The 2012 REU Symposium: Saturday, August 11, SERF Building, Sevilleta Field Station

The 2012 REU Symposium is this Saturday, August 11th at the SERF Building, Sevilleta Field Station. The SERF Building is slightly northwest of USFWS headquarters, just before the Sevilleta Field Station. RSVP if you want lunch! Caterer order goes in today, August 7th!

9:15 Coffee & Tea in the SERF LOBBY (assorted donuts, etc.).

9:30 a.m. - WELCOME !! Jennifer Johnson, Sevilleta LTER, University of New Mexico.

9:40 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Maite Marin, University of Texas - El Paso - "Behavior and Activity Budget Comparisons on Older and Newly Reintroduced Colonies of Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs".

10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Jasmine Childress, Florida Southern College, Lizet Mendoza, Colorado State University - "Estimating Population Size and Nest Productivity of the Threatened Gray Vireos in Los Pinos Mountains".

10:30 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. Manny Sosa, University of Texas - El Paso "The Impact of Fire History on Semiarid Grassland Communities".

10:50 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. BREAK

11:00 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. Austin Dillon, University of Tennessee - "Comparing diurnal nitrogen and carbon fixation rates of biological soil crusts across an elevation gradient".

11:20 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. Nizhoni Harvey, Dine College & Nattasha Vinas, Illinois Institute of Technology -"Characterization of root-associated fungi of Larrea tridentata and Bouteloua eriopoda across the shrub-grassland transition zone".

11:50 - 12:55 p.m. - LUNCH in the Old Conference Room & on the Patio.

1:00 pm - 1:20 p.m.   Ana Marti, St. Olaf College - "The effect of shrub encroachment on the ant and lizard communities of the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge".

1:20 p.m. - 1:40 p.m. Brianna Levinson, University of California - San Diego - "Distribution and Sources of Diatom diversity on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge".

1:40 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Rande Patterson, Rice University - "Survey on the Tarantulas of the Los Pinos Mountains".

2:00 p.m. - 2:20 p.m. Jeanette Chu, University of St. Andrews - "The Effects of Increased Rainfall on Larrea tridentata Seedlings and Germination".

2:20 p.m. - 2:40 p.m. Hannah Berry, North Carolina State University - "Biological Illustration, Lumen prints, and Multimedia Color Study of the Landscape".

2:40 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Natalia Roberts, Washington University - "Modeling Water Collection on the Stem flow of Larrea tridentata".

3:00 - 3:10 p.m. Jennifer Johnson, closing remarks.

After talks there will be a Student Art Exhibit in the lobby of the SERF Building with cheese and fruit trays.