Fall 2022 Friday Ecology Seminars


Spring 2023 schedule coming soon!

Please check back in early January.

Ecology Seminars hosted by the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research are held on most Fridays during the spring and fall semesters at 12:15 p.m. During the fall 2022 semester, talks will be given in person, and some will be offered in a hybrid format and broadcast via Zoom. Access to Zoom info is provided via two mailing lists:

  • The current KBS list (our research center's current and retired faculty scientists, researchers, staff and students); if you are on this list, you will receive an email reminder to your email ending in ku.edu.
  • A special mailing list created specifically to announce these seminars and open to the public; if you would like to join this mailing list for notifications and reminders of upcoming seminars, share your name and email address using our quick webform. Note: If you use Gmail and do not receive an email within a week of requesting to join, please check your Promotions tab and move any emails from us to your Primary tab.

We will use the same link and passcode each week. Please do NOT share the link and passcode on social media or elsewhere.

Recordings of some seminars will be posted on our YouTube channel during the following week. (During the following dates, Friday events will be for graduate students in our labs only: Sept. 2, Oct. 7, Nov. 4.)

Our seminars are hosted by Ben Sikes, KU associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) and associate scientist at our research center, and Sara Baer, director of our research center and professor of EEB. They will coordinate introductions at the beginning of each talk as well as the question-and-answer session at the end of the talk.

Seminars cover a wide range of topics that broadly relate to ecology and/or conservation issues. Often presentations are given by KU faculty, staff or students, but we also have talks by people at nearby colleges and universities and outside the region. Most talks are research-oriented, but this seminar series also has proven to be a good forum for sharing information about nonprofits and government agencies. We interpret "talks" broadly; some are polished presentations, while others are opportunities to discuss ideas or a tentative plan for a project.

The Friday Ecology Seminar series was created by Helen Alexander, KU professor emerita of ecology and evolutionary biology.

Schedule

DateDescription
Friday, Sept. 2Pizza Lunch & Learn for Graduate Students: Intro to the seminar series and discussion about opportunities
Friday, Sept. 9No seminar
Friday, Sept. 16Concur travel training (virtual only; Zoom info send via email lists): Learn all aspects of Concur and the travel process – travel requests, travel booking and expense submission
Friday, Sept. 23Outreach opportunities for scientists: Peggy Schultz, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research
Friday, Sept. 30Orientation for new researchers and other interested parties, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research administrative staff
Friday, Oct. 7Pizza Lunch & Learn for Graduate Students: Discussion with KBS-CER post-docs – How to find a postdoc and get funding for postdoctoral research 
Friday, Oct. 14, 9 a.m.Katie Eckhoff dissertation defense (Topic: Drought and restored grasslands)
Friday, Oct. 21KBS-CER Soil Analysis Service Center manager (Topic: PEDS database), Aoesta Rudick, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research
Friday, Oct. 28, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.Safe Zone Training (Location TBA; KBS-CER only, 25-person limit)
Friday, Nov. 4Pizza Lunch & Learn for Graduate Students: Intro to mixed models, Jim Bever, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research
Friday, Nov. 11Hannah Birgé, Ag Scientist with the Global Team, The Nature Conservancy (Topic TBA)
Friday, Nov. 18Ryan Rastok, Kansas Forest Service (Topic TBA)
Friday, Nov. 25No seminar (Thanksgiving break)
Friday, Dec. 2Pizza Lunch & Learn (open to everyone): Taking better field photos, Kirsten Bosnak, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research
Friday, Dec. 9Audrey Nelson, recipient of our research center's 2022 Ken Armitage student research award, presenting an update of her research; followed by Monte Soukup, KU Endowment senior VP for property, with an update on west campus development