Absdigest Digest, Vol 14, Issue 33

James Ha jcha at u.washington.edu
Fri Dec 28 14:37:05 EST 2007


+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+                            A B S n e t - Electronic Newsletter                +
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|        Maintained in association with the Animal Behavior Society             +
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Editors:   * James C. Ha      Internet: jcha at u.washington.edu                 +
|                ** Shan D. Duncan   Internet: sdduncan at abs.animalbehavior.org  +
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Today's Topics:

    1. Scatter Hoarding Workshop - 8-9 August 2008 (Tom Smulders)
    2. Field Assistants needed immediately for a community ecology /
       invasion biology study in the Samoan Archipleago (Amy Savage)
    3. Summer program announcement (Mary Lee Jensvold)


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Message: 1
From: Tom Smulders <tom.smulders at ncl.ac.uk>
Subject: Scatter Hoarding Workshop - 8-9 August 2008

Integrative Biology of Scatter Hoarding:
Ecology, Psychology and Neuroscience

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
8-9 August 2008

2008 brings us the 30th anniversary of Andersson & Krebs's 1978 paper 
entitled "On the evolution of hoarding behaviour".  This paper has had a 
profound influence on the study of scatter-hoarding animals, from and 
evolutionary, ecological, psychological and neurobiological perspective. 
In celebration of this anniversary, we are organizing a meeting which will 
bring together everybody working on scatter hoarding in any organism and 
from any level of analysis.  The workshop will take place right before the 
International Society for Behavioral Ecology meeting at Cornell University 
in Ithaca, NY.  Everybody is welcome.  Further details will follow in the 
new year, but please mark your calendars now.

The Organizing Committee includes:

Tom Smulders (Newcastle University, UK)
Nicky Clayton (Cambridge University, UK)
Anders Brodin (University of Lund, Sweden)
David Sherry (University of Western Ontario, Canada)
Tim DeVoogd (Cornell University (USA)
Lisa Leaver (University of Exeter, UK)

For more information in the future, please bookmark
http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/tom.smulders/scatterhoarding.htm or
contact tom.smulders at ncl.ac.uk.

Feel free to pass on this information to any other potential
interested parties.



------------------------------

Message: 2
From: Amy Savage <savage at rice.edu>
Subject: Field Assistants needed immediately for a community ecology /
 	invasion biology study in the Samoan Archipleago

I am currently conducting field experiments on the influence of mutualisms 
between Morinda citrifolia (Nonu) and Anoplolepis gracilipes (Yellow Crazy 
Ant-an invasive insect in Samoa) on (i) the dynamics of the yellow crazy 
ant invasion of Samoa and (ii) the response of native plant and arthropod 
communities to the invader.

There are now positions available for field assistants for this project. I 
request that field assistants commit to work on this project for at least 
one month. However, this is an ongoing project, so interested applicants 
can work up to 6 months as a field assistant.  Duties include assisting in 
the maintenance of plot-level manipulative experiments (including limited 
vegetation clearing), conducting surveys of ants, plants, and nectar 
excreting arthropods across the Samoan Archipelago, assisting with 
short-term behavioral ecology experiments, mapping vegetation dynamics, 
and collecting and sorting samples of arthropod communities.

Field assistants are expected to pay for their own travel expenses. 
However, I will pay for lodging and meals for all field assistants. 
Assistants should be comfortable working outside in the sometimes very hot 
and humid conditions common to tropical islands.

To apply or for further inquiries, please contact me at savage at rice.edu

Amy M. Savage
PhD Candidate
Rice University
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
6100 Main Street MS-170
Houston, TX 77005


------------------------------

Message: 3
From: Mary Lee Jensvold <jensvold at cwu.edu>
Subject: Summer program announcement

The Chimpanzee & Human Communication Institute (CHCI) is currently taking 
applications for our 10-week Summer Apprentice Program. Graduates, 
undergraduates, and post-graduates from various academic backgrounds (e.g. 
Anthropology, Biology, Psychology, Linguistics, Philosophy, etc.) and all 
nationalities are encouraged to apply. The dates of the program are June 
15 to August 22, 2008.

The research at CHCI involves a group of chimpanzees who use the signs of 
American Sign Language (ASL).  Washoe, Moja, Tatu, and Dar were part of 
the cross-fostering research that began in 1966 with Drs. R.A. & B.T. 
Gardner.  Each chimpanzee was raised in an enriched environment in which 
his or her human family members used only ASL, much like the environment 
in which a deaf human child grows up. Loulis was adopted by Washoe in 1978 
and learned his signs from chimpanzees.  Currently, Tatu, Dar, and Loulis 
reside at CHCI on the campus of Central Washington University in 
Ellensburg, WA in a large state-of-the-art facility.

Apprentices are at the institute daily -- cleaning enclosures, preparing 
meals and enrichment, making observations of the chimpanzees, and 
participating in one or more research projects.  The first week is 
intensive training in laboratory jobs and chimpanzee behaviors.  After 
several weeks each apprentice becomes more autonomous and has 
responsibilities in research and husbandry.  The philosophy of CHCI is 
that the needs of the chimpanzees come first. Apprentices are trained in 
humane care and research techniques.

The program fee is $1800 and there is a non-refundable $25 application 
processing fee.  The costs do not include housing and transportation. 
Inexpensive housing is available on campus.  A course in ASL is highly 
recommended but not required.  For more information on the program and the 
application please see our web page at 
http://www.cwu.edu/~cwuchci/apprentice.html or contact Dr. Mary Lee 
Jensvold, CHCI, CWU, Ellensburg, WA 98926 jensvold at cwu.edu.  The deadline 
to apply is March 26, 2008.

Mary Lee Jensvold, Ph.D.
Assistant Director , Chimpanzee & Human Communication Institute
Adjunct Research Associate, Department of Psychology
Director, Bridges to Baccalaureate
Central Washington University
400 E. University Way
Ellensburg, WA  98926-7573
phone:  (509)963-2215
fax:  (509)963-2234
www.cwu.edu/~cwuchci
www.friendsofwashoe.org




------------------------------

+========================================================================+
|  Contact Addresses:                                                    |
|                                                                        |
|    James Ha                                                            |
|    Department of Psychology and  National Primate Research Center      |
|    University of Washington,  Seattle, WA  98195                       |
|                                                                        |
|    Shan D. Duncan                                                      |
|    Animal Behavior Society Central Office at Indiana University        |
|    2611 East 10th Street #170,  Bloomington,  IN  47405                |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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