Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

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Multiple EEB members receive Chancellor’s Awards

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The UT Chancellor’s Office gives annual awards to recognize “extraordinary achievements” for faculty, staff, students, and other members of the EEB community. EEB-associated members received a disproportionate number of awards, including half of the awards for community service:
Gary McCracken — Alexander Prize, recognizing superior teaching and distinguished scholarship
Rosie Gillespie, UT PhD 1986 (advisor Susan Riechert), won the Notable UT Woman award, which this year was given to an alumna
Ken McFarland — an award for Extraordinary Community Service, due to his commitment to the Wildflower Pilgrimage
PhD student Jess Welch — an award  for Extraordinary Community Service
GREBE (graduate student organization, EEB) — an award for Extraordinary Community Service
Hannah Long was named a Top Collegiate Scholar
And also Shanna Pendergast, who recently joined Biology as an advisor, won an award for excellence in undergraduate advising

Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage April 23-27

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The 63rd annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is April 23 – 37. It is “an annual five-day event in Great Smoky Mountains National Park consisting of a variety of wildflower, fauna, and natural history walks, motorcades, photographic tours, art classes, and indoor seminars. Most programs are outdoors in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while indoor offerings are held in various venues throughout Gatlinburg, TN” (from its website). It includes numerous offerings by EEB people, including a mushroom walk with EEB undergrad (and incoming Matheny lab graduate student) Christine Braaten, a talk and ant hike with faculty member Nate Sanders, and a nighttime bat walk by McCracken lab members. Gene Wofford, director of the UT Herbarium and emeritus EEB faculty member, is one of the organizers of the pilgrimage.

Grants on effects of invasion on bats

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EEB PhD student Jessica Welch, a grad student with Gary McCracken and Dan Simberloff, recently received grants to study how invasive species affect a bat. From her abstract:

Aguiguan, a small island in the Northern Mariana Islands, is home to the only known population of the Emballonura semicaudata rotensis, a subspecies of Pacific sheath-tailed bat. Immediate research is necessary to determine an appropriate approach to its conservation. Two ubiquitous invaders, feral goats and lantana shrub have dense populations on Aguiguan. It is unknown whether these invasive species affect the Pacific sheath-tailed bat.


The grants were funded by Sigma Xi and Bat Conservation International. Jess was also inducted into Sigma Xi as an associate member.

R-Encyclopedia of Life interface

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Research assistant professor Barb Banbury and assistant professor Brian O’Meara recently received funding from the Encyclopedia of Life for creating an R interface to parse information from that site. This can be used to identify phylogenetic trends in amount of content for various groups, highlight taxonomic controversies, and in general make this data far more accessible for researchers. All their code is open source and is being developed in public. More information is available here. The figure above shows coverage of various plant species in different databases on a phylogeny of those plants (Asparagales); blue indicates better coverage.

EEB undergrad wins in EUReCA competition

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EEB undergrad Devin Jones won first place in the EUReCA undergraduate research symposium, Ecology, Evolution, and Water Quality category, at UT. Devin’s poster was on “Fall Migration of Corn and Rice Strains of Spodoptera fruigperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Southwest Texas”. She conceived of the project and performed all the field and lab work as well as the analyses. She was mentored by EEB Dept. Head Gary McCracken and EEB PhD student Jennifer Krauel.

Epigenetics and homosexuality

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A recent paper by Bill Rice, Urban Fridberg, and UTK EEB faculty member Sergey Gavrilets, proposes that epigenetic factors, the switching on or off of genes by factors other than other genes, may lead to homosexuality. This work arises from a working group at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), which is on the UT Knoxville campus. For more information, see the press release and the original article.

Search for EEB Head

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HEAD – DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (http://eeb.bio.utk.edu) at the flagship campus of The University of Tennessee in Knoxville is seeking a senior colleague for the position of Professor and Head. We are interested in a visionary individual able to lead a department that is already rich in potential to become one of the top EEB departments in the world. Candidates should evidence effective leadership and have a record of excellence in teaching and research in any area of ecology and evolutionary biology or related field.

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is dynamic with ambitious plans for future growth in all aspects of our scholarship. There is already much collaboration both among the 27 current faculty and 60 graduate students and with nearby scientists and mathematicians associated with the National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Oak Ridge National Lab, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The University of Tennessee is a faculty-friendly campus and supports dual-career couples.

Applicants should currently hold or be eligible for promotion to the rank of Professor. The successful applicant will be expected to have achieved an internationally renowned research program, as well as to possess real insights into undergraduate and graduate teaching, administering a department and interacting with other university units. The Knoxville campus of  the University of Tennessee is seeking candidates who have the ability to contribute in  meaningful ways to the diversity and intercultural goals of the University.

To apply, please send the following in a single pdf-formatted document to mander16@utk.edu: (1) a cover letter that includes a vision statement for the head’s leadership role in the growth of an EEB department, a statement of teaching philosophy/experience and current research interests, and the names and contact information for three referees; (2) a CV; and (3) copies of three publications. Review of applications will begin on December 1, 2012 and will continue until the position is filled. The anticipated starting date is August of 2013.

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment and admissions without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or covered veteran status.

Eligibility and other terms and conditions of employment benefits at The University of Tennessee are governed by laws and regulations of the State of Tennessee, and this non-discrimination statement is intended to be consistent with those laws and regulations.

In accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, The University of Tennessee affirmatively states that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or disability in its education programs and activities, and this policy extends to employment by the University.

Inquiries and charges of violation of Title VI (race, color, national origin), Title IX (sex), Section 504 (disability), ADA (disability), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (age), sexualorientation, or veteran status should be directed to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Accessibility (EOA), 1840 Melrose Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37996-3560, telephone (865) 974-2498 (V/TTY available) or 974-2440. Requests for accommodation of a disability should be directed to the ADA Coordinator at the Office of Equal Opportunity and Accessibility.