Soil Equality

Forest soil under lodegpole pine in Lyons, Colorado. Photo courtesy of Andrea Borkenhagen, 2013.

By Kelly S. Ramirez, PhD

As a soil ecologist, I am inevitably asked about dirt (and lawn care), but mainly dirt. Depending on the person and my mood and the event, I may quip back, ‘dirt is under your fingernails.’* Some inquirer’s eyes will glaze over, realizing I was the wrong person to make small talk with at said event. Others will eye me apologetically.

Soil, not dirt, is the foundation of our terrestrial ecosystems, maintains our food sources, cleans and cycles our water, regulates climate change, controls disease, and supports our cultural activities and recreation (Wall and Nielsen, 2012).

An Early Career Ecologist in The NY Times = Science Communication at its Best

A toy wagon transports scientific equipment to Toolik Field Station on the North Slope of Alaska (parked here beneath the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline). Photo Credit: Mike SanClements, 2012.

Field work is often the basis of ecological research. It allows researchers to directly assess the natural world and its many complexities. It also gives us access to many things we rarely encounter in our daily lives . . . Adventure? Definitely. Awesome landscapes? Duh. The Arctic? Yep. Wait, what? No, way. Who works in the Arctic? Now, that’s worth writing home about!

And, that is precisely what one of our very own ecologists, Dr. Mike SanClements, did following his most recent trip to the Toolik Field Station in Alaska’s Arctic Tundra. Check out his field notes on his adventures in climate change research via The New York Times’ Dot Earth blog: Creating a Vital Long View for Gauging Environmental Change. The best science (and scientist) is pounding the pavement and communicating with the masses. Go, Mike!

Shifting climate, altered niche, & a dynamic conservation strategy for PNW yellow-cedar

Yellow cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis) decline on west Chicagof Island in southeast Alaska. Photo courtesy of Paul Hennon, USFS, 2012.

By Nate Hough-Snee

Yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis) has been rapidly declining across Central British Columbia (BC) and Southeast Alaska (AK) for the last couple decades.

Early Career Ecologist Profile: Meet Kelly S Ramirez

Cedar Creek Exp 001 (Nitrogen addition plots)

Hello readers! I apologize for having written such a serious first post without first introducing myself, my research, and my current job!I am not a Colorado native, but I have lived here for five years now; after getting my BA from Washington State University (GO COUGS!), I moved to Boulder. While at WSU – or rather while looking for grad schools – I discovered microbial ecology. There were a series of straightforward events that led me to my current research interests -> I took ecology. I took microbiology. I asked, can I combine ecology and microbes?

Scientific Conferences 101

BIOGEOMON Conference 2012 in Camden, Maine. Photo courtesy of Morgan Fuller, 2012.

By Mike SanClements, PhD

Ever wonder exactly what goes on at a scientific conference? I know I did before attending my first one. So let me try and give you a little insight – in case you’re preparing for your first one or are just curious about what us scientists are up to when we all gather in some random city.