Blois Paleoecology Lab

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#IceBucketChallenge

August 1, 2016 9:47 pm / Leave a comment

The Blois lab has been having fun scouting for new field sites in Sequoia National Park this summer. A post on that work will be coming up soon.  But in the midst of all the field work, we took a moment to honor our colleague and mentor Dr. Marilyn Fogel, currently the chair of the Life and Environmental Sciences group at UC Merced, who was recently diagnosed with ALS.  It was an event that combined field work, research, fun, and seriousness, which I think is a good embodiment of Marilyn’s attitude towards research: do great and important work, but have fun while doing it!

 

1st annual lab retreat!

December 12, 2014 6:47 am / Leave a comment

  Yosemite Creek, right before it falls over the rimSnow! A nice view of the Sierra high country
The Blois lab and friends went up to the Yosemite Field Station last weekend for the first annual lab retreat!  We spent two nights up there, eating good food, playing games, and hiking around Yosemite.
The first night, we got to test out the new game Go Extinct!  The whole lab loved it! This game was developed by Ariel Marcy, a former field assistant extraordinaire and fantastic undergrad at Stanford, now on a Fullbright Fellowship in Australia.  The game itself is very clever and also beautifully designed.  (FYI, you can get one for yourself here: http://www.steamgalaxy.com/).  I can’t remember who won the game- definitely not me.  We ended the evening with a long game of Monopoly (is it ever short?), which Kaitlin resoundingly won.
The lab testing out (and loving) the new game Go Extinct!

The lab testing out (and loving) the new game Go Extinct!

Kaitlin, hoarding her $500s.

Kaitlin, hoarding her $500s.

The next day a subset of us hiked up Yosemite Falls to the upper falls overlook.  We lucked out with beautiful hiking weather.  It was warm, but not hot, and clear so the trail rocks weren’t slick.  One of those beautiful days that reminded us of how lucky we are to live so close to such a beautiful place.

Danaan, Kaitlin, and Jessica in front of Upper Yosemite Falls

One of the best lunch spots in the world!

Upper Yosemite Falls

 

 

IBS 2013

January 7, 2013 5:44 am

After missing the last two meetings, I’m headed this week to Miami, FL for my favorite conference: the Biennial meeting of the International Biogeography Society!

All of the symposia, talks, and posters look fantastic, but I’m particularly excited about the symposium I’m talking in: The convergence of conservation paleontology and biogeography.  This was organized by Ed Davis and Jenny McGuire, and there are some fantastic speakers in the symposium.

If you want to follow along, the twitter hashtag is #ibs13.  Quite a few of the attendees are on twitter, so I anticipate some lively tweeting!