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What's your favorite ecology textbook? (UPDATED)

drupaladmin
27 March 2012
What's your favorite ecology textbook? Why? I don't have much to contribute here, because I only teach upper-level courses that don't use textbooks. The last ecology textbook with which I have much personal experience is the 2nd edition of Begon, Harper, and Townsend (...

Oikos blog: have we won the internet yet?

drupaladmin
26 March 2012
For the fourth week in a row, the Oikos blog just had it's biggest week ever. And what a week it was! Thanks to some very interesting and popular posts by Chris on peer review, we got 3,956 non-syndicated views last week. Add in the syndicated views and we probably got...

Cool new statistical method not so cool after all?

drupaladmin
26 March 2012
A while back I posted on a cool new nonparametric method, which goes by the acronym "MINE", for detecting associations between variables in multivariate datasets. The method can detect even nonlinear (and non-monotonic!) relationships between pairs of variables, and it...

Is the time right for NCEAS 2.0?

drupaladmin
23 March 2012
Apparently there was much talk at the closing NCEAS symposium about "NCEAS 2.0"--a successor institute and what it might look like. This is a really interesting conversation from which I'm far removed (I never had any involvement with NCEAS), so this post is basically...

The end of NCEAS (UPDATED)

drupaladmin
23 March 2012
NCEAS officially closed its doors earlier this week with an invitation-only symposium this week held an invitation-only symposium to mark the end of its NSF funding, though apparently it has secured some other funding sources and will be continuing on in some form. If...

Trying to save a zombie idea (UPDATED)

drupaladmin
22 March 2012
In a previous post I commented that it would be interesting to see whether the very nice paper by Adler et al. (2011) on diversity-productivity relationships in terrestrial grasslands would finally kill off the zombie idea that diversity generally is a humped function...

Introspection of Oikos papers: self synthesis and expanding the scientific discussion.

drupaladmin
21 March 2012
You just published a paper in Oikos. Whew. The review process is not trivial, and it took some time in spite of the amazing speed of this journal. Done, time to move on to the next one. Right? No. I have a suggestion based on a recent experience here. Take a second,...

The Philosopher's stone, other forms of ecological synthesis such as reviews.

drupaladmin
20 March 2012
Thinking on the alchemy of synthesis further, I was considering the importance of identifying the various elements of ecological research that a journal like Oikos or a centre like NCEAS could combine. Here are some options. Data, maps, people, ideas, and methods are...

What is novel synthesis in ecology?

drupaladmin
20 March 2012
I like the idea of novel synthesis but have been trying to deconstruct what it means. I have spent some time at NCEAS and really enjoyed seeing synthesis in action. Synthesis, ecologically, appears to be bringing together datasets from different places. However,...

May the odds be ever in your favor: a brief comment on the review games in ecology.

drupaladmin
19 March 2012
Is there a peer-review crisis in ecology? This is critical question that we need to explore to determine whether we should consider introducing changes. Referee selection, number of reviews needed, and the relative importance of referees versus editors in improving the...

Models of journal management

drupaladmin
19 March 2012
I was wondering how important the communication and management between editors for a journal might be in ensuring effective and fair dissemination. I imagine that most are top down with the Editor in Chief(s) managing the bulk of the decisions. However, I suspect that...

Steve Jobs on the value of fundamental research

drupaladmin
19 March 2012
For what it's worth (which may be a lot, or next to nothing, depending on your point of view), Steve Jobs agreed with me on the value of fundamental research. The passage below is from his 2005 commencement address to Stanford University. It's quite well-put, so I...

Cover letter power and job interviews

drupaladmin
18 March 2012
I flip flop on the relative importance of cover letters for my submissions. Sometimes they write themselves, other times it is a struggle. I have not been cognizant enough to see if there is a relationship between those that I struggle with letters on and rejection...

Journal loyalty.

drupaladmin
16 March 2012
Nearing the end of my PhD dissertation, I was ready to submit my first paper from that process. I had published before, and whilst the PhD was fun, it was a long haul, and I was keen to get some work out there. I chose the Journal of Ecology for a big chapter. It was...

The importance of society journals, affordable open access, and fast turnaround times.

drupaladmin
16 March 2012
The Research Works Act and the discussion of the profit margins by academic publishers have stimulated both a wealth of discussion and some clear indications of future directions. I wanted to take a moment here to reflect on how this might relate to Oikos. Several...

Why do fundamental research in a world with pressing applied problems? (UPDATED)

drupaladmin
16 March 2012
I do fundamental research. I don't choose what questions to address, what system to work in, or any other aspect of my research based on consideration of 'societal needs'. I'm not trying to achieve any policy goals, except those of 'doing good science' and 'training...

The nine kinds of peer reviewers

drupaladmin
15 March 2012
I can't possibly comment on how true this is. HT Jarrett Byrnes

Advice: the 'snake fight' portion of your thesis defense

drupaladmin
15 March 2012
It's the time of year when many graduate students defend their dissertations. Many students are anxious about the defense, especially the part where they have to fight a snake. Here is a FAQ that addresses common concerns about the 'snake fight' portion of your...

Ecologist interview: Colin Kremer

drupaladmin
14 March 2012
Sarcozona's last (?) ESA interview is up. She chats with Colin Kremer , a grad student in the Klausmeier-Litchman lab at Michigan State. It's an audiofile, and well worth a listen. It's wide-ranging, touching on everything from why the ESA meeting is awesome (which it...

From the archives: What's your best paper?

drupaladmin
14 March 2012
A while back I did a post talking about what I think is my best paper, and inviting readers to share their stories of their best papers. I thought it would attract a bazillion comments, but the only response was from an old friend of mine. But since so many of you were...

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