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Department of Biological Sciences - Westoby Lab

 

Group activities for Westoby lab

Our aim is to have an active, engaged and supportive lab. Lab activities include:

  • JOURNAL CLUB: Everyone has up to 3 minutes to give their opinion on the chosen article.
  • JOURNAL WATCH: each member is allocated a journal & keeps an eye out for items that may be of interest to other group members. Once a month we get together to share our findings. Please prepare 3 mins on your chosen article(s). 
    List of journals & their watchers: Amer Nat (Daniel), Ecology Letters (Julia), Funct Ecol (Sean), Global Change Biol (Colin), PNAS (Kasia), J Ecology (Wade), Nature (Mark), New Phytologist (Chris), TREE (Julieta), Global Ecology and Biogeography (Ian), Evolution (Steph), Austral Ecol (Alicia), Aust J Bot (Claire), Plant Ecol (Yvonne).
  • RESEARCH DISCUSSION: A chance to discuss data, present research findings, workshop ideas, and receive seminars from visitors.
  • LAB UPDATE: a chance to: catch up on everyone's activities for the last month; plan activities for the coming month; discuss any challenges or exciting findings.

LOCATION: Paper discussions are held in E8C 144. Afternoon meetings held in either E8C144 or the meeting room of the vegetation network (E8C271) if available.

GOOGLE CALENDAR: This schedule is also available as a google calendar. To access it, choose "Add by URL" in google calendar, using the following address: http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/dt2t23b3cjcte76d4cvhj93258%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic

MAY 2012

Friday 25/05/12

  • 11:30-12:30 RESEARCH DISCUSSION: Types of stem anatomy and secondary thickening and what their consequences might be for present versus future reproductive value. (Led by Steph.)

Tuesday 22/05/12

  • 11:30-12:30 JOURNAL CLUB: Stewart and Stringer 2012 Human evolution out of Africa: the role of refugia and climate change. Science 335:1317-1321. DOI: 10.1126/science.1215627

Tuesday 15/05/12 (Mark away)

  • 11:30-12:30 JOURNAL WATCH: Tell us about the interesting papers published in the journal you follow. Please prepare 3 mins on your chosen article(s).
  • 16:00-17:00 LAB UPDATE: a chance to: catch up on everyone's activities for the last month; plan activities for the coming month; discuss any challenges or exciting findings.

Tuesday 8/05/12

  • 11:30-12:30 JOURNAL CLUB: Sack et al 2012 Developmentally based scaling of leaf venation architecture explains global ecological patterns. Nature Communications in press (reprint circulated)
  • 16:00-17:00 RESEARCH DISCUSSION: Continuation of discussion from previous week: What is the sequence of events as leaves get drier, and what measures do we have to indicate differences between species? (Led perhaps by Sean and Chris, working from a discussion document produced in February.)

Tuesday 01/05/12

  • 10:00-12:00 (REPLACING JOURNAL CLUB): Demo of Atlas of Living Australia, E8A Tearoom
  • Please feel encouraged to read the following paper by way of preparation for afternoon discussion. (It had been scheduled for the Journal Club, before the ALA demo came up): Bartlett et al 2012 The determinants of leaf turgor loss point and prediction of drought tolerance of species and biomes: a global meta-analysis. Ecology Letters doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01751.x
  • 16:00-17:00 RESEARCH DISCUSSION: What is the sequence of events as leaves get drier, and what measures do we have to indicate differences between species? (Led perhaps by Sean and Chris, working from a discussion document produced in February.)

APRIL 2012

Friday 27/04/12

  • 11:30-12:30 RESEARCH DISCUSSION: Types of stem anatomy and secondary thickening and what their consequences might be for present versus future reproductive value. (rescheduled)

Tuesday 24/04/12

  • 11:30-12:30 JOURNAL CLUB: Stein et al. 2012. Surprisingly complex community discovered in the mid-Devonian fossil forest at Gilboa. Nature 483:78-81. doi:10.1038/nature10819. (See also the corresponding News and Views at doi:10.1038/483041a.)

Tuesday 17/04/12

  • 11:30-12:30 JOURNAL CLUB: Rule et al 2012 The aftermath of faunal extinction: ecosystem transformation in pleistocene Australia. Science 335:1483-1486. DOI: 10.1126/science.1214261. (See also Perspective from Matt McGlone, Science 335:1452.)
  • 16:00-17:00 RESEARCH DISCUSSION: Design of discussion processes for Genes to Geoscience Outlook. How to generate more imaginative, less predictable research directions? How to lead? How to make the best learning experience for students? Should we pre-specify some topics, and if so what?

Tuesday 10/04/12

  • 11:30-12:30 JOURNAL CLUB: Weyl et al 2010 Economic contract theory tests models of mutualism. PNAS 107:15712-15716. doi:10.1073/pnas.1005294107
  • 16:00-17:00 RESEARCH DISCUSSION: Discussion of economic-like reasoning in ecology, catalogue of economics applications.

Tuesday 03/04/12

  • ALL DAY: 6 month planning. Details to be advised

 

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