This week my lab attended a conference in Flagstaff, AZ. Scientists and land managers presented updates on the past two-years of work. The conference included themed sessions, workshops, and two keynote presentations over 4 days. The first keynote was by Hugh Possingham, the Chief Scientist at the Nature Conservancy. One of his messages was that scientists should no longer produce "asset maps" which politicians (and others) use to make decisions about where conservation projects should take place. (A good example of an asset map might be the global locations of mountainous regions). Instead, we need to produce "action maps" which are layered maps of multiple variables that might affect a large decision. For example, if you want to figure out which forests to prioritize in conservation, you would want to know where forests are but also the political state of each country, local uses of each forest, and projected climate change impacts in each area. The map we provide to politicians should include all of these variables (and probably others), so that the map is as useful as possible for decision making. Hugh was coming at conservation from an economist's perspective. He wanted all of us to realize that there is a lot of non-ecology in conservation, like economics, social science, algorithms, modeling, and politics. The second keynote was Terry Tempest Williams, who's next book, Erosion, will be available in October. Terry was incredible. She began by speaking about the people she met and the experiences she had during the day at the conference, helping all of us to see the value of spending 4 days together - learning from one another and appreciating the unique format of bringing together scientists and practitioners. Terry played a Canyonlands soundscape - 5 minutes of the creatures of the CO Plateau filling the auditorium. She did this to help us refocus on the non-human beings that also rely on the landscape. She balanced this perspective at the end of the talk by playing a few minutes of The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, a non-verbal human acoustic. Her main role was to make us feel - in ways that our science and discussions had not done for three full days. We heard her stories about scientists hearing and responding to the needs of trees and rocks vibrating at the same frequency as the human heart. She was political - recalling her anger on the day of the last presidential election, grief on the day the wolverines were not listed, and continued pain of environmental & social injustices. She reminded us all that producing data is not a neutral act - that our data are political. The conference itself was very impressive. I attended sessions that were carefully crafted to bring the latest research on scientific topics, but also provide thorough background and time for formal and informal discussion. PI's were equally likely as graduate students to be speaking - USGS and BLM employees side-by-side traditional academics. The most impressive session was on grazing. People told of 100-year long data sets of plots from the Southern US all the way to Alberta that includes plant cover data and photography of 1 m2 plots that still exist today. You can see woody encroachment, effects of fire, and the effects of sagebrush removal just from a glance at these photographs. Five ranchers were invited to talk about their adoption of alternative grazing practices and what technologies they use to get information and make decisions each day as they manage their land. One key outcome of this conversation was the lack of adaptability in modern permitting processes. There is no option to graze on other land if you notice that a particular area is getting too much use for the conditions on a particular year. The ranchers called for changes to this system to provide more flexibility and adaptability in the future - as climate and conditions will become even more unpredictable. The most useful part of the conference for me was the workshop on Day 1. I attended two workshops on biocrust - the first was on Planning Biocrust Restoration Projects in a Changing Climate. Led by Colin Campbell, we learned about a project he did to test the effects of climate change on biocrusts from different sources - Great Basin, CO Plateau, Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts. The idea was to test how well assisted migration might work in biological soil crusts. We also worked in groups to discuss four different restoration projects and how we might use biocrusts in those projects. My group talked about restoring a Uranium mine site in Utah. We weren't sure biocrusts could be used there because we do not know if they can grow with heavy metals, if they bioaccumulate heavy metals, and what that could mean. Is it better to have heavy metals blowing around in the dust or accumulating in biocrust? The afternoon was about using biocrusts in science education! We went through 6 different examples of how to use biocrusts in the classroom at many different levels. The activities included learning the functional organisms of a biocrust under a microscope, learning about how desert organisms are really good at drying and re-wetting using a moss, examples of the role of biocrust in soil stability using the Slake Test, learning about erosional forces using a hairdryer and biocrust slabs, learning about seed capture using a hairdryer and biocrust slabs, and finally a citizen science approach to documenting biocrust disturbance using the iNaturalist app. My favorite part of the entire conference was getting to spend a few hours looking at biocrust organisms under dissecting and compound microscopes (see photos). I have been trying to learn all of this on my own and it was so helpful to have experts in the room with each functional group at a different table - tweezers available for prodding, squirt bottles available for re-wetting, and tons of experts available to ask all my questions. The key components of the biocrust are cyanobacteria, moss, and lichens (algae and fungi symbionts). Under the microscope these look a lot like a coral reef and are so beautiful. And of course the best part of the conference was getting to know my new lab mates and collaborators. Claire presented a poster and a presentation (with collaborator Becky Mann from USGS). Rachael presented her undergraduate honors thesis as a poster. Jayne Belnap (USGS Diva of Dirt) presented during the grazing session to summarize a career's worth of knowledge about biocrusts for land managers. Her key message was that we need to manage for a medium to dark cyanobacterial biocrust (this is necessary), but that it is ok if we lose lichens and mosses in some areas. The major soil stability benefits are associated with these early cyanobacterial components. In order to do this, Jayne provided 8 tips including stopping soil disturbances before the rain stops (off by early April) so that crusts can grow and recover, that your management strategies for biocrusts will depend on soil type and precipitation regimes, that we should focus monitoring efforts to particularly vulnerable areas, and that we need to manage for total uses on the landscape because there are multiple user groups. It was incredible to learn from the Biocrust Queen herself and to see how others (like Terry Tempest Williams) look up to her as a role model and leader.
Thank you to the Bowker Lab at NAU for providing all of the specimens, equipment, and instruction on biocrust organisms. All photos were taken using their equipment and with their instruction at the Conference workshop on my iphone (hence the poor image quality). For more information and better images of biocrust organisms see this Field Guide.
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The first few weeks of the semester at a new school/department are all about learning who's who and where to get all the resources. There are 13 first year EBIO graduate students - 10 men and 3 women which is unusual for EBIO departments. We also have two new faculty this year - Laura Dee and Julian Resasco. Our department chair, Deane Bowers, will be leading all of the first year students through a course called 'Parade of Champions' or CHUMPS, which hosts different faculty each week so that we learn about all the research that is happening in the department. On our first day of CHUMPS, we met one another and tried to match faces with names with research topics while enjoying delicious snacks.
Last night was the annual EBIO potluck where we were introduced to some of the more seasoned students in the department. I am slowly becoming familiar with everyone here and the rhythm of EBIO compared to BioFrontiers. We have annual progress reports that must be submitted to the department and approved by our individual committee members. The progress report includes research, mentoring, and external accomplishments. There are all sorts of ways to get involved in the EBIO department including mentorship programs, reading groups on special topics, diversity and inclusion, and teaching certificates. There is certainly not a lack of things to do - I have to be careful not to pick too many. For now, I am thinking I will stick to triathlon club with just three races this fall, establishing a group of students to attend the University of Wyoming Shepard Symposium in the spring, and the QED Supergroup organization (below). Plenty more will come my way, but that is plenty to do alongside teaching General Biology, taking two seminar courses, and trying to get some research underway in the Barger Lab. I still have a small connection with BioFrontiers this semester. I volunteered to help with organizing the Quantitative Exploration and Discussion (QED) Supergroup which will meet three times a semester at the JSCB Building on campus. This Supergroup includes anyone working on quantitative biology and offers both tutorials and opportunities for data talks. Data talks are a presentation of raw data and the methods you are using to analyze that data. It is an opportunity to teach other people about your work but also to get feedback and ideas for how to best move forward with your research. The goal of all the Supergroups is to build community in BioFrontiers and help people find the resources they need to be successful. And of course, gotta get outside while it's still nice. The alpine gentian is in full bloom in the high country right now and it is lovely. |
AuthorSierra is a graduate student in the Barger Lab at CU Boulder studying microbial ecology for dryland restoration. Archives
August 2023
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