2020 Symposium

Join us for the 13th Annual UC Davis Graduate Student Symposium in Ecology! 
When: February 7th, 2020
Location: 3001 PES

Click here to view or download the oral presentations!

Keynote address: Dr. Mehana Vaughan
Dr. Vaughan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and U.H. Sea Grant. Mehana studies interactions between people and the environment, particularly how people use, care for, and make decisions about natural resources at the local level. Her specific research interests include collaborative resource governance, participatory research methods, contemporary management based on indigenous systems, watershed ecology, and place-based education.

Program of Events: (click here for abstracts of oral presentations and posters)

8:00 Registration, Breakfast & Poster Set up
8:55 Welcome & Introduction
 
Session 1:

• 9:00 Max Odland: Understory plant communities after thinning and prescribed fire in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest
• 9:20 Lauren Hennelly: Genomic insights into the distinctiveness and local adaptation of South Asian wolves
• 9:40 Sarah Gaffney: Long-term priority effects in grasslands: is drought a disrupter?
• 10:00 Deniss Martinez and Fred Nelson, Diversity Committee: Micro' resistance to 'micro' aggression

10:20-10:40 Break
 
10:40 Keynote Address: Dr. Mehana Vaughan, University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa: Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides
 
11:40-12:40 Lunch 
 
Session 2:

• 12:40 Manon Hess: Exploring the challenges of translating ecological theory into the practicalities of managing invasive species: the case of limiting similarity
• 1:00 Kristin Dobbin and Ellie Bolas, Diversity Committee: Holistic review in GGE admissions
• 1:20 Aure Durbecq: Identifying reference communities in ecological restoration: the use of abiotic conditions driving vegetation structure
• 1:40 Clara Stuligross: Combined pesticide and resource stressors impair bee reproduction
• 2:00 Amelia Munson: You make me, me: the social niche hypothesis and behavioral consistency

 
2:20-2:40 Break
 
Session 3: 

• 2:40 Adam Pepi: Changing precipitation dynamics and changing herbivore dynamical regimes
• 3:00 Mandy Frazier : Could it be good to eat your brother?! Examining differential metabolic performance in cannibal burbot, Lota lota
• 3:20 Ann Holmes: eDNA in estuaries: enclosure experiment shows capabilities and limitations of eDNA detection of delta smelt
• 3:40 Eliza Oldach: Globalization as an adaptive response to climate change impacts in Maine's lobster industry
• 4:00 Chris Adlam: Keepers of the flame: supporting the revitalization of Indigenous cultural burning
• 4:20 Robert Blenk: An agent-based model of wintering foraging and energetics of North American waterfowl: Applications of a decision-support tool

 
4:40 Closing Remarks
 
4:45-6:00 Posters, Short Films and Socializing (two rooms)

• In 3001 PES: Poster Session & Social Hour ($5 suggested donation for beverages, thank you!)
• In 2005 PES: Short research films by GGE students

 
Please remember to:

• Vote for your favorite talk, poster, and art piece (ballots located at registration)
• Please donate $5 for drinks to offset the cost of beverages

 
Note: Overflow seating for live streaming oral presentations in 2005 PES

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Registration Information:

Registration is now closed. See below for more details. Folks from ALL departments as well as prospective students are invited to attend, and all graduate students are invited to present their research in any area of ecology. The GSSE is a unique and valuable forum for sharing ideas across programs, departments, and labs, and for fostering new connections and collaborations. It's also a great opportunity for graduate students to get comfortable presenting to a broader ecological audience. The GSSE is a free event, and includes coffee, breakfast, and lunch.

Registration deadline: It's best if you can register by February 3rd (late registrations accepted). Click HERE to register! 

To Submit an Oral Presentation or Poster: You do not need to present research in order to attend, but presenting at the symposium is a great way to get feedback in a low pressure environment! Presentations should be 15 minutes followed by 5 minutes for questions. To submit a presentation, enter your title and abstract with your registration no later than February 3rd (early submissions encouraged!). Additional presentations may be accepted after the deadline if there is space left in the program. Prizes will be awarded to the top presentations based on audience vote.

Eco-Art and Photo Contest: Submit your ecologically-inspired work to the art/photo contest (held in conjunction with the poster session) by entering the information for your artwork with your registration. Prizes will be awarded to the attendee favorites.
Please email modland@ucdavis.edu with "2020 Symposium Art Contest" in the subject line by Monday, Feb 3 to officially submit your artwork. 
Include the following information in your email:
Artist Name
Artwork Title
Media (eg Photograph, Ink and Paper, Pipe-cleaner Sculpture, etc.)
Description (30 words maximum)

If your artwork is a photograph or other printable media, include a .jpg or .jpeg file of the artwork, and it will be printed as an 8 X 10 image (please make sure your images are already in that aspect ratio). If your artwork is not printable, or you prefer a different size, you are responsible for providing your artwork, and we will work together on a suitable way to display your art.

More details coming soon! Please stay tuned for details on the Diversity Committee break-out sessions and this year's keynote speaker. We've been honored to have some excellent speakers at this event including: Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe (UC Merced), Meg Lowman (California Academy of Sciences), and Joel Abraham (Cal State Fullerton). 

Please contact this year's GSSE Chairs Aviva Fiske and Sophie Preckler-Quisquater with any questions!