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