YALE Environmental NEWS

yale environmental NEWS Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies fall/winter 2009–2010 · vol. 15, no. 1

Peabody Curator Awarded MacArthur “Genius” Grant page 12 KROON HALL RECEIVES DESIGN AWARDS

Kroon Hall, the Yale School of Foresty & Environmental Studies’ new ultra- green home, captured two awards this fall for “compelling” design from the American Institute of Architects.

“The way the building performs is essential contrast with the brownstone and maroon moment a visitor enters the building at ground to this beautiful, cathedral-like structure,” the brick of other Science Hill buildings. Glass level, the long open stairway carries the eye up jurors noted. “Part of its performance is the facades on the building’s eastern and western toward the high barrel-vaulted ceiling and the creation of a destination on the campus. The ends are covered by Douglas fi r louvers, which big window high up on the third fl oor, with its long walls of its idiosyncratic, barn-like form are positioned to defl ect unwanted heat and view into Sachem’s Wood. defi ne this compelling building.” glare. The building’s tall, thin shape, combined Opened in January 2009, the 58,200- Designed by Hopkins Architects of Great with the glass facades, enables daylight to pro- square-foot Kroon Hall is designed to use Britain, in partnership with Connecticut-based vide much of the interior’s illumination. And 50% less energy and emit 62% less carbon Centerbrook Architects and Planners, the the rounded line of the standing seam metal dioxide than a comparably sized modern aca- $33.5 million Kroon Hall received an Honor roof echoes the rolling whaleback roofl ine of demic building. A 100-kilowatt rooftop array Award from American Institute of Architects architect Eero Saarinen’s David S. Ingalls Rink of photovoltaic panels, funded in part by the (AIA) New England and a Design Award from across the street. Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, provides AIA Connecticut. The building is expected to Inside, Kroon’s use of exposed concrete about 25% of the building’s electricity. Four achieve a platinum rating in the green-building surfaces consciously echoes architect Louis 1,500-foot-deep wells use the relatively con- certifi cation program, Leadership in Energy Kahn’s two masterworks on the main campus, stant 55°F temperature of underground water and Environmental Design. the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale for heating and cooling. And four panels of The architects used Briar Hill sandstone Center for British Art. To soften the concrete, evacuated tubes embedded in the southern from Ohio for the building’s exterior, which is the architects also employed red oak paneling facade use the sun to provide hot water. used in many buildings on the main campus, from the 7,840-acre Yale-Myers Forest, which and its pale yellow coloring makes a luminous is managed by the school. Almost from the

In March of 2009, at the International Scientiﬁ c Congress on Climate The mission of YCEI is to bring the weight Change in Copenhagen, Yale’s President Richard Levin announced the of Yale to bear on the most pressing climate and energy issues of our generation. YCEI formation of the Yale Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI), and named as was initiated by the Department of Geology & its ﬁ rst director Rajendra K. Pachauri, the head of the Intergovernmental Geophysics (G&G), which hosted a Yale-wide Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in workshop in March 2008 to inventory and 2007 with Al Gore. share mutual progress in climate and energy research occurring at Yale, and to discuss how an interdisciplinary “umbrella” institute might be formed to foster practical solution-based research. Following this highly successful

2 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 View from Kroon Hall’s Knobloch Environment Center. Photo: Robert Benson Photography. workshop, a team of faculty spanning the natu- Seed-funding for the fi rst round of propos- and currently Professor Gary Brudvig from the ral sciences, engineering and social sciences als was committed in fall of 2009, with proj- Yale Department of Chemistry) and an assistant developed a proposal for a new Yale institute to ects ranging from the development and mar- director, Juliana Wang, who oversees day-to-day bring together Yale’s talent and stature, and to keting of more effi cient cook-stoves for devel- operations of the Institute. The deputy direc- address the global problems of climate change oping nations, to the study of carbon dioxide tor also chairs the YCEI Executive Committee, and renewable energy. President Levin received sequestration in ultramafi c rocks. YCEI is also which is composed of Yale faculty from across the proposal in the summer of 2008, and the supporting several one to two-day interdisci- the University. Institute was created in early 2009. YCEI is a plinary workshops that cover focused topics in YCEI puts Yale on the international stage as testament to President Levin’s commitment climate and energy. For example, workshops an important player in these monumental chal- to this issue, and he personally recruited Dr. in 2010 will explore ancient cultural collapse lenges, with the intention that its future contri- Pachauri to be the YCEI’s fi rst director. to abrupt climate variability, and the propaga- butions will be lasting and profound. At present, YCEI is promoting its fi rst activi- tion of vector-borne pathogens in response to ties through interdisciplinary grants, workshops, climate change. For more information on YCEI, visit their Web site at postdoctoral fellowships and symposia, and In addition to Director Pachauri, the www.climate.yale.edu/ participated at the COP15 International Climate Institute’s governance includes a faculty deputy Congress in Copenhagen in December 2009. director (formerly G&G Chair David Bercovici,

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 3 CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, SYMPOSIA

The Fall 2009 list of YIBS and YCEI speakers and their topics were: Nicholas Longrich, Gaylord Donnelley Postdoctoral Environmental Associate, Yale Department of Geology & Geophysics: Diversity of Dinosaurs and Other Vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous of Western North America: Implications for the Patterns and Processes of the End Cretaceous Mass Extinction ■ Linda Thomas, Artist/Muralist: Art on the Wild Side ■ Rajendra Pachauri, Director, YCEI; Director General of the Energy Resources Institute, YCEI Seminar: Climate Change and Copenhagen: Scientifi c and Ethical Imperatives ■ John Wettlaufer, Batemann Professor, Yale Department of Geology & Geophysics, YCEI Seminar: Whither Arctic Sea Ice? ■ Allessandro Gomez, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Yale University, YCEI Seminar: Evolution of a yibs presents four climate and This fall, YIBS Director Jeffrey Park was Fossil-Fueled Civilization: The Next Few Decades energy seminars during its fall pleased to incorporate four seminars spon- ■ Robert Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of schedule 2009 sored by the new Yale Climate and Energy Business and Government, Environment and The Yale Institute for Biopsheric Studies (YIBS) Institute (YCEI) that specifi cally addressed Natural Resources Program, Belfer Center continues its sponsorship of the weekly YIBS/ issues relating to climate and energy. YCEI for Science and International Affairs, YCEI ESC Friday Luncheon Seminars held in the Class seminars were held in Burke Auditorium in the Seminar: Getting Serious About Global Climate of 1954 Environmental Science Center (ESC) School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Change in the Post-Kyoto World ■ Scott A. during the fall and spring semesters, a popular (F&ES) Kroon Hall on Prospect Street, with Dr. Strobel, Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular offering for students and faculty. Rajendra Pachauri, director of the YCEI, as the Biophysics & Biochemistry and Chemistry, Yale fi rst presenter. University, YCEI Seminar: Rainforest Microbes

yibs center for the study of global change – topics in global change seminars

The YIBS Center for the Study of Global Global Warming? and Can the Carbon Budget Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI): Limits Change presented its weekly seminar series, Be Managed? ■ Robert Adair, Sterling Professor to Marine Life Posed by CO2 and O2 Levels ■ Topics in Global Change, during the Fall 2009 Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist, Richard Seager, Doherty Senior Research semester. Center Director Karl K. Turekian, Department of Physics, Yale University: Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Sterling Professor in the Department of Stochastic Contributions to Global Temperature Columbia University: Global Warming Geology & Geophysics, organized the Changes ■ Dr. Richard Feely, National Oceanic Impacts on Drought Around the World ■ Nancy seminars with an emphasis on climate and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Knowlton, Adjunct Professor of Marine change consequences. Ocean Acidifi cation: The Other CO2 Problem Biology/Director of CMBC, Smithsonian Speakers and topics for the Fall 2009 seminars ■ Taro Takahashi, Doherty Senior Scholar, Institution: Global Change and the Future of were: Lamont-Doherty Earth Oberservatory, Coral Reefs ■ Sydney Levitus, National Oceanic ■ John Wettlaufer, Professor in the Department Columbia University: Uptake of Atmospheric and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): of Geology & Geophysics, Yale University: CO2 by the Global Oceans: How Is It Global Ocean Heat Content 1955-2008 and Whither Arctic Sea Ice? ■ Inez Fung, Professor Changing in Recent Decades? ■ Paul Halloran, Earth’s Heat Balance. at the University of California, Berkeley, and Meteorology Offi ce Hadley Centre, UK: Ocean Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Acidifi cation and the Carbonate Pump ■ Peter For the Winter/Spring 2010 seminar schedule, Scholar at Yale: What Don’t We Know About Brewer, Senior Scientist at the Monterey Bay please visit the YIBS Web site at www.yale.edu/yibs/ research/csgc.html.

4 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 FACULTY NEWS

and Their Applications ■ Karen Seto, Associate Professor, F&ES: Cities and Climate Change: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation ■ Paul Sabin, Assistant Professor, History Department: Yale University, The Climate Crisis and Energy Transition: Lessons from History ■ Durland Fish, Professor of Epidemiology, Yale School of Medicine: Lyme Disease and Other Infections from the Environment ■ Matthew Walsh, Gaylord Donnelley Environmental Postdoctoral Associate, Yale Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology: Impacts of the Direct and Indirect Effects of Predators on Evolutionary Change in Trinidadian Killifi sh ■ Melinda Smith, Assistant Professor, Yale Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology: Convergence and Contingencies in Grassland Responses to Fire Government of Japan Honors and Grazing: An Inter-hemispheric Comparison Yale Professor William W. Kelly For the Winter/Spring 2010 seminar schedule, please visit the YIBS Web site at www.yale.edu/yibs/ On November 19, 2009 the Japanese govern- to sport and body culture in Japan, conducting events_yibsesc.html ment conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, long-term research on professional baseball in Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, on Professor the cities of Osaka and Kobe and on Japan’s William W. Kelly of Yale University, acknowl- Olympic experiences. He has published widely edging his contributions to the study of in English and Japanese, and is particularly Japanese society and culture in the United known for his writings on the importance of States, and for his promotion of scholarly and baseball for modern Japan and on the place of educational exchange between Japan and the Japanese sports in global sports history. United States. The Order of the Rising Sun Throughout his career, Kelly has worked was the fi rst national decoration to be created tirelessly to promote United States-Japan by the Japanese government in 1875, and it is educational exchange, serving many years on the country’s second most prestigious decora- the Governing Board of the Kyoto Center for tion after the Order of the Chrysanthemum. Japanese Studies and on the Advisory Board of The Japanese government recognized the Japan-United States Student Conference. Professor Kelly as a most worthy recipient of He also served on the Japan Committee of this distinguished award. the Social Science Research Council and the Professor Kelly joined the Yale faculty in Northeast Asia Council of the Association for 1980 and has been dedicated to research Asian Studies. He was a four-term member of and teaching about Japan for 30 years. As the American Advisory Committee of the Japan Professor of Anthropology and Sumitomo Foundation and a long-time associate editor of Professor of Japanese Studies, he has been a the Journal of Japanese Studies. major fi gure in the development of Japanese Professor Kelly has introduced generations studies at Yale and in the United States, and of Yale undergraduates to Japanese society has fostered many younger researchers in through his popular lecture courses, and has Japanese studies. He is a noted authority on nurtured many Japanese anthropologists in his the anthropology of contemporary and histori- long-running graduate research seminar. Many cal Japan, and for two decades much of his of his students now fi ll academic posts in research has been focused on the place of major universities such as the Massachusetts regional society within modern Japan based Institute of Technology, Waseda University, on extensive fi eldwork on farming, families, International Christian University, the Chinese and festivals in the Shônai area of Yamagata University of Hong Kong, and Yale itself. Prefecture. For the last 15 years, he has turned

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 5 FACULTY NEWS

of energy between moist convective scales and idealized planetary-scale circulations. He employs these models, together with data from satellites and in-situ measurements, to verify and guide development of theories for the variability of the tropical atmosphere. Dr. Boos recently advanced a theory to explain the repeated poleward migration of elongated bands of cloudiness and precipitation that occur several times each summer in boos storelvmo timmermans Asia and the eastern Paciﬁ c. He has examined the role that topography plays in the climate of Three Join Faculty in the South Asia, using observations and numerical simulations to show that, contrary to previous Department of Geology & Geophysics thinking, the Himalayas and adjacent mountain ranges may be more important than the william boos Tibetan Plateau for creating a strong summer He has worked most extensively in mon- monsoon. He has also studied the abrupt William Boos joins the faculty in the soon dynamics, attempting to improve the onset of monsoon circulations, in which the Department of Geology & Geophysics as an understanding and prediction of these tropical circulation undergoes rapid, nonlinear shifts assistant professor in July 2010. He received circulations that deliver water to billions of when subject to the smooth seasonal cycle of his doctorate in Atmospheric Science from people. Such planetary-scale circulations in solar radiation. Dr. Boos is currently working the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the tropical atmosphere are poorly understood to understand how precipitation distributions 2008, and then worked at Harvard University because they depend strongly on the heat over land in the tropics might change as the as a Daly Fellow in the Department of Earth released when water vapor condenses and climate warms in coming decades. Since and Planetary Sciences, and as a Fellow in falls out as precipitation, a process that occurs understanding the past may improve our Harvard’s Center for the Environment. Dr. on short length scales that are extremely dif- ability to predict the future, he also seeks to Boos studies the processes responsible for ﬁ cult to resolve in global models of climate. To understand how and why tropical land precipi- variations in tropical climate over a broad address this problem, Dr. Boos uses high reso- tation responded to changes in solar radiation, range of time scales, using theory, numerical lution computer models of the atmosphere glaciation, and topography thousands to mil- models, and observational analyses. in limited domains to represent the transfer lions of years in the past.

new joint appointment at Her work is situated in resource-dependent new appointment in eeb the school of forestry & communities in the subarctic north. She has Walter Jetz joined environmental studies and in conducted long-term ethnographic ﬁ eldwork the faculty of the the department of anthropology in southwest Alaska, where she has analyzed Department of Ecology historical and recent transformations in the Karen Hébert & Evolutionary Biology region’s salmon industry. Her research and joins faculty in the as an associate profes- teaching interests focus on issues of global- School of Forestry & sor in July 2009. He ization and economic restructuring; the rise Environmental Studies received his D.Phil. in of market-driven policy paradigms and new and the Department Zoology from Oxford modes of consumerism; the regulation of of Anthropology as an University in 2002. After postdoctoral work at ﬁ sheries and agro-food systems; the produc- assistant professor. the University of New Mexico and Princeton tion and experience of ecological risk and vul- Professor Hébert University, he served as an assistant profes- nerability; human-environment relations and is a cultural anthro- sor and associate professor in the Division sustainable livelihoods; and the sociocultural pologist whose research of Biological Sciences at the University of theory of environment and economy. examines the develop- California, San Diego, where he received ten- ment and implications of changing forms of ure. natural resource production and consumption. Dr. Jetz uses theory, simulations and large ecological, biogeographic and phylogenetic datasets to address basic and applied ques-

6 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 trude storelvmo greenhouse gas concentrations. However, the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Trude Storelvmo joined the faculty in the uncertainties associated with aerosol effects Canada. Following this, she was a postdoctoral Department of Geology & Geophysics as on climate are high and simulations of such scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic an assistant professor in January 2010. Dr. effects in global climate models are extremely Institution in Massachusetts, where she was Storelvmo received her doctorate in 2006 challenging. In fact, aerosols and clouds have most recently an assistant scientist in the from the University of Oslo, Norway, and has been characterized as the biggest source of Physical Oceanography Department. Her spent three years in Switzerland working as uncertainty in model predictions of future cli- principal research focus is the dynamics and a postdoctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal mate, a topic characterized as one of the big- variability of the Arctic Ocean to better under- Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Dr. gest puzzles driving climate research today. stand how the ocean impacts Arctic sea ice Storelvmo is a climate scientist and studies Dr. Storelvmo’s research focuses on the and climate. how aerosol particles affect climate, in par- aerosol effects on clouds, that is, the aerosol Dr. Timmermans’ approach is to apply ticular via their effect on clouds. Her main indirect effects. The development of new mod- fundamental theoretical models to geophysical research tools so far have been global climate els describing aerosol-cloud interactions for observations. She uses measurements from an models (GCMs) often combined with satellite use in numerical simulations requires reliable ice-based network of drifting automated ocean- data. Dr. Storelvmo works on incorporating and extensive laboratory and fi eld measure- profi ling instruments, moored instrument aerosol-cloud interactions into GCMs with the ments. To tackle the monumental challenge of systems, hydrographic measurements from goal of understanding how aerosol particles treating aerosol effects in climate, one must icebreaker surveys, satellite measurements, infl uence climate. integrate computer models with remote sens- and atmospheric and ice-thickness data. Her The global aerosol burden has increased ing and in-situ and laboratory experiments. research includes investigations of ocean mix- substantially since pre-industrial times due to This will be Dr. Storelvmo’s approach when ing, eddies, double-diffusive heat transport, and human activity. Anthropogenic aerosols affect she continues her research at Yale. freshwater and heat content in the upper Arctic the radiative balance of the earth-atmosphere Ocean. Dr. Timmermans is also conducting mary-louise timmermans system in two ways: directly, by scattering and research to understand waves and density intru- absorbing solar and terrestrial radiation, and Mary-Louise Timmermans joined the faculty sions in the deepest Arctic Ocean, as well as the indirectly, by acting as nuclei required for the in the Department of Geology & Geophysics exchange of deep water between Arctic basins, formation of clouds and changing their optical in July 2009 as an assistant professor. She how changes in the shallow and intermediate and microphysical properties. Both aerosol received her doctorate in Fluid Mechanics waters are manifest in the deep ocean, and the direct and indirect effects are believed to cool from Cambridge University, England, after importance of Arctic deep water in understand- the current climate, thereby partly counteract- which she was a postdoctoral fellow at the ing Arctic climate transitions. ing the current warming due to increased

tions in ecology, biogeography, and biodiver- spatial modeling, phylogenetic tree analysis, species worldwide. Relating the geography of sity science, and has worked extensively on and biodiversity data collected at different spa- projected change to species distributions has documenting and understanding regional to tial scales. reaffi rmed the high extinction risk posed by global patterns of biodiversity in terrestrial One large component of Dr. Jetz’ work is continuing tropical land use change above and vertebrates and plants. Knowledge of the applied biodiversity science and conservation. beyond looming changes to the climate. determinants of species geographic distribu- He has helped advance methods to assess Dr. Jetz is currently extending this work to tions at broad scales is still limited, and Dr. how future global change may affect the dis- include all terrestrial vertebrates. Using novel Jetz’ work has helped to signifi cantly advance tribution of species and the composition of functional and phylogenetic data, he is devel- and integrate the fi eld of global biodiversity animal communities. Where are the hotspots oping new ways to quantify, understand and science. In related research, Dr. Jetz has of future species extinction risk? Using birds predict the structure of species assemblages tackled long-standing questions about com- as a model system, Dr. Jetz performed several at different geographic scales. Extending munity structure and the variation of animal regional, continental and global analyses of these analyses to the species level, he hopes life histories along environmental gradients. expected impacts of climate change on bio- to quantify the functional and evolutionary This research is characterized by an attempt to diversity. Working with projections from the uniqueness of vertebrate species to provide integrate ecological and evolutionary explana- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change advanced metrics of species’ global signifi - tions of ecological variation across geographic and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, cance that may assist conservation decision- scales. For this work, Dr. Jetz employs bio- he has provided a fi rst baseline assessment makers in our rapidly changing world. and geoinformatic techniques, modeled and of potential impacts of land use and climate remotely sensed environmental information, change on each of the 9,000 terrestrial bird

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 7 YALE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

events Great Hall! Our experts will be on hand to identify your fi nds or give you their best guess. 14th annual celebration of Or come to see what others bring. Living martin luther king, jr. day creatures must be safely secured in breath- January 17 & 18, 2010 able containers and promptly returned to their native environment. The Yale Peabody Museum’s renowned two- backyard bloodsuckers: day festival in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, biodiversity bites back! Jr., and his efforts to ensure environmental and social justice among all people. April 17, 2010 dinosaur days The Yale Peabody Museum’s teacher pro- February 15–20, 2010 fessional development program presents activities that look at how we are changing Join us during the February school holidays environments in ways that bring people into for our yearly celebration of paleontology and closer contact with organisms that transmit everything dinosaurs. disease from one species to another, including a diorama takes shape: changes in Connecticut. Learn from experts Art on the Wild bringing the genius of about predictions for West Nile virus and Lyme james perry wilson to life disease at this fun and engaging program for Side: A Showcase On view February 27 to April 25, 2010 the whole family. Visitors will have a unique “behind the scenes” earth day celebration of Interpretive opportunity to see how dioramas are made as April 22, 2010 Preparator Michael Anderson, sculptor of the The fi rst national Earth Day celebration on Mural Art Peabody’s Torosaurus statue, and trained volun- April 22, 1970 raised environmental awareness teers prepare the foreground elements for the The latest exhibition in Yale’s Class of 1954 and encouraged citizens of our planet to strive Environmental Science Center, Art on the Wild Museum’s newest acquisition, a James Perry for healthy, sustainable surroundings. Enjoy Wilson diorama painting of the famed war- Side, was on view from September through fun activities for the whole family, including December 2009, and highlighted a variety of bler migration at Point Pelee in southwestern a presentation on bats, and learn from local Ontario, Canada. client-based natural history art projects by organizations about simple actions that can muralist and artist Linda Thomas commis- skeletons in the closet: protect the planet. sioned by public environmental centers in New it’s id day at the peabody York and Connecticut. Information and updates at (203) 432-5050 and April 15, 2010 The exhibition featured original oil, acrylic www.peabody.yale.edu Have you found something interesting that and watercolor paintings as well as reproduc- you’d like to have identifi ed? Come to the tions and descriptive panels of commissioned interpretative signage and murals that showed the process of creating and installing the mural displays. Featured in the show were the two

Fans of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural a social utility Web site that allows easy access The Peabody History (YPM) can now follow regular updates to online communication among friends, fam- online through YPM’s newly launched ily and coworkers. Museum Joins Facebook page and Twitter feed (visit The Facebook page also has a link to www.peabody.yale.edu for links to both). YPM’s new YouTube channel (www.youtube. Facebook, YouTube Created in early fall 2008, YPM’s Facebook com/user/yalepeabodymuseum) on the popular page features regularly updated information online video-sharing Web site. Fans of YPM’s and Twitter on events, links to current and future exhibits, Facebook page, who now number more than By Shae Trewin, Collections Manager, behind-the-scenes photographs, an active wall 1,150, are actively encouraged to post feedback Division of Historical Scientiﬁ c Instruments with posts from staff and fans and links to col- and comments about the Museum and to lection blogs, and media releases. Facebook is upload their own photographs. Also planned

8 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 canvases of the “Maritime Oak Forest” mural history art is a collaborative process, and this York; four of the six original paintings created at the newly renovated Mashomack Preserve exhibition featured step-by-step explanations of for the Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s new Visitor Center on Shelter Island, New York. the planning and creation of serial educational Wolf Center; “Life at the Edge of the Goodlife Installed on curved walls in an interactive displays. Preparatory on-site research—fi eld Pond” for the Sheldrake Environmental Center space and integrated with hands-on displays to sketching, photography and species identifi ca- in Larchmont, New York; “Quassaick Creek enhance the viewing experience of the visitor, tion—provides crucial information needed to Estuary” for the Quassiaick Creek Coalition and the mural depicts 28 species of the local fl ora, create the art. Scientists and educators review the City of Newburgh, New York; and six origi- including native and invasive plants, along with work in progress for accuracy and relevance to nal wildlife and African paintings. 17 bird species, 6 mammals and 3 reptiles, all program content. The artist’s inspiration com- Linda Thomas is a muralist, fi ne artist, researched by Thomas. One of three murals, pletes the pictures by representing the awe- and illustrator. She graduated Washington each represented in the exhibition, that show some beauty and power of the natural world. University in St. Louis with a BFA in Illustration the interaction of species and their life cycles in A hallmark of Thomas’s work is showing the and began her career in interpretive art, pub- eastern Long Island Sound—along with “Salt human infl uence on natural habitats in all her lishing and advertising. Her award-winning Marsh” and “Freshwater Kettle”—these works work, whether it be a discarded can, a fence- works include murals, portraits, landscape and were commissioned to express the values and post, or a ferry crossing a bay. wildlife paintings and illustrations represented objectives of the conservation management Other works in the exhibition included: in museums, nature centers, galleries and programs at the Preserve. a scaled-down reproduction of 16-by-40-foot private collections. Linda recently served as According to Thomas, the tradition of mural depicting 90 species in their montane president of the Greater New York Chapter of natural history art has an essential role in habitats and an identifi cation panel for the the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. scientifi c documentation and in interpreting migrating raptors of the Shawangunk Flyway, and communicating natural science concepts done for the Nature Conservancy at the Sam’s “Maritime Oak Forest,” Mashomack Preserve, Shelter Island, New York (detail), acrylic on canvas. © 2008 Linda Thomas. The and discoveries to the public. Creating natural Point Conservation Center in Cragsmoor, New full mural shows the oak forest of the Preserve through various seasons.

for the page is a “Specimen of the Day” box exhibition Travels in the Great Tree of Life. Fans Twitter is an online service that lets people with a photograph and caption highlighting a interested in the current move out to West keep in touch through the exchange of quick, randomly selected specimen direct from the Campus can also watch several short ﬁ lms frequent messages. Twitter fans can now follow collections catalog. of anthropology specimens in transit. Most the activities of YPM staff through the regularly The YPM’s new Youtube channel, launched impressive is the sequence of clips featuring updated Twitter feed, listed under yalepeabody in conjunction with its Facebook page, features the Division of Anthropology’s longest object, (http://twitter.com/yalepeabody). the Museum’s latest short documentary, which a 23-foot canoe, being delicately moved out accompanied the recent exhibition Darwin: of the building where it was stored, navigated 150 Years of Evolutionary Thinking. Other clips through the foyer of its new West Campus include interviews with curators and related home, and ﬁ nally installed in the collection documentaries from the Peabody’s previous room.

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 9 YALE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Dominic Colosi

Vertebrate Zoology Welcomes New Staff jordan colosi

Thanks to a recent three-year grant from the National Science Foundation, Jordan Colosi joined the staff of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (YPM) in July 2009 as a museum assistant in the Division of Vertebrate Zoology. A graduate of Yale, Jordan received her bachelor of science degree in ecology and evo- A selection of nymphalid butterfl ies from the YPM Division of Entomology. lutionary biology in 2009. As a junior she was a student assistant in the Vertebrate Zoology Division and spent much of her senior year How Butterfl ies Got Their Spots working with YPM Curator of Ichthyology and Assistant Professor Thomas J. Near, Yale For more than a year now, a small army of Informatics William Piel, seeks to discover Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale undergraduates has been furiously photo- critical moments in evolution when important researching fi sh systematics and morphology, graphing and annotating butterfl ies in the Yale novel pattern elements fi rst arose. Using a specifi cally looking at species diversity within Peabody Museum of Natural History’s (YPM) custom-made database, student researchers a clade of darters. In Summer 2008 she was entomology collections. Under the guidance score the location and types of wing pattern awarded a YPM undergraduate internship, of YPM’s Division of Entomology Informatics elements. These thousands of data points will which helped fund her research on Etheostoma Manager Larry Gall, this effort has so far pro- be analyzed over an enormous phylogenetic morphologic variation. duced a collection of some 10,000 images of a tree by Yale postdoctoral fellow Jeff Oliver. This Jordan will be primarily working with the broad-spectrum of species in the Nymphalidae, analysis will also allow Oliver to target key spe- fl uid-preserved specimens in the Division a large family that includes many charismatic cies for detailed molecular analysis of the gene of Vertebrate Zoology’s broad collection of species such as monarchs, morphos, and networks responsible for wing pattern develop- amphibians, birds, fi shes, mammals and rep- painted ladies. These images document the ment, and in this way discover how changes in tiles. Among her tasks under the grant will full extent of wing pattern diversity and will be gene networks have led to the splendid diver- be to identify unknown specimens, verify the used to study how wing patterns in this family sity of butterfl y wing patterns in nature. identifi cation of specimens, update the collec- have evolved throughout their 90-million-year Aside from the anticipated scientifi c tion data and re-house specimens into new history. insights, the photographic collection itself is jars with new archival labels. With a collection This research, funded by a National a pleasure to behold and peruse: a dazzling covering a time span of nearly 160 years, she Science Foundation grant to YPM Division array of bright and iridescent colors, spots, will be very busy. of Entomology Assistant Curator Antónia chevrons, stripes and bars. The researchers Monteiro, an assistant professor in the Yale hope to make the images publicly available Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, to offer a glimpse into YPM’s vast and rich and YPM Associate Director for Evolutionary research collections.

10 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 Grant to Support Recuration of Peabody Vertebrate Zoology Fluid-preserved Collections By Greg Watkins-Colwell, Museum Assistant, Division of Vertebrate Zoology Jordan Colosi Greg Watkins-Colwell (2) Greg Watkins-Colwell

A The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History materials. By recurating the entire fl uid- (YPM) Division of Vertebrate Zoology has preserved vertebrate zoology collection the been awarded a $350,000 grant from the Division hopes to facilitate greater accessibility National Science Foundation’s Improvements to these holdings, and to promote its use in to Biological Research Collections (BRC) pro- research and education. gram for the recuration of the Division’s fl uid- During the next three years the grant will preserved specimens. The BRC program sup- enable the Division to provide new jars, fl uids ports improvements to specimen curation and and archival specimen labels for the fl uid- C collection management for established natural preserved collections. Additionally, funding history collections, including computerization provides for staff to verify identifi cations and A. The jars in the collection, such as these eel specimens, will of specimen-related data, to increase acces- update electronic records for these specimens, receive new labels (shown on the right), which will be printed sibility to specimens for the biological research including incorporating object locations and with a thermal printer onto alcohol-proof print stock and placed inside all the jars, replacing the exterior labels (on left). community. any supplementary data that accompanies the Amassed over more than 160 years by materials (such as body size and time of col- B. The type of fl uid used to store fl uid-preserved specimens depends on the developmental stage of the animal and the faculty and researchers from Yale, other institu- lection, among others). desired research use of the specimen. Specimens maintained as tions, and government agencies, the Division The BRC grant will support not only zoo- “wet” are useful to several different types of research, such as in studies of feeding ecology, reproductive biology, developmental of Vertebrate Zoology’s fl uid-preserved col- logical curation and specimen identifi cation, biology, parasitology, conservation genetics and systematics. lections include more than 248,000 indi- but also database training for undergraduate C. Vertebrate Zoology Museum Assistant Greg Watkins-Colwell vidual specimens. The ichthyology collection students in a dynamic museum setting. In holds a jar of a snake specimen, a racer, in the fl uid-preserved includes important materials from the broad addition, the Division of Vertebrate Zoology collection that will receive a new label. In the background are specimens in old mason jars that will go into new jars with bet- 19th century surveys of the United States Fish will recruit high school interns through YPM’s ter seals. Commission and has among the highest ratio Evolutions After School Program to work on of type specimens to total specimens for any the specimen curation portion of the project. fi sh collection of its size. The ornithological This ambitious project will ensure that collection of spirit specimens is among the YPM’s fl uid-preserved vertebrate collection three or four largest and most diverse in the continues to be scientifi cally and educationally The Age of Reptiles, a mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger. ©1990, 2001, world. Although comparatively more modest, valuable, keeping YPM at the forefront of speci- Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut USA. All rights reserved. the herpetology and mammalogy spirit specimen curation and data management. men collections include world class research

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 11 Peabody Evolutionary Biologist and Ornithologist Richard Prum Receives MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant

Dr. Richard O. Prum, the William Robertson Coe tion of feathers and its support of the idea that and reptiles. And with his Yale colleagues, Professor of Ornithology in Yale’s Department birds evolved from dinosaurs. His theory of a Professor Prum recently discovered evidence of of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB), and fi ve-step sequence of genetic adaptations that color in the 47-million-year-old fossilized feath- head curator in the Peabody Museum of Natural accounts for the evolution of modern feathers ers of a bird. (See “Dinosaurs in Technicolor,” History (YPM) Division of Vertebrate Zoology, has been supported by discoveries in the fossil page 22.) has been named a MacArthur Foundation record. Professor Prum’s interdisciplinary work Whatever the focus of his research, Fellow for 2009. Known as a “genius” grant, encompasses several areas of study, including Professor Prum regularly synthesizes ideas the fi ve-year $500,000 unrestricted fellowship is developmental biology, optical physics, molec- from other fi elds along surprising paths to awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine ular genetics, phylogenetics, paleontology and reach carefully reasoned conclusions, and he T. MacArthur Foundation to creative individuals behavior ecology. For example, with evidence continues to open new frontiers with each who have shown extraordinary originality and gathered through careful fi eldwork, Professor new project. Currently, Pr0fessor Prum is col- dedication in their pursuits and a marked capac- Prum’s research suggests that comparative laborating with the Yale School of Engineering ity for self-direction. Fellows are chosen for their behavioral studies can be used to infer phylo- and Department of Physics to explore how the exceptional creativity and the future promise of genetic relationships among bird species. mechanisms of color-producing nanostruc- their accomplishments, and for the potential for He has also studied the mechanisms of tures in bird feathers and butterfl y scales can the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative color production in feathers. Collaborating be applied to new photonic technologies. endeavors. with applied mathematicians, Professor Prum Richard Prum received his AB (1982) from Professor Prum, who serves as EEB chair, showed that the color of blue feathers is attrib- Harvard University and a PhD (1989) from the is best known for his research on the evolu- utable not to a pigment but to the scattering University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He joined of light, as also occurs with some butterfl ies Yale in 2004.

A. Professor Richad Prum in the YPM ornithology collections in Yale’s Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center.

B. Developing tail feathers of an embryonic duck- Matthew Harris ling, stained for expression of the gene Sonic Hedgehog (blue). The feathers reveal the role of the interbarb epithelium in the control of barb ridge morphogenesis, helical growth, and barb fusion to form the rachis of the feather. University. Michael Marsland/Yale C. The Plum-throated Cotinga (Cotinga maynana) is an Amazonian bird with a non-iridescent struc- tural color produced by spongy air and beta-keratin nanostructures in its feather barbs.

AB C

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 13 The Peabody Glossopteris Collection By Shusheng Hu, Collections Manager, Division of Paleobotany

Foliage of a Glossopteris tree (G. browniana Brongniart, YPM 8008) from the Permian of Australia, collected by James Dwight Dana in 1839 in New South Wales, Australia. Shusheng Hu

lished by the French paleobotanist Adolphe Brongniart in 1828 in allusion to its tongue- shaped leaves. Later, other parts of Glossopteris, such as reproductive structures, trunks and roots, were found. Paleobotanists had to piece these isolated fossil organs together to recon- struct the complete Glossopteris plant. Glossopteris was a sturdy tree that was probably similar to a modern conifer. It grew up to six meters high (almost 20 feet) with leaves in The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History spirals or whorls. However, its position in plant (YPM) is world-renowned for its holdings phylogeny is still problematic. Glossopteris was of historically signiﬁ cant collections. One of probably very diverse in the past, numbering these is the Glossopteris collection gathered by more than 50 species. Its frequent occurrence James Dwight Dana, Yale’s eminent geology in coal-bearing sediments and the presence professor, during the United States Exploring of aerating tissue in its roots indicate that Expedition of 1838–1842. Commanded by it probably lived in swamps. This important Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, this expedition tree of the temperate regions of the Southern endured countless hardships and dangers Hemisphere suffered a massive decline at the from both man and nature. end of the Permian period and became extinct During the four-year voyage, Dana stayed a few million years later. for two months in New South Wales, Australia, Dana’s Glossopteris collection not only gives and collected plant fossils from coal forma- us a glimpse of a fascinating period in earth tions dating to the Permian period, around 290 history, but also into the exploits of intrepid to 250 million years ago. Nearly 100 of these natural historians during the age of scientiﬁ c fossil plant specimens are currently stored exploration more than 170 years ago. in the YPM Division of Paleobotany. Most belong to the genus Glossopteris, a member of an extinct group of plants called “seed ferns” that grew only in the Southern Hemisphere from around 290 to 240 million years ago. The abundance of Glossopteris in Australia, Reconstruction of a India, Antarctica, Africa and South America, Glossopteris tree (drawing by David Hu after Wilson and its complete absence from the northern N. Stewart and Gar W. continents, support the hypothesis that these Rothwell, Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants, 2nd regions were once part of a supercontinent, ed. Cambridge University “Gonwana,” during the Permian and early Press, 2001). © 2009 David Hu Mesozoic. James Dwight Dana reported six species of Glossopteris from New South Wales in 1849. Four are new species and the type specimens of Glossopteris ampla, G. reticulum and G. cor- data are currently housed in the Yale Peabody Museum. The name Glossopteris was estab-

14 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 J. Yépez

A Peabody Botanical Expedition through the Ecuadorian Andes By Patrick Sweeney, Collections Manager, Division of Botany and Yale University Herbarium

The northern Andes Mountains extend from Venezuela to northern Peru. This region, with a remarkable range of habitats, is of great Expedition team members (left to right) Dr. Wendy Clement, botanical interest because of its extensive Dr. Michael Donoghue, Dr. Erika Edwards and Dr. Patrick Sweeney in an upper montane rain forest near San Gabriel, diversity and endemism; more than half of Ecuador. the plant species within some ecosystems are native to the area. During June and July of 2009, botanists from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History’s Division of Botany and the Yale Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology conducted a collecting expedition to the Ecuadorian Andes, an exceptional area within this northern Andes region. The high Andes of Ecuador encompasses about 45,000 square kilometers (more than 11 million acres). By some estimates it is home to more than 4,500 species, or 50% more than the Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador, an area almost twice as large. Patrick Sweeney (6)

A B

C D E A. & B. Andean native plants Columellia oblonga (Columelliaceae) and Desfontainia spinosa (Desfontaineaceae). Photos: Patrick Sweeney

C., D. & E. Species of Ecuadorian Viburnum: V. jamesonii (with fruits), V. hallii, and V. stipitatum.

Large photo: Andean native plant Axinaea cf. scutigera (Melastomataceae).

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 15

F., G. & H. Montane rain forest plants. Psammisia (Ericaceae), Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae) and Telipogon (Orchidaceae). By some accounts there are more than 3,000 species of orchids in Ecuador, of which almost half are endemic. Patrick Sweeney (7) I. A species of lupine (the genus Lupinus, Fabaceae), a group with North American representatives that has experienced a recent, rapid radiation in the Andes.

F GHJ., K. & L. Some of the variety of herbaceous plants and scattered shrubs that occur among the tussocks in grass páramos include (left to right) Halenia (Gentianaceae), Chuquiraga jussieui (Asteraceae), and Gentianella rapunculoides (Gentianaceae).

IJKL

The main focus of our expedition was to nomic issues involving the group. We chose to collect plants in the genus Viburnum, a group target our initial fi eld work in Ecuador because M that has been a long-term focus of study for Dr. of the many Viburnum species there and Michael Donoghue, Division of Botany Curator because of the excellent support network avail- and G. Evelyn Hutchinson Professor of Ecology able to visiting botanists through the Herbario & Evolutionary Biology, his students and Nacional del Ecuador in Quito and the Missouri post doctoral researchers. The approximately Botanical Garden. Along with Professor 160 species of shrubs and small trees in this Donoghue, our team also included Dr. Wendy L. genus are distributed broadly in the Northern Clement, an post doctoral researcher in the Yale Hemisphere and their range extends into the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, mountains of Asia and Central and South Dr. Erika Edwards, Assistant Professor in the America. In the Andes they are almost wholly Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology N confi ned to areas above 1,200 meters (almost at Brown University, and Juan Yépez Cadena, 4,000 feet). The Andean species are among a graduate student at Universidad Central some of the least studied within the genus. de Ecuador in Quito affi liated with Herbario Recent molecular studies of Viburnum suggest Nacional del Ecuador. that most of the Latin American species form Our trip was a great success. We collected a single lineage that may have originated in more than 550 specimens from almost 90 the Northern Hemisphere and then moved populations and covered an area of Ecuador into the high elevation areas of Central and stretching from the Columbian border south South America, where it subsequently diver- to Peru. Driving more than 2,500 kilome- sifi ed. This is a pattern seen in many other ters (1,500 miles), we visited habitats in the O North American genera also found in the Eastern and Western Cordilleras, including tropical Andes, where their species diversity is grass páramo, shrub páramo, Polylepis forest, much greater relative to that on the northern lower and upper montane rainforests, and sec- continent. Some think that geologically recent ondary vegetation. Our efforts are now focused mountain building events in the northern on incorporating this newly collected material Andes were a major factor spurring this diver- into our ongoing systematic investigations sifi cation. This uplift would have provided a of Viburnum and on planning our next major dispersal route for the movement of Northern expedition—to Southeast Asia, another major Hemisphere groups into the Andes, where a center of diversity for Viburnum. combination of diverse habitats and lack of P competition drove diversifi cation. M. Viburnum is common in disturbed habitats such as forest edges and roadsides. Here Botany Collections Manager Patrick Sweeney views a specimen of V. divaricatum, an Ecuadorian endemic, along a road near Pacca. Photo: Wendy Clement The main goal of our collecting trip was to achieve population-level sampling of all N. Mount Chimborazo. This mountain was climbed by Alexander von Humbolt in 1802. His observations at the time played a central role in the development of his ideas about plant biogeography. Photo: Patrick Sweeney Ecuadorian Viburnum species. This will allow us to investigate more deeply the processes O. The páramo is a northern Andean ecosystem between the upper tree line and permanent snow line. More than 60% of the species in this ecosystem are native. Grass páramos vegetation is dominated by tussock grasses and giant stem-rosette plants such as Espeletia that have contributed to shaping the biogeo- (Asteraceae) and Puya (Bromeliaceae). Pictured is a grass páramo near the town of El Ángel on the Columbian border. The tall stem- graphic distribution and diversifi cation of Latin rosette plants in the foreground are Espeletia pycnophylla. Photo: Wendy Clement American Viburnum, and also to address taxo- P. Plant preparation along the road near San Gabriel. Left to right: Dr. Wendy Clement, Dr. Michael Donoghue, Universidad Central de Ecuador graduate student Juan Yépez Cadena, and Dr. Erika Edwards. Photo: Patrick Sweeney

16 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 The Ancestry and Genetic Differentiation Undergraduate of Surinamese Savanna Bird Populations Summer Internships By Jacob Berv (Yale EEB ’10) at the Yale Peabody A. Jacob Berv poses with a freshly exca- vated Tawny-throated Museum: Leaftosser (Sclerurus mexicanus) nest, found using radio telemetry.

Student Reports (3) Kristof Zyskowski Although not new to science, fi nding this nest is an important The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History proof of concept for B (YPM) was delighted to offer an expanded the technique. internship program for Yale undergraduate stu- B. A Green and Rufus Kingfi sher dents in the summer of 2009. Interns participat- (Chloroceryle inda) Jacob Berva ed in the rich variety of research taking place in fi ghts back. the Yale Science Hill community, working with a C. Jacob Berv tracks birds to their nests mentor on semi-independent projects using the using radio telemetry. YPM’s diverse collections. Projects often also C D. This baby Crested included valuable experience in the fi eld. Interns Bobwhite (Colinus cristatus) was cap- had the opportunity to choose to work with a tured by hand on the host scientist as part of an ongoing research ground near Zanderij International Airport. program, or to design a project that investigated a topic of interest. As part of the fulfi llment of the internship, at its completion students are expected to give a short presentation on their A D summer research project and to submit an I participated in the Yale Peabody Museum Studying the South American tropics, the essay on their research experience to the Yale of Natural History (YPM) Undergraduate world’s apex of biodiversity, is an essential part Environmental News. Internship Program as part of a 12-week of answering the question, “What determines summer research project in collaboration patterns of species diversity?” Hypotheses The 2009 undergraduate interns included: with four Yale advisors: Dr. Gisella Caccone, explaining the incredible abundance of life in Jacob Berv (Yale ’10), who worked with YPM Senior Research Scientist and Lecturer, tropical rain forests have been debated for Division of Vertebrate Zoology Collections Yale Department of Ecology & Evolutionary centuries. The Pleistocene refuge hypothesis, Manager Kristof Zyskowski on fi eld and eco- Biology (EEB) and Director, Yale Institute for fi rst proposed by Ernst Mayr, argues that cli- logical research on the birds of Suriname; Shan Biospheric Studies Molecular Systematics and mate change towards the beginning of the Kuang (Yale ’11), who studied the evolution- Conservation Genetics Laboratory, and EEB Pleistocene divided a continuous rain forest ary biology of Antarctic fi shes with Assistant postdoctoral fellow Dr. Jon Beadell guided my into isolated patches separated by dry savanna Professor Thomas J. Near, Yale Department of molecular research; and ornithologists Dr. habitats. These gaps allopatrically split popu- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and Assistant Richard Prum, EEB William Robertson Coe lations and fueled speciation. Subsequently, Curator of Ichthyology in the YPM Division Professor of Ornithology and YPM Curator of increased rainfall at the end of the Pleistocene of Vertebrate Zoology; and Adrianne Smits Vertebrate Zoology, and Dr. Kristof Zyskowski, reconnected some of these areas and created (Yale ’10), whose study of sexual deformity Collections Manager in the YPM Division of the modern Amazonian rain forests, though Vertebrate Zoology, who guided fi eld and eco- several savannas still remain throughout the in Connecticut’s green frogs was hosted by logical research. Additional funding came from region. David Skelly, Professor of Ecology, Yale School the Yale College Dean’s Research Fellowship Recent YPM ornithological surveys of of Forestry & Environmental Studies and in the Sciences, the Environmental Fellowship Suriname’s Sipaliwini savanna have discovered Curator of Herpetology in the YPM Division of for Study and Research, the Yale Science and that the open-habitat species living there are Vertebrate Zoology. The internship program is Engineering Association Fellowship, the Alan S. shared predominantly with the geographically coordinated by YPM Division of Invertebrate Tetelman ’58 Fellowship for Study Abroad, and far Brazilian Cerrado, rather than with other Zoology Senior Collections Manager Eric Lazo- the Richter Summer Fellowship. northern savannas. Generally, the savanna Wasem. species that occur in the northern Surinamese

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 17 YALE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

savannas are shared predominantly with the Mitochondrial DNA has been a workhorse of Ancestral Dynamics Venezuelan Llanos and Roraima–Rupununi avian genetic studies for the last two decades of Antarctic Fishes savannas. The decoupling of species ancestry because of this high relative mutation rate. By Shan Kuang (Yale ’11) observed in Sipaliwini implies that there were Many of these mutations become ﬁ xed and are once geographic connections between South passed matrilineally to offspring, resulting in America’s current islands of savanna. Perhaps rapid sequence change highly useful for stud- today’s isolated Sipaliwini savanna was once ies of population structure.

connected to the Brazilian Cerrado by a coastal In my work over the summer, I success- Kristen Kuhn corridor. Dramatic changes in the South fully ampliﬁ ed and sequenced tissues collected American landscape since the Pleistocene by YPM’s previous expeditions. To complete must have occurred for this to be possible, so the data set, I needed tissue samples from answering the question of where the Sipaliwini all over South America, so I also researched birds came from could not only shed light on and requested samples that ranged in origin the evolutionary history of neotropical savanna from Venezuela to as far south as Argentina avifauna—it may help explain the history of the and Bolivia (analog of Brazil) from several forest itself. major collecting institutions. These will pro- Voucher tissue specimens collected by the vide a wide sampling for studying our genetic YPM expeditions provide the unique oppor- question, which will be the focus of my senior tunity to test the species-sharing hypotheses research project. with genetics, and I began a study of several Another goal of this project was the inte- representative avian taxa collected in Sipaliwni. gration of molecular work with a ﬁ eld study. In We began with eight target species that have August Dr. Zyskowski and I led an expedition populations both in the Brazilian Cerrado to Suriname to collect additional samples, this and the savannas of northern Suriname and time focusing on northern savanna habitats

Venezuela. Using DNA sequence data, our goal where there had been no collecting by YPM A was to determine the actual genetic relation- or partner institutions. I identifi ed in advance ships between the different savanna popula- potential sampling areas using satellite image tions. Statistical analysis of sequence data data, incorporating GIS data to fi eld collection would then either corroborate or contradict the of DNA samples. We chose the Zanderij savan- Thomas Near (2) hypothesis: If the genetic data reveal that the na region for its accessibility and the presence species-sharing hypothesis is correct, it will be of target species. The nearby Boven–Cosewijne B important to understand what has prevented nature reserve was ultimately the best site for the northern and southern Surinamese savan- our project. During our 12 days in the fi eld we na populations from mixing; if not correct, collected 115 individuals; 14 of these (three then we will need to reexamine the contradic- species) are relevant to my project and should tory evidence to fi gure out how such a scenario provide enough data to say something about could arise. their relationships with the other savanna Working with Dr. Beadell, I learned to populations. On this trip, Dr. Zyskowski and C extract DNA from different tissue sources I also successfully demonstrated the fi rst (to (blood, liver, muscle, toe clippings), to amplify our knowledge) use of radio telemetry to local- A. Peabody undergraduate intern Shan Kuang with a L. nudifrons DNA using the polymerase chain reaction and ize an avian nest in South America. Using my specimen in YPM’s vertebrate zoology collection in the Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center. to prepare amplifi ed DNA for sequencing. I prior experience tracking large predators on chose to use mitochondrial DNA (CR, ND2) a South African game reserve in the summer B. & C. Lepidonotothen nudifrons specimens collected on the 2009 Antarctic Marine Living Resources–Yale Peabody Antarctic for this project because mitochondrial loci are of 2008, and Dr. Zyskowski’s expertise in nest expedition to the South Orkney Islands. generally a more sensitive indicator of popula- searching, we were able to combine forces to tion structure than are nuclear loci. MtDNA’s develop a novel method of nest discovery. We susceptibility to free radicals, oxygen ions and are both convinced that it has great poten- peroxides generated by the electron transport tial to create new science, and once we have chain speed up the formation of informa- another opportunity to experiment (planned tive mutations, which are less likely to be for Ecuador over Thanksgiving), we plan to repaired than nuclear DNA mutations because write a methodological paper for publication in of mtDNA’s reduced DNA repair capacity. a scientifi c journal.

18 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 Like any other kid who grew up watching Antarctic expedition to the South Orkney Frogs in the Backyard: countless nature programs on PBS and the Islands in 2009 a comprehensive collection of Wastewater and Sexual Deformity Discovery Channel, I always had a special L. nudifrons tissue biopsies was available for By Adrianne Smits (Yale ’10) fascination with evolutionary biology and this research. natural history. Ichthyology especially captured I extracted DNA from about 100 speci- my interest, ever since I ﬁ rst started to go on mens and collected gene sequences from the regular East Coast ﬁ shing trips with my dad. mitochondrial encoded ND2 gene, as well as Even though I am currently studying physical the nuclear encoded S7 and RAG genes. The L.

chemistry, I was thrilled to take part in the Yale nudifrons specimens were sampled from near- Susan Bolden (2) Peabody Museum of Natural History (YPM) shore shelf habitats of South Georgia Island, undergraduate internship program, which the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkney afforded me the opportunity I had been hop- Islands, Elephant Island, and the South ing for to be involved with evolutionary biology Shetland Islands. I then analyzed the gene while at Yale. I put aside for a time what was sequences to determine the genetic relation- familiar—chemistry, physics, politics—for ships between haplotypes (the sets of alleles the chance to explore a fi eld that had long found in the gene), the relative prevalence of fascinated me. In the process, I gained invalu- each haplotype, and the locations where they A able research experience for my future work, were found. Using this data it was possible whether in evolutionary biology, chemistry, or to infer the extent of genetic differentiation any other area. between different geographical populations, My independent research project this the ancestral population dynamics of the spe- summer involved the study of Lepidonotothen cies, and the effect of geographical obstacles nudifrons under the guidance of Dr. Thomas between the islands on these dynamics. J. Near, Assistant Professor in the Yale There was signifi cant genetic differentia- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology tion among the L. nudifrons populations of the (EEB) and Assistant Curator for Ichthyology in Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Arc islands. the YPM Division of Vertebrate Zoology, and This provided a fascinating contrast to results EEB postdoctoral researcher Dr. Kristen Kuhn. published in June 2009 (“Gene fl ow by lar- L. nudifrons is a species of the Notothenioidei val dispersal in the Antarctic notothenioid B suborder, which is unique and fascinating for fi sh Gobionotothen gibberifrons,” by Michael its unrivaled domination of the fi sh fauna of Matschiner, Reinhold Hanel and Walter A. Adrianne Smits netting a green frog at one of the fi eld sites in her study. the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica. Salzburger, Molecular Ecology 18(12):2574– The notothenioid clade is the only example 2587). The species Gobionotothen gibberifrons B. A female green frog (Rana clamitans) from a pond in Avon, CT. of adaptive radiation observed among teleost is also in the suborder Notothenioidei and fi shes in marine habitats. has a population distribution nearly identical This summer, as an intern at the Yale Peabody My main goal was to study the pattern of to that of L. nudifrons; however, there was no Museum of Natural History working with Dr. genetic differentiation of L. nudifrons among genetic differentiation among populations in David Skelly, professor in the Department of the different populations within the Antarctic that study. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology in the Yale Peninsula and the Scotia Arc. Because L. nudi- This research is currently ongoing. I am School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, I frons is benthic with a depth distribution of 5 now working with Dr. Near to analyze the data conducted a fi eld survey in the greater Hartford to 350 meters (from about 16 to 1,150 feet), in the context of various evolutionary models. area of Connecticut to investigate the relation- breaks of up to 3,000 meters deep (almost The analyses will provide further insights on ship between urban proximity and rates of sex- 10,000 feet) between the island archipelagos geographic isolation, ancestral dynamics, ual deformity in green frogs (Rana clamitans). of the Scotia Arc and Antarctic Peninsula pres- and speciation in near-shore Southern Ocean Amphibians are currently in decline world- ent clear geographical barriers to dispersal marine habitats. wide, for a myriad of reasons. Current research between these areas. Demographic and phy- has linked pharmaceuticals in human waste- logenetic analyses allowed me to determine water, especially estrogenic compounds found whether deep water habitats between these in contraceptive pills, with sexual deformities shelf habitats have provided long-standing bar- and hermaphroditism in fi sh and amphibians. riers to gene fl ow. The timing was perfect for That trace concentrations of these compounds this project because with the recent Antarctic Marine Living Resources–Yale Peabody

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 19 YALE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

fundamentally alter the sexual development of these vertebrate groups is important on a conservation level and as a public health concern. Their effects on humans are still unknown. Widely-spread amphibians, such as green frogs on the east coast of the United States, inhabit the same water that is eventually used by humans for drinking and for agriculture; they are therefore an ideal model organism to study the effects of this contamination—a modern “canary in a coal mine.” Levels of estrogenic compounds in surface water and groundwater are often higher in urban and suburban areas, and a fi eld study by Professor Skelly’s amphibian ecology lab confi rmed that rates of sexual deformity, specifi cally the presence of eggs developing in the testes of male green frogs, correspond with proximity to urban and suburban land use. Because the compounds that might be responsible for abnormal sexual development in green frogs probably infi ltrate their habitat through leaky sewers and backyard septic systems, I set out to measure the level of wastewater contamination in suburban and urban ponds. I specifi cally measured the concentra- tion of caffeine, a chemical routinely ingested and excreted by humans, to gauge the level of human waste in each pond. I then collected adult male green frogs from ponds with different degrees of contamination, taking note of surrounding land use and water quality indica- tors such as pH, dissolved oxygen content, salinity and temperature. In the coming year I will dissect the male frogs I collected this summer to look for testic- ular oocytes (eggs growing in the testes). I will also test all the ponds I visited for estrogenic compounds, natural and artifi cial, as well as for Unique Peabody After School Science herbicides and pesticides. This data will allow me to discern the relationship, if any, between Careers Program Receives Grant Support amphibian sexual deformities and habitat contamination by chemicals from human “I’m a parent, and I just want to say The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History wastewater. The widespread presence of the (YPM) has received two new federal grants to that I’m very grateful for the astound- pharmaceuticals in surface and groundwater is support its Evolutions After School Program an issue that, so far, laws and regulations have ing experience that you provided for for the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 academic failed to address. I hope that my research will these students; it’s amazing… I hope years. Established in 2005, this academically help clarify what is happening in the water, for you realize what a huge life-changing rigorous (but fun!) program has continued the frogs’ sake and for our own. to grow, providing unique opportunities for experience this was.” high school students to learn about science. It — Evolutions Parent now serves 125 New Haven and West Haven teens and their families with a comprehensive

20 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 “It’s educational and it’s fun. It’s kind of a club that’s science and college- prep based. It informs you about sci- Jamie Alonzo (5) ence careers, how to apply for college, the tests and applications, ﬁ nancial A aid.” — Evolutions Student

Department of Geology & Geophysics, and Associate Professor of Ecosystem Ecology Peter Raymond from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. GeoCORPS also includes a new partnership with the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program and geology faculty at the B C University of Connecticut that will bring UConn and Evolutions students together on both campuses. The program is also receiving substantial support from a Museums of America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to Principal Investigator Jane Pickering, YPM Assistant Director for Public Programs and Deputy Director. Along with internship opportunities, this summer high school students also served D as interpreters of YPM exhibits for the ﬁ rst

time. SciCORPS, the job-related extension of Opposite: Evolutions students during construction of their exhib- Evolutions, was rolled out in part last fall. By it GEOWhiz: An Exploration of Careers in the Geosciences.

the summer the program had enough students A. Evolutions intern Kathleen Smith at work in Dr. Ruth Blake’s that were trained and approved to run hands- lab.

on activities for visitors to have them work B. Yale undergraduate Rafa Kern with Evolutions students Kayla almost four days a week, as well as during Williams (Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School, currently enrolled at Yale) and Donald Walker (Metropolitan Business YPM special events such as “Summer’s Last Academy High School) piloting a new interpretation for YPM’s Roar.” Southern New England diorama hall.

The program graduated its fi rst set of C. Evolutions intern Renee Beamon studying Daphnia (water seniors in the summer of 2009, including one fl eas) in Dr. Stephen Stearns’s lab. year-long curriculum that includes hands-on student who is a member of the Yale class of D. Yale undergraduate Julia Blum with Evolutions student projects, fi eld trips, internship opportunities, 2013. During the last six years the Evolutions Christine Randall (Wilbur Cross High School) piloting a new interpretation cart for the North American diorama hall, part of college preparation, and career awareness students have produced exhibitions, fi lms and YPM’s new SciCORPS program. activities. lesson plans, and worked with faculty from A new National Science Foundation grant many different Yale departments. Feedback to YPM Director and Principal Investigator from participants has been almost uniformly Derek Briggs, the Frederick William Beinecke positive. Most report that the experience has Professor of Geology & Geophysics, from changed their perception of science and scien- NSF’s geosciences directorate enables YPM tists and led them to seriously consider major- to implement GeoCORPS, a program that ing in science. To quote one student: “Now I focuses on exploration of the geosciences see people in the science labs—all the profes- and geoscience careers. Other collaborators sors and students—they’re [just] people and on this grant include professors Ruth Blake, I’m a little more comfortable.” Leo Hickey and Mark Pagani from the Yale

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 21 YALE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Dinosaurs in Technicolor By Jakob Vinther (PhD ’11), Department of Geology & Geophysics Jakob Vinther (2) Most people were captivated, when A team consisting of myself, Yale paleon- Spielberg’s Jurassic Park was fi rst released, tologist Derek Briggs, the Frederick William to see that dinosaurs could be reconstructed Beinecke Professor of Geology & Geophysics and, using modern computer graphics, and director of the Yale Peabody Museum brought to life. Spielberg’s team relied on of Natural History, William Robertson Coe advice from several paleontologists to make Professor of Ornithology Richard Prum, their dinosaurs as accurate and dynamic as chair of the Yale Department of Ecology & possible. Since then, however, remarkably Evolutionary Biology and Peabody Curator preserved fossils from China have shown of Vertebrate Zoology, and Yale alumna Julia that many dinosaurs were feathered like their Clarke (PhD ’02), an associate professor in modern descendants, the birds. the Department of Geological Sciences at the This discovery has profound implications University of Texas at Austin, is now working for our understanding of dinosaurs and their on interpreting colors in fossil birds and dino- evolution. Not only does the presence of feath- saurs. The research is funded by the National ers confi rm that dinosaurs were warm-blood- Science Foundation, the National Geographic ed, active animals, but suddenly dinosaurs Society and the Yale University William morphed from dull creatures with scaly skin to Robertson Coe Fund. Last year we showed that fully plumaged animals displaying all sorts of the preservation of melanosomes accounts A colors. Why? for the color banding in a 100-million-year-old Birds use a plethora of colors for camou- feather from Brazil. This year we identifi ed iri- fl age and, more than anything else, for sexual descence in a 47-million-year-old feather from display. Dinosaurs might have interacted like the famous Messel Oil Shale near Frankfurt in modern birds, with spectacularly colored male Germany. This feather was originally a metal- dinosaurs making courtship displays, but lic blue-green or copper color, although it how would we ever know? Coloring the past now looks red and white. A scanning electron has always been limited mainly by the artist’s microscope clearly shows swaths of melano- B imagination, qualifi ed by suggestions from the somes arranged in the white areas of the feath- scientist. er to form a thin fi lm that would have scattered This may now change. A recent discovery incoming light and given the feather a metallic

Julia Clarke shows that colors can actually be fossilized. appearance. About two years ago, as part of my work on The discovery that evidence of color can be early animal evolution and fossil preservation, fossilized has tantalizing implications. Soon I was studying fossil squid ink sacs and saw we could see dinosaur reconstructions in hues with a scanning electron microscope that the that owe more to science than speculation. small granules of the fossilized ink, or melanin, were identical in shape and size to those A. A Cretaceous fossil feather from Brazil with preservation of of modern squid ink. That made me think that color bands (the feather is about half an inch long). it should be possible to recognize melanin pig- B. On the left is the recently described fossil feather that pre- ments in other fossils. Looking at feathers was serves evidence of iridescence. The distal parts of the feather, an obvious next step. which appear almost white, would have been iridescent blue, green or coppery (the feather is about an inch long). To the right I ﬁ rst studied a fossil bird with preserved is a scanning electron micrograph showing the layer of sausage- feathers from rocks about 50 million years old shaped melanosomes that would have made the feather iridescent (the melanosomes are about one micrometer in length). from Denmark. To my surprise, the feather imprints are made solely of the melanin struc- C. Jakob Vinther (at the microscope) and Derek Briggs taking samples of a feathered dinosaur fossil in China last summer. tures called melanosomes. They look like little sausages that are aligned in densely packed layers inside the feather.

22 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 Peabody Museum Reaches GBIF Milestone By Larry Gall, Systems Ofﬁ ce

19th overall globally in the GBIF rankings, with of species, paired with a Distributed Generic over 1.5 million records registered and avail- Information Retrieval (DiGIR) provider (http:// able over the internet. At that time only the digir.sourceforge.net) to handle the actual data nodes for the Missouri Botanical Garden and dissemination. The Darwin Core has several the Smithsonian Institution among organiza- published variants in use, but each is funda- tions in the United States were serving more mentally a one-dimensional (“fl at fi le”) model. records. While such a straightforward model presents The GBIF portal offers intuitive “one-stop a helpful low barrier to establishing provider browsing” of biodiversity data using species nodes, it also constrains the expression of names, geography and related attributes, with more complex relationships inherent in biologi- search results summarized and displayed on cal data (like part-whole concepts), and is not a global map and available in downloadable particularly well suited to the evolving semantic formats. Users can often drill down farther web (such as the markup and tagging of speci- into GBIF nodes, since most nodes are com- men records). To address this, a multi-dimen- posed of more than one networked dataset. sional Darwin Core model that harmonizes the For example, YPM’s node (http://data.gbif.org/ existing variants has been developed and is datasets/provider/207) consists of 14 datasets in the late stages of ratifi cation as a new data A that closely mirror the curatorial divisions that standard. YPM is already reworking its GBIF The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History steward YPM’s collections. These divisions in node in eager anticipation of this event! (YPM) has been engaged for more than a turn mirror their underlying disciplines (such decade in a concerted mission to electronically as vertebrate zoology and entomology). catalogue all its specimens and artifacts and to Many of the data providers registered with make that information available as broadly as GBIF serve their data simultaneously to dis- possible to researchers and other audiences. cipline-specifi c portals, and some were active This is a continually evolving saga, given before the ascendance of GBIF. Among these that YPM’s current holdings are estimated at earlier portals were those for birds (ORNIS, around 12 million items, with new materials at http://olla.berkeley.net/ornisnet/), mammals regularly acquired through fi eld work, dona- (MaNIS, at http://manisnet.org), reptiles and tions, and other means. amphibians (HerpNet, at http://www.herpnet. B During the last several years, museum net), and fi sh (FishNet, at http://www.fi shnet2. specimens like these have helped catalyze net). This vertebrate fl ush was soon followed a rapid expansion in biodiversity studies. by others, such as the Paleontology Portal Advances in internet infrastructure now (http://www.paleoportal.org), which aggregated allow biodiversity data to be accessed and fossil data for invertebrate paleontology, verte- mined from anywhere. At the same time, brate paleontology and paleobotany, and which the Global Biodiversity Information Facility also introduced a substantial online outreach (GBIF), an international organization based in component for science educators, K-12 stu- Copenhagen, Denmark, has emerged as a pri- dents and the public. mary clearinghouse for biodiversity data, offer- GBIF and similar portal services are able to C ing free and open access to this data online. cross-walk biodiversity information successfully Through its web portal, GBIF aggregates by using community standards that govern A. GBIF home page. and serves nearly 200 million biodiversity both the description of biological data and B. Geographic distribution of Yale Peabody Museum invertebrate data records worldwide from more than 300 methods for distributing it easily. Most GBIF specimen records with latitude and longitude coordinates, from data providers, or “nodes,” which typically are nodes use the Darwin Core (http://wiki.tdwg. the GBIF portal. museums and similar institutions (http://data. org/twiki/bin/view/DarwinCore/WebHome) data C. The Paleontology Portal, a web service that aggregates gbif.org/welcome.htm). In early summer 2009, standard for the exchange of information about information about North American paleontological collections. YPM reached a new milestone by climbing to collections and the geographic distribution

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 23 YALE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

visionally, undoubtedly an important resource Peabody Museum Project Conserves for future research. These slides had been kept in sometimes Collections Microscope Slides substandard storage in the Peabody Museum, By Catherine Sease, Senior Conservator Kline Geology Laboratory and Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center buildings. Most were physically inaccessible. In addition, Since September 2007, staff at the Yale Most of the slides in this project are histor- roughly half of the slide boxes were cryptically Peabody Museum of Natural History (YPM) ically as well as scientifi cally important: some marked and, because no inventory existed, have been working on a project funded by the represent type specimens, while others are up their exact contents were unknown. Institute for Museum and Library Services to 150 years old. A portion of the holdings in First the slides were cleaned in batches in to conserve, catalogue and rehouse micro- the Division of Invertebrate Zoology date to the YPM Conservation Lab by a team of under- scope slides that are part of the collections the late 19th century, when curator Addison graduate and graduate students. During the in YPM’s divisions of Vertebrate Zoology Emery Verrill was responsible for tremendous summers, summer school students and casual and Invertebrate Zoology. Under the over- growth of the collections. Most of the slides workers augmented the work force. Most of all supervision of Senior Conservator and in both divisions were created as part of the the cleaning was quite straightforward, done Principal Investigator Catherine Sease, joined ongoing research of faculty, graduate students with damp swabs and cloths. The Verrill slides, by Invertebrate Zoology Senior Collections and other researchers. This material therefore however, required more attention because they Manager Eric Lazo-Wasem and Vertebrate has considerable scientifi c and historical value were dirtier than most of the others and the Zoology Museum Assistant Greg Watkins- as vouchers of science conducted at Yale and brittleness of their mounting media required Colwell, the project has used a cadre of Yale other institutions. Furthermore, nearly half of handling with considerable care. Some slides undergraduate and graduate students and the microscope slides represent specimens were broken and many had loose cover slips casual workers. that have been prepared but studied only pro- and mounting rings. Paper adhesive labels, in some instances the only accompanying documentation, were also loose. All Verrill slides were cleaned and repaired by Sease. Once clean, the slides were returned to the divisions where, under the supervision of Lazo-Wasem and Watkins-Colwell, students catalogued and entered each one into YPM’s collections database. The cataloguing and cap- ture of the Verrill collection slide information is being done by Lazo-Wasem. Many of the Verrill slides contain specimen fragments, such as small branches of soft coral colonies, mounted on cardboard slides. These will be digitally photographed to minimize future handling of the delicate slides. The fi nal step is to rehouse the slides in museum quality cabinets. In advance of this project Sease and other YPM staff spent considerable time working with Delta Designs, Ltd., the premier museum cabinetmaker in the United States, to design special archival storage cabinets and trays made of inert materials specifi cally for microscope slides. As a result of this YPM project, Delta Designs now manufac- tures a line of microscope cabinets available to other institutions. The cleaning, cataloguing and rehousing of the Division of Vertebrate Zoology microscope slide collection—a total of 7,356 slides—was

24 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 A completed in the fall of 2008. The cleaning and minifera collected in the 1870s at nearly 2,925 repair phase for the Division of Invertebrate fathoms (a depth of 18,000 feet, or 5.5 kilome- Zoology slides was fi nished at the end of July ters) by the H.M.S. Challenger Expedition. The 2009, and involved 51,359 slides, of which existence of this material in our collections 2,660 were Verrill slides. The cataloguing and was unknown before our project. No doubt rehousing of the Invertebrate Zoology miscro- as we fi nish cataloguing, more treasures will B scope slides was projected to continue until be uncovered. These discoveries have greatly the end of 2009. enhanced the signifi cance of our collections Two other YPM collections benefi ted from and will be of great interest to researchers. this project. The Division of Paleobotany This project has signifi cantly improved the received three cabinets, and the Division of storage conditions of a major portion of the Mineralogy two cabinets, to rehouse their own YPM’s microscope slide collections, ensuring collections of microscope slides. Stored under their long-term preservation. The most impor- better conditions, these slides did not require tant scientifi c benefi t will be providing access cleaning and were just rehoused and added to to this material. For the fi rst time these now the collections database. Microscope slides in inventoried slides will be housed together in the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology will appropriate storage conditions and be search- be the focus of a future project. able in YPM’s collections database, instantly This project resulted in several discoveries. available both to researchers at YPM and on In the Division of Vertebrate Zoology, we have the YPM Web site. made connections between the microscope slides and existing specimens in the collections, especially for the Latimeria (coelacanth) slides and for the slides of blenniid pectoral fi ns. This is a major accomplishment, because A. Original microscope labels. Photo: Eric Lazo-Wasem it attaches considerably more documentation B. Slide, of a gorgonian polyp collected by A. E. Verrill, before to the specimens on the slides and thereby (top) and after (bottom) cleaning. 100x magnifi cation. Photo: Eric greatly increases their scientifi c value. We also Lazo-Wasem discovered that most of the older fi sh micro- C. Typically some of the slides were stored on end in a variety of scope slides were used in a research project on boxes. Photo: Catherine Sease C teleost brain morphology by R. G. Meader in D. Slides are stored fl at in the new Delta Designs cabinets. the 1930s. These slides can now be referenced Photo: Catherine Sease to Meader’s publications, increasing the value Opposite: The collection includes slides made of glass, card- of the slides for students and researchers. board and wood in several different sizes. Photo: Greg Watkins- Colwell In the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, we discovered we unknowingly had many slides of type specimens. For example, we found type slides of Paragorgia pacifi ca, a species described by Verrill, that we were not aware of, even though there is a specimen in alcohol in our collections. We have also uncovered slides of extremely rare material, including prepara- D tions of giant squid mouthparts and of fora-

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 25 RESEARCH AND PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Amphibians as Environmental Omen Disputed

Amphibians, for years considered a leading conversion, harvesting for food and the global In light of the ﬁ ndings, Skelly said, scien- indicator of environmental degradation, are spread of the Chytrid fungus, which is mowing tists should evaluate the absence, presence or not uniquely susceptible to pollution, accord- down these species in its path.” abundance of amphibians in wild populations ing to a meta-analysis that has been published The team, led by Jacob Kerby, an assistant as “signals” of potential exposure to different in Ecology Letters. professor at the University of South Dakota, chemicals in the environment. “If we have such After a review of over 28,000 toxicological based its analysis on information gleaned from an understanding for several species, we may tests, researchers from the University of South the US Environmental Protection Agency’s be able to use their responses, collectively, as Dakota, Yale University and Washington State (EPA) Aquatic Toxicity Information Retrieval a means of narrowing potential causes of envi- University are challenging the prevailing view database, examining 1,279 species, among ronmental degradation,” he said. that amphibians, with their permeable skin them segmented worms, ﬁ sh, bivalves such as The EPA, according to the paper, uses and aquatic environment, are particularly sen- clams, insects and snails. Those species were African clawed frogs as a proxy for biological sitive to environmental threats and, as such, exposed in water to various concentrations diversity when determining a species’ sensitiv- are “canaries,” or predictors of environmental of 107 chemical agents, including inorganic ity to chemical exposures, even though that decline. chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals and phe- particular species does not occur naturally in “The very simple message is that for most nols, a class of chemical compound. North America. “Our knowledge of amphibi- of the classes of chemical compounds we “What our results suggest is that all ani- ans’ sensitivity to particular chemicals or class- looked at, frogs range from being moderately mals are susceptible to chemical stressors and es of chemicals has not been used to design susceptible to being bullet-proof,” said David that amphibians are potentially good indica- assays for effects in nature,” Skelly said. Skelly, professor of ecology at the Yale School tors,” said Kerby. “There isn’t any evidence that The paper, “An examination of amphibian of Forestry & Environmental Studies and a they’re a uniquely leading indicator. We tried sensitivity to environmental contaminants: are member of the research team. “There are lots to be comprehensive in the types of chemicals amphibians poor canaries?,” is now available of other kinds of environmental threats that and organisms that we examined.” at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/ have led to their decline, including habitat fulltext/122658158/PDFSTART.

Grant to Aid F&ES Research on Frog Deformities

A Yale ecology professor will investigate why area. The research will include the physical animals can serve as sentinels for human male frogs living in Greater Hartford ponds are examination of the common green frog, Rana health risks.” exhibiting female sex traits, with a grant from clamitans, and water testing for pharmaceuti- The fund supporting Skelly’s research the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. cals and pesticides, including atrazine. Area was named after the late Richard Garmany, The two-year, $30,000 grant from the foun- homeowners will also be surveyed about their an executive at Aetna. Before his death in July dation’s Richard P. Garmany Fund will allow use of chemicals. 2008, he created a donor-advised fund at the David Skelly, professor of ecology at the Yale In preliminary research in Hartford, Skelly Hartford Foundation through his will, naming a School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, found that 21% of male frogs from suburban close friend as the offi cial fund advisor and two to continue his research on hermaphrodites, ponds and 18% from urban ponds had imma- other friends to be involved in recommending which are proliferating in Connecticut ponds. ture eggs growing in their testes, compared grants. Hartford Foundation for Public Giving In a previous study, Skelly found that frogs to 7% from agricultural ponds. The research is the community foundation for the 29-town in suburban areas are more likely than their was conducted at 23 ponds in 14 towns— Greater Hartford region, dedicated to improv- rural counterparts to grow female eggs in their Avon, Berlin, Bristol, Cromwell, East Windsor, ing the quality of life for area residents. The testes. Ellington, Hebron, Middlefi eld, Somers, South Foundation receives gifts from thousands of “Amphibians living in and around Windsor, Suffi eld, West Hartford, Wethersfi eld generous individuals and families, and last Connecticut neighborhoods show abnormal and Windsor. year, awarded grants of more than $27 million sexual development at very high frequencies,” While Skelly has not found a direct link to a broad range of area nonprofi t organiza- says Skelly. “Something about these environ- between illness in amphibians and human tions. ments is causing these vertebrates to develop health, he said, “The fact remains that they an illness that is otherwise uncommon.” are vertebrates like us and share similar physi- For more information about the Hartford Foundation, The grant will help fund a study of subur- ological and developmental pathways. Such visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888. ban and urban neighborhoods in the Hartford

26 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 century, with the human infl uence on climate those places, such as the vast forests of North Carbon Dioxide and accumulating over many decades of burning America and Eurasia, a large annual CO2 cycle fossil fuels and clearing forests. However, this synchronizes with the seasonal growth and Climate Change relationship is reversed on interannual time decay of plants. The world’s oceans are absorbing less carbon scales, with multiyear temperature cycles lead- “Researchers have used climate models dioxide (CO2), a Yale geophysicist has found ing multiyear cycles in CO2 levels. that suggest the oceans have been absorbing after pooling data taken over the past 50 years. Park found particularly strong correlations less CO2, but this is the fi rst study to quantify With the oceans currently absorbing over 40% between sea-surface temperatures and CO2 the change directly using observations,” Park of the CO2 emitted by human activity, this levels in tropical ocean areas. Conversely, in said. “It strengthens the projection that the could quicken the pace of climate change, places with a lot of trees and other biomass to oceans will not absorb as much of our future according to the study, which appeared in soak up much of the atmospheric CO2, there CO2 emissions, and that the pace of future cli- the November 25, 2009 issue of Geophysical was little or no correlation between tempera- mate change will quicken.” Research Letters. ture and CO2 on interannual time scales. In Jeffrey Park, professor of geology and geophysics and director of the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, used data collected from Carbon Monoxide Linked atmospheric observing stations in Hawaii, Alaska and Antarctica to study the relationship to Heart Problems in Elderly between fl uctuations in global temperatures and the global abundance of atmospheric CO2 Exposure to carbon monoxide, even at levels well below national limits, on interannual (one to 10 years) time scales. A is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for the elderly similar study from 20 years ago found a fi ve- with heart problems, according to a study published August 31, 2009 month lag between interannual temperature in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. changes and the resulting changes in CO2 levels. Park has now found that this lag has The nationwide study of 126 urban communi- Bell and researchers from the Johns increased from fi ve to at least 15 months. ties, funded by the US Environmental Protection Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health “No one had updated the analysis from 20 Agency (EPA) and the National Institute of and the University of Southern California’s years ago,” Park said. “I expected to fi nd some Environmental Health Sciences, found that an Keck School of Medicine based their fi ndings change in the lag time, but the shift was sur- increase in carbon monoxide of one part per on an analysis of hospital records for 9.3 mil- prisingly large. This is a big change.” million in the maximum daily one-hour lion Medicare recipients and data on air pollu- With a longer lag time, atmospheric CO2 exposure is associated with a 0.96% increase tion levels and weather gathered between 1999 can no longer adjust fully to cyclical tem- in the risk of hospitalization from cardiovascular and 2005. Their analysis took into account the perature fl uctuations before the next cycle disease among people over the age of 65. health effects of other traffi c-related pollutants, begins, suggesting that the oceans have lost This link holds true even when carbon including nitrogen dioxide, fi ne particles and some of their ability to absorb CO2 from the monoxide levels are less than one part per elemental carbon. atmosphere. Weaker CO2 absorption could be million, which is well below the EPA’s National “We found a positive and statistically caused by a change in ocean circulation or just Ambient Air Quality Standard of 35 parts signifi cant association between same-day an overall increase in the surface temperature. per million. This fi nding suggests an under- carbon monoxide levels and an increased “Think of the oceans like soda,” Park said. recognized health risk to seniors. Currently, the risk of hospitalization for cardiovascular “Warm cola holds less fi zz,” Park said. “The EPA is evaluating the scientifi c evidence on the disease in general, as well as for multiple, same thing happens as the oceans warm up.” link between carbon monoxide and health to specifi c cardiovascular disease outcomes, Increases in CO2 levels have tended to determine whether the health-based standard including ischemic heart disease, heart rhythm precede increases in temperature over the past should be modifi ed. disturbances, heart failure and cerebrovascular “This evidence indicates that exposure to disease,” Bell said. current carbon monoxide levels may still pose Carbon monoxide is a tasteless, odorless a public health threat,” said Michelle Bell, gas that is a component of automobile the study’s lead investigator and associate exhaust. The researchers acknowledged that professor of environmental health at the Yale additional research is needed to investigate School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. whether carbon monoxide or a combination “Higher levels of carbon monoxide were of it and other traffi c-related pollutants are the associated with higher risk of hospitalizations cause of the increased risk of cardiovascular for cardiovascular heart disease.” hospitalizations in seniors.

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 27 RESEARCH AND PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

F&ES Study: Most Polluted Ecosystems Recoverable

Most polluted or damaged ecosystems world- from the interactions of those disturbances. The researchers point out that a potential wide can recover within a lifetime if societies Major natural disturbances, including hurri- “pitfall” of the analysis is that the ecosystems commit to their cleanup or restoration, accord- canes and cyclones, are also accounted for in may have already been in a disturbed state ing to an analysis of 240 independent studies the analysis. when they were originally examined. Many eco- by researchers at the Yale School of Forestry & Schmitz and Jones analyzed data derived systems across the globe that have experienced Environmental Studies (F&ES). Their fi ndings from peer-reviewed studies conducted over extinctions and other fundamental changes as appear in the journal PLoS ONE. the past century that examined the recovery a result of human activities, combined with the The Yale researchers found that forest of large ecosystems following the cessation of ongoing effects of climate change and pollu- ecosystems recovered in 42 years on average, a disturbance. The studies measured 94 vari- tion, are far removed from their historical, nat- while ocean bottoms recovered in less than ables that were grouped into three categories: ural pristine state. Thus ecologists measured 10 years. When examined by disturbance type, ecosystem function, animal community and recovery on the basis of an ecosystem’s more ecosystems undergoing multiple, interacting plant community. recent condition. The analysis points out the disturbances recovered in 56 years, and those The F&ES researchers quantifi ed the recov- need for the development of objective criteria affected by either invasive species, mining, oil ery of each of the variables in terms of the time to decide when a system has fully recovered. spills or trawling recovered in as little as fi ve it took for them to return to their pre-distur- The researchers said the analysis rebuts years. Most ecosystems took longer to recover bance state as determined by the expert judg- speculation that it will take centuries or mil- from human-induced disturbances than from ment of each study’s author. The Yale analysis lennia for degraded ecosystems to recover and natural events, such as hurricanes. found that 83 studies demonstrated recovery justifi es an increased effort to restore degraded “The damages to these ecosystems are for all variables; 90 reported a mixture of areas for the benefi t of future generations. pretty serious,” said Oswald Schmitz, Oastler recovered and non-recovered variables; and 67 “Restoration could become a more important Professor of Population and Community reported no recovery for any variable. Schmitz tool in the management portfolio of conserva- Ecology and co-author of the meta-analysis said 15% of all the ecosystems in the analysis tion organizations that are entrusted to protect with F&ES doctoral student Holly Jones. “But are beyond recovery. Also, 54% of the studies habitats on landscapes,” said Schmitz. the message is that if societies choose to that reported no recovery likely did not run Jones added: “We recognize that human- become sustainable, ecosystems will recover. long enough to draw defi nitive conclusions. kind has and will continue to actively domes- It isn’t hopeless.” In addition, the analysis suggests that an ticate nature to meet its own needs. The mes- The Yale analysis focuses on seven ecosys- ecosystem’s recovery may be independent of sage of our paper is that recovery is possible tem types, including marine, forest, terrestrial, its degraded condition. Aquatic systems, noted and can be rapid for many ecosystems, giving freshwater and brackish, and addresses recov- Schmitz and Jones, may recover more quickly much hope for a transition to sustainable man- ery from major anthropogenic disturbances— because species and organisms that inhabit agement of global ecosystems.” agriculture, deforestation, eutrophication, them turn over more rapidly than, for example, invasive species, logging, mining, oil spills, forests whose habitats take longer to regener- The analysis, “Rapid Recovery of Damaged overfi shing, power plants and trawling—and ate after logging or clear-cutting. Ecosystems,” is available online at http://dx.plos. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005653.

Earth Systems Center for Stable Isotopic Studies Welcomes New Staff In March 2009, Dominic Colosi joined the staff and method development, and work on spe- in the Earth Systems Center for Stable Isotopic ciﬁ c projects as needed. With Colosi on staff, Studies. He received his BS in Chemistry from the Center will be able to take on more projects the University of Florida in 2008, where he and develop new techniques in the area of light worked in Rick Yost’s laboratory doing under- stable-isotope analyis. graduate research in mass spectrometry. Colosi will be helping to maintain the Center’s mass spectrometers, including its two new stable-isotope mass spectrometers, as well as associated peripherals. He will also be working with Center users, doing standards

28 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 BASS SCHOLARS

ecosystem dynamics, and biogeochemical cycles. Building on that work, she and her colleagues are using global carbon-climate models to project future co-evolution of climate and atmospheric carbon dioxide. Professor Fung is internationally known and well respected in her fi eld, and is one of 10 women scientists featured in the series Women Adventures in Science written for mid- dle school students. Her biography is Forecast fox fung Earth by Renee Skelton. She served during the fall 2009 in the david l. fox ago. By tracking those signals through time, Yale Department of Geology & Geophysics, patterns emerge in the ecosystem of herbivore Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS) presenting two talks as part of the Topics in animals due to a changing climate. Director Jeffrey Park is pleased to announce Global Change Fall Seminars: What Don’t We His second focus explores how species the appointment of David L. Fox, Professor Know About Global Warming? and Can the evolved by creating computer simulated evo- in the Department of Geology & Geophysics Carbon Budget Be Managed? She will return lutionary histories. The anatomical “gaps” at the University of Minnesota, as an Edward to Yale in the spring of 2010 to continue that exist in the evolution of different species P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental her appointment as a Bass Scholar in the can be fi lled with stratigraphic data. In other Scholar. Professor Fox will serve in the Department of Geology & Geophysics. words, geologic time-keeping is applied. Department of Anthropology during the Professor Fung notes that the climate of On-going simulation studies help visualize the Winter/Spring 2010 semester, working with the earth is intimately tied to the composi- evolutionary tree of life. Professor Eric Sargis. tion of the atmosphere and the dynamics of And, his third focus is research on the Professor Fox received his AB in Biological the underlying surface. The atmosphere and ecological biogeography of animals. The body Anthropology from Harvard University with land surface exchange energy, water and other size and dietary categories of modern mam- an emphasis in hominid paleontology. He trace substances on all space and time scales. mals show striking correlations with climatic then moved to the Midwest for graduate The exchange is dependent on, and in turn variables. Continuing work will include com- studies in vertebrate paleontology in the determines, the states of the atmosphere and parisons between continents with quite differ- Department of Geological Sciences and biosphere themselves. Her research in the ent faunal and climatic histories over the last Museum of Paleontology at the University of past decade has focused on the processes several million years. Michigan. Under the guidance of Dan Fisher that maintain and alter climate, as well as on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon dioxide, and Catherine Badgley, he developed a range inez fung of research interests in graduate school methane and dust. The goal is to gain predic- that includes the evolution and ecology of Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS) tive capability of how atmospheric composi- elephants from the point of view of their tusks, Director Jeffrey Park is pleased to announce tion and climate have evolved in the past and applications of stable isotopes in paleoecology, the appointment of Professor Inez Fung as may co-evolve in the future. The present and ecological changes and extinctions among late an Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting past variations in atmospheric composition Cenozoic mammals in North America, the eco- Environmental Scholar during the 2009/10 contain information about how sensitive the logical structure of the modern mammal fauna academic year. Fung, a professor of atmo- atmosphere and biosphere are, separately and of North America, and stratocladistics. spheric science and co-director of the Berkeley together, to natural climate fl uctuations. This Professor Fox completed his PhD in 1999 Institute of the Environment, was born in sets the stage for detecting and evaluating the and did postdoctoral work with Paul Koch Hong Kong, where she completed her high extent to which the systems have been and will at the Department of Earth Sciences at the school education. She received her SB in be altered by human action. University of California, Santa Cruz, and in Applied Mathematics (fl uid dynamics) at the 2001 became an associate professor in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Department of Geology and Geophysics at the She notes that the fact that the equations University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where could explain the movement of continents and his fi rst focus is investigating the chemical the fact that there were toys (the fi rst Lorenz isotopes in ancient animal teeth and bones, water wheel) associated with fl uid dynamics namely carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. These brought her to the graduate program in meteo- isotopes record paleoclimate signals that tell rology at MIT. Since then she has enjoyed her what the environment was like 40 million years research on the physics of climate change,

yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 29 DONNELLEY FELLOWS

donald worster comes to yale fi ve languages). He is context for human life over time. He also has Donald Worster, historian and Professor of former president of strong interests in comparative history (espe- History at the University of Kansas, will serve the American Society cially of the United States and Canada), in as the Dr. Strachan Donnelley Distinguished for Environmental American regionalism (particularly the West), Visiting Environmental Scholar during the History and a mem- in agriculture, and in science and technology. Winter/Spring 2010 semester. Professor ber of the Western He has said, “Whatever terrain the envi- Worster is considered one of the founders of, History Association, ronmental historian chooses to investigate, and leading fi gures in, the fi eld of environ- the Organization of he has to address the age-old predicament of mental history. In 2009 he was named to the American Historians, how humankind can feed itself without degrad- American Academy of Arts and Sciences. and the American ing the primal source of life. Today as ever, Professor Worster has been at the Historical Association. that problem is the fundamental challenge in University of Kansas since 1989 and occu- Over the past two decades he has lectured human ecology, and meeting it will require pies the Hall Chair in American History, thus extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin knowing the earth well—knowing its history returning to his undergraduate institution America, as well as throughout North America. and knowing its limits.” and his home region. His most recent book, Professor Worster is primarily interested Dr. Worster will occupy an offi ce in the A River Running West: The Life of John Wesley in the emerging fi eld of environmental history; School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Powell, was published by Oxford in 2001. the changing perception of nature, the rise and will be available for the entire semester to Earlier books include The Wealth of Nature, of conservation and environmentalism, but faculty and students who wish to explore this Under Western Skies, Rivers of Empire, Dust especially the ways that the natural world has and other environmental challenges that we Bowl, and Nature’s Economy (now available in impinged on human society and provided the face today.

Dr. Li-Quing Jiang is working with Associate Professor Peter Raymond at the School of POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES Forestry & Environmental Studies. Li-Quing’s research focuses on the impact of seasonal hypoxia on carbon dioxide in large estuarine systems—a case study of the Long Island Sound. Dr. Philip Larese-Casanova is working with yibs announces appointments of Dr. Nicholas Longrich is working with Professor Ruth Blake in the Department of seven postdoctoral associates Professor Jacques Gauthier in the Department Geology & Geophysics. Philip’s research is of Geology & Geophysics. Nicholas’s research YIBS Director Jeffrey Park is pleased to focused on improving bioremediation of focuses on dinosaur diversity trends in the announce the two-year appointments of groundwater contamination using 180 stable late Cretaceous of western North America and three Gaylord Donnelley Environmental isotope signatures. understanding the inﬂ uence of global climate Postdoctoral Associates and four Yale Institute Dr. Henry Wilson is working with James Saiers, change and sea levels. for Biospheric Studies (YIBS) Postdoctoral Professor of Hydrology and Associate Dean Associates in 2009. Dr. Matthew Walsh is working with Associate of Academic Affairs at the School of Forestry Professor David Post in the Department The three Gaylord Donnelley Environmental & Environmental Studies, and Professor of of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Matt’s Postdoctoral Associates are: Chemical Engineering. Henry’s research focus- research focuses on the link between environ- es on determining the role played by hydro- Dr. Andrea Gloria-Soria is working in the Yale mental heterogeneity and evolutionary change logical events in mediating dissolved organic Peabody Museum of Natural History and the in coastal lake ecosystems. matter (DOM) dynamics and related in-stream Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology The four YIBS Environmental Postdoctoral processes. with Professor Leo W. Buss. Andrea’s research Associates are: focuses on the characterization of the allelic variation on the allorecognition complex of Dr. Christopher Clark is working with Richard Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus. Prum, William Coe Robinson Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Chris’s research focuses on the mechanics and diversity of feather-generated sounds in birds.

30 yale environmental NEWS / 15:1 PUBLICATIONS

Green Intelligence: Creating Environments that Protect Human Health by John Wargo We live in a world awash in manmade chemicals, from the pesticides on our front lawns to the diesel exhaust in the air we breathe. Yale Environment 360 Honored in Although experts are beginning to International Online Journalism Awards understand the potential dangers of The Online News Association has honored announced in October at an awards ceremony these substances, Yale Environment 360 with its best “specialty in San Francisco. there are still more site journalism” award at its annual Online Published by the Yale School of Forestry than 80,000 syn- Journalism Awards ceremony, citing content & Environmental Studies, Yale Environment thetic compounds that is “taking debate to a higher level and is 360 was launched in 2008 as an online source that have not been so needed in the journalism community now.” for in-depth environmental journalism, com- suffi ciently tested In recognizing Yale Environment 360 http:// mentary and debate from a global perspective. to interpret their e360.yale.edu/ as the best small website in a Major funding is provided by grants from effects on human specialized category, the judges praised its mix the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation health. John Wargo of reporting, commentary and discussion, as and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur has spent much of his career researching the well as the quality of its writing, the attractive- Foundation. impact of chemical exposures on women and ness of its design and the level of debate on its Earlier this year, TreeHugger named Yale children. In his new book from Yale University interactive reader forum. Environment 360 as the Best New Science Site. Press, Professor Wargo explains the origins of “Such a well-done site,” the judges wrote. The Online Journalism Awards were society’s profound misunderstanding of every- “When you read the comments, you know the launched in 2000 by the Online News day chemical hazards, and offers a practical incredibly knowledgeable audience is totally Association, which works in collaboration path toward developing greater “green intel- engaged with the site. It’s a nice place to be with the University of Miami’s School of ligence.” and learn.” Communications. A link to the announce- Despite the rising trend in environmental Other news organizations honored by ment can be found at http://journalists.org/ awareness, information about synthetic sub- Online News Association for online excellence news/31016/Publish2-My-Ballard-and-Gotham- stances is often unavailable, distorted, kept included The New York Times, BBC News, Gazette-recognized-with-inaugural-Online- secret, or presented in a way that prevents ProPublica and NPR.org. The winners were Journalism-Awards.htm. citizens from acting to reduce threats to their health and the environment. By examining the histories of fi ve hazardous technologies and practices, Wargo fi nds remarkable patterns in publication series Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies the delayed discovery of dangers and explains governments’ failures to manage them effec- tively. Sobering, yet eminently readable, Wargo’s book ultimately offers a clear vision www.yale.edu/environment/publications for a safer future through prevention, transpar- ency, and awareness. · Explore more than 50 titles John Wargo, professor of environmental · Download free pdfs policy, risk analysis, and political science at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental · Order print-on-demand copies Studies and the Department of Political Science at Yale University, has also authored Our Children’s Toxic Legacy: How Science and Jane Coppock, Editor · [email protected] Law Fail to Protect Us from Pesticides.

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©2010 Yale University. All rights reserved. The Yale Environmental News offers information on environmental research, teaching and outreach at Yale University. It is published by the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS), with the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (YPM) and the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES).

Directors of the Environmental Partnership Jeffrey Park Director, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and Professor of Geology & Geophysics www.yale.edu/yibs www.geology.yale.edu Derek E.G. Briggs Director, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History and Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Geology & Geophysics www.peabody.yale.edu Peter Crane Dean, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies www.yale.edu/environment

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