd collected from the Gulf of Mexico on family vacations, and one adult had a great collection of fossil oysters.”

EEB graduate student Jen–Pan Huang and Professor Barry OConnor staffed the insect table and identified several local insects and spiders. “We also had a lot of interesting conversations with adults and kids about both local and exotic insects and spiders,” said OConnor. 

The event is also fun for visitors who didn’t bring in objects; they learned about specimens and artifacts in the experts’ collections, and found out what surprises other visitors brought in. Approximately 75 items were identified during ID Day. A smattering of them include: a tiger moth larva, raccoon skull, fern impression on rock, mammoth tooth, artifacts including a bone tool and a whale vertebrae disk, and antique jewelry dug up in someone’s garden.

Thanks to all of the participants affiliated with U-M EEB: Celia Churchill, graduate student, EEB, Museum of Zoology, area of expertise: mollusks, marine invertebrates; Paula Teichholtz, graduate student, EEB, Museum of Zoology, area of expertise: mollusks, marine invertebrates; Alexa Unruh, graduate student, EEB and the Museum of Zoology, area of expertise: local mammals, mammalian ecology; Tanya Dewey, research program officer, Museum of Zoology, Mammal Division, EEB, area of expertise: North American mammals; Jen-Pan Huang, graduate student, EEB, Museum of Zoology, area of expertise: insects; Professor Barry OConnor, EEB, curator of insects, Museum of Zoology, area of expertise: insects and mites; Professor Gerald Smith, curator emeritus of fishes, Museum of Zoology, curator emeritus of lower vertebrates, Museum of Paleontology, professor emeritus of EEB, professor emeritus of geological sciences, area of expertise: fish evolution.

If you missed ID Day this year, gather your mysterious treasures and watch for it next year!

The Michigan Flora website presents comprehensive and up-to-date information about the diversity and occurrence of Michigan’s wild-growing vascular plants, which is essential to understanding and stewarding Michigan’s environment and appreciation of its natural heritage.

Dr. Anton Reznicek, curator of vascular plants at the U-M Herbarium, points out that Michigan Flora is searchable, browsable and contains photos, maps, full keys, species pages, and comprehensive download capability. The next phase of the website (completed, but not yet public) will include a specimen level search capability.

According to the websites’ introduction, “few things in science are more certain than the fact that floristic works become outdated almost as soon as they are printed,” and this is certainly true of the three-volume "Michigan Flora,"  the first volume published in 1972, which is being updated into a single volume by Reznicek, Herbarium curator and  research scientist. “The web is, however, ideally suited for presenting such dynamic information.”

The information presented in this website is updated from the “Michigan Flora” volumes in three main ways. First, advances in understanding of plant relationships result in the need to change a number of names to reflect this new information. These advances have been tremendous in the last couple of decades, driven by our ability to directly access the genetic code, as well as the development of computational tools and computer power sufficient to analyze such vast amounts of data. Second, there have been a large number of species added to the flora, giving considerable insight into our changing flora. Third, the maps are updated, following the precedent set in “Michigan Flora” that the maps are based only on specimens examined.  Nearly 44,000 new collections have been added since the first volume of “Michigan Flora” was published, resulting in considerable changes to our understanding of the distribution of Michigan plants.

The website is based largely on data carefully gathered over decades by Ed Voss, Herbarium curator emeritus, Reznicek, and information from the three-volume “Michigan Flora.” Beverly Walters, Herbarium collection manager, is the site’s data manager who has also contributed many photos, proofread, and helped update information. The site was designed by Reznicek and Walters, with programming by Kraig Korroch, Michigan Natural Features Inventory’s information technologist.

The project was supported by a grant from the U-M Office of the Vice President for Research with matching funds from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, and the U-M Herbarium, with appreciation to Professor Paul Berry, Herbarium director and curator. Complete acknowledgements can be viewed on the website.

We are pleased to announce the new graduate and undergraduate associate chairs and two new associate chairs for the museum collections.

Professor L. Lacey Knowles, is the new associate chair for graduate studies, taking over for Professor George Kling. During her three-year term, she is responsible for all aspects of the Ph.D. and master's programs in EEB. The associate chair is responsible for the admissions, recruitment, financial aid, and progress towards degree for all graduate students in our programs, and chairs the Graduate Affairs Committee as well as the Graduate Admissions Committee.

Professor Priscilla Tucker is the new associate chair for undergraduate curriculum, taking the reins from Professor Barry OConnor. She shares responsibility for the undergraduate Program in Biology with the associate chair in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology for a three-year term. The associate chair works with the faculty to determine teaching commitments, resolves student and curriculum issues, and chairs the department curriculum committee.

Professor Paul Berry, director of the Herbarium and Professor Diarmaid Ó Foighil, director of the Museum of Zoology have been named associate chairs for museum collections.

They will manage all aspects of the collections, including promoting museum‐related projects and grants, ensuring stewardship of the collections and databases, oversight of daily operations, supervision and evaluation of curatorial activities by faculty and of collections staff, and ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations. They will work with directors of other LSA museums and throughout the university to ensure coordination of museum‐related activities.

Pictured: top left: Knowles, Tucker, bottom left: Berry, Ó Foighil.

The Gallery Project, UMWELT (Subjective World) runs through October 30, 2011 at 215 South Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor. The multimedia exhibit features over 20 local, regional, and national artists and scientists who explore the unique sensory worlds of animals, including several from the University of Michigan Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Contributors affiliated with EEB include: Alison Davis-Rabosky, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, who joins EEB in September 2012; Evan Economo, Michigan Fellow; Professor Phil Gingerich; Michael Sheehan, graduate student and Professor Elizabeth Tibbetts.

Image by Sheehan

Did you know that mites are older than dinosaurs by about 200 million years? Mites are found almost everywhere on earth, from the highest mountains, deepest oceans, hot, wet tropical forests, to cold, dry valleys of Antarctica. You will learn this and much more from a new exhibit at the Museum of Natural History called “The Invisible World of Mites,” which highlights the research of Professor Barry OConnor, renowned acarologist.

In the rotunda as visitors enter the museum, they will see a large informational panel with photos and a plethora of mite information as well as an interactive display that explores mite diversity and tests their knowledge.

Categories covered include: what are mites? Who studies mites? Weird lifestyles, hitchin’ a ride, and sharing your bed (just what you always wanted to know).

A few more interesting facts: there are mites that move like earthworms through dirt, some mites parasitize other parasites, and mites are herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. Mites belong to one of the most diverse groups of arthropods, a very large group of creatures that have hard exoskeletons or outer shells instead of backbones. Arthropods include insects, spiders and lobsters, to name a few. OConnor is a curator of insects and arachnids in the Insect Division in the U-M Museum of Zoology.

According to the exhibit, “When you are at home, sitting on your sofa, lying in your bed, even if nobody else is around, you are never alone. There are thousands, even millions of dust mites there with you.” Now there’s a thought to leave you with. Learn more through April 2012 (the exhibit has been extended since the printing of the banners).

As seen in the University Record.