Major Revisions
The World's Leading Ecology Podcast
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Grace, Jon, and Jeff talk about the new Resources page on the Major Revisions website as well as their own thoughts about what helped them get to where they are, at least the practical aspects. Lots of North Woods references, talk about Gluten-free food, and greatly over-due World Cup banter.
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Grace, Jon, and Jeff talk about their favorite scientists from any form of fiction . . .with some big surprises. They also cover who they don't like so much. A lot fewer surprises there. I mean really? How on earth did Indiana Jones get tenure? We also run "The Big Bang Theory" through the ringer again. Also, grocery stores. To an alarming degree really.
Grace, Jon, and Jeff talk about recent op-eds in Nature and Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment on the culture of science and ecology in particular. How do we build strong lab culture? How do we think about and do science in the 21st Century? Is the underlying culture of science at risk? Also, Jeff's car was eaten by rats and we talk MDPI journals and how you can publish multiple OA articles for free, if they are well-prepared.
Links
Health Tips for Research Groups - Norris et al. in Nature Maintaining the Culture of Ecology - Lindenmayer and Likens, 2018 Music "Kids These Days" - Shakey Graves "Treat the Youths Right" - Jimmy Cliff Subscribe to Major Revisions, the playlist on Spotify! Follow us on Instagram @major_revisions
In episode 38 we welcome Brady Hardiman to the show! Brady is an Assistant Professor of Urban Ecology in the department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University (Go Boilermakers!). We talk about urban ecology, macrosystems, time management, mentorship, being a new professor, and setting up a lab and creating a positive and supportive atmosphere in that lab.
Also, submit ideas on papers for our Classics in Ecology series (majorrevisionsshow@gmail.com)
Music
Sun Kil Moon - "Carry Me Ohio" The Elms - "Back to Indiana" 
Grace, Jon, and Jeff talk about the Gleason, 1926 classic, "The individualistic concept of the plant association" a real barn-burner of a piece that forms one of the foundational pieces of community ecology--despite its controversial reception at the time. The group also chat up the first part of the Dynamic Ecology controversial ideas in ecology piece, why Jeff is a terrible biologist, and talk trash about Kant.
"It has sometimes been assumed that the various stages in a successional series follow each other in a regular and fixed sequence, but that is frequently not the case" - Henry Gleason In "The individualistic concept of the plant association," Gleason details the myriad problems with the idea of the "climax" community and goes on further to question even the validity of rigid vegetation community structures. His work was not well-received during this life time, even if many ecologists knew he was on to something, but it did find a renaissance late in the 20th century and still informs current ecological theory and work. 
Grace, Jon, and Jeff keep the classics in ecology series going, this time with Raymond L. Lindeman's 1942 piece, "The Trophic-Dynamic Aspect of Ecology." This seminal piece not only codified the idea of the ecosystem, but features the famous (infamous?) ooze diagram. The gang also lament March Mammal Madness and the ups and downs of spring time.
Links:
March Mammal Madness Lindeman, 1942 Email us your suggestions for classics in ecology! MUSIC: "Mammal" - They Might Be Giants "Cascades" - Fleet Foxes
Grace, Jon, and Jeff kick off a series delving into classic papers in ecology, leading off with P. A. P. Moran's classic paper "The statistical analysis of the Canadian Lynx Cycle II: Synchronization and Meteorology." Spatial synchrony, fluctuations that are correlated through time across two or more locations, is a fundamental aspect of population dynamics that has long interested ecologists. A common mechanism of spatial synchrony in population dynamics is the transmission of synchrony to the population from an environmental fluctuation-often a climate variable-that is itself synchronous. This phenomenon is known as the Moran effect after Patrick Moran, the Australian statistician who provided its mathematical basis in a 1953 journal article. Today, a search for “Moran effect” on google scholar returns ~1500 papers, indicating its widespread influence. Much of Jon’s current work builds on the foundation established by this and other classical papers on spatial synchrony.
The gang also take a look at the March Mammal Madness brackets for 2018, make their picks of who they think will win, and which ones are more or less edible. Grace also regales us with amazing Lynx facts! Follow #2018MMM for updates on March Mammal Madness! 
This episode, Jeff talks to Caitlin MacKenzie, a postdoc at the University of Maine, about taking sediment cores from frozen lakes, what it's like to put together and deliver a TEDx talk on an 19th century botanist, surviving the snowscape she calls home, and conservation, phenology, and ecology in New England.
Later in the episode we learn how to pronounce "Katahdin" and why jazz music isn't allowed in Baxter State Park in Maine. It's a real barn-burner of an episode.
Grace, Jon, and Jeff jump into the murky and oddly shaped pool that is the world of the graduate school interview. We also go on a journey to find out what happened to Grace's phone, how scientists find love, and the only five hobbies graduate students are allowed to have.
Jeff and Grace bond over their love of Otterbox.
Notes:
Scientists in love Rapid Ecology Music: Run the Jewels - "Get It (Instrumental)" Enemies - "We've Been Talking"
Grace, Jon, and Jeff talk about #SinceIWasYoung a hashtag that began on Twitter during the first part of January, 2018 related to the content of graduate school admission essays and offer some advice to "show," not "tell" while ensuring that potential students are able to relate and talk about their stories, their passions, and what drives them. tl;dr: be you, be proud.
Links:
The original tweet from Leslie Vosshall Jon's famous LTER picture Music: Wild Child - Think It Over Free Cake For Every Creature - All You Gotta Be When Your 23 is Yourself |
