Ecology Discussion Group

Ecology Discussion Group is a new group for 2011 that meets every two weeks to discuss papers from the ecological literature relevant to the participants interest, or serve as a forum for discussion on methodology or theory being applied in their own work. The topics of focus are Landscape ecology, Functional ecology, Ecophylogenetics, Ecosystem services, Plant-Animal interactions, Community ecology, Invasion ecology, Deep Ecology, Systems Ecology and other things of fancy. Meetings are on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 14h00, with locations both at the MacDonald campus and Stewart Biology building. All are welcome to join and/or contribute. The group is coordinated by Tammy Elliott and Aaron Ball.

Next Meetings: TBA

Eco Theoretic Cafe

Bi-weekly discussion group on a wide range of topics in ecological and evolutionary theory. Each meeting one person hosts the discussion, speaking on whichever theoretical topic they feel fit (e.g., specific models; how to use R, Matlab, LaTeX; practice for Qualifying Exam). The goals are (at least) two-fold: create a sense of community and support among students studying theory, and (ii) integrate empirical and theoretical labs by encouraging those with little or no mathematical background to participate. Coffee will be served. If monetary funds are secured (fingers crossed) we will expand the hosts to include graduate students from Quebec and southern Ontario.

Next Meeting: TBA

Website: http://ecotheoreticcafe.wordpress.com/

Classic Papers Discussion Group

Classic Papers is a paper group that meets weekly to discuss classic papers from the whole range of the biological sciences. Each week, a different person will pick a paper that the group will read and discuss. In the past, we’ve discussed topics ranging from lateral gene transfer, to speciation rates in the fossil record to social acquisition of traits in baboons. We use a pretty loose definition of a classic paper: if a paper had (or you think it will have) a significant impact on how people in the field view a subject, and you can explain that impact to people outside the field in a couple paragraphs, it probably counts as classic.

Michael Pedruski started this group in the summer of 2009, to help graduate students in the department from diverse backgrounds connect with each other’s work, as well as build connections in the department.Shaun Turney took over administering the group in January of 2014.

Next Meeting: Friday, February 28th 2014, Room 404 at TH, Paper excerpt from Rachel Carson’s 1962 Silent Spring as our next paper. Here is a link: http://www.science.smith.edu/~jcardell/Courses/EGR100/protect/reading/SilentSpring.pdf

Molecular Discussion Group

Molecular Journal Club is a student-run, bi-weekly, discussion group with a focus on genetics and cell/molecular biology. Topics discussed include, but are by no means limited to: biophysics, biochemistry, genetics and basic molecular biology as well as their applications in cell biology, developmental biology, biotechnology, medicine and agriculture.

At each meeting, we discuss one recent or classic topical paper. Everyone has an opportunity to select and or present a paper. However, the meetings are not be limited to discussion of primary/published literature and there are also opportunities to present your own work, practice presentation skills in a stress-free environment and get useful feedback from friends and peers.

If you are interested in attending this discussion group, and would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact Aleks at aleksandar{dot}vujin{at}mail{dot}mcgill{dot}ca

P.S. Everyone is encouraged to bring their lunch to meetings!

Next Meeting: TBA