Taveuni, Fiji. Photo courtesy of Chris Searcy.
Monte Carlo Seminars: PBG 298
Each student is expected to participate in the Monte Carlo seminars sponsored by the Center for Population Biology (CPB) and the Population Biology Graduate Group. First-year students must participate in at least two Monte Carlo seminars. After that, students must participate in at least one Monte Carlo per year.
Prior to the start of each quarter, the program graduate coordinator sends a call to CPB students and postdocs to sign up for the Monte Carlo. Based on the reply, participating graduate students and postdocs are assigned at random to one of two groups. Approximately three weeks prior to the start of the quarter, the two groups meet separately to discuss potential topics. Once the topic is agreed upon, each group approaches a Pop Bio faculty they want to facilitate the seminar. The graduate coordinator will provide each group with a list of available faculty for each quarter.
Student Inspired Seminar
Effective Winter 2006: Upon recommendation by the CPB/PBGG student survey, students will now choose the topic of discussion and then approach a group-agreed-upon faculty (or two) to act as facilitator(s) for the student chosen topic. In the survey, students wanted to have more say in the Monte Carlo versus the past format where they were randomly assigned to a faculty participant.
"In my first couple years, it was a great way to meet older students that I would never have run into otherwise."
"What you have is eight people of all different backgrounds engaged in learning."
Seminar Topics
Seminar Topic Facilitator 2008-2009 Fall: Evolution in extreme environments. Artyom Kopp Fall: "Your Inner Fish" by Neil Shubin David Begun 2007-2008 Fall: Metagenomics: Community shotgun sequencing and bacterial evolution. (Venter and Lenski) Jonathan Eisen Fall: "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin Peter Wainwright Winter: Monterey Bay Aquarium and tidal pool field trip: Student presentations on related topics. Rick Grosberg Winter: "Franken-lab: Students present their research ideas, solicit feedback for manuscripts, lead discussions of relevant papers related to their work. Rick Karban Spring: Hot topics in evolution and ecology: weekly stories in popular media/dissecting the science behind them. Richard McElreath Spring: McLaughlin Reserve, Arboretum, and other botanical locations: Student lead discussion on topical subjects followed by exploration of the habitat (focus on plants and their interactions with local biota). Susan Harrison Spring: (Bodega Marine Lab students): "The Sushi Economy" by Sasha Issenberg along with accompanying papers on tuna ecology and fisheries biology. Eric Sanford 2006-2007 Fall: Vegetational transect of the Sierras (reading, discussion, and field trip) Art Shapiro Fall: Intersection of conservation and evolutionary theory. Brad Shaffer, Truman Young, and Tim Caro Winter: Marine phylogeography with an emphasis on dispersal of larval forms; included a field trip to Bodega harbor and tide pools. Eric Sanford Winter: Peer review of current student research. Michael Turelli Spring: A review of various science articles in different news media: Student review and discussion. Phil Ward Spring: Student lead review of cutting edge research in their related fields. Jim Griesemer 2005-2006 Fall: Scientists as Advocates. Readings and discussion. Cathy Toft Fall: Human Behavioral Ecology. Readings and discussion. Monique Borgerhoff-Mulder Winter: Discussion of topics relating to dispersal. Kevin Rice, Mark Schwartz, Gerat Vermeij Winter: Student presentation of current research. Sharon Lawler Spring: "The Malay Archipelago" by Alfred Russell Wallace Tim Caro Spring: Field trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium and tidal areas. Jay Stachowicz 2004-2005 Fall: "Life on a Young Plant" by Andres Knoll Jay Rosenheim Fall: Fire Ecology. Review relevant papers with field trip to McLaughlin Reserve. Susan Harrison Winter: "Evolution's Rainbow" by Joan Roughgarden Maureen Stanton Winter: Topics related to dispersal. Peter Wainwright Spring: Student presentation of their current research. Practice in public speaking and seminar organization. David Begun, Peter Wainwright Spring: Peer review of their current research. Sergey Nuzhdin 2003-2004 Fall: Paleological and Ecological Approaches to understanding diversity. Gerat Vermeij Fall: "Assembling California" by John McPhee Sharon Lawler Winter: Student presentation of their current research. Susan Harrison Winter: "Life Solution" by Simon Conway Morris. Discussion of convergent evolution to include outside papers. Artyom Kopp Spring: Student presentation of their current research. Judy Stamps Spring: Student presentation of their current research. Truman Young