For Distant Viewing

Brandon taking a gander at some geese on goose pond.

This has been a busy week for myself and the rest of Team Midge here in Madison. The week started off following a big win by the Badgers over our new Big Ten rival (is it too early to say that?) the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Then we broke into a wonderful streak of warm and sunny weather that is both a work motivator and a distraction. There has been a lot of lab activity over the last few weeks and that looks to be continued. Finally we had a campus visit by a Nobel Laureate, Elinor Ostrom, which is definitely an event of note.

Saturday morning Farmer's Market with some hints of color.

Some Badger fans expecting a big win.

Color on State Street.

Brandon the tour guide.

I have been bugging my postdoc friend Brandon to take me out to his experimental sites for a while. Actually I wanted to go years ago with the previous Ive's Lab postdoc Jason who left for a job at North Dakota State but that never got off the ground because I guess I was too busy or lazy or too something. Brandon roomed with David and I in Austin and it has been a lot of fun to get to know him, so I figured it was high time I got a better idea of what he does in the field. That and I had never been to UW's Arlington Agricultural Research Station where many of my colleagues in the Gratton Lab work or have worked over the years.

A lady bug larvae munching on aphids.

Brandon has been overseeing a bunch of experiments at Arlington since he came to UW-Madison two springs ago from the Schmitz Lab at Yale. Some of them were begun by Jason and others have only been going for one summer. Most of them are concerned with the ability of predator species to control pests such as aphids. In one experiment they are trying to test the idea that a habitat of crops is more likely to maintain predator populations that are capable of keeping pest levels down. So far that experiment has not been, shall we say, 100% effective at getting an answer to that quetsion.

Brandon and Julia spotting some waterfowl.

A lot of Brandon's research has been concerned with the food web effects of global climate change. Also known as "what eats what when it warms up" (that is what I might say, not sure what he would say. Don't want to put words in his mouth!). One cool experiment that he ran this summer involved two species of aphid farming ants; one that is heat tolerant and one that is not. Both of them interact with the aphids in distinct ways so that when you experimentally heat their corn stalk habitat you get vastly different outcomes. "Balla" as they say in the biz...

You can see why it is called Goose Pond.

Despite being from Idaho it seems that Brandon is taking very well to Wisconsin. After visiting Arlington he took Julia, who is visiting the Gratton Lab from Hanover, Germany, and I to see some of the local sights. My favorite was a stop at a place called "Goose Pond" where you can see lots of geese, but also some nice ducks. Of course after spending some time at Mývatn you automatically come to love ducks so it is also a pleasure to observe them.

The Bossman looking the part.

Speaking of observations for those of you that know Claudio it is very rare to see him "dressed up." I have never seen him wear a tie, and I cannot recall the last time that I saw him in a jacket. Yesterday was a big day for him since he was speaking at a biofuel conference at Monona Terrace here in Madison before giving a short introductory talk this afternoon. The latter was at a talk by Dr. Elinor Ostrom who was invited to campus by Wisconsin Ecology, the pan-departmental umbrella organization for ecologists here on campus since there is not department of ecology as there are at many other schools.

Panel discussion, Dr. Ostrom in the center.

Dr. Ostrom's work concerns the management of common-pool resources. She earned a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (the first woman to do so) in 2009 for her work showing that the "tragedy of the commons" is not an inevitable outcome. The talk was interesting and well attended, and I also had the pleasure of interacting with her a bit at both a graduate student lunch and a Wisconsin Ecology reception on Wednesday evening. It was very inspiring to see such an active woman of her age and if I make it that far I will count myself lucky to be half as sharp.

Bless!

Jamin