Monthly Archives: February 2016

Undergraduate Assistant Needed for Historical Record Project

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Clifford Phaneuf Center groundbreaking at Forest Park, photo by John Suchocki, The Republican, from photos.masslive.com.

Clifford Phaneuf Center groundbreaking at Forest Park, photo by John Suchocki, The Republican, from photos.masslive.com.

Historical Perspectives of Urban Environmental Education

In 1970, on the tails of the environmental movement, the city of Springfield, MA created an environmental education program named ECOS (Environmental Center for Our Schools). We are seeking an undergraduate research assistant who is interested in working with over 50 years of historical records concerning the creation and evolution of this program. The assistant will help digitize the collection, write narratives that describe the documents, and create keywords for files so that they are searchable through an online database. In addition, the assistant will have the opportunity to develop an independent research project using these documents. The position lasts from April-June (but dates are flexible). For more information, contact Evan at ekuras@umass.edu.

UrBioNet Workshop in South Africa

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UrBioNet workshop, 2016

Workshop attendees from 2016. From left to right: Mark Goddard, Pippin Anderson, Paige Warren, Marie du Toit, Myla Aronson, Dain Palmer, George Middendorf, Charlie Nilon, Sarel Ciliers, Jeremiah Asaka, Kumelachew Yeshitela, Stefan Siebert, Colin Polsky, Richelle Winkler.

Paige co-led a workshop for urban ecologist and social scientist members of UrBioNet in South Africa this January, funded through the National Science Foundation. Pippin Anderson, a lecturer at the University of Cape Town and workshop attendee, wrote an informative post about the experience, highlighting an urban ecology teaching tool called the “crosstown walk.” To read more about Pippin Anderson’s experience and crosstown walks, click here.

Northeastern Natural History Conference (NENHC)

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The Northeast Natural History Conference LogoThe Warren Lab is hosting a session on Acoustic Landscapes at the NENHC Conference in Springfield, MA on April 22-24 2016.

Acoustic Landscapes: Living in a Noisy World

Animals from across the taxonomic spectrum rely on acoustic landscapes for communication and to assess the world around them. The acoustic landscape (i.e., soundscape) is a complex combination of animal, human-generated, and abiotic sounds, and is influenced by weather conditions and physical structure. It can also vary across space and across time within a location. The study of acoustic landscapes encompasses diverse disciplines from landscape architecture to behavioral ecology. This session will explore the interaction between animals and soundscapes, how soundscapes are modified by urbanization and infrastructure, and why soundscapes are important to conservation efforts.

Abstracts are due March 6, 2016.
Early registration closes after March 20, 2016.