from Archaea to Zeaxanthol

He takes after his Dad

2009-08-02T21:23:00.006-04:00

Just like his bonnie sister, me boy be a salty chip of the ol' block:

Data Don't Lie IV: Blog longevity

2009-07-20T11:36:00.009-04:00

Data from this blog's archives - January 2008 through July 2009. (R²=0.71; p=0.000007)

RWU Science - Student's-Eye View

2009-06-26T20:33:00.005-04:00

This past semester, Dr. Scott Rutherford, one of RWU's Environmental Science faculty (and resident climate change expert), had a great idea to have our science students carry their camera with them for a couple of weeks and document "Science at Roger Williams University". He ended up receiving over a 100 photos that showcase RWU science as seen through the students' eyes. Quite frankly, I think these pictures do a better job of showing what it's like to be a science major at RWU than any perfectly-lit-but-choreographed University PR photo shoot. I think we should make this an annual event.

Student's-Eye View full gallery

Sea brew?

2009-04-27T13:35:00.004-04:00

How could I not share a post that combines two of my favorite things - ocean science and brewing beer. I'll have to remember to take along some hops if I ever find myself on a two-month cruise.

Christopher Hitchens at RWU

2009-04-23T15:45:00.003-04:00

This evening, Christopher Hitchens, one of "The Four Horsemen", will be giving a lecture here on campus. The lecture is free and open to the public as part of our "Civil Discourse" series and as the opening to the 2009 Roger Williams University Conference on Religion and the State. The theme of this year's conference is "Islam and the West". I'm not sure how much of the conference I will attend to, but I'm headed to the Hitchens talk in an hour or so. I'm willing to bet it will be good, likely to be controversial, and probably anything but "civil". Should be fun. :)

One of the most unusual creatures evah

2009-04-20T12:46:00.002-04:00

I need to start paying more attention. How did such an incredible creature avoid my notice? How did I not see this reported over on DSN? You have to see this to believe it.

I can walk like a penguin

2009-04-17T00:35:00.006-04:00

All of us lucky enough to have grown up in the greater Boston area have no doubt spent many an afternoon within the confines of that great concrete structure, the New England Aquarium - or as Rick MacPherson rightfully puts it, just "the Aquarium". Whether it was a family outing or a middle school field trip, the Aquarium has always been a favorite destination of mine. Sure, it's dark and often crowded, but the 200,000 gallon Giant Ocean Tank, penguin habitat, tidal pool touch tank, and, my new favorite, the Amazing Jellies exhibit never fail to impress.

It's incredible to think that the Aquarium is 40 years old now. Even with some recent renovations, 40 years and millions of visitors have taken their toll. But the National Trust for Historic Preservation might be able to help out some through their Partners In Preservation initiative. Through this initiative, you can vote for the Aquarium (or other Greater Boston place if you are so inclined) to be awarded a grant, which the Aquarium would use to restore some of the original architecture to how it was when its doors first opened in 1969. So, if you fondly remember walking like a penguin in your living room or telling your mom it's time for the dolphin show or running up and down the central spiral to keep up with a sea turtle or sand tiger shark or otherwise feel like supporting the Aquarium, cast your vote its way.

(thanks to Rick at MBSL&S and Jives at the New Blue for pointing this grant opportunity out)

How do you like your eggs?

2009-04-16T23:36:00.010-04:00

Please forgive me a moment of self-congratulation, but yours truly has just won the Second, Maybe Annual, MBSL&S Spring Ocean Egg Hunt hosted by that magnanimous coral conservationist, Rick MacPherson. All those years of either studying or teaching invertebrate zoology have finally paid off! Amy Johnson would be proud - and would have disowned me if I had missed Mystery Egg #4.

I've always prided myself in being somewhat of a natural historian, so I jumped at the chance to test my knowledge and sleuthing skills. Of the 15 different photos up for identification I can proudly say that I immediately knew what 11 of them were, at least generally. It took some googling to narrow them all down to species level. Mystery Eggs #7, #10 and #13 proved most difficult. With a helpful hint from Rick, #7 came into focus. #13 gave me fits and out of frustration decided they must be related to #7 - turns out my frustration served me well. #10 was easily identified to suborder, but almost impossible beyond that. Luckily, Rick gave another hint, some fellow bloggers, Eric of The Other 95% and Christie of Observations of a Nerd, ran with it, and I did nothing more than swoop in at the final second. I certainly owe them both a cold, frothy beverage or two.

Other than blogosphere bragging rights, what, you ask, do I get out of this win? How about a copy of the incredible-looking book Reef and a snazzy Coral Reef Alliance "Hawaiian" shirt. Who's stylin' now? (though the bragging rights are pretty good too)

So, thanks Rick for hosting a great contest and for the reefy swag. I will wear the shirt proudly and can't wait to flip through Reef. And for those of you not familiar with Rick's coral reef conservation work, head on over to the Coral Reef Alliance, read all about it, and maybe make a charitable donation to a worthy cause.

Vibrating building

2009-04-03T12:04:00.003-04:00

The university is currently in the process of adding a new addition to the Marine & Natural Science Building in which my office resides. This is a great thing as the new addition will be used to expand our shellfish hatchery program and open up space in the wet lab for the the rest of the marine science program. The problem, however, is that one of the walls in my office is an outside wall to which the addition is being attached. The end result is that everyday brings new and jarring construction activiies, sometimes to the point that you can't hold a conversation in the room. The crew even accidentally cut 6-inch-long slits through the base of the wall - wide enough that I could see daylight (seriously - I (and they) were lucky they didn't cut into a computer or wiring or somebody's foot). The other day was the absolute worse though. I have no idea what they were doing, but the entire room was vibrating - things were actually moving on the desk and shelves.

All I could think about was this:

what happened to critical thinking? (or proofreading?)

2009-03-31T11:18:00.005-04:00

The title of this post suggests something more grandiose than I intend to present. But it is a key question. This is just a rant of sorts that I need to get off my chest. Perhaps I shouldn't, but I need to.

A recent quiz question for my Introductory Biology class:
"What is the relationship between the number of species or groups under cladistic analysis and the number of possible cladograms?"

Student answer:

The number of species or groups under cladisitc analysis is irrelevant to the number of possible cladograms. However, as the number of species increases the number of possible cladograms increases.

I'd like to say that the student is just hedging, but I truly believe the student thinks this answer makes sense.

RWU: the magazine

2009-03-17T14:32:00.006-04:00

I'm very excited to announce the inaugural issue of Roger Williams University's new magazine - RWU. The old magazine, The Bridge, had stagnated and the Office of University Communications saw need to revamp and start fresh. For the first time, the University utilized a Board of Editors to help with the story and design elements of the magazine. I was asked to sit on the Board to represent the Division of Math & Science and am happy to say that the magazine came out fantastic - it's fresh, current, well-designed, and does a great job of depicting the great things associated with RWU.

By far, the majority of the credit goes to our chief editor, Brian Clark, and his staff, but, if I may toot my own horn, I enjoyed playing a role in the final product. The cover story on eating locally was my idea (as well as independently by a couple of others on the Board) and I am one of the "focus localvores" in the piece (though I am misquoted once or twice!). I was also the author of the "On the Waterfront" piece about our partnership with the New England Aquarium on page 6. All in all it has been a great experience being part of this transformation.

The magazine has been mailed out to the RWU community (Rick - did you get your copy yet?). For the rest of you, the magazine is available in pdf form from the University website. If you have a few minutes, please take a look and let me know what you think - we're starting the process already for issue #2 and would love your feedback.

Planet Forward

2009-03-11T11:15:00.004-04:00

Planet Forward is a PBS project being run by Frank Sesno. The topic is sustainability and energy. On this site, you will find a variety of arguments for and against our dependency on fossil fuels. As a founding partner in this project, RWU recruited nine very talented students to produce many of the videos and to contribute other content to the site.

This is a pretty cool idea and a great way to tap the power of the internet to help spread information and start dialogues on an important subject. I'm not involved with this at any level, other than the fact that RWU is one of the major players. I'm happy to to see the University involved in a project like this - it's forward-thinking and proactive - and the fact that our undergraduates played a central role makes it all the better.

As for your part, go to the site, register and rate your favorite videos. The most popular ones will appear on a national PBS special entitled “Planet Forward,” which airs at 8 p.m. ET and PT on April 15. (All top 10 media markets including NY, Boston, LA and Chicago, will air this program.)

Cooking 4 Four

2009-02-17T00:32:00.006-05:00

Even though my blogging has slowed down considerably, especially in terms of actual scientific content, I've decided to launch another blog - Cooking 4 Four. This second blog is going to be a more personal and focused space, reserved for food-related topics and issues. Food in general, and healthy, local, organic, sustainable, home cooked food in particular have become an increasingly more passionate subject in my life, especially in terms of providing a healthy lifestyle for my family. Cooking 4 Four is an attempt to capture and share that passion.

At the moment, there is just a single, "welcome" post over there, but hopefully in the coming days, it will begin to fill up and take on the identity I have envisioned for it. Hopefully "from A to Z" will shape up soon as well - perhaps the focus I give Cooking 4 Four will help me re-find the focus here. Anyways, since there's nothing new to read here, why not check out the new place. And leave a comment in the welcome post to let me know you stopped by. Thanks!

"Not so cool for the robin"

2009-02-07T22:17:00.006-05:00

Sometimes, timing is everything. Earlier this week, I was driving with Emma to go pick up Jack at his pre-school when Emma notices a large bird in the neighbor's yard as we drove past. "Dad, I think I just saw a hawk." I took a quick look over my shoulder, and sure enough, Em had spotted a magnificent Cooper's Hawk (note: I'm pretty sure it was a Cooper's and not a Sharp-shinned, but not 100%). Not only that, but Em had caught the raptor in the middle of a meal. We're not sure, but Em thinks the hawk was feasting on a robin. Feathers were flying everywhere. I slowly backed the car up and Em and I watched the hawk take apart the smaller bird - a natural spectacle in its rawest form.

After a few minutes we needed to get going so as not to be late picking up Jack. We were hoping that the hawk would still be there when we returned, but I knew that in the 15 or so minutes we would be gone, some dog/person/car would spook the hawk away. Unbelievably though, when we drove by on our way home, the hawk was still there, and the three of us sat and watched the hawk devour its dinner. When I commented on how cool it was to be seeing this, the kids agreed, but then Jack added, "But not so cool for the robin though." Poor robin. But I like to think that witnessing these sorts of real-life events helps the kids gain a better understanding and appreciation of the natural world. And that is really cool, robin's opinion notwithstanding.

The Drunken Urchin?

2009-01-29T23:31:00.005-05:00

Remember when I mentioned that I bottled my first batch of home-brewed beer? Well, the bottles are now ready to drink. Below are some pics of the first glass of my own red ale (okay, the second glass - I opened the first bottle a week earlier, before it was really ready - what can I say? I'm weak.) I'm happy to report that I am very pleased with it. How soon until I open my own brew pub? Maybe I'll call it the Drunken Urchin. Free Wi-Fi, of course.

Climate Change Science at RWU

2009-01-26T13:04:00.004-05:00

Although Roger Williams U is a small, liberal arts school, we have an active research program that produces some amazing science. The most recent example of this, I am proud to share, is the result of a friend of mine's work on climate change in the Antarctic. Dr. Scott Rutherford is one of the co-authors of the cover story in the Jan 22 issue of Nature (abstract here). Essentially, the work shows that "significant warming extends well beyond the Antarctic Peninsula to cover most of West Antarctica, an area of warming much larger than previously reported. West Antarctic warming exceeds 0.1 °C per decade over the past 50 years..." As could be expected, especially given the high-profile publication, this new work has made something of a splash and is already under attack by the climate change skeptic, Steve McIntyre.

So, congrats to Scott (and the other authors), even if it's bad news for the rest of us, and good luck dealing with the climate change skeptics - this has the possibility to become a remaking of the other Climate Change hullabaloo we had on campus a few semesters ago. Hopefully, the new PResident will work quickly to "restore Science to its rightful place".

One below

2009-01-16T09:00:00.003-05:00

As Linda pointed out in the comments to the last post, this morning was even more wintery...

Six point three

2009-01-15T21:55:00.004-05:00

Call me a freak, but I like a real winter - a snowy, icy, see-your-breath, feel-your-nose-hairs, frigid winter. It just seems right. And it's a billion times better than the wet, slushy, miserable, 40^o "wintery mix" winters we usually get.

Well, we've got ourselves a real winter settling in right now. And I'm loving it.

Mmmm...beer

2009-01-13T22:32:00.004-05:00

For the holidays, Linda and her parents got me a home brewing kit. I waited a whole week before brewing up my first batch (a red ale). After sitting in the fermenter for 11 days I bottled the beer this past weekend (why 11 days? Because I couldn't wait the two weeks like I probably should have). The bottled beer will now sit for another two weeks for "conditioning" (a.k.a carbonating). I wonder if I can hold out that long...

One smart seal

2009-01-06T22:26:00.004-05:00

What a great little story. A young harbor seal managed to find its way into a trout farm on Cape Cod and was rewarded with some easy-to-catch dinner before she was caught. The most amazing part of the story is how the seal needed to ~~walk~~ waddle 2 miles inland to get to the hatchery. I wonder if she'll find her way back again.

The Current

2009-01-06T15:27:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! (anyone?) I've been taking a hiatus from the blogosphere lately, but am ready to jump back in, though it may be a slow reentry.

We had a great Christmas/Hannukah/New Years and are now all getting back to our regular routine. Things are quiet here on campus. It's nice to have a few weeks before students return for classes (though we have plenty of students hanging around in the labs as part of our Winter Scholar's Program). I am spending the next couple of weeks getting a bunch of things together in preparation for the RI Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program that I am coordinating. It's a great experience for the students, but a major logistical pain in the ass to administer. But that's why they pay me the big bucks (ha!).

Anyways, I thought some of you might enjoy reading a bit about what our SURF program is all about (as well as the bigger picture of RI EPSCoR, SURF's NSF-funded "parent" program). If you are, check out the inaugural issue of "The Current" (pdf). The stuff I am primarily involved with starts on page 9 (though you won't see my name anywhere).

More blogging to follow...seriously.

Be prepared

2008-12-18T18:00:00.002-05:00

I saw this book in Borders today and I think I need it. I am most certainly going to be left behind, so I better be prepared.

Data Don't Lie III

2008-12-15T13:23:00.009-05:00

Good thing Jack was born in April...

Data from ESPN.com's interview with Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers: The Story of Success. (R² = 0.75, p=0.0003)

Friday Dial Stopper - Junior Parrothead Edition

2008-12-05T14:23:00.003-05:00

Speaking of pirates...This week's dial stopper is in honor of one of Emma's and Jack's new favorite songs. (I wonder who could have possibly introduced them to this music...)

Pirates = Shrewd Businessmen

2008-12-05T14:14:00.004-05:00

See, pirates aren't barbaric, bloodthirsty villains, they're rational folks trying to make a living, just like everyone else. Now, if you want to talk about bloodthirsty, let's talk about the medical insurance industry.

Five Things

2008-12-03T02:25:00.014-05:00

Alex over at Myrmecos Blog tagged me, so I'm "it":

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago:

Celebrating my 4-month wedding anniversary
Attending Quad City Mallards games
Passing my comprehensive exam (for the PhD I decided not to get)
Planning my next fieldtrip to Baja (for the PhD I decided not to get)
Reading century-old manuscripts by C.V. Riley on the pollination of yuccas by yucca moths (ditto)

5 Things On My To-Do List Today:

Grade a stack of freshman lab reports on cellular respiration
Take Emma out to lunch
Pick out a Christmas tree
Grill up some nice sirloin steaks for dinner
Meet with Emma's 2nd grade teacher during parent-teacher night

5 Snacks I Love:

chips and salsa
chocolate-covered pretzels
honey-roasted peanuts
buffalo wings
prosciutto

5 Things I’d do if I was a Millionaire:

acquire a vessel
take a long vacation in Italy
buy Linda that new ring she wants
purchase some acres in Maine or on Cape Cod
add to Emma's and Jack's college fund

5 Places I've Lived:

Shrewsbury, MA
Brunswick, ME
Iowa City, IA
Cranston, RI
Polacca, AZ

5 Jobs I've Had:

record store clerk
Cutco knife salesman
Marine Research Specialist (fancy name for "lab tech")
stay-at-home dad
high school science teacher (I lasted 1 semester!)

And now I tag Linda, Sarah, Kathy, Miriam, and Emile.

Just in case you didn't know...

2008-12-02T15:59:00.005-05:00

I saw Ken Miller give a talk today at the BioNES meeting held today at RWU and he showed this bumper sticker (available here) while talking about the downfall of Intelligent Design.

Ravenous curiosity

2008-11-24T13:18:00.005-05:00

As usual, Dale over at The Meming of Life hits the nail on the head in his recent post, this time on the parenting philosophy of promoting "ravenous curiosity". His post comes as the perfect follow-up to my kids' "frozen ocean" experiment. I have to admit too that I really enjoyed this bit of snarkiness:

It’s not that religion is inherently incurious. Religion and science are both planted in the cortical freakishness that demands answers. It’s just that religion wants the answers it wants, while science wants the answers that are in the answer key. Also known as “the actual answers."

Kid Science : Frozen Ocean

2008-11-21T10:09:00.012-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the car with my kids - Emma, 7, and Jack, 4 - when the subject of water freezing came up. I think it was the first day of the season when we had sub-freezing temperatures and I was trying to impress upon them the importance of making sure they had their hats and gloves. During this conversation, one of them (I think it was Jack) asked if the ocean ever froze. I told them that it did on very cold places like the Arctic and Antarctica, but that around here it did not generally freeze because the salt in the water prevented it (As much as may have wanted to, I didn't go into the physics of molecular motion and ice crystal formation - I'll save that for when they're a few months older!).

A light bulb went off in Emma's head - it was an amazing thing to witness. "I know what we can do! Let's put a container of water without salt and another container of water with salt outside and see if they freeze!" I can't explain how proud I was at that moment. Notice that Emma did not just want to put a container of salt water outside and see what would happen. She wanted to put both salt water and fresh water out - she had just designed a simple controlled experiment. I was smiling all the way to work that day.

The weather warmed up for a bit after that conversation, so we had to wait until yesterday to carry out Emma's experiment. After dinner, we pulled out a couple of bowls, a measuring cup, a kitchen scale, and some table salt.

I was trying to keep everything as accurate as I could so we added 500mL of tap water to each bowl and added approximately 17.5g of salt to one of them (this gives a salinity of 3.5% or 35 ppt, the average salinity of ocean surface waters, and only slightly higher than the salinity we would expect for the ocean off of New England). I asked the kids what else we needed to do and Emma realized that we needed some way to identify each bowl. She had some trouble coming up with a good system. Jack, of course, figured it out - "Emma, we just need to write 'salt' and 'no salt' on a piece of paper and tape it to the bowls."

The kids put the bowls outside on the back deck and went off to bed. I watched the temperature outside drop through the evening: 30^oF, 28^oF, 25^oF, 23^oF, 20^oF. Uh oh. I hadn't anticipated such a cold night. Salt water doesn't freeze at 32^oF, but it will freeze - especially sitting there in a little bowl without currents or waves - in fact, water with a salinity of 35ppt will freeze at 28.8^oF. The reason the ocean as a whole doesn't freeze even when it's sub-28.8^oF outside is that it has such a huge thermal mass that the water itself doesn't often get to 28.8^oF. You'll see some freezing in shallow areas with little wave activity, like along the edges of tidal marshes. I was starting to fear that our little controlled scientific experiment was going to backfire and we would wake up to two frozen bowls of water and the kids would logically conclude that the salt did nothing to prevent freezing. D'oh!

When I went to bed sometime around midnight, the temperature outside was 18.8^oF. Should I bring the bowl of salt water inside and then wake up before the kids, run downstairs, and put it back outside? No. That's just too deceitful and is completely counter to the lesson I was trying to teach about scientific thinking. I'll just hope for the best - perhaps the salt water wouldn't freeze as much as the fresh water. I went to bed hoping for a watery slush.

When we brought the bowls in this morning, sure enough the salt water had froze. But thankfully, like I had hoped, it was different from the fresh water. The fresh water was frozen solid, smooth like a hockey rink. The salt water was slushy, not firm at all. The kids marvelled at the difference. They banged their knuckles on the hard fresh water ice and stuck their fingers through the salt water slush. "Wow, the salt water isn't really frozen!". They played with, touched, and tasted the ices for a few minutes then headed off to get dressed for the day. Whew. To paraphrase a cogent comic - Science. It works.

Data don't lie II

2008-11-14T14:47:00.012-05:00

This explains a lot:

(note: both variables have been transformed so neither the output score nor the consumption score values enable the identification of particular persons included in this research)

from Grim, Thomas. 2008. A possible role of social activity to explain differences in publication output among ecologists. Oikos 117(4): 484-487.

Pirate-wear

2008-11-14T00:28:00.010-05:00

Here be a few things to add to ye plunderin' list...

from Pirate Shellfish, a Wellfleet-based shellfish farm and catering company:
Get this great t-shirt and more from 826 Valencia:

Get this one and much more from Cafe Press:

Who buys this stuff?

2008-11-10T23:03:00.001-05:00

Some things are just too humorous not to share.

How blue are we really?

2008-11-05T11:50:00.006-05:00

I came across the site of Dr. Mark Newman, a physics professor at the University of Michigan, while searching for some state-by-state data on the election. He has some interesting maps that have been transformed to try to get a better visual picture of the geography of the election results. For example, below is a "cartogram" that has resized each state based on its population and then colored with the infamous red or blue. Dr. Newman delves even further on his site by coloring individual counties various shades on the blue-purple-red continuum. It's an interesting set of images.

A Dream Unfettered

2008-11-05T11:14:00.003-05:00

Need a beard?

2008-11-04T17:21:00.005-05:00

I've already got one, but for those facially-follicly-challenged you can now "grow" your own beard without all the itching or messy trimming while helping out some people in need. If you aren't so sure a beard is for you, you should know there are 10 Very Good Reasons to Grow a Giant Beard

Planting a Meadow

2008-11-02T18:19:00.020-05:00

The title is not a metaphor - I am actually planting an actual meadow. Well, attempting to plant an actual meadow. OK, attempting to plant a small meadow-like area.

Part of our backyard is a swath of land with a utilities easement on it - we own the land, but the gas company has access rights and nothing can be built there. Previous owners planted grass back there and, so I've heard, kept it mowed like a lawn. I haven't continued this practice since 1) I have no desire to spend the time and energy to mow more lawn, and 2) I like my yard to provide as many natural habitats as possible (and a mowed lawn ain't much of a natural habitat). I would love to naturalize this entire back lawn, but it is a pretty big space and would require more time/effort/money to remove the existing grass than I am willing/able to give. So this summer I decided to start small.

I chose a small (~400 ft²) area to work with, figuring I can expand things in subsequent years if this preliminary work goes well. I started this project back in June, when, after mowing the grass short, I covered the area with some nylon tarps. I kept these tarps in place from June until this weekend. By keeping the area covered during the entire growing season, keeping the sun out and the temperature up, I was hoping to kill both the existing grass and a decent percentage of the grass/weed seeds lying dormant in the soil.

I pulled the tarps up this weekend and, sure enough, all vegetation was dead:

After some raking and hoeing up of dead grass tussocks, the area was ready to be sown:

By sowing seeds now, in November, in New England, I am accomplishing a couple of things. First, the wildflower and grass seeds I sow now will already be in place in the spring, ready to germinate as soon as conditions are right - this should give them a leg up (or at least an even footing) with any weed seeds out there now and I won't have to worry about working around my schedule or the unpredictable spring weather to plant. Second, some native wildflower seeds require a period of cold dormancy before they will germinate - I could have put the seeds in the fridge for the next few months, but why bother when winter can do a better job for me?

I wanted to plant a meadow, not just a wildflower garden, so I ordered both wildflower and grass seeds. I also wanted to use as many native plants as I could. After some online research, I ended up with a native wildflower seed mix from American Meadows and a short prairie grass mix from Prairie Frontiers. I augmented these with some additional native wildflower seeds. I bought enough seed for approximately 1,000 ft², figuring I'd use half of it this year and the other half for next year's expansion.

Following a technique I found online, I split the seed I was going to use this year into two parts and mixed each part with approximately 10 parts of clean sand, which makes sowing the light, small wildflower seeds much easier. After thoroughly mixing the seed and sand, I sowed 1 part over the entire plot moving east-west and then sowed the 2nd part going north-south, thereby minimizing bare/sparse areas. The last thing to do, which is oh so important (so I've read), was to compact the seeds into the soil to ensure good seed-soil contact. Since I don't own a grass roller, I spent a half hour or so stomping around the sown plot, making sure my footprints covered every square inch of the ground.

Now I just sit back, enjoy the rest of the fall and winter, hope the birds don't eat too many of the newly sown seeds, and keep my fingers crossed for successful germination. I'll keep everyone posted.

Wildflowers sown:
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern Red Columbine)
Asclepias incarnata (Red Milkweed)
Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Weed)
Aster novae-angliae (New England Aster)
Baptisia australis (Wild/False Blue Indigo)
Chamaecrista fasciculata (Partridge Pea)
Coreopsis lanceolata (Lance Leaf Coreopsis)
Eupatorium fistulosum (Joe Pye Weed)
Eupatorium maculatum (Spotted Joe Pye Weed)
Gaillardia pulchella (Indian Blanket)
Heliopsis helianthoides (Ox-Eye Sunflower)
Liatris spicata (Blazing Star)
Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)
Lupinus perennis (Wild Perennial Lupine)
Monarda fistulosa (Wild Bergamot)
Oenothera biennis (Evening primrose)
Penstemon digitalis (Beard Tongue)
Rudbeckia hirta (Black-eyed Susan)
Rudbeckia submentosa (Sweet Coneflower)
Rudbeckia triloba (Brown-eyed Susan)
Salvia azurea (Tall Blue Pitcher Sage)
Solidago rigida (Rigid Goldenrod)
Solidago speciosa (Showy Goldenrod)

Grasses sown:
Andropogon scoparius (Little Bluestem)
Bouteloua curtipendula (Side Oats Gramma)
Bouteloua gracillis (Blue Gramma)
Koeleria cristata (Prairie June Grass)
Sporobolus heterolepis (Prairie Dropseed)

In which Milan Lucic makes another appearance...

2008-10-25T17:13:00.004-04:00

The Red Sox may be done for the year, but the Bruins are just beginning. Second year winger, Milan Lucic, is fast becoming a fan favorite here. Here's yet another reason why...(and once again, more intelligent, and less violent, blogging will resume shortly)

UPDATE: As if on cue, Lucic scored his first career hat trick in a win over Atlanta this weekend just hours after I mentioned to my brothers that it would be great if he could combine his hard hits (and fists) with more goals, a la Cam Neely.

Symposium on Marine Renewable Energy

2008-10-22T12:45:00.006-04:00

Here's an interesting event taking place on campus this week (that I just found out about) - the 7th Marine Law Symposium on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 23 and 24, will focus on developing a framework for off-shore renewable energy.

This month, developing that framework will be the focal point when domestic and international scientists, business leaders and policymakers – including U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri and a host of others – converge at Roger Williams University on Oct. 23-24 to find real-world solutions for tackling the legal, economic and policy challenges of the nascent marine renewable energy industry.

At the law school’s 7th Marine Law Symposium, this cross-disciplinary gathering of experts will grapple with the “how” of developing offshore energy resources, addressing concrete ways to support the burgeoning marine renewable energy business market, while attempting to reconcile a tangle of local, state, federal and public interest needs related to the protection, conservation and management of valuable marine resources.

Although registration for the event is closed, it is going to be streamed live at mms://streamer.rwu.edu/marinelaw and apparently there is going to be some live blogging of the event.

Perhaps I'm not in the loop as much as I would like to be, but I'm amazed that I didn't hear about this event until today. In fact, the only reason I heard of it at all is because an email went out to everyone concerning the parking ban in effect for the event! In any case, this is an important topic, especially for coastal areas, so hopefully something good comes of the symposium.

Oldest flying insect...

2008-10-18T23:00:00.003-04:00

...found about 10 minutes from my house! How cool is that?

Friday Dial Stopper - ALCS edition

2008-10-17T00:28:00.005-04:00

In honor of that improbable Game 5 win...

(see here for the background on this song)

It's all woo to me

2008-10-16T14:22:00.005-04:00

I got an email today via the "All-Faculty" listserv inviting everyone to the Fall Faculty Lecture. The lecture's title is "Eggtopia". Here's the complete description that came in the email:

The transformation of energy into animate matter seems to occur generally within a container of some sort, a membrane, a pouch, a seed, or a shell. An egg is arguably the most pristine archetypal form among all receptacles within which life is engendered. Created at the inception of life, this completely sealed form vibrates with a latency manifest in its aura of impeccable silence. Even when an egg is broken and deserted by the life it once hosted, its inner depths seem to continue to ring with the memory of the transformative miracle, which took place within.

I think I'll skip this one.

Fall Beachcombing

2008-10-16T01:45:00.010-04:00

The beach isn't only for the summer!

(click on image for larger version)

I love this photo

2008-10-15T19:07:00.003-04:00

courtesy of the Natural History Museum in London's upcoming exhibit (via Karen at the Beagle Project)

Data don't lie

2008-10-14T15:09:00.006-04:00

More proof that we really are animals.

from Miller G, Tybur J, Jordan, B. 2007. Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus? Evol. Hum. Behav. 28(6): 375-381.

Chocolate Molluscs

2008-10-14T13:02:00.006-04:00

What do you get the molluscophile in your life? Chocolate oysters from the Wellfleet Candy Company, of course! Molded from a real Wellfleet oyster, these gourmet chocolates are the latest rage in invertebrate haute cuisine.

I haven't had one of these yet, but the Boathouse, Mayo Beach, and West Side varieties sound delicious.

Math problem help

2008-10-14T08:45:00.004-04:00

Looking for some general help on a math/probability problem. At one point I probably knew how to figure this out. Perhaps I should still know, but I can't seem to get it. I'm looking for a general way to figure out the following type of problem...

Given an infinitely (sufficiently) large population of marbles of which 10% are green and 90% are blue, what is the probability of picking 10 marbles of which exactly 3 are green?

I know the chance of picking one green marble is 0.1, and I know that the chance of picking 3 green marbles in a row is 0.001 (0.1 x 0.1 x 0.1). But I'm confused when it comes to figuring in that order is unimportant and that a finite number of marbles is being picked - clearly the chance of picking exactly 3 green marbles in 10 tries is different from picking exactly 3 green marbles in 100 tries. Any help? In the end I'd like to generalize the process - given a population of which X% are a given kind, what is the chance of subsampling exactly Y individuals in Z tries.

Thanks in advance...

SEA

2008-10-07T18:38:00.007-04:00

As Rick made perfectly clear in my last post, I am unable to embed this nice little video from Sea Education Association. So instead, go check it out on their own site and see what a cool program it is.

2008-10-07T13:52:00.003-04:00

Damn West Coast

2008-10-02T13:45:00.004-04:00

I need a nap.

Generation K

2008-10-01T23:25:00.004-04:00

It seems that parents who had girls born in 1990 were fascinated with the letter K. My roster for introductory biology this year includes:

Krysten
Katelyn (#1)
Katelyn (#2)
Kathryn (#1)
Kathryn (#2)
Kelsey
Kelilah
Kellie
Kasey

That's over 50% of the women in the class. 'K' isn't supposed to be a popular letter. In fact, it's the 21st most frequent letter in the English language (only ahead of 'J', 'X', 'Q', and 'Z'). It's worth 5 points in Scrabble! How am I supposed to learn who's who?

Moray Mystery

2008-09-26T12:28:00.002-04:00

Rick at MBSL&S has a very interesting post about the mysterious deaths of dozens of moray eels in the Antilles. As much as I would rather he didn't have to write about such an event, he does a great job of relaying the real-world issues and science at hand. Go check it out - it's a good, yet unfortunate, read.

Batten down the hatches

2008-09-25T20:52:00.005-04:00

(Apparently I linked to an image that gets updated, so this post makes less sense now...)

This could get a little choppy...

Friday Dial Stopper - Talk Like a Pirate Day Edition

2008-09-19T00:07:00.015-04:00

What would "Talk Like a Pirate Day" be without a little Captain Jack?

200 years too late?

2008-09-19T00:07:00.013-04:00

What type of Pirate am I? You tell me...

What kind of pirate am I? You decide!
You can also view a breakdown of results or put one of these on your own page!
Brought to you by Rum and Monkey

(a bottle of rum raised to Kate/Dorid for this)

Tenacious

2008-09-19T00:07:00.006-04:00

I found this little snake in my backyard this afternoon. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but at only about 8 inches long, it must have been literally 1,000s of times smaller than me. Did it care? Did it quickly slither away upon being discovered? Uh, no. Gotta respect that.

Fits two people? Really?

2008-09-17T22:34:00.005-04:00

I meant to post this photo weeks ago, after our D.C. vacation, but had forgotten about it until now.

Here's Jack peering into the bathysphere on display at the National Geographic Society:

Does Sarah Palin know the difference between icing and offsides?

2008-09-16T22:40:00.003-04:00

Granted, Jack has only been playing hockey for a year now. Still, Linda is technically a "hockey mom", so this is entirely appropriate (and funny)

Just what I always wanted...

2008-09-16T11:54:00.003-04:00

I'm looking for someone to help me bankroll a purchase. I figure if we each go in for half, we can figure out how to split the usage throughout the year - perhaps switch off every three months? Serious inquiries only please.

LHC Rap

2008-09-16T09:28:00.002-04:00

This actually helped me understand the Large Hadron Collider a little bit better!

I thought pirates did everything...

2008-09-13T11:18:00.002-04:00

I'm not entirely sure about the validity of the title, but I'm thinking this children's book should be added to our home library.

Friday Dial Stopper

2008-09-12T10:27:00.016-04:00

Inspired by my previous post...with a twist...

"...set an open course for the virgin sea"

2008-09-12T10:03:00.007-04:00

2008 - 2009 ANNOUNCEMENT

SEA is now accepting applications for the 2008-2009 academic year.

Sea Education Association now offers three unique opportunities for undergraduates to spend a semester studying the oceans in the world-renown oceanographic community of Woods Hole, MA and aboard one of our modern sailing research vessels during an oceanic passage in the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.

SEA Semester: Ocean Exploration - This long-standing, innovative program offers students of all majors a multidisciplinary approach to studying the world's oceans from scientific, maritime cultural, and modern seafaring perspectives. Celestial navigation, meteorology, seamanship, oceanographic sampling techniques and research, and maritime history, literature and policy comprise the core curriculum.

SEA Semester: Documenting Change in the Caribbean - Humanities, Environmental Studies, Geography and Social Sciences students are prepared for an extraordinary project-based academic experience. Few regions have seen such enormous changes in the last five centuries as the islands in the Caribbean Sea. Today, there is a dynamic mix of cultures and biota in the islands that bears little resemblance to the world encountered by Christopher Columbus. Students explore how we can document these changes using maps and charts, historical documents, commercial records, harbor pilots, species surveys, and the literature of Caribbean people from both the Colonial and post-Colonial periods.

SEA Semester: Oceans & Climate - For advanced science students. This program focuses on the importance of the equatorial Pacific to the global carbon cycle, and culminates in a trans-equatorial research cruise from either Mexico to Tahiti or Tahiti to Hawaii. SEA faculty and visiting researchers from across the country engage students in oceanography, ocean policy and the operation a sailing research vessel.

www.sea.edu

Too soon to worry? part 2

2008-09-09T13:23:00.002-04:00

Not only is Rick still incommunicado, but now Kevin Z. has gone strangely quiet...Should we start organizing a search party yet?

Too soon to worry?

2008-09-04T21:20:00.002-04:00

It's been a week since Rick posted anything over at MBSL&S. I'm starting to fear the worst...

Spin it 'round and 'round

2008-09-04T16:15:00.004-04:00

Had to steal this post from Dale over at Meming of Life. The hypocrisy revealed here is dumbfounding.

Friday Dial Stopper

2008-08-22T23:35:00.002-04:00

Not sure why this song popped into my head today, but it did, so here you go...

Hulkamania?

2008-08-22T22:09:00.010-04:00

So, I'm eating breakfast at the hotel in D.C. last week and I see on CNN (or MSNBC or Fox or *insert cable news channel*) that there was going to be an "evangelical rally" on the Mall that day. Turns out The Call was in town. Great.

So, the kids and I take the metro down to the Mall and sure enough we're bombarded by pamphleteers as we leave the metro stop. I managed to fend off the hoard without taking a single "You're going to burn in hell" flyer/newspaper/brochure. As we move away from the crowd I see a monstrosity of a stage set up by the Capitol - it looked like a Def Leppard concert (no offense to Def Leppard) - and we hear someone on stage yelling and carrying on about something. Honestly, I have no idea what the guy was saying, but the tone and rhythm sent chills down my spine - it's hard to explain, but it was some combination of anger, insanity, and overacting (I hate to suggest this, but check out the video on the right side of the Call's website I linked to above to hear what I mean). I suppose, unsurprisingly, evangelical is the best word to describe it. The guy could have been reading directly from Isaac Newton's Principia and it would have sounded just as scary-insane.

Actually, now that I think about it, the whole thing reminded me of something like this

So, what did the kids and I do? Walked straight across the Mall to the Museum of Natural History, of course, and took part in, among many other things, the Mammal Family Reunion.

Run away! Run Away!

2008-08-22T15:56:00.001-04:00

Lincoln Memorial

2008-08-22T10:04:00.004-04:00

D.C. Vacation

2008-08-13T21:07:00.006-04:00

The whole fam damily is headed to D.C. for a few days of vacation before the school year starts up again. Here's a short list of things we'll hopefully be getting to:

National Aquarium in Baltimore

National Zoo

Smithsonian Natural History Museum

various monuments (Emma really wants to see the one with "Abraham Lincoln sitting down")

The White House (as opposed to say, a beach volleyball match in Beijing)

I'm open to other suggestions if you've got them (remember, we'll be dealing with a 4- and 7-year old). Em heard from a friend who heard from a friend that the Spy Museum was fun - anyone have first-hand experience and care to corroborate this?

Big Bugs!

2008-08-13T00:27:00.022-04:00

A couple photos from our visit to the Big Bugs exhibit at The Garden in the Woods:

Home grown

2008-08-12T23:44:00.007-04:00

Our second (and last) "Sugar Baby" watermelon from the garden. The first was picked too early. This one was excellent even though it could have ripened another couple of days I think - except for the fact that some critter (squirrel? chipmunk?) was starting to nibble on the rind. Better to eat it a bit early than risk losing it completely!

Friday Dial Stopper - Anniversary Edition

2008-08-08T09:31:00.011-04:00

Tomorrow is Linda's and my 10-year wedding anniversary. Yes, I said 10 years. We've actually known each other for 16 years - since our first year at Bowdoin. In 16 years, we've helped each other through the good and the bad of our undergraduate years, med/graduate school in Iowa (yes, I said, Iowa), residency, two kids, living on the Hopi Indian Reservation, my numerous "career" changes, two George W. Bush terms (no good, all bad), and countless family crises (large and small, real and imagined) and celebrations (often one and the same depending on your point of view). We drive each other crazy, we keep each other sane. If that makes sense to you, you "get it", much like Billy Idol...

Ti amo, mia lumaca!

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That's a lot of gorillas!

2008-08-07T14:16:00.003-04:00

In some exciting conservation news that almost slipped me by (a hearty thanks to "the Naner" for pointing it out to me), researchers have discovered a new population of critically-endangered western lowland gorillas in the Republic of Congo. The estimate of 125,000 individuals (!), based on the number of "nests" observed in the 47,000 km² area, is more than double the previous estimate for the number of these gorillas in the wild.

At first I thought the 125,000 number must be a mistake - I would have thought finding 30 gorillas was a big deal. But then I read that these gorillas were found in the swamps of equatorial Africa in a remote part of the Congo, so I can understand why they hadn't been found before. Just thinking about their location gives me malarial chills...

Read more here...

Watch a video of the gorilla discovery here...

Not your ordinary mollusc

2008-08-05T20:24:00.002-04:00

While going through my regular evening ritual of perusing the sites on my blogroll (I always start at the bottom and work my way up for some reason - I don't really know why), I came across the latest post by Emile over at The World We Don't Live In. This post is about the ever-so-rare phenomenon of vertebrates mimicking invertebrates. Now, while that is an interesting topic in its own right, what struck me as absolutely fascinating was the mention of a creature I had no idea even existed - the Indonesian mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus. (note: the creature is absolutely fascinating, not the fact that I had not heard of it - though I am surprised that such a critter had escaped my attention until now).

The video below does a good job of showing off this incredible quick-change artist. I'm starting to see why so many people think molluscs are so damn cool.

Friday Dial Stopper: Poster Printing Edition

2008-08-01T10:09:00.002-04:00

Well, here I sit finishing up the poster printing I started yesterday. Of course, the process isn't frustration-free today either:

1) I met the IT guy at the room so he could let me in and log me onto the computer. He shows up and says "I hope the door isn't locked, that's the one key I don't have". Wah!? Now remember, this is the same guy that let me in yesterday (he had a key then), the same guy I talked to on the phone 15 minutes ago and who told me to meet him here so he could unlock the door for me, and the same guy who called security yesterday to come and lock up the room (oh, just to cover all bases, this is the same room as it was yesterday). Of course the friggin' room is locked. As my grandmother says (surprisingly) "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" I shouldn't be surprised though since this is also the same guy who was "hoping" no one needed the regular printer this summer.

2) The IT guy finds someone with the key. Once inside I realize that the roll of paper I left on the printer is no longer there - it's been swapped out with smaller, cheaper stuff. My roll is nowhere in the room. WTF!! Luckily, the guy with the key had some ideas where it might be and after searching through about 5 different rooms we found it in a storage closet on the other side of the building. So much for being out of here in a couple of hours.

So, today's dial stopper is fitting. Just change the words in the chorus from 'I' to 'IT' (as in Information Technology) and it's perfect:

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Addendum: 1:30pm - Three posters (from the same lab) failed to include a faculty co-author. Guess who's reprinting three posters?

While I'm blogging about sports...

2008-07-31T21:28:00.003-04:00

Please, oh, please, let Brett Favre be traded to the Chicago Bears...

...it would so much fun to see Gibbon Jockey's reaction...

Manny Be Gone

2008-07-31T17:03:00.003-04:00

Warning: non-Boston sports-fans and those who haven't been following the Manny Ramirez soap opera may want to skip this post.

Thankfully, Manny Ramirez is leaving Boston. I wish it hadn't come to this, but he has become a major pain in the ass over the past few weeks - getting into fights with teammates, knocking down elderly club assistants, refusing to play, making up injuries, saying that Boston doesn't deserve a player like him, etc, etc. All because he really didn't want the Sox to pick up a $20 million option for next year (don't you hate it when someone wants to pay you $20 million a year?). Manny being Manny just went too far.

I always kinda liked the guy - a big goofball who could hit the crap out of a baseball - but with the way he's been acting lately (like one of my kids when they were 2 and were told they couldn't have ice cream) I'm happy to see him go. Looks like the Sox are getting a decent player in Jason Bay in return, but we'll see (and really, at this point, I don't really care). Everyone on the team has to feel better right now - especially Tito (Terry Francona, the team manager).

The only downside to this whole thing is that my 4-year old son, Jack, lost it when he heard the news (we were listening to the radio waiting for Emma to get home from camp). Tears, sobbing, pure uncontrollable (and inconsolable) emotion. I didn't know he was so attached to Manny. I don't even want to think about how he is going to react when the same fate befalls his favorite player, Jason Varitek. He's going to be absolutely crushed. But maybe Manny's departure will help soften the blow - Jack won't be so blindsided by the fact that this happens.

Anyways, I am 100% ready for the Manny-less era to begin. Good luck, LA! Repeat after me, it's just Manny being Manny...

Research poster frustration (take 3)

2008-07-31T13:14:00.008-04:00

Here's yet another chapter in the continuing saga of the large format poster printer I have the "privilege" of having access to.

Next Monday there is a conference co-hosted by RI-INBRE and RI-EPSCoR, two federally-funded state programs that, among many other things, provide support to undergraduates to do research. This conference consists of poster presentations for all the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURFs) from both programs throughout the state. As such, I am printing 10 posters for the SURFs here at RWU.

Not too bad, right? Each takes about 15 minutes or so to print, so I block off a few hours and give myself another day just in case anything goes awry. Am I prescient or what...

1) Poster files were due in to me by 10 a.m. this morning. How many did I have by 10 a.m.? Exactly 1. This was expected of course so not too big a deal.

2) The one laptop that is reserved for use with the large-format poster printer is kept in the Dean's office (this way we can maintain strict control over who uses the plotter - we don't want just anyone trying to use it and end up f-ing it up). However, the Dean is not here today. Neither is his secretary. The other secretary in the building doesn't have a key to his office. Luckily, security does and happily opens the door for me (wonder if the Dean knows about this).

3) The printer sits in a little room off the back of a computer lab. I have a key that opens up both the computer lab and the little room in the back. So, I unlock the computer lab and attempt to unlock the room in the back. My key doesn't fit. I try again and again and again, thinking it's just a bit sticky. Nope. No good. My key clearly does not go with this lock. Another call to security...

4) Security shows up. Long story short...their keys don't work either. WTF!?!? Security calls the locksmith. Turns out that the lock has been changed and the only folks with a key are over in IT. Apparently they're using the room for the storage of new PCs until they get a chance to swap out a bunch of old ones. Security bids me adieu and wishes me good luck. Great.

5) I call IT. Finally I get connected to someone with the key. I tell him what I need and he says...nothing. Just silence on the other side. Then I get a "Hmmmm. Huh. Ahhhhh. Can I call you back?" Sure. Why should I have expected a simple, "OK, I'll be right there"?

6) He calls back. I can't get access to the printer. I repeat, I cannot get access to the printer. Turns out the printer has been taken offline, moved to the back of the room and buried behind boxes of new PCs. It is literally inaccessible. Apparently, IT had been (direct quote here) "hoping that no one would need the printer this summer". Wah? Hoping? Other than IT (and the locksmith I guess) no-one knew this was happening. They didn't tell (or better, ask) anyone. They just were hoping it would be OK. Wow.

Everything is not lost however. The guy from IT has given me access to the computer lab in the School of Engineering. There's an older large format printer over here that I am using...once I changed the paper, figured out the proper settings, and fought with the paper loader because the roll I have is too thick so the rollers get jammed. But I'm printing now and, knock-on-wood, everything looks good.

And I remembered rubber bands this time!

The shoe fits...

2008-07-29T09:55:00.002-04:00

(Hat tip to Kevin Z)

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

Marine bio Camp - day 6 recap

2008-07-25T23:06:00.003-04:00

Well, this year's Marine Biology Camp came to a close with a whale watching excursion with Capt. John Boats out of Plymouth, MA. Although our chances of seeing anything seemed slim with the heavy fog rolling in, our luck was good once we hit Stellwagen Bank and the fog cleared. Highlights from the the trip:

Saw five humpbacks up close, including two cow-calf pairs, as well as a couple of minke whales and a fin whale off in the distance

One of the humpback whales we saw was Salt, the first humpback to be given a name some 30+ years ago, and her new calf, Sanchal

Great bubble net feeding beahvior

Best of all, Sanchal gave us a show with a "spinning head breach" right in front of the bow of the boat. This was the first time I had ever seen a breach and was as amazing as I thought it would be!

Upon our return to campus, we gave the Marine Bio students their final exam. We'd been hyping it up all week long, scaring them into paying attention and taking notes, even offering bonus points for various things throughout the week. In the end though, the "final" was a fun scavenger hunt across campus, complete with a bucket for bringing back samples (e.g. an herbivorous marine gastropod, a piece of flotsam, a member of the phylum Arthropoda). No grades are assigned - everyone had fun, learned some stuff, did some things they never did before, and got a cool RWU Marine Biology t-shirt. A success by all accounts (excepting the one kid that left mid-week).

It was an intense week - I feel like we did an entire semester of a Marine Bio lab/field course in one week. I think I'll go to bed now and sleep for about three days!

Marine bio Camp - day 5 recap

2008-07-24T23:41:00.000-04:00

Today's Itinerary:
Morning Session
Trawling on the 54' fishing vessel, the Captain Bert - students got to see the deployment of a smallish otter trawl and learn some fish biology while examining the haul;
Our catch included fluke, flounder, lobstahs, sea robins, scup/porgies, and squid;
Observe fluke dissection - examine internal anatomy and stomach contents (two recently eaten scup);

Afternoon Session
Winkler titrations of light/dark bottles from yesterday;
determine and graph primary productivity (gross and net) and respiration rates for surface and deep water;

Evening Lecture
Marine Mammals, given by yours truly (why me? cause our resident marine mammologist is on sabbatical and I lost the coin flip; thank goodness for wikipedia!)

Marine bio Camp - day 4 recap

2008-07-23T23:03:00.003-04:00

Today's Itinerary
Morning session
Take RWU boats out for plankton sampling - one boat deploys a 150μm zooplankton net, the other deploys a 20μm phytoplankton net;
Using Van Dorn bottle, collect water samples and set-up primary productivity analysis (using the light/dark bottle technique);
In lab, use microscopes to examine the plankton samples - sketch and ID five phytoplankton and five zooplankton;
use spectrophotometers to measure chlorophyll concentration in samples filtered yesterday;

Afternoon session
Head to Fogland Beach for some fish seining along the shore and salt marsh;

Evening Lecture
Fish Biology

Highlight of the Day
Catching a 20-inch striped bass in the beach seine

Lowlights of the Day
1) Lion's mane stings
2) For tomorrow's Winkler titrations I wondered if I should use glass or plastic graduated cylinders. Are the high schoolers careful enough for the glass ones? I don't know...they're pretty fragile...and tippy (the cylinders, not the kids!)...oh what the hell, let them use the good stuff. Any bets on what I did while setting up? I decided to go with plastic.

Marine bio Camp - day 3 recap

2008-07-22T23:06:00.004-04:00

Today's Itinerary:
Morning session
take RWU's two small boats (a 19' Lema Skiff and a 29' Master Marine) out on the Bay;
on one boat - take CTD and Secchi disk readings from three different stations; collect surface, mid-column, and "deep" water samples using a Van Dorn bottle (for chlorophyll analysis back in the lab);
on 2nd boat - deploy Van Veen Grab and small otter trawl, identify and discuss critters found

Afternoon session
discuss productivity, photosynthesis, and ways of measuring both;
process water samples collected in morning - for each sample, filter 1L through 0.5μ membrane, place membrane filter in 10ml acetone to extract chlorophyll, let sit overnight (will quantify chlorophyll spectrophotometrically tomorrow);
discuss what characteristics make a good graph;
create depth profiles using CTD data from morning (salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen vs depth);
interpret depth profiles and relate to the geography of the Bay;

Evening Lecture
Phytoplankton, primary productivity, and marine invertebrates (characteristics of major phyla) - presented by our two senior undergraduate camp assistants

Issue of the Day
Lost a kid. OK, not really, but one kid did decide that he hated the camp so much he didn't want to stay. So, his dad came by this evening, picked him and his stuff up, and took him home. Oh well. Maybe he was expecting dolphins and sharks or something.

Marine bio Camp - day 2 recap

2008-07-21T22:32:00.010-04:00

Itinerary:
kayak in Ninigret Pond;
explore the salt marsh, tidal flats, eel grass beds, sandy beach;
search for, find, and identify critters, discuss their ecology/natural history;
discuss sedimentation, local geology, glacial past, anaerobic decomposition, hydrogen sulfide production;
visit rocky intertidal zone at Beavertail State Park;
discuss important physical and biological factors at play here;
examine zonation;
search for, find, and identify critters;
compare and contrast with sandy beach environment;

Problems encountered:
Shuttle bus with students taking the long way around, getting stuck in morning rush-hour traffic;
kayak outfitter unable to unlock kayaks -> go out and rent bolt cutters -> cut lock;
kid from CA forgetting his parent-signed kayaking release form;
RWU shuttle failing to return to pick us up to take us to the rocky intertidal (they didn't see the second destination on the shuttle request form);
hung around kayak center parking lot for a couple of hours waiting for RWU security to "do their best to get someone out to pick us up";
had approximately 40 minutes at rocky intertidal;
one bloody shin and one smashed toe (neither mine);

At least it didn't rain on us. And I didn't lose anyone.

Kayaks, Winklers, and Otter Trawls....oh my!

2008-07-20T23:44:00.004-04:00

Today was the start of the RWU Summer Marine Biology Camp, a one-week, intensive, hands-on marine biology experience for high school kids. And I'm running it. Or rather, I'm co-running it with Scott Rutherford, our resident geologist. Today, 15 students arrived with their parents (well, technically, 14 arrived with parents, 1 flew in solo from CA), got settled into their dorm rooms, and got oriented to the program. Our week is packed full - so much so that I think I may not see my wife and kids until Saturday. Sorry, Linda! Here's a quick run-down of some of the things happening the week:

kayaking at Ninigret Pond - we'll explore this coastal lagoon (aka salt pond) and associated habitats (salt marsh, sand/mud flats, barrier beach, eel grass beds), keeping an eye out for as many critters as we can

tidepooling at Beavertail State Park - a great, wave-swept, rocky intertidal area - perfect for observing zonation

using a small, hand-deployable CTD to create water column profiles in Mt. Hope Bay (a part of Narragansett Bay)

using Van Dorn bottles to collect water samples at various depths for chlorophyll analysis

phyto- and zooplankton tows and then some microscope work to see what we caught

investigation of primary productivity using light and dark bottles and Winkler titrations (if I can find the burets!)

fish seining at a local beach - we should find plenty of silversides, mummichog, and sheepsheads, among other things

deploying an otter trawl off the 54' fishing-cum-research vessel, the Captain Bert - I am really looking forward to this one as I have never done or seen this before - we should pull up a good variety of critters, hopefully with minimal harm/bycatch

whale watching on Stellwagen Bank - a good way to end the week.

Just so you don't think the students are having all fun this week, there are also evening lectures after dinner that they have to endure and a final exam at the end. I'll be giving a lecture later in the week on marine mammals (!!) in prep for the whale watch (more on this later). Should be an exhausting, but fun week!

Jack and Jellies

2008-07-20T23:27:00.003-04:00

While visiting the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History:

In the garden

2008-07-20T01:30:00.026-04:00

Inspired by the wonderful photos by Kathy over at Skippy's Vegetable Garden, here are a few pics of what's growing over here. (Oh, and for you marine-only types who may not otherwise be interested in my terrestrial biota, check out the first two pics and notice the shells of Mytilus edulis from the Coast of Maine compost I used this year.)

Friday Dial Stopper - bonus post

2008-07-18T11:46:00.008-04:00

Although I already posted an FDS today, I wanted to share this live video of Putnam Smith, a fellow Bowdoinite who graduated a couple of years ahead of me. He and his then-musical-partner, Bryn (collectively known as Bryn and Putt) used to play at Jack Magee's Pub (and before that in the old Moulton Union pub) on campus and I very fondly remember attending as many shows as I could. They did a kick-ass cover of R.E.M.'s It's the End of the World As We Know It and the Lemonhead's Being Around (at least I think that was it; I just remember everyone calling it the "booger song") . I recently discovered that Putt has continued making music and is performing in the Northeast this summer. Check out his music at his website - his new CD, this blue, is excellent.

Friday Dial Stopper

2008-07-18T09:42:00.004-04:00

Haven't posted a FDS in a while, so to get me started again, here's one of my all-time favorite songs from one of my all-time favorite bands. It's even got an oceany theme to it!

My inner fish

2008-07-17T21:43:00.009-04:00

(hat tip to Peter "Hammerhead" Etnoyer over at Deep Sea News)

I played the fish game and based on the results of the quiz, the fish I am closest to is a Swordfish!

According to the site I am a large and powerful migratory fish that can be found in oceanic regions worldwide, including the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. I am cold blooded and have special organs next to my eyes that warm my brain and eyes to improve my vision. I am often identified by my sword, a long flat bill that helps me swim faster, hunt for food, and defend myself. I can weigh as much as 1400lbs, eat mostly squid, fish, and crustaceans and use my sword-like bill by stunning my prey. I prefer to swim and hunt alone.

I was once a very popular restaurant entrée, served at restaurants around the world. While chefs, supermarkets and people have agreed to not eat as many swordfish, I still face overfishing in many parts of the world. It is also difficult to track and manage my population because I tend to swim across international borders.

Selachophobia

2008-07-15T20:55:00.007-04:00

Seems like the perfect time for this. First, it's almost Shark Week. Second, there are sharks in Boston and now also on Nantucket.

I grew up in Massachusetts. I spent my summers at the beach on Cape Cod. I have studied the ocean and its critters. I love the ocean and its critters (yes, even molluscs). I think sharks are incredibly cool. I know that people are far more likely to die in a car accident than by being attacked by a shark. But still, every time I go in the water or take my kids to the beach I can't help but think of Jaws. EVERY time. Now, it doesn't stop me (normally) from going in the water or letting my kids have fun splashing around and throwing seaweed at each other, but there it is, always in the back of my mind, tickling my amygdala. Don't get too deep, kids. OK, that's far enough. Maybe we should build a sandcastle now.. My wife likes to tell a story about a time when we went swimming near dusk and I kept getting more and more anxious, refusing to go any deeper - she used to think it was silly until she heard about great whites being reported off Cape Cod. Part of me thinks it's silly too, but a bigger part of me likes all my limbs, thank you very much.

Irrational? Yup. But not terribly surprising either - being attacked by a shark seems to fit all four types of things we fear:

We fear what our ancestral history has prepared us to fear. As a survival tactic, fear of being eaten has served us well.

We fear what we can’t control. I don't care if you're Michael Phelps, you ain't in control. I'd feel more in control being attacked by a grizzly bear.

We fear things that are immediate more than the long-term. Sharks don't nibble.

We fear threats readily available in memory. Thanks for nothing, Mr. Spielberg.

So, as much as I enjoyed Jaws, and all its memorable quotes ("You're gonna need a bigger boat"), I think I'd rather my kids never see it.

Cuttlefish babies!

2008-07-10T23:12:00.006-04:00

In case you missed it, Kevin Z was the winner of the mystery photo contest - he correctly ~~guessed~~ identified those inch-long black things as cuttlefish egg cases. Congrats, Kevin! Your hard-earned loot is in the mail (or, rather, will be tomorrow).

Specifically, those were the egg cases of the common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, one of the organisms currently in residence here at RWU. One of our undergrads is working on more effective and efficient ways of breeding and raising them. The black color comes from ink that the female injects into each egg case.

The eggs hatched over this past weekend - 88 in total. Each hatchling is a tiny, yet fully formed cuttlefish that feeds, changes color, and inks if disturbed. They're very cute (for a mollusc).

Some pics of 2-day old cuttlefish (I'll try to get a better, close-up later when they're a little bigger). Each baby is about 1.5cm or so:

Here are some older, bigger cuttles (approx. 15-20 cm):

Does this look right to you?

2008-07-10T21:43:00.006-04:00

The back-ordered case for my new Sea & Sea underwater digital camera finally arrived today. I am not impressed:

The Musical Illusionist

2008-06-30T23:23:00.004-04:00

On a whim, I picked up The Musical Illusionist and Other Tales by Alex Rose while in a local public library the other day. I had never heard of it or Alex Rose, but the title and the slim volume grabbed my attention as I perused the New Fiction section.

I just started it and am only a handful of pages in. Already it is clear that the various short tales are a mish-mash of fiction and non-fiction - or perhaps, a better description would be that they are fiction wrapped up to look like non-fiction. The first part of the book is about time and quantification. I don't know where it is going, but I already like what it is saying. Here's an excerpt from the small piece on cause-and-effect:

Even now, many of us are content to relinquish our curiosity by invoking a primordial agent, the particular breed of which is arbitrarily determined by our religious heritage. But unlike the ancient teachings, these traditions are rooted in sacred scripture rather than observation, undeterred by modern methods and reasoning. In yet another strange loop, history would seem to have folded in one itself, cycling back to an era of willful ignorance.

Well, back to the book.

Boom De Yada

2008-06-30T10:13:00.007-04:00

Ever since P.Z. Meyers brought this video/commercial to my attention I can't seem to stop watching it or humming/singing the tune. The kids love it too. Jack particularly likes the lines, "I love real dirty things" and "I love the giant squids". Em is partial to "I love Egyptian kings" and the tribal "Boom De Yada" chorus. We must have watched it a 100 times over the weekend. Other than the Future Weapons guy blowing up a building, the message is just awesome.

Photo challenge

2008-06-27T22:32:00.015-04:00

Anyone game for a little contest?

Below are a couple of photos I took today down in the wet lab at RWU - the second one is a close-up of the first. Any guesses as to what they are? The first person to answer correctly will be held in awe and respect for their vast and varied knowledge...perhaps I'll throw in a RWU rum-drinking vessel as well.

(note: family and current or recent RWU faculty/staff/students are ineligible)

To help with the scale, each black thing is approximately 1 inch (2.5cm) long. Good luck! Click on each image for a larger view.

HINT #1 (7/1/08): Check the comments. Kevin Z has part of the answer.

HINT #2 (7/2/08): The critter's common name and taxonomic class start with the same letter.

HINT #2 (7/6/08): Phylum Mollusca, but not Class Gastropoda

UPDATE (7/8.08): Congrats to Kevin Z for his correct identification. See the comments for the answer.

Oh ye! who have your eye-balls vexed and tired, Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;

2008-06-18T12:40:00.014-04:00

Sea Education Association's SEA Semester is a program that I fully support and am happy to promote. Beyond a top-notch, hands-on education in marine science, I learned more about leadership, teamwork and self-confidence while working and living on one of their sailing vessels than with any other experience I've had. I suggest all undergraduates with even a remote interest in the ocean look into SEA and strongly encourage any that are able to participate in SEA Semester to sign on tout de suite. As it so happens, there is still room on board their Fall "Oceans & Climates" cruise. So all you undergraduates, go check it out. And all the rest of you, spread the word.

Sea Education Association is pleased to announce our
Fall 2008 SEA Semester: Oceans & Climate Distinguished visiting lecturers & student-research advisors
Joining us for this year's semester program will be:

Dr. Cynthia Pilskaln, University of Massachusetts, SMAST
Dr. Christopher Sabine, NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Dr. Jorge Sarmiento, Princeton University

SEA Semester: Oceans & Climate is a specialized program for advanced science majors that focuses on the marine carbon cycle and global climate change and takes advantage of a repeated equatorial Pacific transect (Mexico - Tahiti) to observe regional and temporal phenomena. For detailed information (pdf)

NOTE: Some spaces are still available for undergraduates to enroll in this special fall program. We encourage you to talk to interested students as soon as possible, as admission is on a rolling basis.

(PS: the title of this post is from On the Sea by John Keats)

Self-evaluation

2008-06-17T14:01:00.001-04:00

Would it be too arrogant to leave the question "What skills do you believe you could improve?" blank?

Garden Inverts

2008-06-11T21:59:00.007-04:00

(click on images for larger view)

Wolf Spider with egg case (family Lycosidae; female)

Aphids (Uroleucon sp?) on Heliopsis