yale environmental n e w s The Peabody Museum of Natural History, the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies
spring 2006 vol. 11, no. 2
The Peabody’s Torosaurus
is a new and prominent presence on the Connecticut landscape and the first full-size public work of a dinosaur in New England. The Yale Peabody Museum brought together paleontologists, zoolo- gists, and an army of artists and volunteers to create a 21-foot, life- size bronze sculpture of Torosaurus. The 7,350-pound sculpture sits on a 13-foot, 70-ton base of Stony Creek granite, the same granite used for the base of the Statue of Liberty.
yale environmental news The Science Behind the Peabody’s Torosaurus Statue By Daniel Brinkman, Museum Assistant, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, and Jane Pickering, Assistant Director for Public Programs
The Yale Peabody Museum’s new Torosaurus Torosaurus latus have ever been discovered, statue on Whitney Avenue is rapidly becom- nearly every other part of the Peabody’s sculp- ing one of the most popular exhibits at the ture is based on the anatomy or appearance of Museum, and visitors often ask whether it is some of Torosaurus’s better-known living and “accurate.” Torosaurus fossils are extremely extinct relatives. When possible, Torosaurus’s rare, so restoring and sculpting this animal closest relatives, Triceratops and Chasmosaurus, was very challenging. A team of paleontolo- were used, but information from progres- gists and zoologists led by Peabody Curator sively more distant relatives (such as hadro- of Vertebrate Paleontology Jacques Gauthier saurs, birds, alligators, lizards, turtles, and worked with sculptor Michael Anderson, the mammals) was also used to answer specific Museum’s exhibit preparator, to make educat- questions. The process relied heavily on the ed guesses about many aspects of Torosaurus’s Peabody’s collections of fossils, cast replicas, anatomy and appearance. Since only seven and preserved zoological specimens. partial skulls and one partial skeleton of
Like the fictional Frankenstein’s monster, the Peabody’s sculpted Torosaurus is cobbled together using many different parts. This graphic, part of the Peabody’s exhibit on the making of the statue, shows the range of species referenced in the design and construction of the Torosaurus sculpture. Illustration by Sally Pallatto and Daniel Brinkman.
skeleton skull ear
eye skin texture
nostrils hip and knee
“cheeks”
cloaca tongue and roof of mouth
foot and ankle
foot placement hand and wrist shoulder and elbow muscles
yale environmental news Key of Symbols Torosaurus Ornithopod dinosaurs Turtles
Triceratops Birds Mammals
Chasmosaurus Alligator Ceratopsipes (Ceratopsian footprints)
Centrosaurus Lizards Many of these decisions were difficult. For example, there was much debate over the nature of the material covering the frill: was it The Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS) a layer of keratin or scaly skin? While the horns is pleased to announce the appointment of and beak were undoubtedly covered by kera- Dr. Michael Teitelbaum, vice president of the tin, Anderson and his scientific consultants ultimately chose to give the frill scaly skin. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York, as Their decision was based on the nature of the the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting underlying bone, in particular its growth and Environmental Scholar for 2006–07; he will vascularization patterns, as compared to those serve in this capacity from September 1, 2006, of living animals. The Yale Peabody Museum would like to through May 30, 2007. thank Elizabeth R. and Stanford N. Phelps (Yale ’56) and their grandchildren Max, Garrett, and Ford for their generous support of the Torosaurus Project. Dr. Michael Teitelbaum: Cover photo by Melanie Brigockas 2006–07 Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar
Dr. Teitelbaum is a demographer of wide inter- of Representatives, and U.S. Commissioner ests who, as the Edward P. Bass Distinguished for the Study of International Migration and Visiting Scholar, will have the opportunity to Cooperative Economic Development. He has key of symbols discuss population issues across campus, also served on a variety of advisory boards, from Science Hill to the Medical School. including those of the National Academy of After earning an undergraduate degree Sciences, the National Institute of Health, and Torosaurus at Reed College, double majoring in biology the American Association for the Advancement and sociology, Dr. Teitelbaum was a Rhodes of Science. Triceratops Scholar at Oxford University where he studied Dr. Teitelbaum taught at Oxford and reproductive biology. After the death of his Princeton. In 2003 he taught a course at Yale Chasmosaurus adviser, he migrated to statistical and quantita- called 21st Century Demography which was tive treatments and earned a Ph.D. in demog- cross-listed in International Studies, History, Centrosaurus raphy. One of his major contributions to the and Sociology. field is his book The British Fertility Decline Ornithopod Dinosaurs (Princeton University Press). This book, and For more information on the Edward P. Bass the rest of the Princeton Project, laid the foun- Distinguished Environmental Scholars Program, or to schedule an appointment to meet with Birds dation for all subsequent studies of the global Dr. Teitelbaum, please call the Yale Institute for demographic transition. Biospheric Studies Office at (203) 432-9856. Alligator In addition to his purely academic con- tributions, Dr. Teitelbaum also brings to Yale Lizards two other hats: that of an executive with major foundations and of a longtime adviser to Turtles the government. He has been with the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Endowment for Mammals International Peace, and the program direc- tor for science and technology at the Alfred P. Ceratopsipes Sloan Foundation. Among other stints in gov- (Ceratopsian footprints) ernment service, he was staff director for the Select Committee on Population, U.S. House
yale environmental news conferences, seminars, symposia
Guild of Montane Skinks n Terri Williams, Research Scientist, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Crustacean Development and Evolution: A History of Repeated Parts n Craig Layman, Gaylord Donnelley Postdoctoral Environmental Fellow, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Using Stable Isotope Ratios to Assess Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Trophic Diversity n Peter Raymond, Assistant Professor, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Artic Rivers and Global Change n Grazyna Jasienska, Associate Professor, Institute of Public Health, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, yibs/esc friday noon seminars Geology & Geophysics, The Fossil Record of Poland; Research Affiliate, YIBS Center for The Yale Institute for Biopsheric Studies Plants and Insects—The Transformation of Human and Primate Reproductive Ecology, (YIBS) sponsors weekly YIBS/ESC Friday Molecular Components through Time n Neung- Markers of Biological Quality: Endocrinological Luncheon Seminars during the fall and spring Hwan Oh, Postdoctoral Associate, School Answers to Evolutionary Questions n John semesters. The seminars are held in the Class of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Effects Vanden Brooks, Graduate Student, Department of 1954 Environmental Science Center (ESC). of Agricultural Practices on Riverine Carbon of Geology & Geophysics, The Effects of The spring 2006 featured the following speak- Export n Jamie Childs, Adjunct Professor, Phanerozoic Oxygen on Vertebrate Development ers and topics: Department of Epidemiology and Public and Evolution n Lisa Pfefferle, Professor, Health, The Epidemiology of Wildlife Rabies: Department of Chemical Engineering, Soot Günter Wagner, Chair and Alison Richard Lessons from a Model Animal-Based Surveillance Formation in Flames and Toxicity Considerations. Professor, Department of Ecology & System for a Viral Zoonosis n Tracy Langkilde, Evolutionary Biology, Is Developmental Gaylord Donnelley Postdoctoral Environmental For information and the speakers list, please visit the Genetics Affecting Biodiversity? n Neal Gupta, Fellow, School of Forestry & Environmental YIBS website at www.yale.edu/yibs/. Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Studies, Factors Shaping Habitat Use In a
Oxford (malaria) n Gregory Glass, Professor of Forum on Climate and Disease Infectious Disease Ecology in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at A Forum on Climate and Disease, held on cussed by each of the speakers. The National the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public December 9 and 10, 2005, was co-sponsored Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Health (hantavirus) n Cecile Viboud, Research by the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (NOAA) Global Earth Observation System Scientist in the Division of Epidemiology and Center for the Study of Global Change and the of Systems (GEOSS) and its application to International Studies, Fogarty International Center for Eco-Epidemiology, and funded by disease prediction were presented by the Center, National Institute of Health, Bethesda ExxonMobil. The forum was attended by 95 Assistant Administrator for NOAA, Richard MD, USA (influenza) n Rudolfo Acuna-Soto, people despite a serious snowstorm on the Spinrad. Other speakers and their topics Professor at the Department of Microbiology first day, and it featured a slate of 10 interna- were Rita Colwell, Chairman of Canon US Life and Parasitology at the Medical School tionally known specialists on climate/disease Sciences, Inc., and Distinguished University of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma research who addressed the current state of Professor both at the University of Maryland at de Mexico (hemorrhagic fever) n Andrew our knowledge on the relationship between cli- College Park and at Johns Hopkins University Comrie, Professor of Geography and Regional mate change and human disease. Bloomberg School of Public Health (cholera) n Development at the University of Arizona (coc- A range of topics was presented that Duane Gubler, Professor of Tropical Medicine cidiomycosis); and Daithe Stone, Research demonstrated the current need, capacity, and and Medical Microbiology at the University Associate in the Departments of Physics and benefits of understanding how climate influ- of Hawaii School of Medicine and Director of Zoology at the University of Oxford (climate ences risk for infectious diseases in humans. the Asia-Pacific Institute of Tropical Medicine change attribution). The implementation of advanced technologies and Infectious Diseases at the University of in disease surveillance and prediction based Hawaii (dengue) n David Rogers, Professor The entire forum (13 hours) was videotaped and upon climate data was demonstrated and dis- in the Department of Zoology at University of is available for viewing on the YIBSCEE website at http://www.yale.edu/yibs/climate_forum.html. yale environmental news faculty news
Derek Briggs named the Frederick William Elimelech Elected to Beinecke Professor of Geology & Geophysics National Academy of Engineering Derek E. G. Briggs, Director of the Yale all the major animal groups over 500 million Institute of Biospheric Studies, has been years ago. However, he and his team research named the Frederick William Beinecke a range of organisms from different geological Menachem Elimelech, the Roberto C. Goizueta Professor of Geology & Geophysics. He periods. For example, tiny three-dimensional Professor of Environmental and Chemical graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, and invertebrates recently reported from a volcanic Engineering at Yale University, has been obtained his Ph.D. in 1976 from the University ash of Silurian age (425 million years old) in elected to the prestigious National Academy of Cambridge, where he worked on the fos- Herefordshire, England, which he and col- of Engineering “for contributions to the theory sils of the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British leagues are studying, include a sea spider, and practice of advanced filtration technologies Columbia. The Burgess Shale project was the free-swimming larval stages of a barnacle, for the treatment and reuse of potable water.” subsequently celebrated as a major contribu- a worm-like mollusk, a bristle worm, and a Dr. Elimelech has played the leading role in tion to evolutionary paleontology by Stephen J. starfish. A current project on 1- to 15-million- building and directing Yale’s Environmental Gould in his best-selling 1989 book Wonderful year-old leaves and insects involves investigat- Engineering Program and is currently serving Life. After a period at the University of London, ing the alteration of biomolecules as they are as Director of the program and Chair of the he spent 17 years at the University of Bristol, incorporated into the fossil record en route to Chemical Engineering Department. Elimelech’s where he was head of the Department of Earth forming fossil fuels. other honors include the W. M. Keck Sciences from 1997 to 2001. Following a year Briggs has published several books, Foundation Engineering Teaching Excellence as a visiting professor at the University of including The Fossils of the Burgess Shale and Award, the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Chicago, Briggs joined the Yale faculty in 2003 two edited volumes: Palaeobiology: A synthesis Research Prize of the American Society of Civil as a geology professor and curator in charge of (1990) and Palaeobiology 2 (2001), which have Engineers, the Outstanding Paper Award of invertebrate paleontology at the Yale Peabody become benchmarks in paleontology. the Association of Environmental Engineering Museum of Natural History. He became direc- A fellow of the Royal Society (the United and Science Professors, and the Excellence tor of the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies Kingdom’s equivalent of the National in Review Award of the journal Environmental in 2004. Academy of Science) and an honorary mem- Science & Technology. In 2004 he received Briggs is recognized internationally for his ber of the Royal Irish Academy, Briggs has Yale’s Graduate Mentor Award and in 2005 he research on the preservation and evolution- received several prestigious honors for his received the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke ary significance of exceptionally preserved research work. These include the Premio Capo Prize for outstanding achievement in water fossils—those that provide information on d’Orlando, an Italian prize for paleontology; science and technology. soft tissues of animals as well as their skel- the Lyell Medal of the Geological Society of etons. He utilizes a range of approaches, from London; and the Boyle Medal of the Royal experimental work on the factors controlling Dublin Society/Irish Times. He was president decay, to studying early mineralization and of the Palaeontological Association (U.K.) molecular preservation, to doing fieldwork on 2002–04 and is currently president-elect of the a range of extraordinary fossil occurrences. A Paleontological Society (U.S.). major focus of his work continues to be the Cambrian explosion—the first appearance of
yale environmental news peabody museum of natural history
events William Sacco
poems on the road to justice peabody summer youth programs the 10th annual mlk poetry July 10 through August 25, 2006 slam dvd release The Yale Peabody Museum is running 10 week- June 22, 2006, 8:00 pm long summer camp programs for students The highly competitive Social and entering 3rd to 9th grades, on topics as diverse Environmental Justice Poetry Slam at the Yale as biodiversity, natural science illustration, Peabody Museum each January now draws ancient survival skills, ancient cultures, and poets from all over the United States. As part archaeology. See the Peabody Museum website of the Museum’s collaboration with New for details. Haven’s International Festival of Arts and Ideas, we will be screening portions of this new DVD juxtaposed with live performances by For information and updates visit some of the top poets from this year’s compe- www.peabody.yale.edu. tition. For tickets call the Events Office at (203) 432-6646, or purchase them at the door.
Morphology and function are of wide interest The Yale Peabody Museum has published to paleontologists and evolutionary biologists, the proceedings of this symposium. Evolving and are particularly timely topics in the light of Form and Function: Fossils and Development, new discoveries in evolutionary development. edited by Derek E. G. Briggs, Director of In April 2005 over 100 colleagues, researchers, the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and and students gathered at Yale University for Frederick William Beinecke Professor of a symposium to celebrate the contributions Geology and Geophysics, brings together a dis- of Adolf Seilacher, one of the most influential tinguished group of contributors with papers paleontologists of the latter half of the 20th that treat the full range of taxa from plants to century. Sponsored by the Yale Institute for vertebrates, and cover the major events in the Wolfgang Gerber Wolfgang Biospheric Studies, the Peabody Museum evolution of many-celled organisms from the of Natural History, and Yale’s departments origin of body plans, through the extraordinary of Geology & Geophysics and Ecology & Ediacara fossils, to the diversification of inver- Evolutionary Biology, the two-day symposium tebrates and the invasion of land and air by the honored Professor Seilacher on the occasion vertebrates, using a variety of evidence from of his 80th birthday. extinct and living organisms, from both the In a long and distinguished career at the fossil record and evolutionary development. University of Tübingen as a graduate student, The chapters are written in an accessible an assistant, and then a professor from 1964 style designed to appeal to students and spe- to 1990, and at Yale University, where from cialists. Evolving Form and Function: Fossils and new publication 1987 he was an adjunct professor in the Development promises to be a valuable source honors dolf seilacher Department of Geology & Geophysics and for research and teaching in both paleontology Evolving Form and Function: Fossils and adjunct curator at the Peabody Museum of and evolutionary biology. Development Natural History, Seilacher has focused his Proceedings of a symposium honoring research on the interplay between extinct For ordering information and to view a table of con- organisms and the environment in which tents, visit www.peabody.yale.edu/scipubs or contact Adolf Seilacher for his contributions to paleon- the Yale Peabody Museum’s Publications Office at tology, in celebration of his 80th birthday they lived, as revealed by the evidence in sedi- [email protected] or (203) 432-3786. mentary rocks. He is the recipient of the 1992 Derek E. G. Briggs, Editor Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the 1993 Paleontological Society medal. yale environmental news Invertebrate Paleontology Division Receives National Science Foundation Grant By Susan Butts, Collections Manager, Division of Invertebrate Paleontology, and Derek E. G. Briggs, Director, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Geology & Geophysics, Curator-in-Charge, Division of Invertebrate Paleontology
art collections facility with climate-controlled conditions. The Stratigraphic Collection, which is arranged by geologic age and rock unit, is
Susan Butts (4) currently stored in unfavorable conditions in the basement of the Peabody Museum, where it is largely inaccessible to researchers. Paleontological research has shifted in focus in recent decades. With a better under- standing of the relationships of fossil organ- isms, paleontologists are using the fossil record to address broader problems—such as diversity through time, the nature of evolution and extinction, and the ecology and climate of ancient environments—the kinds of ques- tions that can be answered with a stratigraphic collection. This stratigraphic collection is very broad in scope and contains material collected The Yale Peabody Museum holds a from across the globe over the past 200 years world-renowned invertebrate pale- by curators, graduate students, and museum affiliates. The collection is also particularly ontology collection of nearly five important because many of the localities rep- million specimens, 35% of which resented are no longer accessible due to politi- are brachiopods. cal unrest, changes in land use such as dam construction and urbanization, or because Although they are abundant in the fossil they are in extremely remote areas. record, brachiopods are far less common This project will enable the Peabody to in modern ocean settings. The Biological conserve a valuable paleontological collec- Research Collections Division of the National tion by upgrading its storage materials with Science Foundation has awarded the Peabody’s archival trays and labels, and by relocating the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology a three- specimens to the world-class storage facilities left Hercosia sp. (YPM.50237) from Texas, Permian; scale bar = 1 cm. year grant to facilitate and increase the use of in the Class of 1954 Environmental Science the brachiopod collections by researchers and Center. The collection will also be presented top Terebratula sp. (YPM.9073), from New Zealand, Recent; scale bar = 1 cm. to promote public education about this impor- to a much larger audience. An electronic cata- tant fossil group. logue that includes identification, collection middle Paraspirifer brownockeri (S2376) from Ohio, Devonian; scale bar = 1 cm. The Division of Invertebrate Paleontology locality, and photographs of the fossils will has two major brachiopod collections. The give better access to the scientific community. bottom Spirifer striato-paradoxus (YPM.201552) from Greenland, Permian; scale bar = 1 cm. Systematic Collection—widely known as the We will also develop a website about brachio- Schuchert Collection because the nucleus of its pods, making this wealth of information avail- material was collected or acquired by former able to K–12, undergraduate, and graduate curator Charles Schuchert—is taxonomically students, and to avocational paleontologists arranged, and is housed in Yale’s Class of 1954 and researchers. Environmental Science Center, a state-of-the-
yale environmental news The Age of Reptiles, a mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger. ©1966, 1975, 1985, 1989, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut USA. All rights reserved. Caiman Tissues Peter Brazaitis (5) Find a Home at the Peabody Museum By Gregory J. Watkins-Colwell Museum Assistant, Division of Vertebrate Zoology
yale environmental news The Division of Vertebrate Zoology at the reach adult sizes of more than 3 feet (just over opposite page Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History has 1 meter), as are each of the species of Caiman, top Yacare caimans (Caiman yacare) basking along one of the many rivers and tributaries surveyed during the study. received a collection of caiman tissues from including the rare Yacare caiman. Peter Brazaitis, a consulting forensic herpe- Recently, Brazaitis began an affiliation with bottom Peter Brazaitis with confiscated wildlife products iden- tified by him as part of his work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife tologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the Peabody Museum to identify the speci- Service. and retired Superintendent of Herpetology for mens in the collection and collaborate with above the Wildlife Conservation Society. This is the Museum staff on research projects, including left Recording morphological data from a juvenile salt water largest collection of tissues from wild caimans the biogeography of the saltwater crocodile crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) in Palau. in a North American museum collection. It (Crocodylus porosus), which involves his own middle Brazaitis recording field data on a salt water crocodile was deposited at the Yale Peabody Museum data from the field. Brazaitis is presently also during the 2003 Palau field season. largely because of the new Yale Institute for reanalyzing the morphological data from the right Brazaitis with a freshly captured salt water crocodile in Biospheric Studies/Peabody Museum cryo- 20-year-old study. Given the changes in tech- Palau. facility, which features ultra-cold freezers on nology in the past 20 years, one goal is to backup power that will ensure that the samples reanalyze the tissues to see whether the results are well maintained and therefore available for are congruent with the morphological data. future research. The project could shed light on the evolution The collection donated by Brazaitis of crocodilians in the Amazon, as well as pro- includes tissue samples from all of the known vide additional information to conservation species of caiman (members of the alligator groups seeking to protect these species. family). The samples were collected during the 1980s as part of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife study of caimans in South America. Each of This is the largest collection of tissues from wild these species has been used by the leather industry for making everything from watch- caimans in a North American museum collection. bands and guitar straps to cowboy boots. The study attempted to understand the distribu- It was deposited at the Yale Peabody Museum tion of each species to get a better handle on the potential effect of the leather trade on largely because of the new Yale Institute for wild populations. Each of the more than 500 animals sampled was also measured, and Biospheric Studies/Peabody Museum cryo-facility, morphological data, such as scale pattern and color pattern, were taken. Most were also which features ultra-cold freezers on backup power photographed. The species sampled include that will ensure that the samples are well main- the largest member of the alligator family, Melanosuchus niger (the black caiman), which tained and therefore available for future research. reaches an adult length of over 19 feet (6 meters). Also represented are both species of the dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus sp.), which
yale environmental news peabody museum of natural history
Graduate Research and the Yale Herbarium: The Evolution of the Knotweeds Michael Donoghue By Sang-tae Kim, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
The weedy plant group Polygonum (the knot- an ecotype (a locally adapted population, or weeds) is composed of more than 300 species ecological race). This was later confirmed by and is distributed broadly around the world. counting the chromosomes of these plants. In Many different taxonomic subdivisions of this this same preliminary study I also discovered a group have been proposed, and their rela- possible hybrid speciation event in this group tionships have been quite controversial. My based on strong incongruence between phylo- expanded genetic study has focused on a sub- genetic trees derived from nuclear compared group of around 70 species, named Persicaria. to chloroplast genes. This became the basis of These herbaceous plants are commonly found my doctoral research with Professor Michael in moist habitats and recognized by their Donoghue in Yale’s Department of Ecology & Sang-tae Kim with Dr. Sonia Sultan holding spike-like stalks with many small flowers, typi- Evolutionary Biology, research that has made Persicaria puritanora in the field in 2002 at Snake Pond in Cape Cod. cally less than a quarter-inch long. frequent use of plant collections housed in the My research was initially stimulated Yale Peabody Museum’s excellent herbarium. I by a desire to understand the evolutionary have also collected North American and Asian relationships among several Polygonum spe- species on field trips conducted from 2002 to cies that were being used by Professor Sonia 2005, and have been able to obtain DNA from Sultan of Wesleyan University in her studies dried specimens housed in the Yale Herbarium, of the “phenotypic plasticity” of members at Harvard University, and at several smaller of these species in different environments. herbaria. Interestingly, my preliminary result using The basic strategy I am using to investi- several gene sequences indicated that some gate hybrid speciation in this group involves populations that Dr. Sultan considered to rep- comparing phylogenetic trees inferred from resent a variant of the widespread P. persicaria DNA sequences from nuclear and chloroplast could actually be a distinct species rather than genes. Because chloroplast genes are mater- nally inherited, whereas nuclear genes are both
An example of the famous species Persicaria amphibia, This plant, from the subtropical forest in Yunnan, China, Persicaria posumbu, from a subtropical forest in Yunnan, at Spring Lake in Trenton, New Jersey, known as the most belongs to one of the sister groups to Persicaria. In a China. plastic species. broad sense, this is also known as Polygonum.
10 yale environmental news disparity, and chromosome number provided disparity,number chromosome and tree gene chloroplast and nuclear pattern, tion distribu species of consideration Synthetic parents. diploid hypothesized of sequences with clade a formed species individual an in of type each and level dal PL2INT ( the gene, copy one nuclear a using analyses more conducted we underestimation, overcome and cisely approach. this using hybridization underestimating be may we is, That ization. hybrid following genes father’s the toward homogenized is composition genetic nuclear if only way this in speciation hybrid detect can However,species. other we with hybridization through species several of origin the involving group this for history complex a suggest and trees gene among conflicts such many show results My genes. chloroplast from and nuclear from obtained trees the between conflicts strong find we when hybridization hypothesize can we inherited, paternally and maternally and between species hybrid a as revealed is CapeCod,Massachusetts), in Pond Long species, American weedy This PL2INT P. hirsut P. To pinpoint parental lineages more pre Tomore lineages parental pinpoint sequence types corresponded to ploi to corresponded types sequence ). Most interestingly,of Most number ). the a (North American species) in our study.our in species) American (North LEAFY P. hydropiper P. P. punctata P. second intron sequences intron second PL2INT
(found worldwide) (found
(here found at found (here sequence - - - - is a distinct species. distinct a is persicaria, P. of ecotype extreme an as of thought was Massachusetts) puritanaora Persicaria Photographs by Sang-tae Kim unless otherwise noted. otherwise unless Kim Sang-tae by Photographs differentiation. functional on effect polyploidization the and gene copy one known the between relationship the address can the of types different of pattern expression the of study detailed more Also, speciation. hybrid of knowledge our extend to counting chromosome and sequencing for included be to need groups related other also but group this only not from species more future the In group. this in plasticity notypic morphology,phe in ecological morphism and poly diversification, of explanations reasonable more provides Furthermore,speciation hybrid groups. other many and group this for gested sug as speciations, hybrid investigate sively comprehen and precisely more can we that spacer). transcribed (internal ITS marker gene nuclear the in evolution concerted of direction sible pos the and lineages hybrid potential more These results are very fascinating, in fascinating, very are results These but the phylogenetic study revealed that this that revealed study phylogenetic the but (here at Cliff Pond, CapeCod,Pond, Cliff at (here LEAFY gene the endemic species in China. in species endemic the runcinata, Persicaria - - - - - that Dr.considered that Sultan populations some that indicated sequences gene several using result nary Interestingly,prelimi my ecological race). ecological or population, adapted locally (a ecotype an than rather species distinct a caria widespread the of variant a represent to
from a subtropical forest in Yunnan,in forest is subtropical a from could actually be actually could yale environmental environmental yale P. persi P.
Michael Donoghue news - - 11 peabody museum of natural history
A generous gift from the Leitner family has Astronomy at Yale and the Peabody allowed Yale to extensively refurbish part of its Science Hill campus observatory, now the Collections: The Leitner Family Observatory Leitner Family Observatory, to accommodate By Shae Trewin, Collections Manager, Division of Historical Scientific Instruments a new exhibition, The History of Astronomy at Yale. The renovated interior also includes a new multifunctional space for lectures and public events. The project’s planning and design committee, headed by Department of Astronomy Chair Professor Charles Bailyn, Shae Trewin (4) Shae Trewin included members from both the department and the Yale Peabody Museum. The exhibition features a series of wall panels on the history of astronomy at the University, including the locations where Yale astronomers worked. A large two-panel chro- nology depicts milestones in this story, starting with Thomas Clap and his early work on com- ets and meteors. A separate panel celebrates the early achievements of female astronomers at Yale, among them the first doctorate in astronomy ever awarded to a woman in the United States. Three other panels discuss the work of Yale astronomers at the Bethany Observing Station in Connecticut, at the Yale Southern Observatory’s Cesco Observatory in Argentina, and at the WIYN Observatory in Arizona. The Peabody’s Division of Meteorites and Planetary Science contributed several stone meteorites to a display describing past research at Yale on meteors and meteorites. Also on display are unique pieces from the Museum’s Division of Historical Scientific Instruments. Featured is the magnificent 10-foot Dollond telescope, which Denison Olmsted and Elias Loomis used in 1835 to spot the reappearance of Halley’s Comet in North America. An impressively elegant 2.25-inch refracting telescope accompanies a panel about the history of the telescope and lens manufacture. A 19th-century altazimuth made by the early American instrument maker above Display in the Leitner Family Observatory featuring an altazimuth (YPM 1.400 and 1.399), an instrument that measures both the altitude and azimuth of a celestial body. The azimuth is the angle between the meridian and Richard Patten & Son between 1842 and 1849, north. The meridian is an imaginary line connecting the horizon, celestial body, and zenith directly overhead. and a 10-inch lens once used in the Loomis opposite page telescope at the Bethany Observing Station, top A discussion of the history of the telescope and lens manufacture includes an early 19th-century refracting are also on display. A separate panel that achromatic telescope made by R. Banks (YPM 1.403). discusses the contribution of the Yale heliom- middle The renovated interior of the Leitner Family Observatory. eter in observing the transit of Venus in 1882 bottom The north wall of the Leitner Family Observatory with the Dollond telescope in the foreground (YPM showcases the original split lens from that 5.48). instrument.
12 yale environmental news research and program highlights
The Leitner Family Observatory is located in the Farnam Memorial Garden near the corner of Study Says Not Enough Metals Prospect and Edwards Streets in New Haven. It is open for public observing nights on the first and third Thursdays of every month. A public lecture in Earth to Meet Global Demand series will precede these observing sessions on the first Thursday of each month. Visit the Department of global demand for copper and other metals of Astronomy’s website at www.astro.yale.edu/pub- Researchers studying supplies assuming all nations were fully developed and licnights/ for details. of copper, zinc, and other met- used modern technologies. als have determined that these According to the study, “Metal Stocks and finite resources, even if recycled, Sustainability”, all of the copper in ore, plus may not meet the needs of the all of the copper currently in use, would be global population, according to required to bring the world to the level of the developed nations for power transmission, a study published in January in construction, and other services and products the Proceedings of the National that depend on copper. Academy of Sciences. The researchers estimate that 26 percent of extractable copper in the Earth’s crust is now lost in non-recycled wastes. For zinc, that The study says that if all nations were to number is 19 percent. Prices do not reflect use the same services enjoyed in developed those losses because supplies are still large nations, even the full extraction of metals from enough to meet demand, and new methods the Earth’s crust and extensive recycling pro- have helped mines produce ever more materi- grams may not meet future demand. al. So, the study suggests, these metals are not The researchers—Robert Gordon D.Eng. at risk of depletion in the immediate future. ’55, Professor of Geophysics and of Applied However, the researchers believe that Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering in scarce metals, such as platinum, face deple- the Department of Geology & Geophysics; tion risks this century because of the lack of and Thomas Graedel, Clifton R. Musser suitable substitutes in such devices as cata- Professor of Industrial Ecology at the School lytic converters and hydrogen fuel cells. The of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES); researchers also found that for many metals, and Marlen Bertram of the Organization of the average rate of usage per person continues European Aluminum Refiners—suggest that to rise. As a result, the report says, even the the environmental and social consequences of more plentiful metals may face similar deple- metals depletion become clear from studies of tion risks in the future. metal stocks (those in the Earth, in use serv- The research emerged from collaboration ing people and lost in landfills) more so than among researchers funded by the National from tracking the flow of metal through the Science Foundation (NSF) Biocomplexity in economy. the Environment—Materials Use: Science, “There is a direct relation between requisite Engineering, and Society program. stock, standard of living, and technology in use “This is looking at recycling on a broader at a given time,” said Gordon. “We therefore scale,” said Cynthia Ekstein, the NSF officer offer a different approach to studying use of who oversees the Yale award. “This is looking finite resources—one that is more directly at the metal life cycle from cradle to grave.” related to environmental concerns than are the discussions found in the economics literature.” Using copper stocks in North America as a starting point, the researchers tracked the evo- lution of copper mining, use, and loss during the 20th century. Then the researchers applied their findings and additional data to a model
yale environmental news 13 research and program highlights
Study Finds No Safe Level for Ozone
Even at very low levels, ozone—the princi- ous days’ ozone levels is associated with a 0.3 An effort is now under way by the EPA to pal ingredient in smog—increases the risk percent increase in mortality. The current study consider whether more stringent standards for of premature death, according to a nation- builds on research published in November ozone are needed. The agency is mandated wide study that was published in the journal 2004 in JAMA: The Journal of the American to set regulations for ozone under the Clean Environmental Health Perspectives. Medical Association, which was the first national Air Act. Ozone, a gas that occurs naturally in The study, sponsored by the Environmental study of ozone levels and mortality rates. the upper atmosphere, is created in the lower Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for “This study investigates whether there is atmosphere when vehicle and industrial emis- Disease Control and Prevention, found that if a threshold level below which ozone does not sions react with sunlight. Levels typically rise a safe level for ozone exists, it is only at very affect mortality. Our findings show that even if when sunlight and heat are highest in the sum- low or natural levels and far below current U.S. all 98 U.S. counties in our study met the cur- mer. and international regulations. A 10 parts-per- rent ozone standard every day, there would still “Over 100 million people in the United billion increase in the average of the two previ- be a significant link between ozone and prema- States live in areas that exceed the National ture mortality,” said Michelle Bell, lead inves- Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. tigator of the study and assistant professor of Elevated concentrations of ozone are also a environmental health at the School of Forestry growing concern for rapidly developing nations & Environmental Studies (F&ES). “This indi- with expanding transportation networks,” said cates that further reductions in ozone pollution Francesca Dominici, one of the co-authors of would benefit public health, even in areas that the study and an associate professor of biosta- meet regulatory requirements.” tistics at Johns Hopkins University. Bell and her co-investigators found that even for days that currently meet the EPA limit The study is available online at http://ehp.niehs.nih. for an acceptable level of ozone—80 parts per gov/docs/2006/8816/abstract.html. billion for an eight-hour period—there was still an increased risk of death from the pollutant.
Yale to Offer ‘Green’ Building Design and Development Program
A new advanced-degree program that puts a Sustainable, restorative environmental “Schools of the environment are recogniz- “green” spin on architectural design will be design seeks to minimize adverse effects on ing that they must also strive to be schools offered at Yale University in the fall. the natural environment and human health of sustainable development, and schools of “Few universities are in a position to and enhance the beneficial contact between architecture are recognizing that they need to do this better than Yale,” said Robert Stern, people and nature in buildings. address the biological and biophilic dimen- dean of the Yale School of Architecture. “The “Much of current design and development, sions of sustainable design,” said Kellert. long leadership traditions of the School of especially in urban areas, has fostered environ- “Consequently, students of the environment Architecture and the School of Forestry & mental degradation, excessive waste, pollution, and of architecture are increasingly seeking Environmental Studies (F&ES), with the and unsustainable resource use, while at the to integrate and combine the knowledge and unmatched potential offered by their combined same time separating, if not alienating, people skills of these currently separate and indepen- intellectual expertise and physical facilities, from the natural environment,” said Stephen dent disciplines, so that they may someday uniquely position these schools, and thus Yale, Kellert, Ph.D. ’71, Tweedy/Ordway Professor of shape built environments that will sustain to establish a singularly innovative and rel- Social Ecology at F&ES. people and the planet.” evant academic program in sustainable, restor- Students in the four-year, 126-credit pro- ative environmental design.” gram will take 90 course credits at the architec- ture school and 36 credits at the environment school, and upon graduation they will receive master’s degrees in architecture and environ- mental management. 14 yale environmental news Yale Group Studies Severe Turbulence and Overturning in the Stratosphere
A Yale group led by Professor Ronald B. Smith in the Department of Geology & Geophysics has recently received funding from the National Science Foundation to observe, describe, and explain occurrences of severe atmospheric turbulence over mountains and the effect of so-called ‘gravity waves’ on the stratosphere. The project “Terrain-induced Rotors Experiment” (T-Rex) is taking place in the vicinity of the Sierra Nevada Range in California. The overall project leader is Vanda Grubisic (Yale Ph.D. 1995), now working at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada. The first goal of the project is to measure the properties of severe vortices (called rotors) that form in the lee of major mountain ranges. Although rather rare, these rotors have been responsible for many aircraft accidents over the years. The Owens Valley, just east of the Sierras, seems to be one of the most com- mon places on earth for such phenomena. The T-Rex project has installed a dense array of weather stations, balloon launching sites, and laser Doppler sensors to map out the three-dimensional structure of the vortices. In To study this process in the stratosphere addition, two instrumented research aircraft requires a research aircraft with unusual range will be prowling the skies—a King-Air from and altitude capability. The new Gulfstream the University of Wyoming and a BAE146 V aircraft, recently purchased by the National from the Meteorological Office in the United Science Foundation for $80 million, and man- Kingdom—hoping to get close, but not too aged by the National Center for Atmospheric close, to the rotors. Research, is well suited to the T-Rex objectives. The second goal of T-Rex is to monitor the It can reach altitudes of fifty thousand feet and “gravity waves” generated by the mountains stay aloft for more than twelve hours. T-Rex and the rotors as they propagate upward into will be the first atmospheric science project to the stratosphere. An atmospheric gravity wave utilize this remarkable addition to the nation’s bears some resemblance to an ocean wave fleet of research aircraft. Equipped with state- top Dr. Vanda Grubisic (Desert Research Institute) and Professor or tsunami, except that it propagates verti- of-the-art instruments measuring winds, turbu- Ronald B. Smith (Yale) boarding the new National Science cally away from its generating source. As it lence, temperature, humidity, pressure, ozone, Foundation Gulfstream V research aircraft. aerosol, and carbon monoxide, it will carry enters the stratosphere, the wave amplifies, bottom The new Gulfstream V research aircraft owned by the steepens, and breaks down into turbulence, out twelve stratosphere-probing flights during National Science Foundation and operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. analogous perhaps to an ocean wave crashing T-Rex. The results will be analyzed at Yale by on a beach. According to current theory, this a team including associate research scientist wave breakdown can transport pollutants into Jason Evans and graduate students Bryan the stratosphere and provide momentum to Woods and Yanping Li. promote the slow north-to-south overturning of the stratosphere.
yale environmental news 15 research and program highlights
Law and Policy. Wealth and a country’s level of economic development emerge as a significant determinant of environmental outcomes, he notes. However, he points out, at every level of development, some countries achieve environ- mental results that far exceed their peers, dem- onstrating that policy choices also affect perfor- mance. For example, the Dominican Republic U.S. Lags In Ranking (54) significantly outperforms Haiti (114) even though the countries share an island. Similarly, of Nations’ Environmental Performance Sweden (2) produces much better environmen- tal results than Belgium (39). New Zealand ranks first in the world in envi- also indicates that the United States is under- The EPI reveals that sound policy making ronmental performance, according to the Pilot performing on critical issues of renewable is critical to successful pollution control and 2006 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and water sound natural resource management, says produced by a team of environmental experts resources, says Gus Speth, dean of F&ES. Esty. “Policy choices matter. Good governance at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental “The lagging performance of the United emerges as a critical driver of environmental Studies (F&ES) and the Earth Institute at States on environmental issues—particu- performance.” Columbia University. larly on energy and climate change—signals Incomplete data excluded 60 countries The other top-five nations in the 2006 trouble not only for the American people, but from the 2006 EPI. “In spite of data gaps, EPI—released in Davos, Switzerland, at the for the whole world,” says Speth. “Perhaps methodological limitations, and serious World Economic Forum on January 26—are this ranking will serve as a wake-up call to the scientific uncertainties,” notes Marc Levy, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and the American public and particularly to leaders in associate director for science applications United Kingdom, in that order. The top-ranked Washington.” at the Columbia Center for International countries all commit significant resources, and The lowest-ranked countries—Ethiopia, Earth Science Information Network, “the effort to environmental protection, resulting in Mali, Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—are Environmental Performance Index demon- strong performance across most of the policy underdeveloped nations with weak regulatory strates that environmental policy results can be categories. systems and with little capacity to invest in tracked with the same outcome-oriented and The EPI identifies targets for environmental environmental infrastructure such as drinking performance-based rigor that applies to poverty performance and measures how close each water and sanitation systems. reduction, education, and health promotion.” country comes to these goals. It ranks 133 The 2006 EPI generates a number of policy countries on 16 indicators tracked in six policy conclusions, says Daniel C. Esty, director of the The brochure for EPI and a full report is available at categories: environmental health, air qual- Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy www.yale.edu/epi. ity, water resources, biodiversity and habitat, and the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental productive natural resources and sustainable energy. The index’s creators hope that, as a quantitative gauge of pollution control and natural resource management results, the yibs center for human and primate reproductive ecology distinguished index can be used to improve policy making scholar and affiliate named to the national academy of sciences and shift environmental decision-making onto firmer analytic foundations. Peter Ellison, Professor of Anthropology at energetic stress on human reproductive func- The index provides “peer group” rankings Harvard University, and Distinguished Scholar tion through the novel use of salivary hormone for each country, showing how its performance and Affiliate of the Yale Institute for Biospheric assessments has inspired a generation of bio- stacks up against others facing similar environ- Studies Center for Human and Primate logical anthropologists to continue the pursuit mental challenges. These benchmarks allow Reproductive Ecology (CHaPRE), has been of questions related to reproduction, ecology, nations to be tracked on an issue-by-issue and elected to the National Academy of Sciences. and human evolution. aggregate basis. Professor Ellison, one of the pioneers of The United States placed 28th in the rank- the field of human reproductive ecology, con- ings—significantly below other highly devel- tinues to be at the forefront of research in the oped nations like the United Kingdom (5) and field. His seminal research on the impact of Canada (8). This score reflects top-tier perfor- mance on environmental health issues, but
16 yale environmental news student news Jennifer Balch Curtis Runyan
left Escaped agricultural fire moving in through the forest edge in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
right Jennifer Balch measuring canopy cover with a fish-eye lens camera before the prescribed burn.
The Wildfire Frontier—Fire Feedbacks and Thresholds in the amazon’s transitional forests by Jennifer K. Balch Doctoral Candidate, Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
In the past few decades, fire has been used Research Center (WHRC), and the Amazon to future fire susceptibility? (2) Congruently, on an unprecedented scale in the tropics to Institute for Environmental Research (IPAM) what renewal capacity does the forest have and convert forests to agriculture or cattle pasture. are launching, in the Amazon’s transitional how soon does it recover? (3) How do these With surprising frequency, fire often spreads forest, one of the largest experimental burns feedbacks change with recurrent fires—is there beyond human intention, particularly when in the tropics. A 150-ha (hectare) experimental a fire frequency at which the forest becomes synergistic forces provide the right fuels and block of intact transitional forest has been susceptible to invasion by savanna or weed climate. Forest fragmentation, deforestation, established within a large private land hold- species? (4) Last, what are the implications of and global warming are stoking the flames ing—adjacent to a cattle pasture to simulate these feedbacks for global carbon budgets? I —providing additional fuel sources, drying escaped edge fires. Within this block there have spent the past two summers, funded by out forests, and shifting tropical climates are three 50-ha treatment plots: a control, an the National Science Foundation, the Tropical to become more conducive to fire. During annual burn, and a triennial burn to mimic Resources Institute at F&ES, and the Yale the droughts associated with El Niño events both extreme fire frequencies and those asso- Institute for Biospheric Studies measuring pre- of 1998, more than 30,000 km2 burned in ciated with El Niño events. Under the guid- burn forest properties, quantifying the burn Brazil and more than 130,000 km2 burned ance of my advisors Dr. Lisa Curran, Associate itself, and monitoring the forest’s response in Indonesia. These seemingly innocuous Professor of Tropical Resources at F&ES, and in order to explore these questions. At a cru- understory wildfires can cost billions of dol- Dr. Dan Nepstad, Senior Scientist at WHRC, cial time in a dynamic frontier the findings of lars in terms of property damage, lost timber, the overarching goal of my dissertation my research will have the potential to shape consequences for human health, and potential research is to explore how recurrent fires affect regional and global policy responses to future climate impacts from carbon emissions. transitional forest dynamics. fires by providing largely unprecedented data Given the extent of these wildfires and Specifically, my research is exploring the on how tropical forests interact with fire. their growing impact in the tropics, col- following questions: (1) After an initial fire laborators from the Yale School of Forestry & disturbance, what are the positive feedbacks Environmental Studies (F&ES), Woods Hole between fire and the forest that contribute yale environmental news 17 Searching for Samoa’s Mysterious Moorhen: A summer spent surveying birds in the upland forests of Savai’i, Samoa
by John Mittermeir ’08
Imagine a purplish-slate bird with the build of a bantam hen, bulging onyx eyes, coral red legs, a fiery bill, and a dandelion yellow casque. While most of its close relatives scam- per through sunny marshes, this bird—noc- turnal and flightless—digs burrows into the mountainside of a tiny island in the middle of the South Pacific. This is the Samoan Moorhen (Pareudiastes pacifica), and no one had seen it for 130 years, until, in 2003, a rep- utable bird tour guide reported seeing a pair on the island of Savai’i, Samoa.
top Segi Feagaiga of A’opo Village and the author carrying supplies up to Mata o le Afi.
right In the south, following rivers was the only way into the forest.
18 yale environmental news yale environmental news 19 student news
With funding from Yale’s Environmental This included feral cats, rats, and pigs, all spe- Studies Summer Internship Program, the cies that are incompatible with the survival Chase Coggins Memorial Scholarship, and of a flightless, ground-nesting bird like the the Yale College Dean’s Research Fellowship, moorhen. I spent the summer of 2005 following up this These findings lead me to believe that the report and trying to determine whether the Samoan Moorhen is extinct. Its decline cor- Samoan Moorhen is extinct. responds to the arrival of Europeans and their I started in early June in the upland forests foreign plants and animals. The Norway Rat in the north of Savai’i. For seventeen days, I (Rattus norvegicus), I would guess, is most to camped along the edge of the Mata o le Afi blame. It has populated all areas of Savai’i, (“the Eye of the Fire”) Volcano at 1500 m depleted native arthropod and reptile popula- above sea level and surveyed the surrounding tions, and probably destroyed the Moorhen by forest. The trail into this forest is where the predating eggs and chicks. The 2003 report 2003 sighting was made. Mata o le Afi is a full almost certainly pertains to juvenile Purple day’s walk from the nearest village, and there Swamphens (Porphyrio porphyrio). These are a and submit them for publication. I am also are no nearby water sources; almost certainly, similar color and shape to the moorhen and, preparing my numerous photographs, videos, my seventeen days represent a longer time in the poor light of the forest interior, could be and sound recordings for the Samoan Ministry than anyone has ever spent in this part of the easily confused with one. of Environment, the O Le Siosiomaga Society interior. In July, I moved to the south side of Many of my observations of invasive spe- Inc., and Conservation International. the island to survey the rugged valleys around cies, along with my counts of avian densities the 200-meter-high Sinaloa waterfall. The scen- and habitat use, represent previously undocu- ery here was sublime—sheer cliffs studded mented information. My most exciting results left A Samoan Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus samoensis) with umbrella-like tree ferns, dozens of roaring include sound recordings and video of the killed by a feral cat waterfalls, and a perpetual cover of heavy, gray Samoan White-eye (Zosterops samoensis) and top Dawn near the Mata o le Afi Volcano clouds—but the difficult terrain limited much the Mao (Gymnomyza samoensis) and docu- middle Looking down the Alia o le Vanu (“Watercourse of the of my work. mentation of a nest of the Samoan subspecies Chasm”) in southern Savai’i Never once did I see any sign of the moor- of the Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus hen or hear any convincing evidence of other samoensis). I also observed that the endemic bottom Local hunters prepare a wild pig caught for dinner. people having seen it. Local hunters—who visit Flat-billed Kingfisher Halcyon( recurvirostris) the forest looking for pigs and pigeons—did does not occur above circa 1100 m on Savai’i not recognize pictures of the moorhen and —something unmentioned in scientific litera- were unfamiliar with its Samoan name, ture and bird books; this is probably because “puna’e.” Most significantly, I recorded large the colder climate at high elevations results numbers of invasive species in the forests. in low populations of lizards, the kingfisher’s staple food. I hope to write up these findings
20 yale environmental news publications
three gaylord donnelley postdoctoral environmental Yale Environment Dean Wins Book Award fellowships awarded for Nonfiction
Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies’ Director School of Forestry between countries of the North and South, Derek Briggs is pleased to announce the & Environmental as well as actions far outside the traditional appointment of three new Gaylord Donnelley Studies Dean Gus areas of environmental policy,” wrote Speth. Postdoctoral Environmental Fellowships for Speth is the winner of “Collectively, they will do three things of 2006 through 2008. The three recipients, and the 2005 Connecticut immense importance. They will directly attack their sponsors, are: Book Award for non- the underlying drivers of deterioration. They Dr. Barry Alto, sponsored by Professor Paul fiction for Red Sky at will greatly enhance the prospects for success Turner, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Morning: America and of treaties and other agreements by altering the Biology. His research focus is biostatistics and the Crisis of the Global context in which the agreements are operating. the ecology and evolution of arthropod-borne Environment. In the And they will facilitate a very different, more RNA viruses. book, he argues that hopeful and powerful way of doing the busi- Dr. Dror Hawlena, sponsored by Professor the international community must take urgent ness of global environmental governance.” Oswald Schmitz, School of Forestry & action to address global-scale environmental The paperback edition of Red Sky at Environmental Studies. His research focus is threats or face an era of unprecedented envi- Morning, published in March 2005, contains the way disease agents and predators interact ronmental decline. an afterword that reviews the mounting evi- to alter the behavior of the species of host/ “Time is running out,” wrote Speth, for- dence of serious climate change and proposes prey that they share. mer chair of the Council on Environmental a 10-point plan of action that does not depend Quality in the Carter administration and found- on Washington leadership. Dr. David A. Zinniker, sponsored by Assistant er of the World Resources Institute. “We are on The Connecticut Book Awards were Professor Mark Pagani, Department of the verge of reaping an appalling deterioration presented on December 5, 2005, by the Geology & Geophysics. His research inter- of our natural assets. Only unprecedented Connecticut Center for the Book (CCB), a ests lie at the broad intersection of the earth action taken with a profound sense of urgency program of the Hartford Public Library and and life sciences, and have included work in can forestall these consequences.” an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the organic geochemistry, micropaleontology, sedi- The book, published in March 2004 by Library of Congress. The CCB’s mission is mentary geology, basin analysis, and petro- Yale University Press, outlines steps in eight to celebrate books, writers, and readers who leum systems. A growing focus of his research areas that, when taken together, would con- engender and sustain the life of the imagina- is molecular organic proxies that address past stitute the needed transition to sustainability. tion and to highlight authors, illustrators, print- and present plant, algal, and microbial physiol- “These transitions require genuine partnership ers, publishers, and the literary heritage of the ogy and ecology; chemical and physical ocean- state of Connecticut. ography/limnology; hydrology; and climate.
The Donnelley Fellowship was created in 1995 to honor the memory of Mr. Gaylord Donnelley, Yale Class of 1931, a conservationist dedicated to advances in research and education. The Fellowship, which was established by Mr. Donnelley’s widow, Dorothy, and son Strachan, is funded by an endowment from the !MERICANS AND Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and the #LIMATE #HANGE Donnelley Family. It is intended for research in biodi- In the fall of 2005, the Yale School of Forestry & #LOSING THE 'AP "ETWEEN 3CIENCE AND !CTION ! 3YNTHESIS OF )NSIGHTS AND 2ECOMMENDATIONS versity or for research that combines biodiversity with Environmental Studies convened a remarkable group of FROM THE 9ALE &%3 #ONFERENCE ON #LIMATE #HANGE public policy and conservation. $ANIEL 2 !BBASI leaders and thinkers to diagnose why Americans have not 7ITH A &OREWORD BY *AMES 'USTAVE 3PETH Since 1997, eighteen postdoctoral fellows have yet taken action on climate change that is commensurate been supported by this fellowship, which is administered with the increasing scientific warnings. The result is a by the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies. compelling call to action—see the conference report Americans and Climate Change. To participate in implementation of the group’s 39
recommendations, please visit: YALE SCHOOL OF FORESTRY ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES To order the report or download a free online copy go to: yale environmental news 21 http://environment.yale.edu/climate publications
Journal of Industrial Ecology Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
JIE_9_1-2.qxd 5/24/05 21:44 Page 1 The Journal of at F&ES and now the journal’s editor-in-chief, Journal of & Industrial Industrial Ecology during a walk down Prospect Street on Science Ecology (JIE) is celebrat- Hill in New Haven. Allenby was a visiting lec- Volume 9, Number 1–2 Winter/Spring 2005 th Sustainable Consumption Special Issue on Consumption and Industrial Ecology ing its 10 anni- turer along with Thomas Graedel (then at Bell and Diet Change Worktime Reduction Quality of Life versary this year Labs, and now the Clifton R. Musser Professor
Analyzing Consumption with a Regional MFA Model and has much of Industrial Ecology at F&ES) in an experi- Waste IO Model
Environmental Load and Household, City, and to crow about. mental course on industrial ecology at F&ES; National Metabolism Product Life Spans U.S. House Size The JIE has been Both of them are pioneers in the field, Water Use in China
NGO Strategies to described by Variously summarized as the “marriage of Influence Production and Consumption
The Rebound Effect and the prestigious ecology and technology” or the “science and Industrial Ecology journal Nature technology of sustainability,” industrial ecol-
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Yale University as “timely [bring- ogy systematically examines local, regional and http://mitpress.mit.edu/jie Published by The MIT Press ing a] global global uses and flows of materials and energy perspective [and]...fresh and balanced voices in products, processes, industrial sectors and to a sometimes parochial discussion. It is both economies. It grapples with questions of the very readable and very well edited; with the environmental consequences of production articles fitting together more like a puzzle than and consumption. a mélange of individual contributions. Not to Since its first issue published in 1997, the be read only once or in one sitting, this journal widely respected JIE has taken some novel is an important reference for those interested paths. Most notably, it has provided trans- in how business and government can maintain lations of the abstracts of all articles into the benefits of the first industrial revolution Chinese as part of a larger effort to engage one Long shrouded in mystery and inac- while dramatically reducing the burden those of the world’s most important economies in cessible for more than half a century, benefits place on the underlying living systems research and dialogue about preventive strate- that need to be sustained during the next gies to environmental management and policy. Vietnam’s natural history is presented industrial revolution. It has also published widely cited special brilliantly in this stunning and exciting The JIE, a peer-reviewed international quar- issues on e-commerce, the Internet and the new volume. A must for every natural- terly published by MIT Press, owned by Yale environment; on bio-based products (e.g., bio- ist, tourist, and conservationist. and headquartered at the School of Forestry ethanol and bio-plastics); and most recently, & Environmental Studies (F&ES)—Yale on consumption and the environment. University Press doesn’t publish journals—has —Thomas E. Lovejoy, President, also recently been rated as the top journal For more information, contact Reid Lifset at The Heinz Center for Science, Economics, devoted to industry and the environment by 203-432-6949 or visit www.mitpressjournals.org/jie and the Environment North American management researchers. And earlier this year, the JIE was accepted into the ISI’s Science Citation Index Expanded, an important benchmark in scholarly publishing. The idea for a journal for the nascent field of industrial ecology germinated from a chat in 1996 between Brad Allenby, then vice president for environmental, health and safety at AT&T, and Reid Lifset, an associate research scientist
22 yale environmental news A “Golden” New Book on the Natural History of Vietnam by Jean E. Thomson Black and Elizabeth Pelton
With its extraordinary biodiversity and perhaps Illustrated with gorgeous original water- thousands of undocumented species, Vietnam color paintings of rare and unusual species is a naturalist’s wonderland. In recent years, by Joyce A. Powzyk, spectacular color photo- the discovery of large mammals previously graphs, and many informative maps and other unknown to science—the antelope-like wild graphics, Vietnam is packed with information ox called the Saola, three new deer species, on climate, topography, cultural diversity, evo- a monkey, and others—has captivated the lution, and conservation, considers the impor- media. Also new to science are the Annamite tance of Vietnam’s natural world regionally Mouse-eared Bat, Cao Van Sung’s Mountain and globally, and examines the tenuous nature Shrew, and the amazing Annamite Striped of the country’s biodiversity in relationship to Rabbit. Between 1992 and 2004, scientists human impact and exploitation. newly described three turtles, fifteen lizards, In 1963, Ho Chi Minh said, “The current four snakes, thirty-one frogs, and more than destruction of our forests will lead to serious forty-five fish, and between 2000 and 2002, effects on climate, productivity and life. The they discovered more than 500 invertebrates. forest is gold. If we know how to conserve In June 2006, Yale University Press will and manage it well, it will be very valuable.” publish Vietnam: A Natural History, which Vietnam: A Natural History will give readers a reviews and synthesizes Vietnam’s natural his- greater appreciation of exactly what this state- tory for the first time in book form. Working ment means. under the auspices of the American Museum Jean E. Thomson Black (M.F.S. ’75) is Senior of Natural History Center for Biodiversity and Editor for Science and Medicine at Yale University Conservation (CBC), authors Eleanor Jane Press; Elizabeth Pelton is Senior Publicist for Yale Sterling, Martha Maud Hurley, and Le Duc University Press. Minh have created a work that will be ideal reading for tourists to Vietnam and armchair travelers, as well as an essential resource for A majority of the authors’ royalties earned from sales scientists and natural historians. of this book will be contributed to an educational This project originated when Sterling fund supporting Southeast Asian students working (BA ’83, Ph.D. Anthropology and Forestry & in biodiversity conservation. See book reviews on Environmental Sciences ’93 ) went to Vietnam back cover. in 1997 as the program director for CBC and subsequently received a grant from the National Science Foundation to develop survey and inventory data for conservation decision- Between 1992 and 2004, scientists newly making in Vietnam. The book is one product of the research and outreach efforts undertaken described three turtles, fifteen lizards, four by CBC, and this program in Vietnam contin- ues to the present. snakes, thirty-one frogs, and more than forty- five fish, and between 2000 and 2002, they discovered more than 500 invertebrates.
yale environmental news 23 publications
praise for vietnam: a natural history (see story on page 23) By Eleanor Jane Sterling, Martha Maud Hurley, and Le Duc Minh To be published in June 2006 by Yale University Press $40.00 hardcover, 448 pages, 22 b/w and 54 color illustrations
Everyone knows the Amazon and the Serengeti, but who A most welcome addition to the natural history reference knows the Annamites and the Red River Delta? This book material for South East Asia. opens the door to a new “lost” world. Noble Proctor, ornithologist Barney Long, World Wildlife Fund Greater Mekong– Vietnam Programme A clear, well written survey of the fauna and flora of Southeast Asia as manifested in Vietnam, especially useful Elegant, authoritative and full of surprises, Vietnam: A for those with scant experience of a region rich in habitats Natural History does not simply do justice to a neglected and species. subject. It establishes Vietnam’s living environment as Peter Matthiessen, author of The Snow Leopard one of quite exceptional interest and, as a survey, it sets a new standard in the interpretation and presentation of a This book does a fine job of describing the biodiversity country’s fauna and flora. Quite outstanding. of Vietnam, and an even better job of documenting the John Keay, author of Mad About the Mekong: threats to biodiversity and the opportunities for conserva- Exploration and Empire in South East Asia tion. Phan Ke Loc, Hanoi University of Science Long shrouded by a veil of politics, Vietnam and its mag- nificent biodiversity are revealed in this exciting new natu- Vietnam: A Natural History unlocks the door to the ral history volume. From cycads to pangolins, Vietnam: fascinating geological, biological, and cultural diversity ©2006 Yale University. All rights reserved. A Natural History is required reading for all tropical biolo- of a remarkable region of the world. This comprehensive The Yale Environmental News offers but highly readable volume will be welcomed not only by information on environmental research, gists as well as for natural history enthusiasts. teaching and outreach at Yale University. It is Margaret Lowman, author of It’s a Jungle Up There conservation biologists and ecologists but by the merely published by the Yale Institute for Biospheric curious as well. Studies (YIBS), with the Peabody Museum Philip Rundel, University of California, Los Angeles of Natural History (YPM) and the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES).
Directors of the Environmental Partnership Derek E. G. Briggs Yale Environmental News Non Profit Org. Director, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Yale University U.S. Postage Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Geology P.O. Box 208105 PAID & Geophysics, and Curator, Peabody Museum of Natural History New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8105 New Haven, CT www.yale.edu/yibs Permit No. 526 www.geology.yale.edu Address Service Requested Michael Donoghue Director, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History and G. Evelyn Hutchinson Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology www.peabody.yale.edu James Gustave Speth Dean, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and Professor in the Practice of Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development www.yale.edu/environment We welcome submissions from faculty, staff, and students. To submit an item, please contact: Rose Rita Riccitelli, Editor Tel: 203.432.9856 Fax: 203.432.9927 E-mail: [email protected] Design: Yale RIS Maura Gianakos Submission Deadline for Next Issue Fall 2006: October 6, 2006
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