Spring 2023 Friday Ecology Seminars


Tiny five-petaled spring ephemeral wildflowers, called spring beauties, on forest floor

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. in 130 Takeru Higuchi Hall on KU's West Campus (please note that KU parking permits are required). During the spring 2023 semester, all talks will be hybrid unless otherwise noted. 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: Feb. 3, March 3, April 7.)

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. Other researchers may introduce speakers.

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, as well as state agencies and environmental organizations. 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 and a very close associate of the KU Field Station.

Schedule

DateDescription
Friday, Jan. 20

Dena Podrebarac, Research Project Specialist and Milkweed Grant Coordinator, Monarch Watch: Monarch Watch: What we do — Thirty years of research, education, and conservation

Friday, Jan. 27

Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research Student Research Award presentations — The following students are scheduled to present their research project findings: Reb Bryant; Adeola Adeboje; Kayla Clouse; Alex Hoffpauir (more information will be shared advance via email).

Friday, Feb. 3

Pizza Lunch & Learn for Graduate Students: First meeting of semester; no agenda.

Friday, Feb. 10

Kim Criner Ritchie, Douglas County Sustainability Director: Douglas County Open Spaces Plan Overview and Feedback

Friday, Feb. 17

Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research Student Research Award presentations — The following students are scheduled to present their research project findings: Micah Unruh; Nat Coombs; Lola Klamm (more information will be shared advance via email).

Friday, Feb. 24

Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research Student Research Award presentations — The following students are scheduled to present their research project findings: Adeline Kelly; Luke Ungerer; Chen Liang (more information will be shared advance via email).

Friday, March 3

Pizza Lunch & Learn for Graduate Students: Topic TBD

Friday, March 10

No seminar (Friday before Spring Break)

Friday, March 17

No seminar (Spring Break)

Friday, March 24

Naomi Betson, doctoral student, KU Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: Effects of forb seeding density on a prairie restoration across eight years

Friday, March 31

Peggy Schultz, Jennifer Moody and Terra Lubin, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research: Outreach activities

Friday, April 7,
1:15 p.m.

Pizza Lunch for Graduate Students at noon, followed by 1:15 p.m. talk by Rondy Malik, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research: Obnoxious, invasive, and near endangered: evolutionary changes in weeds, integrated pest management of beetles, and soil contaminants in monarchs

Friday, April 14

Kirsten Taylor, MFA student at KU in Visual Arts: Use of locally sourced natural materials (seeds, dyes, fibers, minerals, etc.) as media and to deepen our connection to place.

Thursday, April 20

Annual Armitage Lecture (Thursday talk; email eeb@ku.edu for Zoom info)— J. Checo Colón-Gaud, Georgia Southern University: Meandering and wading: my pathway to a career in freshwater science.

POSTPONED UNTIL FALL 2023

Kathy Richardson, City of Lawrence Director of Sustainability: Topic TBD