tuition-free workshop

[Kearns Carol]

> 
> 
>       2-week, Tuition-Free Workshop for Faculty Enhancement
> 
>            Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
> 
>                               at the
>                    Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
>                           Gothic, Colorado
> 
>                           9 - 23 August 1996
> 
>      This workshop is sponsored for a third year by the National Science
> Foundation (NSF) for U.S. faculty only.  No tuition will be charged and all
> meals and lodging expenses will be covered for the 12 participants by 
> funding from the NSF. Participants will be responsible for their own 
> transportation.  Applications must be received by April 25, 1996. 
>  
>      The topic of this workshop is plant-animal interactions, with a 
> particular focus on pollination biology, including both zoological and 
> botanical perspectives.  This area is one of the most dynamic fields in 
> ecology but it is hardly covered in most undergraduate courses.  In many 
> general biology courses plant reproductive ecology is relegated to a brief 
> mention in a discussion of angiosperm reproduction, but pollination biology 
> offers an opportunity for exciting field work on almost any college campus.  
> It encompasses material from many other fields besides plant biology.  
> Taxonomy is represented in the identification of both plants and their 
> pollinators, sensory physiology in the description of pollinators' senses of 
> smell and color, physiology in work on flight temperatures of pollinators or 
> of nectar secretion and digestion, morphology in the  measurement of 
> flowers and pollinator body parts, population and quantitative genetics in 
> the study of floral traits, plant population structure, and breeding systems, 
> animal behavior in the study of pollinator movements and responses to 
> flowers, and meteorology in the study of wind pollination and how weather 
> affects flowering and the activity of pollinators.  Throughout, elements of 
> botany and zoology are intermingled,  as are field work and laboratory 
> studies.  Thus, the topic of pollination biology can provide a central focus 
> with many potential ways to approach it.  
>   
>      Pollination studies can also provide insight into a plant population's 
> genetic structure, sexual selection, and sex allocation, or facilitate studies
> of  the cost of reproduction in plants.  Thus pollination ecology can have 
> significance for conservation biology (e.g., how to manage a small population 
> of an inbred species that is self-incompatible), restoration ecology (e.g., 
> whether a plant can be reestablished in the absence of a specialist 
> pollinator), and even agriculture.  Therefore pollination techniques are 
> important for a variety of studies in which pollination per se isn't the 
> endpoint.  
>   
> Workshop Participation:  
>   
>      This workshop is intended for those faculty whose primary duties lie  
> in undergraduate teaching.  Most participants should ordinarily have a  
> minimum of three years of undergraduate teaching experience, in courses 
> that  can take advantage of skills and ideas to be presented in the 
> workshop  (e.g., plant ecology, animal behavior, field ecology).  Participants 
> having  taught relevant courses in the recent past and planning to 
> introduce  workshop topics to either existing or new courses will be given 
> priority for  the limited number of seats (12) in the workshop.  
> 
>      Prospective participants must submit an application to attend the 
> workshop.  Deadline for receipt of applications is April 25, 1996.  
> Participants will be notified of acceptance by May 15, 1996, and provided 
> with a reading list of material to become familiar with before the workshop.  
>   
> 
>      Communication among workshop participants and with the workshop 
> faculty will be continued on a regular basis using electronic mail after the 
> workshop, and through visits by workshop faculty to the participants' home 
> institutions during the following academic year.  
>   
> Workshop Objectives:  
>   
>      The workshop will provide participants with a background in the ideas 
> and techniques used for research in plant reproductive biology, including 
> both laboratory and field components.  Upon completion of this workshop, 
> the participant will be able to develop or refine curricula and materials for 
> laboratory or field exercises for undergraduate courses or research 
> projects.  
>   
> Instructors:  
>   
>      David Inouye teaches biology, ecology, and conservation biology 
> courses in the Zoology Department at the University of Maryland during the 
> school year, and has worked at RMBL during the summer for the past 25 
> years.  He has worked on resource partitioning in bumblebees, on an ant-
> plant mutualism, wildflower population and pollination biology, and flowering 
> phenology.  
>   
>      Carol Kearns teaches biology at the University of Colorado.  She has 
> worked at the University's Mountain Research Station and at RMBL, where 
> she did her dissertation research on the pollination biology of fly-pollinated 
> wildflowers for 4 summers.  
>   
>      James Thomson teaches ecology and evolution courses at the State 
> University of New York, Stony Brook.  His principal long-term project at 
> RMBL concerns the mating system and pollination of the glacier lily.  He is 
> particularly concerned with pollen-transfer mechanisms, pollen biology, and 
> how these affect the value of pollinators to plants.  Other projects include 
> trapline foraging by bumblebees and the pollination and conservation of 
> tropical figs.  
>   
>      Nick Waser teaches ecology courses at the University of California, 
> Riverside.  He has studied pollination systems and plant reproductive 
> ecology at RMBL since 1972.  His interests include the foraging behavior of 
> flower-visiting animals (including bumble bees and hummingbirds), the role 
> of these animal pollinators as agents of natural selection and gene flow, and 
> the consequences for floral trait expression, plant mating patterns, and the 
> genetic structure of plant populations.  
>   
> Workshop Description:  
>   
>      The workshop will include lectures, laboratory work, and field work.  
> Each of the faculty will lecture on topics related to their own research in 
> pollination biology.  Laboratory exercises will address analytical techniques 
> with equipment such as light microscopes, fluorescence microscopy, a 
> scanning electron microscope (at Western State College) and chromatography 
> baths.  Sessions on laboratory techniques will be conducted in the 
> workshop faculty's labs at RMBL.  Participants will have an opportunity to 
> try for themselves the various techniques that are described in lectures, 
> while working in small groups with the PIs.   
>  
>      Field work will include learning the appropriate techniques for marking 
> plants, flowers, and pollinators, studying foraging behavior, hand-pollinating 
> flowers, collecting pollen and nectar samples from flowers and pollinators, 
> etc.  One of the best aspects of working at RMBL is the easy access to a 
> variety of field sites that include a diverse flora.  We will also do some 
> work on computers with simulation models of plant-pollinator interactions.   
> 
>   
>      We will cover a large number of topics in the workshop.  Some topics 
> will be covered briefly in lecture, while others will form the basis for class 
> projects.   
>   
> I. Plants  
>   
>    A. Collecting and preserving plants  
>    B. Preventing visitation  
>    C. Flowering phenology  
>   
> II. Flowers  
>   
>    A. Marking or tagging flowers         D. Floral fragrance  
>    B. Preventing visitation              E. Flower color  
>    C. Morphological measurements  
>   
> III. Pollen  
>   
>    A. Pollen identification        F. Observation of pollen tubes   
>    B. Collecting and quantifying pollen    G. Pollen dispersal              
>    C. Pollen viability             H. Pollen presentation schedules 
>    D. Counting pollen grains on stigmas    I. Staining pollen components    
>    E. Techniques for hand-pollination  
>   
> IV. Nectar  
>   
>    A. Locating nectaries         E. Sugar identifications  
>    B. Nectar volumes             F. Amino acid concentrations  
>    C. Sugar concentration        G. Amino acid identifications  
>    D. Nectar production schedules  
>   
> V. Mating systems  
>   
>    A. Field tests for the ability to selfF. Pollen-ovule (P-O ratios)
>      
>    B. Pollen carryover      G. Gametophytic competition                
>    C. Optimal outcrossing distance H. Pollinator efficiency                   
>    D. Self-incompatibility  I. Pollen limitation of seed production    
>    E. Functional gender     J. Resource limitation of seed production  
> 
> VI. Animals  
>   
>    A. Collecting insects  
>    B. Pinning and preserving insects  
>    C. Collecting nectar from pollinators  
>    D. Collection of pollen from pollinators  
>    E. Methods for nocturnal pollination studies  
>    F. Morphological measurements  
>    G. Marking or banding animals  
>    H. Foraging behavior  
>    I. Identifying insects  
>    J. Rearing bumblebees in domiciles for research and teaching 
>   
> 
> 
> VII. Environmental measurements for pollination studies  
>   
>    A. Air temperature                 D. Relative humidity  
>    B. Flower temperature              E. Wind speed  
>    C. Solar radiation                 F. Soil moisture  
>   
>      Opportunities for less formal discussions, outside of scheduled time for 
> fieldwork, lectures, or lab work, are also a crucial part of an experience at 
> a field station.  
>   
>      The last five days of the workshop will provide participants with an 
> opportunity to conduct an individual research project using some of the 
> techniques that they have learned.  The workshop faculty will be available 
> as resource people to help with project development, equipment needs, and 
> questions that arise during the work.  The last afternoon of the workshop 
> will be devoted to reports by the participants about their projects.  
>   
>      A typical daily schedule will include:  
>   
>   7:00 -  7:30:  breakfast  
>   8:00 - 12:00:  meet for lecture or field work  
>  12:15 - 12:45:  lunch  
>   1:00 -  5:00:  meet for afternoon lab or field work  
>   6:00 -  6:30:  dinner  
>   8:00 -  9:00:  seminars on some evenings  
>   
> The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory:  
>   
>      RMBL, Gothic, Colorado, is located at 9,500 feet elevation in the East 
> River valley, 8 miles from the town of Crested Butte, and 35 miles from 
> Gunnison (where the nearest airport and hospital are found).  Gothic was a 
> short-lived mining town in the late 1800s, and since 1928 has been the home 
> of RMBL.  The Lab offers summer courses for undergraduate biology 
> students, and offers research facilities for graduate students and faculty 
> from institutions around the country.  The summer population is about 140, 
> and the growing season lasts from about late May until mid-September.  A 
> broad array of research is conducted at RMBL, but plant reproductive 
> biology has been the focus of several long-term research groups.  
> 
>      Workshop participants will live in rustic (some are very rustic!) cabins 
> and eat in the dining hall at RMBL.  
> 
> Submit Application Information to:  David Inouye, Department of Zoology, 
> University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. 301-405-6946, 
> di5 at umail.umd.edu
> 
> .pa
> Your Department Head Must Approve This Application Prior to Submission  
> 
>                       Application Information 
> 
> Name: ____________________________________________  
>   
> University or College: ______________________________________  
>   
> Institution Type: 4-yr ____  2-yr ____  Other ____  
>   
> Department: ______________________________________  
>   
> City, State & Zip:  ______________________________  
>   
> TEL: _____________________________________________  
>   
> FAX: _____________________________________________  
>   
> E-MAIL: ___________________________________________  
>   
> Highest Degree: ______  Major: _______________  Year: _____  
>   
> The National Science Foundation is particularly concerned that we make 
> every effort to reach women, minorities and handicapped faculty.  If you 
> qualify in any of these areas, please note the relevant information below:  
>   
>        __________________________________________________________  
>   
> Years Teaching Experience: _______________________  
>   
> Univ. or College Will Pay Transportation Costs: Yes ______  No ______  
>   
> Univ. or College Will Pay Participant's Salary: Yes ______  No ______  
>   
> Do you have any health problems that might be incompatible with high-
> altitude field work, or dietary restrictions that might not be compatible with 
> dining hall food (which includes a vegetarian option)?  Please note that 
> smoking is not permitted in RMBL facilities.  
>   
> Please provide answers (between one paragraph and one page in length) to 
> these questions: 
>  
> 1) Please describe the courses you teach or plan to teach in the near 
> future that might take advantage of skills and ideas from this workshop.   
>  
> 2) How do you think participation in the workshop might help improve your 
> undergraduate teaching?   
>   
> 3) Why do you want to participate in the workshop?   
>   
> Participant's Signature _______________________________________________  
>   
> Department Chair's Signature __________________________________________  
>