31 posts · 19,443 views
My scientific interests veer towards ecology and evolution. I've done shorebird conservation work on the Maine coast, seabird trophic interaction research on the Oregon coast, and leaf-cutter ant distribution research in the Costa Rican rainforest. I also have strong feelings for paleoecology and paleoclimateology. Some questions I often ponder: How can the scientific community make actual progress? Is science really objective? Is the work I'm doing actually productive for society? Feel free to drop me a line at culturingscience [at] gmail [dot] com
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- July 19, 2010
- 09:19 AM
- 1,256 views
DMS(P): the amazing story of a pervasive indicator molecule in the marine food web
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
Dimethylsulfide. Does that word mean anything to you? “Why yes,” you organic chemistry nerds may say, “It clearly is a molecule of sulfur with two methyl groups attached.” That’s as far as I could have gotten – until this past week, when I inundated myself with information on dimethylsulfide (DMS) due to a paper published [...]... Read more »
DeBose, J., Lema, S., & Nevitt, G. (2008) Dimethylsulfoniopropionate as a Foraging Cue for Reef Fishes. Science, 319(5868), 1356-1356. DOI: 10.1126/science.1151109
Nevitt, G. (2008) Sensory ecology on the high seas: the odor world of the procellariiform seabirds. Journal of Experimental Biology, 211(11), 1706-1713. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.015412
Seymour, J., Simo, R., Ahmed, T., & Stocker, R. (2010) Chemoattraction to Dimethylsulfoniopropionate Throughout the Marine Microbial Food Web. Science, 329(5989), 342-345. DOI: 10.1126/science.1188418
Simó, R. (2001) Production of atmospheric sulfur by oceanic plankton: biogeochemical, ecological and evolutionary links. Trends in Ecology , 16(6), 287-294. DOI: 10.1016/S0169-5347(01)02152-8
Stefels, J., Steinke, M., Turner, S., Malin, G., & Belviso, S. (2007) Environmental constraints on the production and removal of the climatically active gas dimethylsulphide (DMS) and implications for ecosystem modelling. Biogeochemistry, 83(1-3), 245-275. DOI: 10.1007/s10533-007-9091-5
Van Alstyne, K., Wolfe, G., Freidenburg, T., Neill, A., & Hicken, C. (2001) Activated defense systems in marine macroalgae: evidence for an ecological role for DMSP cleavage. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 53-65. DOI: 10.3354/meps213053
G. V. Wolfe, M. Steinke, & G. O. Kirst. (1997) Grazing-activated chemical defence in a unicellular marine alga. Nature, 894-897. info:/
- April 20, 2010
- 11:21 AM
- 1,000 views
Octopuses doing tricks on the internet and our search for non-human “intelligence”
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
An underwater photographer has his camera stolen by a thieving octopus, who flees with the device, filming along the way. Sure, he was filming his own flesh, but baby’s first movie isn’t too shabby.
People love to talk about octopus “intelligence.” The photographer specifies that the octopus wasn’t attacking him, but just wanted to steal [...]... Read more »
Edelman, D., Baars, B., & Seth, A. (2005) Identifying hallmarks of consciousness in non-mammalian species. Consciousness and Cognition, 14(1), 169-187. DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2004.09.001
Mather, J. (2008) Cephalopod consciousness: Behavioural evidence. Consciousness and Cognition, 17(1), 37-48. DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2006.11.006
SETH, A., BAARS, B., & EDELMAN, D. (2005) Criteria for consciousness in humans and other mammals. Consciousness and Cognition, 14(1), 119-139. DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2004.08.006
- December 1, 2010
- 01:09 PM
- 948 views
Coddle me, please: parallel evolution and fishery management in Atlantic cod
by Hannah Waters in Sleeping with the Fishes
Historically, perhaps due to human interest in maximizing fishing activity, we have assumed that there is a great deal of gene flow in marine populations. This assumption allowed us to maximize fishing efforts without guilt, since a large, ocean-wide population would allow fish from other parts of the world to refill populations that we had reduced by overfishing. But you know what they say about assumptions: they make an ASS out of U and ME. Thus marine biologists have taken an interest ........ Read more »
Beacham, T. (2002) Multiple stock structure of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) off Newfoundland and Labrador determined from genetic variation. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 59(4), 650-665. DOI: 10.1006/jmsc.2002.1253
Bradbury, I., Hubert, S., Higgins, B., Borza, T., Bowman, S., Paterson, I., Snelgrove, P., Morris, C., Gregory, R., Hardie, D.... (2010) Parallel adaptive evolution of Atlantic cod on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in response to temperature. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277(1701), 3725-3734. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.0985
Hellberg, M. (2009) Gene Flow and Isolation among Populations of Marine Animals. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 40(1), 291-310. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.110308.120223
- June 18, 2010
- 11:49 AM
- 930 views
Microbe biogeography: the distribution, dispersal and evolution of the littlest organisms
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
In any high school biology class1, we learn that isolation is key to the evolution of species. For example, take Australia, where an array of marsupials such as koalas and kangaroos reproduce like no other animals on the planet. Isolation on a continental island allowed ancestral marsupials to evolve gestation via pouch, a trait which [...]... Read more »
Cermeño, P., de Vargas, C., Abrantes, F., & Falkowski, P. (2010) Phytoplankton Biogeography and Community Stability in the Ocean. PLoS ONE, 5(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010037
Fenchel, T., & Finlay, B. (2004) The Ubiquity of Small Species: Patterns of Local and Global Diversity. BioScience, 54(8), 777. DOI: 10.1641/0006-3568(2004)054[0777:TUOSSP]2.0.CO;2
Martiny, J., Bohannan, B., Brown, J., Colwell, R., Fuhrman, J., Green, J., Horner-Devine, M., Kane, M., Krumins, J., Kuske, C.... (2006) Microbial biogeography: putting microorganisms on the map. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 4(2), 102-112. DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1341
O'Malley, M. (2007) The nineteenth century roots of 'everything is everywhere'. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 5(8), 647-651. DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1711
- December 8, 2010
- 09:49 AM
- 765 views
How clownfish help their anemones: nutrient transfer in a triple symbiosis
by Hannah Waters in Sleeping with the Fishes
The vision of a tropical beach is something we take for granted: the white sands, crystal blue water, and colorful, diverse reefs. It’s like a playground designed just for us where everything is beautiful and comfortable (well, minus the sunburn). But we actually shouldn’t take this for granted, as the existence of coral reefs in warm tropical waters is not a give-in, but rather the result of millions of years of slow evolution and coevolution to cope with this nutrient-poor ha........ Read more »
Fautin, D. (1986) Why do anemonefishes inhabit only some host actinians?. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 15(3), 171-180. DOI: 10.1007/BF00002992
Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2005) Low coral cover in a high-CO2 world . Journal of Geophysical Research, 110(C9). DOI: 10.1029/2004JC002528
L. Muscatine, & James W. Porter. (1977) Reef Corals: Mutualistic Symbioses Adapted to Nutrient-Poor Environments. Bioscience, 27(7), 454-460. info:other/
Stanley Jr., G. (2006) ECOLOGY: Photosymbiosis and the Evolution of Modern Coral Reefs. Science, 312(5775), 857-858. DOI: 10.1126/science.1123701
Wood, R. (1998) The Ecological Evolution of Reefs. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 29(1), 179-206. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.29.1.179
- February 11, 2010
- 06:54 AM
- 754 views
Nature-inspired network design: recent studies in slime mold and leaf veins
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
Nature-inspired design: this phrase makes me think of shark-skin swimsuits, velcro, and an endless assortment of coffee tables using natural knots and tree branches. There is logic behind design reliant upon natural elements. After all, organisms have been undergoing evolution for millions of years for the sake of efficiency. If anyone knows how to [...]... Read more »
Andrew Adamatzky, & Jeff Jones. (2009) Road planning with slime mould: If Physarum built motorways it would route M6/M74 through Newcastle. International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos. arXiv: 0912.3967v1
Katifori, E., Szöllősi, G., & Magnasco, M. (2010) Damage and Fluctuations Induce Loops in Optimal Transport Networks. Physical Review Letters, 104(4). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.048704
Tero A, Takagi S, Saigusa T, Ito K, Bebber DP, Fricker MD, Yumiki K, Kobayashi R, & Nakagaki T. (2010) Rules for biologically inspired adaptive network design. Science (New York, N.Y.), 327(5964), 439-42. PMID: 20093467
- December 24, 2009
- 12:31 PM
- 744 views
How dirt affects global atmospheric carbon dioxide (Wingate et al. 2009, PNAS)
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
I have a tendency to root for the underdog. I rooted for the Phillies throughout the 90s, when my heroes Lenny Dykstra and Darren Dalton could rarely lead them to a win. It’s a mixture of a desire for upheaval, that the unexpected can happen, as well as pure sympathy for the ones who [...]... Read more »
Wingate, L., Ogee, J., Cuntz, M., Genty, B., Reiter, I., Seibt, U., Yakir, D., Maseyk, K., Pendall, E., Barbour, M.... (2009) The impact of soil microorganisms on the global budget of 18O in atmospheric CO2. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0905210106
- March 2, 2010
- 11:14 PM
- 737 views
Invasive species corrupt DNA, not just ecosystems (Fitzpatrick et al., PNAS 2010)
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
I rarely think about how invasive species affect genetics. It’s always in terms of ecosystems or species: invasive brown tree snakes gobbling up birds and lizards in Guam, or zebra mussels overwhelming and altering the environment of the Great Lakes. How one species outcompetes and replaces another, changing the natural system. This is partly [...]... Read more »
Fitzpatrick, B., Johnson, J., Kump, D., Smith, J., Voss, S., & Shaffer, H. (2010) Rapid spread of invasive genes into a threatened native species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(8), 3606-3610. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0911802107
- February 1, 2011
- 08:34 AM
- 692 views
Self-Help for Seabirds: How to manage your time and outcompete your neighbors for maximum survival
by Hannah Waters in Sleeping with the Fishes
Last night was my first night in NYC and, as such, it was my first experience with modern-day human foraging: the Trader Joes in Chelsea at 7:30 pm. Despite the many shelves previously stuffed with various types of bagged lettuce, there was NO LETTUCE LEFT. No granola bars. The customers were nasty, ramming their carts into me to get to the dried cranberries. While sometimes I’ve been to groceries that have been out of a particular item I wanted, I have never thought to myself, &#........ Read more »
Masello, J., Mundry, R., Poisbleau, M., Demongin, L., Voigt, C., Wikelski, M., & Quillfeldt, P. (2010) Diving seabirds share foraging space and time within and among species. Ecosphere, 1(6). DOI: 10.1890/ES10-00103.1
- February 5, 2010
- 03:29 PM
- 676 views
How to measure the progress of science (Rosvall and Bergstrom, PLoS 2010)
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
No one can deny that the field of science is undergoing explosive growth. The “technological age” has treated it kindly, giving it both access to new equipment and techniques, as well as creating a larger scientific community with more connections between labs around the world. We are bombarded with information in general: hundreds of papers [...]... Read more »
Rosvall, M., & Bergstrom, C. (2010) Mapping Change in Large Networks. PLoS ONE, 5(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008694
- October 5, 2010
- 11:46 AM
- 676 views
Seabirds as indicators of marine ecosystem health: an introduction
by Hannah Waters in Sleeping with the Fishes
The primary reason for studying marine ecology is for ecosystem and resource management. Over half of the human population lives in the coastal zone, and we all are dependent on the ocean, either for food resources of simply because phytoplankton are responsible for the production of nearly half of atmospheric oxygen. Add to that the great biodiversity of marine life and its sheer beauty… and we have a resource that we should all be dedicated to conserving and protecting. Research cr........ Read more »
D. K. Cairns. (1987) Seabirds as indicators of marine food supplies. Biological Oceanography, 261-271. info:/
- October 27, 2010
- 03:04 PM
- 654 views
The grand diversity of marine phytoplankton species: focusing from space
by Hannah Waters in Sleeping with the Fishes
In a recent email exchange with a (skeptically) wonderful blogger about why we are interested in what we are and where past/current biases lie, I wrote that I “grew up wanting to look at the planet from space.” This is true in multiple senses: my drive to seek patterns in collected studies and data, and also my interest in large-scale ecology generally. But, of course, we can actually look at the planet from space! And collect data at the same time! Via the wonder of SATELLIT........ Read more »
Alvain, S., Moulin, C., Dandonneau, Y., & Loisel, H. (2008) Seasonal distribution and succession of dominant phytoplankton groups in the global ocean: A satellite view. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 22(3). DOI: 10.1029/2007GB003154
d'Ovidio, F., De Monte, S., Alvain, S., Dandonneau, Y., & Levy, M. (2010) Fluid dynamical niches of phytoplankton types. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(43), 18366-18370. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1004620107
- June 25, 2010
- 11:28 AM
- 650 views
How did they get there? The colonization of a hydrothermal vent after volcanic eruption
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
To some people, a volcanic eruption means “Ahh! Run! Hot Lava!” But to others, it means “SCIENCE!” To those studying hydrothermal vent communities, that is (and a wide berth of geologists). Hydrothermal vents are cracks in the seafloor formed when tectonic plates spread apart, which spew out hot, mineral-rich water from the interior of the [...]... Read more »
Mullineaux, L., Adams, D., Mills, S., & Beaulieu, S. (2010) Larvae from afar colonize deep-sea hydrothermal vents after a catastrophic eruption. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(17), 7829-7834. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0913187107
- April 7, 2010
- 05:36 PM
- 640 views
Animals without oxygen and their implications for the evolution of life
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
It’s been a slow few weeks around here at Culturing Science. It’s due to a little bit of writer’s block, but mainly it’s just the beautiful weather keeping me outdoors and away from the computer. Hopefully you’ve been outside so much that you haven’t noticed.
But today my dream article was published: microorganisms, extreme environments, evolution, [...]... Read more »
Danovaro, R., Dell'Anno, A., Pusceddu, A., Gambi, C., Heiner, I., & Kristensen, R. (2010) The first metazoa living in permanently anoxic conditions. BMC Biology, 8(1), 30. DOI: 10.1186/1741-7007-8-30
- May 25, 2010
- 10:13 AM
- 623 views
Molecular biology and globsters: dashing cryptozoologists’ dreams
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
On July 29th 2008, the day I turned 21 years, I received the best thing I could ask for: a birthday gift from Poseidon. I was living in Newport, OR at the time. After a long morning of observing nesting seabirds through a telescope, I returned home for what I presumed to be a long [...]... Read more »
Carr, S., Marshall, H., Johnstone, K., Pynn, L., & Stenson, G. (2002) How to Tell a Sea Monster: Molecular Discrimination of Large Marine Animals of the North Atlantic. Biological Bulletin, 202(1), 1. DOI: 10.2307/1543217
Pierce, S., Massey, S., Curtis, N., Smith, G., Olavarria, C., & Maugel, T. (2004) Microscopic, Biochemical, and Molecular Characteristics of the Chilean Blob and a Comparison with the Remains of Other Sea Monsters: Nothing but Whales. Biological Bulletin, 206(3), 125. DOI: 10.2307/1543636
- June 22, 2010
- 04:05 PM
- 617 views
Inevitability and Oil, Pt. 1: the inherent risk for accidents in complex technology
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
When I read updates on blogs or the news about the BP oil spill, my expression is generally very serious: furrowed brow, pursed lips which I’m probably chewing in alternation with gnawing a nail. But last week I laughed out loud, a true LOL, a brash guffaw. (“What?!” my labmates inquired.) I had read this [...]... Read more »
Gephart, R. (2004) Normal Risk: Technology, Sense Making, and Environmental Disasters. Organization , 17(1), 20-26. DOI: 10.1177/1086026603262030
Leveson, N., Dulac, N., Marais, K., & Carroll, J. (2009) Moving Beyond Normal Accidents and High Reliability Organizations: A Systems Approach to Safety in Complex Systems. Organization Studies, 30(2-3), 227-249. DOI: 10.1177/0170840608101478
Weick, K. (2004) Normal Accident Theory As Frame, Link, and Provocation. Organization , 17(1), 27-31. DOI: 10.1177/1086026603262031
- January 12, 2010
- 12:26 AM
- 600 views
Why research articles should be publicly accessible (Shulenburger 2009, PLoS Biology)
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
I cannot even count the number of times when I have been denied access to a journal article I needed. Oftentimes, it was while I was working on a paper in college and couldn’t read the paper that all the other scholars cited, or the paper that supported an argument I was trying to make. [...]... Read more »
Shulenburger, D. (2009) University Public-Access Mandates Are Good for Science. PLoS Biology, 7(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000237
- December 15, 2009
- 08:55 AM
- 581 views
Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is regulated by the protein RanBPM (Atabakhsh et al. 2009, Molecular Cancer Research)
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
I have been fearful of molecular biology for most of my life. This is partially because I so clearly defined myself as an ecologist that I partitioned molecules into “little biology” and out of my range. But mostly it was a fear of what I considered unnatural. Scientists who play around with chemicals and [...]... Read more »
Atabakhsh, E., Bryce, D., Lefebvre, K., & Schild-Poulter, C. (2009) RanBPM Has Proapoptotic Activities That Regulate Cell Death Pathways in Response to DNA Damage. Molecular Cancer Research. DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-09-0098
- February 8, 2011
- 10:20 PM
- 541 views
The many relationships of leaf-cutter ants
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
Trying to capture the movement of a colony of leaf-cutter ants in a single photo is nearly impossible in my (amateur) experience. The queues of ants follow a worn-down trail in the ground that they themselves made with the impact of their little ant feet. There are ants moving in both directions, between the food [...]... Read more »
Currie, C., Scott, J., Summerbell, R., & Malloch, D. (1999) Fungus-growing ants use antibiotic-producing bacteria to control garden parasites. Nature, 398(6729), 701-704. DOI: 10.1038/19519
Schoenian, I., Spiteller, M., Ghaste, M., Wirth, R., Herz, H., & Spiteller, D. (2011) Chemical basis of the synergism and antagonism in microbial communities in the nests of leaf-cutting ants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(5), 1955-1960. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1008441108
- July 28, 2010
- 09:12 AM
- 531 views
Forest canopy height: why do we care?
by Hannah Waters in Culturing Science – biology as relevant to us earthly beings
If you’ve been on the internet at all in the past week, you’ve probably seen these lovely images from NASA, visualizing the height of tree canopies around the world. They’ve been on science sites along with art ones. In a sense, that alone is useful: using beautiful visuals to make people think about the world [...]... Read more »
Cohen, W., Harmon, M., Wallin, D., & Fiorella, M. (1996) Two Decades of Carbon Flux from Forests of the Pacific Northwest. BioScience, 46(11), 836. DOI: 10.2307/1312969
Lefsky, M., Cohen, W., Harding, D., Parker, G., Acker, S., & Gower, S. (2002) Lidar remote sensing of above-ground biomass in three biomes. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 11(5), 393-399. DOI: 10.1046/j.1466-822x.2002.00303.x
Lefsky, M., Harding, D., Keller, M., Cohen, W., Carabajal, C., Del Bom Espirito-Santo, F., Hunter, M., & de Oliveira, R. (2005) Estimates of forest canopy height and aboveground biomass using ICESat. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(22). DOI: 10.1029/2005GL023971
Running, S. (1999) A Global Terrestrial Monitoring Network Integrating Tower Fluxes, Flask Sampling, Ecosystem Modeling and EOS Satellite Data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 70(1), 108-127. DOI: 10.1016/S0034-4257(99)00061-9
Silva, L., Anand, M., & Leithead, M. (2010) Recent Widespread Tree Growth Decline Despite Increasing Atmospheric CO2. PLoS ONE, 5(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011543
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