News and Events

hello BGSA folks!

As the weather slips to sub-zero temperatures in Montreal, we thought we'd give you a post with the ghost of bio past, the ghost of bio present and the ghost of bio yet to come.

To kick it off, we've got pictures up from our wildly successful pumpkin carving contest. Check out the pictures here!!! As you can see, the stakes have been raised, yet again. Better start planning for next year!!

Check out the seminar page on the Biology Department website. There are several interesting molecular and organismal seminars coming up. There are also many PhD seminars and PhD defenses, so come out and support your soon to be graduating colleagues - it'll be your turn soon! You can also check out the BGSA calender for events as well. Click on the calendar link on the BGSA page.

Some events to look out for include:

A post-seminar discussion with Dr. Owen McMillan from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Thompson House, Room 406 from 4.30-6.30pm.

The first annual symposium: Biodiversity Science in Quebec: 2010 and beyond. Hosted by the Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science, information and registration can be found here

And from the enviro digest, some interesting discussions and events coming up:

Panel Discussion- environment and animal welfare impacts – Nov 8

ENVIRONMENTAL & ANIMAL WELFARE IMPACTS OF INTENSIVE FARMING: EXPLORING THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND POTENTIAL AVENUES FOR CHANGE

Monday, 8 November 2010

5:30pm, Reception to follow

McGill Law Faculty, 3644 Peel St.

Moot Court

Environmental Law McGill and the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund are hosting a panel discussion on the environmental and animal welfare impacts of intensive farming. The panelists will explore the current legal framework surrounding intensive farming, debate potential avenues for change, and share what they view as the most promising ways to mitigate environmental and animal welfare impacts.

This panel will be bringing together three experts from Canada and the United States. Kaitlyn Mitchell is a staff lawyer with Ecojustice, the nation's leading non-profit organization using the law to protect and restore the Canadian environment. Navin Ramankutty is a Professor of Geography and Earth System Science at McGill University, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Land-Use and Land-Cover Change. David Wolfson teaches animal law, with a particular focus on farmed animals, at Columbia Law School and NYU Law School.

We invite you to attend the panel discussion and join us for a reception immediately following the panel. Hope to see you there!

For more details, visit the website: www.saldf.ca.

***

Geospectives Seminar Series - Nov 8

From pastures to forests: Successional dynamics of tropical rain forests

Dr. Robin Chazdon

Dept. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

University of Connecticut

Geospectives Seminar Series

11-12:30 pm, Monday Nov 8th

Burnside Hall Room 426

McGill University

(refreshments served at 10:45)

***

From Canada to Cancun: Canadian Climate Policy and the UN climate change negotiations

6pm, Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

McGill School of Environment Conference Room

3534 University

Remember COP15 in Copenhagen last December, where we failed to get a fair, ambitious, and binding deal on climate change? Wondering what's up next at the UN climate change negotiations?

The COP16 UN climate negotiations kick off November 29th in Cancun, Mexico. But how does the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) work? And how does Canada's domestic climate policy (or lack thereof) affect our role internationally? Our workshop will cover the basics of the UNFCCC, Canadian climate policy, what to expect from Cancun, some of the key issues Canada faces regarding climate change, and a discussion of what McGill students can do to effect policy change.

This workshop is presented by two members of the Climate And Sustainability Advocacy (CASA) Project who are undertaking an independent study in Canadian Climate Policy. Members of the Canadian Youth Delegation to COP16 will be present to help answer questions and to add to discussions. For more information, please check out http://casamcgill.wordpress.com/.

Cheers,

BGSA

Galápagos of the Coal Age': Joggins, Nova Scotia.

Did you know that the Redpath Museum has an intricate link with Canada’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site?

Are you aware that our own Sir William Dawson, fifth president of McGill and founder of the Redpath Museum, was one of Canada’s first paleoecologists?

If you didn’t (and even if you did), the Redpath Museum Club presents a talk that can answer all of your questions! On Wednesday, October 27th, we will be hosting a talk on ‘The Redpath-Joggins Connection’ at 3pm in the Redpath Auditorium.

Still not sold? Read on.

The Fossil Cliffs at Joggins, Nova Scotia became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. This property has played a vital role in the development of seminal geological and evolutionary principles, including through the work of Sir Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin, for which the site has been referred to as the “coal age Galápagos”.

During next Wednesday’s talk, Matt Stimson - a student at St. Mary’s University, Halifax and researcher at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs World Heritage site - will speak about the history of the site and about the vital role Sir William Dawson played in the monumental discoveries that occurred there. Some of the latest research currently being preformed at the site will also be presented.

On behalf of the Redpath Museum Club, I’d like to invite you to come out and see this enlightening talk. It should be very interesting from both a biological and historical perspective!

Thanks!

Emily.
(Internal Facilitator, Redpath Museum Club)

Pumpkin Carving Contest!!!

THERE IS STILL TIME TO SIGN UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HURRY UP - IT'S GOING TO BE EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey fellow biology enthusiasts,

Do you like pumpkins?

Do you enjoy carving pumpkins or other vegetables?

If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, then boy does the BGSA have the event for you!

Now that Thanksgiving weekend is almost over, it’s time to get jazzed about the second greatest event in October: the Annual Biology Department Pumpkin Carving Contest, or ABDPCC (just rolls off the tongue).

For those of you new to the Department or unfamiliar with the event, teams participating in the pumpkin carving contest sign-up in advance, and arrive the day of the event with tools in hand, and carve the greatest pumpkin of all time. Teams must pay $6/team, which covers the cost of the pumpkin (which we will provide for you), and prizes. Please sign-up by e-mailing Ria (ria{dot}ghai{at}mail{dot}mcgill{dot}ca) and getting your team’s $6 to her by Friday, October 22nd so we can purchase supplies. Teams will have 1 hour to carve the pumpkin, before our returning judges, Susan Bocti and Frank Scopeletti, analyze your pumpkin-carving skills. Judging criteria include: creativity, use of lab tools, originality, and participation of supervisor (which is worth extra points, so get on that).

Ok, summary of event details:

WHAT: I think that should be obvious by now.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 27 at 1pm (event is 1hr; teams should arrive 15 min early to prepare; onlookers welcome!)
WHERE: 4th floor lobby, Stuart Bio Building
WHO: Graduate students, postdocs, professors, anyone in the Department with an interest in pumpkins and/or squash carving.
WHY: Because October wouldn’t be complete without a pumpkin carving contest. And there will be prizes, and a trophy (yes, a TROPHY) for the winning team.

So, start harassing your supervisors, assembling a team, contact Ria to sign-up, and we’ll see you all on Wednesday, October 27th at 1pm for pumpkin fun! Teams, don’t forget to bring your own carving supplies!!

PGSS day-trip to Quebec City

September 25 · 8:00am - 8:30pm

Spend the day touring to the capital of Quebec and
soak in the sights of one of Canada’s oldest cities.

Cost: 35$/person
32$ for children (2-12yrs old)
Free (children under 2)
$37/person (guests/ pgss non-members)

The Event includes:
Tour fee (coach bus), Montmorency falls (falls admission is included but cable car in not included in the fee),observation tower and tour guide/driver tips.

Limited seats!
Register early
via email: social.pgss@mail.mcgill.ca
In-person: at the PGSS Office (Thomson House, room 401).
Deadline for reservation is September 18.

BGSA Events - a taste of what you can expect this year

Dear New, Old, Incoming, Finishing, Procrastinating and Thesis Writing Biology Students,

As you may have noticed with the flurry (no snow, thank goodness, and yes I know, I recycled that joke from last year) of emails from the listserv, the BGSA has some fantastic events in store for everyone for the 2010-2011 year. We think it would be beneficial to show you just how fantastically awesome these events are. So, if you clink the title of this post, it should link you to our photo albums. For those of you still trying to just log onto Minerva or are stuck in dial-up land, I've included a few to whet your appetite for the events to come.

First up, the camping trip. This year, it is scheduled for September 10-12 in beautiful Gatineau Park.

Once everyone was set-up, dinner com- menced, with Allen and Morgan providing musical accompa-niment to the group who not only aligned themselves in pecking order, but also lined up their drumsticks to all face the same way. Later that night, Morgan single handedly battled the growth hormone modified raccoons that roamed the camping site. One raccoon did almost make off with Ben's wallet at one point...

The next day was beautiful, sunny and, as all good grad students know, that mean chilaxing by the water. Believe it or not, the discussion was on the values of baysian statistics in ecology and the latest developments in pipetting techniques...

We found a cave you could go spelunking in, and Maria, with her great smile, mentioned how it would make a great office space.

In the end, a merry band of bio marauders posed for a picture and everyone went home happy and content, and excited for THIS YEAR'S TRIP SO HURRY UP AND REGISTER!!! IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!

And a few more events... Pumpkin carving - an epic battle between labs to show who can not only carve the best pumpkin, but tell the best story about their pumpkin!

And many more - check out the photo website at: http://picasaweb.google.ca/mcgillbgsa

There are more pictures of these and other past events, so we look forward to seeing you at as many of the events as you want to come to!

Cheers,

BGSA

Welcome Back Softball Game and BBQ!

Hear ye hear ye! To celebrate the beginning of what promises to be another fantastic year in the McGill Biology Department, the Biology Graduate Students Association (BGSA) cordially invites YOU to the WELCOME (BACK) BBQ & SOFTBALL GAME this Friday!

WHO: All Biology graduate students and postdocs
WHAT: BBQ (veggie and meat options), drinks, softball and frisbee
WHEN: Friday, Sept 3 from 4-6 pm
WHERE: Reservoir field, the big grassy field across from Thomson House between Dr Penfield, des Pins and McTavish streets (just go around the construction...)
WHY: Because the food is FREE and some of Quebec's FINEST beer will be on hand for $2

This is a great way to meet new students, catch up with old friends, and kick off the Labour Day long weekend. You don't have to be able to catch, throw or hit the ball in order to play with us -- and we still came second in the league! Please bring your labmates!

Hope to see you there.

Cheers,

Your friendly neighbourhood BGSA

Stats Workshops 2010

The BGSA is proud to bring you a series of Statistics Workshops starting this fall! Workshops will be taught by your peers (grad students and faculty), and designed to be hands-on. We will be using the R statistical software package, and as many open-source resources as we can find!

Workshops will be held Friday afternoons in the Stewart Biology computer lab (N4/17), from 2 - 4 PM (14h - 16h). Every other week in between main workshops will be informal help sessions for you to come with specific questions regarding previous topics: e.g. help applying a method to your data.

The series starts off with an ever popular introduction to R and probability, on Friday September 17 & 24, 2010. This will essentially be two topics taught concurrently over two workshops to help you get comfortable with working in R, and some elementary principles to help you perform statistical analyses in R more efficiently. No experience required.

Registering for individual workshops will guarantee that you reserve a seat in the room, but it is not required in advance. There is a registration form on the web site, and spots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration will remain open until the start of the workshop, so even if you didn't register ahead, you are welcome to join us, as long as there are seats available! So don't be late! We'll announce on the web site if any workshops are getting full, so you have time to get a seat for your favourite topic(s).

Computers are available in the computer lab, as long as you have a McGill ID. There are more seats than computers, however, and you are welcome to bring your own laptop to work on (laptops are also available to sign out from the library or teaching services, I think).

More information is available on the BGSA website (see the link on the sidebar to the left):

Temporary web site for the workshops

Feel free to forward this to your colleagues in other departments who may be interested.

See you in the computer lab,

Jonathan Whiteley & Neeltje Boogert

Biology Graduate Students' Association

McGill University

September Orientation Camping Trip

We've reserved group campsite number 5 in Gatineau Park (it can be found by clicking the Taylor Lake link). We already have about 25-30 people coming; even if no one else signs up, it will only cost each person < 4 dollars per night for camping + food + transportation + gear. This also means that you are all welcome to invite significant others (just be sure to let me know soon so we dont over book the trip).

To make sure we don't over or under book the trip, we are collecting a $20 deposit (non-refundable) per person. Please email me if you are not in town (you can give me money when you get to town), if you are in town, please bring your deposit to my office W 6/1 in Stewart biology by Monday (August 30th). I have meetings all week, so ill be in and out, but if i'm not there, just leave an envelope under the door with the money and your name on it and email me to let me know you dropped it off (talk about a run on sentence).

Gatineau Park offers a variety of outdoor activities: hiking, swimming, canoe/kayak rentals, fishing, bike rentals. As far as food is concerned, we're going to create groups that are responsible for buying and preparing one meal. Please let me know if you have any dietary restrictions (i.e. vegan/vegetarian, allergies, etc.) so we can accommodate. The total cost of the weekend will depend greatly on the number of vehicles owned by graduate students. I'll let everyone know the projected price as soon as I know how many cars are coming.

Details:

Date: Friday Sept 10th to Sunday Sept 12th

Alcohol policy: Officially, they dont allow it, unofficially they dont care as long as everyone is cool.

Gear: Please email me back with whatever gear you have (including extra gear you can bring), what we need:

Cars

Tents

Sleeping bags

Sleeping Mats

camping pots and a camping grill grate (not backpacking stoves, just a grate to put over the fire pit)

tarps

coolers

cooking utensils for fire

We have some instruments coming (guitars, fiddle, banjo, washtub bass), but if you have anything especially awesome, let me know , and ill let you know if we can squeeze it in!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! BUNGEE JUMPING

Monica Radovski has organized BUNGEE jumping as a side trip on the camping trip!

monica.radovski@mail.mcgill.ca.

For all the adventurous people:
Have you ever wanted to plummet towards an aqua-blue, spring-fed
lagoon, whilst being tethered to beautiful limestone by a large
elastic cord? Well now's your chance! We're lucky enough to be
camping very close to the highest bungee jump (200 ft/61 m) in North
America! The jump is with Great Canadian Bungee in Wakefield, Qc.
Some of us are planning to go there during the day on the Saturday.
If you don't want to take the plunge they also have a zipline, B.B.Q.
and picnic facilities, a lifeguard beach, a volleyball net and much
more. You can check it all out on their website:
http://www.bungee.ca/

It's cheaper to bungee jump if we're a group of at least 10 people,
and we have to book the jump a couple of weeks in advance because
they're pretty busy on weekends. We also have to figure out the car
situation before we go, so please let me (Monica R.) know if you're
interested in bungee jumping or just coming along to watch and/or take
part in the other activities they have. My email address is
monica.radovski@mail.mcgill.ca. This is just one option for something
to do on Saturday, so there's no pressure to come.

Here are the prices as listed on the website:

BUNGEE JUMPING
First Jump (Regular Price) $97.45
Additional Jumps (Same Day) $53.16
Group of 10 or More $70.87 ( 48hr advance reservation )

RIPRIDE
The RIPRIDE® $31.01
(add on with any Bungee or raft trip) $22.15

PACKAGES
Jump and Rip Ride $119.60
Jump, DVD and T-Shirt $132.89
Jump, Rip Ride, DVD, T-Shirt $155.04
(DVD is a 2 disc set with Adrenaline Overload Promo
video and your personal jump video)

Peace,

Caolan

--

Caolan Kovach-Orr

Ph.D. Candidate, Fussmann Lab
McGill University
Stewart Biology Building
1205 Docteur Penfield
Montreal, Quebec H3A 1B1


Lab: Stewart Biology Building, Room W 6/3.
(514) 398-4096

Office: Stewart Biology Building, Room W 6/1.
(514) 398-6467

Grad students lunches with candidates for the Animal Behavior position

Hi everyone,
In the following weeks, the Biology Department will welcome and interview five candidates for the Animal Behaviour position.
We received more than 95 applications from very strong candidates and these five are "la crème de la crème"!

As the grad student representative of the Animal Behavior Search Committee, I am strongly soliciting your participation to evaluate and give your impressions about
our top candidates. I am particularly interested to get your feedback during lunches where we can discuss and interact with candidates in a more relaxed atmosphere.
What I am expecting from you: Joining us for lunch (not that difficult) and, afterward, give me your general impressions about the candidate (not that difficult either!).

**Because I am having my Ph D seminar on April 28th and leaving May 7th for a month, Xoxo and Aerin kindly accepted to help me organize and coordinate
lunches with the grad students.

The five candidates are:
Simon Reader, Utrecht University, Behavioural Biology, The Netherlands
Seminar: April 28, 2010 – W4/12 4pm – “Cognitive mechanisms for a changing environment: The evolution and ecology of social learning”
Roundtable discussion: April 29th 10:30-12:00, room W5/2. Coffee & goodies will be served.
Lunch with grad students: April 29th 12:00 to 1:30

Mark Laidre, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University
Seminar: May 3rd W4/12 4pm “The evolution of animal communication: displaying crabs, singing birds, gesturing monkeys, and gossiping humans”
Roundtable discussion: May 4th 10:30-12, room W5/2. Coffee & goodies will be served.
Lunch with grad students: May 4th 12:00 to 1:30

Julie Desjardins, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, California
Seminar: May 5th, 2010 - N2/2 4pm seminar - "The influence of social information on the brain "
Roundtable discussion: May 6th 10:30-12:00, room W5/2. Coffee & goodies will be served.
Lunch with grad students: May 6th 12:00 to 1:30

Frances Bonier, Queen’s University, Department of Biology
Seminar: May 7th 9:30am W4/12 - "Coping Mechanisms: Behavioural and physiological responses to environmental challenges"
Roundtable discussion: May 7th, room N5/1. 10:30-12:00. Coffee & goodies will be served.
Lunch with grad students: May 7th 12:30 to 1:30

David Lusseau, University of Aberdeen, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Seminar: May 13th 9:30am W4/12 - "Complex communal decisions emerging from simple socio-ecological interactions"
Roundtable discussion: room N5/1, May 13th 10:30-12:00. Coffee & goodies will be served.
Lunch with grad students: May 14th 12:30 to 1:30

Cheers!
--
Katrine Turgeon, Ph.D candidate
McGill University
Biology Department
1205 Docteur Penfield Ave.
Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1B1
Tel.: 1 514. 398.6462

Symposium and BBQ

Hello students, post-docs, staff and faculty!

As you know, the end of the semester has been a flurry (thankfully not snow) of end of semester activities ranging from marking papers to staff appreciation day. As one last hurrah for an amazing 2009-2010 academic year, the annual biology graduate student symposium is this Monday, April 26th from 9am to 4.45pm in W4/12. Come see talks about everything from proteins on up to primates!

Following the symposium, the BGSA is holding a *BBQ & SOFTBALL GAME* that promises to be a fun filled way to welcome in the summer. The bbq will be from 5-7pm at the Reservoir field (McTavish & Dr Penfield), weather permitting. Otherwise, we'll set up fake sun and grass in the TH basement and try not to break anything with a round of indoor softball (kidding!). There will be free burgers (veggie too) and various other tasty goodies. Beer will be available for $1 so don't forget your loonies.

Everyone (that means YOU!) is invited to both the bbq and the symposium. For those who will be attending the very cool sounding Alma Howard lecture (4:15 pm in N2/2), you are also cordially invited to come to the reservoir post wine and cheese.

Bring your softball gloves and frisbees!

And... We need helpers! If you are able to help please send an email to kiyoko{.}gotanda{at}mail{.}mcgill{.}ca

Volunteers are needed mostly for set-up (around 4 pm) and clean up (around 7 pm), so please indicate which you can help with (or both!!). You will get a free burger (optional) and a big hug (not-optional).

Cheers

the BGSA

What do YOU want in your stats workshops?

Hey everyone,

The Biology Graduate Students Association (BGSA) is planning to organize a series of statistics workshops to be held in Fall 2010 and Winter 2011 for graduate students and post-docs.
We would like your input as to how to design this workshop series, and which topics should be included.

Please take a few moments to fill out the survey by clicking on the link below (it's only 10 questions!!!):

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q5VCSTB

BGSA General Meeting Minutes

Check out the minutes from the latest BGSA General Meeting by clicking on the title of this post, or on "Meetings" in the sidebar!

Department Rep. Positions available for 2010-2011

The following biology graduate student representative positions are available for next year (2010-2011):

• Green Committee
• Safety Committee
• Curriculum Committee
• Organismal Seminar Committee (CEEB)
• Molecular Seminar Committee
• PGSS Councillor (2 positions)

There are also many BGSA council spaces still available, so please consider making a small commitment and participate in decisions that affect grad students in this department. It doesn't have to take a lot of time, but it makes a big difference (and looks good on your CV).

If you are interested in running for any of these positions, please submit a candidate form and support forms from 3 other BGSA members to BGSAelections@gmail.com, or bring them to next General Meeting (Monday March 8, 11 AM, location TBA).

Travel Grant winners

> Announced the winner of Fall 2009 BGSA Travel Grant (Trond Sigurdson) after a number of students declined the award due to other funding.

The Winter 2010 BGSA Travel Grant winner(s) are (in order of draw - only the person highest on the list who is able to accept the grant will receive it):

1. Lari Delaire

2. Richard Feldman

3. Felipe Dargent

4. Kiyoko Gotanda

5. Ian Hatton

6. Xoxo O’Farrill

7. Grigoris Kylafis

8. Zoe Joly-Lopez

9. César Largaespada Roque

10. Shawn Leroux

2010-2011 BGSA Elections

Be a 2010-11 BGSA Councilor! Be a Graduate Rep!
- Help plan social and professional dev't events (feed your megalomania)
- Sit on a committee that you're interested in (e.g. Green Committee, AGSEM etc.)
- Looks good on your CV (90% of BGSA Councilors become tenure track professors)

* Is it difficult? No.
* Is it fun? Yes (mandated).
* Will it take up too much of my time? No, i.e. 1-2 meetings/term and help plan 1-2 events/year for BGSA Councilors, anywhere from 1 meeting/month - 1 meeting/year for the Graduate Reps.

Sound good? Darn tootin' it does. Here's what you do:

1) Want to be a BGSA Councilor and/or a Graduate Rep? Open the attached 'Candidate Form', fill in your name and position and the names of three current BGSA members (grad students, postdocs) who will support your nomination -- use a separate Candidate Form for each position. Email this to bgsaelections@gmail.com by Sun Feb 28. You don't have to be a BGSA Councilor to be a Dept Rep, but hey, you could be!!

2) Ask those three people to fill in the attached 'Support form' with your name and their name and email it to bgsaelections@gmail.com by Sun Feb 28. The same people can support you for multiple positions (e.g. BGSA Council and AGSEM Rep), but need to send two versions of the Support Form each position.

3) There are positions for 18 Councilors on BGSA Council, plus 2 spots for new students in September 2010. If there are >18 nominations, then we have an election (or thumb wrestling) at the BGSA General Meeting on Mon March 8. If not, those people are acclaimed to Council and we still have the General Meeting. The Executive (President, VP, Treasurer and Secretary) are elected from Council -- so you have to be a BGSA Councilor to run for an Executive position.

** STORY TIME EXAMPLE **

Charles Darwin wants to be a BGSA Councilor and is thinking about being VP. He learns to use email and sends his Candidate Form to bgsaelections@gmail.com at the stroke of midnight on Feb 28. He asks 3 friends to support his nomination, and they come back from the dead to email his Support Form. At the BGSA General Meeting (March 8), Chuck is acclaimed to BGSA Council -- but his nemesis Alfred Wallace decides that he also wants to run for VP (revenge for the whole 'you stole my natural selection' scandal). They thumb wrestle for the position, Chuck loses becaues he's been dead longer, and Alfie becomes VP. However, in a twisted turn of events Chuck is acclaimed as President and once again usurps poor Alfred. Sucks to be you, Alfie.

Yes, BGSA Council really is this exciting.

Please feel free to email me, Jon, Rich or Caitlin (2009-10 BGSA Exec) if you have questions about the process or any of the positions.

Cheers,
Aerin, John, Caitlin & Rich