BIOLOGY GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATION
Spring 2007 Semester
President:
Vice President:
Secretary/Treasurer:
Melissa Marquez
marqmeli@nmsu.edu
Iliana Cooley
riliana@nmsu.edu
Elizabeth Moseman
emoseman@nmsu.edu
MEETING SUMMARIES:
25. Jan 2007 ........................................................................................................................ 3
1. Open House ............................................................................................................... 3
2. Re-chartering BGSO ................................................................................................ 3
3. Brown Bag ............................................................................................................... 3
4. Grad Week ................................................................................................................ 3
5. Immunology prof search needs student rep .............................................................. 4
6. GAA committee rep needed...................................................................................... 4
7. Open TA position needs to be filled (BIOL 211) ..................................................... 4
8. BGSO speaker ........................................................................................................... 4
9. GSC update ............................................................................................................... 4
10. Community service opportunity .............................................................................. 4
11. Change meeting time?.............................................................................................. 4
08. Feb 2007........................................................................................................................ 5
1. Meeting time/place problems .................................................................................... 5
2. Open House report .................................................................................................... 5
3. ASNMSU News ........................................................................................................ 5
New Senator ................................................................................................................ 5
GRAS & Grad Week planning update ........................................................................ 5
4. Brown Bag update..................................................................................................... 5
5. Faculty meeting update ............................................................................................. 5
6. Community service opportunities ............................................................................. 6
Spring Visits................................................................................................................ 6
Science Fair ................................................................................................................. 6
7. Re-doing grad picture board ..................................................................................... 6
8. Change length of BGSO officer terms? .................................................................... 6
9. Support wolf reintroduction ...................................................................................... 6
22. Feb 2007........................................................................................................................ 6
1. Grad student appreciation ......................................................................................... 6
2. Faculty meeting update ............................................................................................. 6
3. Movie Night .............................................................................................................. 7
4. GSC meeting update ................................................................................................. 7
AGS............................................................................................................................. 7
Senator Position .......................................................................................................... 7
5. Biology Library......................................................................................................... 7
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6. Brown Bag ................................................................................................................ 7
7. Advisor involvement in BGSO ................................................................................. 7
8. BGSO website updated ............................................................................................. 8
29. Mar 2007 ....................................................................................................................... 8
1. Biosymposium volunteers needed (31. Mar) ............................................................. 8
2. GRAS volunteers needed (26-27 April) .................................................................... 8
3. Movie Night movie picked – Idiocracy ..................................................................... 8
4. Fall BGSO speaker suggestions needed .................................................................... 8
5. Funding updates ......................................................................................................... 8
6. BGSO spring speaker arriving 03. May..................................................................... 8
7. Grad office spaces ...................................................................................................... 8
8. Spring BGSO funding ................................................................................................ 9
9. ASNMSU update from Marcus ................................................................................. 9
12. April 2007 ..................................................................................................................... 9
1. Fall speaker submissions discussed ........................................................................... 9
Ronald Hoy ................................................................................................................. 9
Daniel Mennill ............................................................................................................ 9
Michael L. Rosenzweig ............................................................................................ 10
Daniel Simberloff...................................................................................................... 10
2. Voted on BGSO funding applications ..................................................................... 11
3. BGSO biology seminar speaker 03-04 May ............................................................ 11
4. Faculty meeting update ............................................................................................ 11
5. Building suggestions ................................................................................................ 11
6. Mary Jane West-Eberhard visit next week .............................................................. 12
7. Community service opportunities ............................................................................ 12
Moving a donated tree into Foster Hall lobby (this weekend).................................. 12
Relay for Life (27-28 April) ..................................................................................... 12
Keep Las Cruces Beautiful (28 April) ...................................................................... 12
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2:30-3:30, Foster Hall 381
25. Jan 2007
1. Open House
The Biology Open House will take place next week on Thursday, 01 Feb from 12:30 to
3:30 in the lobby of Foster Hall. Iliana & Melissa have been working on a faculty poster
(+14 responded). Anyone else who is interested in making a poster for their lab should
contact one of the BGSO officers. Dan has offered free poster-printing on the biology
printer. Please contact one of the BGSO officers if you would like to volunteer for this
event.
2. Re-chartering BGSO
We need to re-charter the BGSO again (every time we switch officers). We need to
submit either the full names of all members or names and the new Banner ID number (not
the social security number). If you have already submitted your full name in the fall, you
do not have to send you Banner ID. Please contact Liz (emoseman@nmsu.edu) if you
would like to sign up or confirm your membership.
3. Brown Bag
The BGSO would like to restart the weekly Brown Bag presentations. Dan has offered to
support us each week with a food allowance. Please contact the following BGSO
members who have volunteered to be on the Brown Bag committee if you would like to
present, or if you know someone who would like to present:
Nabeeh
Anke
Jana
Liz
n2hasan@nmsu.edu
akonrad@nmsu.edu
janam@nmsu.edu
emoseman@nmsu.edu
4. Grad Week
The GSC is planning a week-long celebration for grads this year in addition to the regular
GRAS presentations. This is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the
Graduate School at NMSU. Many events are planned for the week of March 26-30. The
BGSO is interested in putting on another movie night during this week, possibly on
Wednesday. The movie “What the bleep do we really know?” was suggested by Anna as
a movie that appealed to broad interests (i.e. not just biology). We could also invite
professors from other departments to comment during the movie. Other events: a BBQ is
planned for Monday night (26th). The PhD comic guy Jorge Cham is also coming, but
the GSC needs to find funds to support this – check out his comics about the life of PhD
students at http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php.
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5. Immunology prof search needs student rep
The Biology department is beginning its search for an immunology professor and would
like grad student help and input. Volunteers need to have taken at least one immunology
course. Dan has volunteered to represent grad students in this faculty search.
6. GAA committee rep needed
Jana has finished her term as the grad student rep to the GAA committee and is looking
for a successor. Nabeeh volunteered to take her place. The rep will help the committee
evaluate the applications of incoming students and will rank them in terms of prior
teaching experience in order to help assign TA positions. The committee is run by Peter
Hood and Jana said that she didn’t think it required a large time commitment. The next
meeting is 15. March.
7. Open TA position needs to be filled (BIOL 211)
Contact Amy Marion at amarion@nmsu.edu if you are interested in a half-time TA
position this spring.
8. BGSO speaker
The BGSO-invited speaker will be coming to NMSU to present a seminar talk on 09
May. We will also be taking suggestions and voting on who the BGSO would like to
invite for the fall semester. If you have a speaker suggestion, please contact a BGSO
officer.
9. GSC update
There is a GSC meeting tonight at 5:00 after the biology seminar in the Senate Chambers
of the Corbett Center. We will be discussing double-dipping funding problems, GRAS
and Grad week, and the two open seats for grad ASNMSU senators. If anyone is
interested in running as a senator, please either attend the GSC meeting this week or
contact the GSC president Esteban Torres at qprimetheos@yahoo.com. There may also
be a financial incentive to run for the position – rumor has it that at least partial tuition
waivers are granted to senators, but we need to confirm this. The GSC will vote on the
new senators next week at the meeting on Thursday.
10. Community service opportunity
Linda sent out an email about a potential community service opportunity for BGSO
members. The Girl Scouts are having an international event on 24 Feb and would like
help setting up and running the event. Please contact Linda at liperez@nmsu.edu if you
are interested in helping.
11. Change meeting time?
Some people have complained that they can’t make the current time. However, we ran
into problems trying to find a better time. Please contact an officer if you would like to
attend but have a conflict and make a suggestion for a time that would be better.
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2:00-3:00, Foster Hall Lobby
08. Feb 2007
1. Meeting time/place problems
This week’s meeting was originally scheduled to meet in FH 481 but that room was
unavailable due to a double-booking problem. If you would like to book one of the
Foster Hall rooms make sure you speak to Gloria or whoever has the room scheduling
book and make sure your reservation gets written down in order to avoid similar
problems. We ended up moving the meeting to the Foster Hall lobby. Meeting time and
place for the next meeting will be Thursday, 2:30-3:30 in Foster Hall 381.
2. Open House report
Thanks to everyone who helped out with the Open House last week. The biology
department plus visitors devoured 20 pizzas and 40 burritos as well as almost every
single chip and the cheese tray. We had a good turnout and overall the faculty was
enthusiastic about the event.
3. ASNMSU News
New Senator: Marcus Williams and Quentin Ray were voted in as the new grad senators
to ASNMSU at the meeting last week. Marcus has informed the BGSO that another grad
senator resigned and so there is another senator position open that needs to be filled. Any
other Bio grads interested?
GRAS & Grad Week planning update: We discussed doing a Movie Night during
grad week. Movie suggestions were “What the bleep do we really know?” and
“Idiocracy”. Most people thought Monday (26 March) was a good day to do the Movie
Night during grad week because there aren’t very many events planned for that night.
One event that is planned is NMSU Idol which will be presented by an undergraduate
fraternity. BGSO members at the meeting could not understand why this undergrad event
is on the Grad Week schedule and would like it removed. We also discussed potential
rooms for Movie Night. We are going to look into booking a room in Hardman. We also
talked about rooms in Corbett, but they have extra regulations for showing copywrited
material that make booking rooms there more difficult.
4. Brown Bag update
Nabeeh spoke to Dan about getting a room for Brown Bags. Dan would like them to be
held in either Foster Hall 381 or 481, but BGSO members at the meeting all agreed that
these rooms are too small and are not set up for larger presentations. Another possibility
is getting a room in Science Hall. It looks like Brown Bags will be held on Wednesdays
at 4:00pm. Patrick and Raj have volunteered for the first few presentations.
5. Faculty meeting update
Faculty will be presenting 2 awards again this year for best teacher and best
BioSymposium presentation. There will not be any grad input on voting for the best
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presentation this year (last year there were some grad judges for the presentations). Grad
help is needed for set up and clean up for the event.
6. Community service opportunities
Spring Visits 19 Feb, 11:00-2:00 – help with tours/set up for student recruitment
Science Fair 10 Mar – Judge a local science fair
7. Re-doing grad picture board
Many grad pictures on the Foster grad board are very out of date: people have graduated,
new students have arrived, and hairstyles have changed dramatically. Anke and Ricardo
are currently stalking the halls of Foster to get new pictures. You can also send them a
picture if you’d like (akonrad@nmsu.edu or ricardo@nmsu.edu). Please also send
information on which lab you are in and a few sentences about your research interests.
8. Change length of BGSO officer terms?
Melissa brought up the idea of changing the length of terms for BGSO officers from the
current year to a semester-long position. She thought it might encourage more people to
run for office. Most BGSO members thought it would be a good idea to leave the term at
a year and only change it if we are not able to find people to run for the entire term.
9. Support wolf reintroduction
The NM Wilderness Alliance is asking for letters to senators in support of wolf
reintroductions. We talked about writing one letter from the BGSO and getting grads and
faculty to sign it (similar to the letter last year for reducing oil consumption).
2:30-3:30, Foster Hall Lobby
22. Feb 2007
1. Grad student appreciation
This week’s meeting, like last week’s, was scheduled to be held in Foster Hall 381 but
was again moved to the lobby due to a scheduling conflict with the room. This led to a
discussion about how graduate students are valued within the department. We also
discussed the faculty proposal for graduate awards for Biosymposium. Although grad
students have assisted in judging presentations in the past, some faculty would like to
discontinue this. Many members felt that judging presentations at Biosymposium is a
valuable experience and are unhappy that all that the faculty wants from the grads this
year is hard labor – they would like us to help set up and move things, but not contribute
intellectually to the symposium other than giving talks. Iliana will raise this issue at the
next faculty meeting.
2. Faculty meeting update
Fish & Wildlife may be offering some classes that may overlap with some of the
undergraduate ecology courses offered by the Biology Department. Iliana also
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mentioned that the Biology Department might not be ranked nationally this year because
of the limited faculty response to NRC questionnaires. She did say that there is still a
chance for a national ranking if at least 80% of the faculty responds before the final
deadline.
3. Movie Night
We have scheduled a movie night for the Monday of GRAS. It will probably be shown
in Hardman 208, and graduate students from across NMSU are invited. Potential movies
include “What the &*%$ do we really know?” and “Idiocracy”. The first was screened
last weekend at Anna’s house and Marcus offered to host the screening of “Idiocracy”
this weekend at his house.
4. GSC meeting update
AGS: The last GSC meeting was a working meeting where people discussed GRAS and
AGS. Javier is in charge of the AGS effort but BGSO members expressed some concern
over whether he is the best choice for the task. Some people interested in AGS had a
meeting with Ben Hardy, the president of ASNMSU, last week. Marcus presented a todo list that broke up the tasks involved in breaking away from ASNMSU into 5 things
that we either need external aid with, and 5 things that grads can do internally to promote
the formation of AGS. There currently is some disagreement within the GSC as to
whether we should push to form AGS quickly or be more realistic on how quickly we can
change things. The AGS committee is going to begin meeting more frequently – contact
Marcus if you are interested in helping (mwillecoevo@yahoo.com).
Senator Position: There is another open position for graduate ASNMSU Senator. We
will vote on this at the meeting tonight.
5. Biology Library
There is now a new journal library in Foster Hall outside of the Wright Lab (3rd floor).
Marcus talked to Dan who approved money for bookends and a step ladder to reach the
top shelves. Thanks to everyone who helped get the journals organized. There is still a
little work to be done on sorting journals by date – this would be a good community
service opportunity for someone.
6. Brown Bag
The first re-installment of the Brown Bag presentation was a success. Patrick presented a
talk on group selection, inclusive fitness, and ants. Please contact Nabeeh
(n2hasan@nmsu.edu) if you are interested in presenting. Raj will be giving the next talk,
but the schedule is otherwise open.
7. Advisor involvement in BGSO
We discussed the possibility of getting the BGSO’s advisor, Ralph Preszler, more
involved in our activities. We decided to extend an invitation to him to attend our
meetings. Our meeting minutes will also be made available for him.
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8. BGSO website updated
Liz has updated the BGSO website. Check out http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/bgso/ for
archived meeting minutes, funding information, links to funding application forms, and
more. Please write to Liz at emoseman@nmsu.edu with any suggestions.
2:30-3:30, Foster Hall 381
29. Mar 2007
1. Biosymposium volunteers needed (31. Mar)
Volunteers are needed to set up, judge posters & presentations, moderate, and clean up
afterwards. Contact Melissa at marqmeli@nmsu.edu
2. GRAS volunteers needed (26-27 April)
Volunteers needed for many jobs (sign in, poster monitor/guide, usher, moderator, etc.).
Contact Anke at akonrad@nmsu.edu
3. Movie Night movie picked – Idiocracy
The BGSO voted on a movie to show during Grad Week in the end of April. Idiocracy
received the most votes.
4. Fall BGSO speaker suggestions needed
The BGSO has been invited to select another speaker to present a biology seminar talk
next semester. Please send any suggestions to Liz (emoseman@nmsu.edu) by 11. April.
We will discuss nominations at the 12. April meeting, and then all members will have a
week in which to vote (by email or verbally). Voting will close on 19. April.
5. Funding updates
Anyone still wanting to apply for GSC or ASNMSU funding: 19. Apr is last day to apply
for funding for this semester. For GSC, you must give your funding request either to
Aysegul or bring it to the GSC meeting on 19. April. For ASNMSU, your funding bill
must be written and will go through first readings on 19. April.
6. BGSO spring speaker arriving 03. May
The BGSO voted to invite Dr. Lisa Balance to present a biology seminar talk titled
“Frequent Fliers: Seabird Ecology in the Oceanic Tropical Pacific”. We discussed
having a BGSO social after the talk, taking the speaker out to dinner, etc. Anyone
interested should contact a BGSO officer with suggestions.
7. Grad office spaces
Grad offices are now available, but still need furniture. Dan has agreed to buy
refrigerators, microwaves, and coffee makers. Please pick up any surplus furniture so
that we have somewhere to sit down!! Offices will be FH 379 & FH 469. Any grad can
request a copy of the keys from Gloria. The offices also need to be cleaned out (lots of
dust etc from the construction).
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8. Spring BGSO funding
The BGSO is eligible to apply for $600 from the GSC for this spring semester. We will
send out an email with more details soon, and begin soliciting funding applications.
9. ASNMSU update from Marcus
Marcus asked what the BGSO thought of changing the ASNMSU definition of
“community service” so that if volunteering is done for an organization, it must be a
nonprofit, governmental, or community based organization.
2:30-3:30, Foster Hall 381
12. April 2007
1. Fall speaker submissions discussed
The BGSO will be able to invite one speaker for the fall semester of the biology seminar
presentations. We collected speaker submissions and discussed each at the meeting. The
following speakers were nominated: Ronald Hoy, Daniel Mennill, Michael L.
Rosenzweig, and Daniel Simberloff. Voting will be open until noon next Thursday. We
will give everyone 3 votes to allocate as you see fit (you can give all 3 votes to one
person, one vote each to 3 people, etc). Please send your votes to Liz
(emoseman@nmsu.edu) by 12:00 noon on Thursday 19 April.
Ronald Hoy
o Animal communication (arthropods)
Ronald R. Hoy’s work at Cornell focuses on the biology of animal communication using
arthropod models. Here's a quote from his web page: "Animals use a variety of
communication signals, but we concentrate on their auditory and visual worlds: acoustic
and visual signals, how signals are emitted, how they are processed by sensory systems,
and how they have evolved. Thus, we study communication from several points of view,
including neurobiology, anatomy, ethology, behavioral ecology, biomechanics, and
evolution." I think that he would be a good choice for the bio grads because of his
interdisciplinary approach. There's a little something for everyone, so we don't have to
duke it out between eco/evo and cell/org. Most importantly, though, his lab has done
really cool stuff with (among other things) rhythmic and musical mating dances in
jumping spiders and the amazing hearing of tiny parasitoid flies that track down crickets
by their chirps. Another grad saw him give a talk at a Neurology conference, and says it
was fascinating, hilarious, and the talk of the conference.
Daniel Mennill
o Conservation (Ivory-billed Woodpecker)
o Animal communication (birds: impact of eavesdropping on mate fidelity; duets)
Dr. Mennill is a professor at the University of Windsor in Canada, whose research spans
the temperate to the tropics. He is one of the team members involved in the search for
the Ivory-billed woodpecker in the Choctawhatchee
River in Florida. He is heading up the acoustic efforts, and as of 2007 has
recorded a number of double knocks and kent calls, similar to those given
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by related species such as the pale billed woodpecker:
http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/biology/dmennill/IBWO/IBWOindex.php.
They have also found cavities significantly larger than those made by pilieated
woodpeckers. Their search team appears to be having more success than the Arkansas
group! Dan has also been published in a number of journals including Science and
Animal Behaviour. One sexy experiment found that female
chickadees who overhear their partner lose in a singing contest are more
likely to cheat on them! Dan also studies duetting wrens in the tropics in which
males and females coordinate their calls to form elaborate joint vocalizations.
Dan is also a fabulous speaker that won’t leave anyone wishing for a nap
during a seminar. He would be a great person for grads to meet-he is a younger
professor who is already widely published (Science!), well-known and respected,
and is very dynamic.
Michael L. Rosenzweig
o Species diversity
o Desert mammal ecology
o Optimal density-dependent habitat selection
o Predation dynamics
Michael Rosenzweig studies environmental issues, habitat selection, and species
diversity. Environmental issues are addressed with new methods for censusing and for
assessing environmental health using the rules of species-area curves. Isoleg theory has
been developed and exploited to study optimal density-dependent habitat selection, and
has led to the linkage of behavior, population dynamics and rules of ecological
community organization. His papers on species diversity integrate ecology and evolution
to present a basic continent-scale mathematical theory of diversity as a process resulting
from the differential equations of speciation and extinction. They identify area as a
principle variable and help to explain why the tropics are so rich. He also emphasizes a
new kind of conservation effort: reconciliation ecology. Reconciliation ecology discovers
how to modify and diversify anthropogenic habitats so that they harbor a wide variety of
species. It develops management techniques that allow humans to share their
geographical range with wild species. Rosenzweig tries to address matters of public
concern by applying the results of his and other ecological research.
Daniel Simberloff
o Invasive species: patterns, impact on native community, management
o Determinants of community composition and community patterns
o Morphological variation of species based on the presence of other species
Daniel Simberloff is one of the main leading evolutionary ecology scientists for the last
30 years. Many of his scientific publications are considered as classic papers in Ecology,
Evolutionary Biology, Conservation, Statistics and Biogeography. He obtained his PhD
at Harvard University in 1969. Currently, he is a professor of the Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology program at the University of Tennessee. Grad students and faculty
will benefit from his visit and presentation since his research topics and interests are
broad and encompass a variety of species (e.g. mammals, avian, plants, fungi, arthropods,
etc), and thus covering the interests of many biology grad students. These are some of his
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selected publications from the last 5 years. If he is the chosen speaker, we may select
what topic we would like him to focus on for the seminar.
2. Voted on BGSO funding applications
The BGSO is eligible for $600 for the spring disbursement of GSO money from the GSC.
The BGSO earns points to become eligible for the money through the participation of the
BGSO in GSC events and meetings – thanks to all BGSO members who participated by
attending meetings and serving as officers or on committees! We received a total of five
applications for funding. We were able to at least partially fund all applicants.
Congratulations to everyone who applied – make sure to use your money and save your
receipts to get your reimbursement. Please contact Liz (emoseman@nmsu.edu) if you
have any questions.
Aysegul Birand
ground travel for mathematical training at U.
Tennessee
Ricardo Guerrero
partial travel support and lab use fees for field
$190 $162
research in Thailand
Elizabeth Moseman
partial support for airfare to Argentina for
field work
$100 $100
Gloricelys Rivera
RNA extraction kit
$212 $162
$100 $100
3. BGSO biology seminar speaker 03-04 May
Dr. Lisa Balance is the spring 2007 BGSO-invited speaker. She will be arriving on
Thursday, 03 May, just in time to give her seminar presentation entitled Frequent Flyers:
Seabird ecology in the oceanic tropical Pacific. We are getting a two-for-one deal
because her husband will also be presenting Friday on Killer Whales. They will be
arriving late Thursday and we would like to plan a social that evening. Because of the
short visit they will not be able to meet individually with people, but we would like to
plan breakfast or lunch on Friday for grad students to get a chance to talk to them. They
will be leaving in the early afternoon on Friday. Please contact Iliana
(riliana@nmsu.edu) if you are interested in helping plan any of the events/activities for
the speakers.
4. Faculty meeting update
The Immunology job search committee has selected the top three candidates. One
candidate met with grads for lunch today and the others will be on campus next week.
Grads will have some (limited) input in the hiring process, so we encourage grads to meet
and talk with the candidates.
5. Building suggestions
We discussed potential additions that would benefit grads and the biology department in
general. Some suggestions were to install bike racks outside the building, and to ask if
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the space under the stairs on the horseshoe entrance to Foster could be used as an indoor
bike rack area (especially for hard-working late-night grad students who don’t want their
bikes to get stolen outside, or the faculty with fancy bikes who store them in their offices
so they don’t get stolen or dented). Other suggestions were coffee stashes in FH 381/481
for caffeine fixes.
6. Mary Jane West-Eberhard visit next week
Tim Wright would like to know if grads would like to attend a dinner with WestEberhard on Wednesday evening at 6:30. Contact Iliana (riliana@nmsu.edu) to reserve
your seat.
7. Community service opportunities
Moving a donated tree into Foster Hall lobby (this weekend)
Dan would like volunteers to help pick up and position a tree donated to the biology
department. Strong people preferred – probably 2 hours of work? Contact Iliana
(riliana@nmsu.edu) for more info or to volunteer.
Relay for Life (27-28 April) – contact Melissa (marqmeli@nmsu.edu) for more info
Keep Las Cruces Beautiful (28 April) – 7:00 am-12:00 noon – contact Melissa
(marqmeli@nmsu.edu) for more info
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