Menu

ScIUConversations in Science at Indiana University

Tag: Ecology

7 Tips on How You Can Help the Environment

Posted by

This is part three in a series on primates and conservation. Check out parts one and two here. If you want to help with saving our environment and animal conservation efforts follow the tips below! Even the smallest efforts can make an impact on primate conservation, and help combat against the effects of global warming. 

The cycle of life… and death… below your feet

Posted by

Photo of a deciduous temperate forest in autumn, with leaves senescing and leaf litter on the forest floor in various stages of decomposition.

As an ecosystem ecologist, I study how the cycle of life and death influences forest structure and changes over time. A walk in the woods might illuminate the forest’s dynamism as you observe squirrels tending to their buried acorn caches and listen to woodpeckers feasting on grubs. In contrast, the plant community may appear more… Read more »

A night at the museum takes us back to the future!

Posted by

Photos of museum collection specimens of preserved silky pocket mice (Perognathus flavus) and kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ordii) used for stable isotope analysis. Skeletons are enclosed in small jars, and stuffed prepared skins are aligned in trays.

Graduate students across disciplines agree: as your years of graduate education increase, your knowledge and skill sets become incredibly specialized. Cue Liam Neeson in Taken, “I can tell you that I do not have money, but what I do have… [is] a very particular set of skills.” So when I asked Dr. Tara Smiley, a… Read more »

Getting to the root of the global carbon cycle

Posted by

a tree shown from an extreme low angle

This post is from ScIU’s archives. It was originally published by Adrienne Keller in March 2018 and has been lightly edited to reflect current events. Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in our atmosphere continue to rise, and global warming has transitioned from a possible future phenomenon to a present environmental reality. Given this reality, scientists are… Read more »

The Microorganism Survival Toolkit: Dormancy

Posted by

Alt Text: Colorized microscope image of multiple soil bacteria.

The author is ScIU guest writer Emmi Mueller, a graduate student in IU’s Department of Biology. What do the deepest parts of the ocean, the human intestine, and outer space have in common? All of these environments are able to harbor a diverse community of microorganisms. Microbes are involved in everything from nitrogen and carbon cycling to… Read more »

How cutting edge technology can help us understand animal migration

Posted by

Two undergraduates are working on the device they created to measure the cardinal direction of flight of a moth. One undergrad is adjusting the moth attached to the device; the other undergraduate is checking the computer to make sure it is ready to record data

Scientists have long been interested in understanding animal migration, but gathering migration data proved difficult in the past. For example, the process of catching and recapturing migratory songbirds using mist nets is a laborious process. In the past, recovering songbirds produced data only about the breeding location and their migration destination, and rarely about the migration itself.  Studying… Read more »

Science without borders – why travel across the globe to dig in the dirt?

Posted by

In May, graduate student Saskia Klink and faculty member Johanna Pausch, both from the University of Bayreuth in Germany, visited the Phillips Lab in the Indiana University Biology Department to collaborate on a project with me. In our increasingly interconnected and globalized world, such international collaborations in scientific research are becoming more and more common…. Read more »

Getting to the root of the global carbon cycle

Posted by

Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in our atmosphere continue to rise, and global warming has transitioned from a possible future phenomenon to a present environmental reality. Given this reality, scientists are motivated to improve calculations of how much carbon there is on Earth and how it flows from the biosphere to the atmosphere and back to… Read more »

College of Arts + Sciences

Are you a graduate student at IUB? Would you like to write for ScIU? Email sciucomm@iu.edu


Subscribe By Email

Get every new post delivered right to your inbox.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.