Evolution in an Urbanizing World
The Bronx High School of Science, a New York City high school located near Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx, hosts an unique rich biological environment, in the midst of urban life. To better understand this environment, we, a group of five students under the mentorship of Emily Schmidt, Tracy LaGrassa, and Sunny Corrao, initiated... Continue Reading →
Earlier this week, the wonderful women over at Women of Fisheries posted about the struggles of going to the bathroom when doing fieldwork on a boat. They point out that going to the bathroom can be especially uncomfortable for women since it's more difficult to easily pee off the side of the boat due to... Continue Reading →
In August 2020, I recently published my first first-author paper about urban Anolis lizard claws! I have previously written about my research after doing field work and presenting at my university's science symposium. I'm excited to report that the results are finally out! In our paper, The Finer Points of Urban Adaptation, myself and my coauthors (Kevin... Continue Reading →
This is part two of a two part series from Carly Ziter and Karen Dyson, adapted from a recent paper we wrote as a “how to” guide to urban fieldwork on private land. In last week's post Fieldwork on Urban Private Property: Getting Started, we talked about how to get started with fieldwork on urban private... Continue Reading →
Let’s consider a scenario. You’re designing a new research project, and you realize that for the first time that you (or your students) are going to need access to private property in an urban area to answer your question properly. Do you need a permit? A permission form? Who do you ask? Should you just... Continue Reading →
What does it mean to be urbanized on a volcanic archipelago? With ‘Darwin Day’ (February 12th) just behind us, my upcoming research trip to the Galápagos Islands feels almost unbelievably well-timed. My goal will be to study one of the fabled Darwin’s finches, the small ground finch (Geospiza fuliginosa), and its relationship with an invasive... Continue Reading →
As a scientist that works in the field of urban evolution I often have to consider, "what makes an urban habitat?" While this seems like a fairly easy question to answer, there's actually a lot of different ways that we consider urban habitats. Are neighborhood parks considered urban habitat? Technically, yes they are urban, they... Continue Reading →
As life scientists that choose to study species within a city – habitats that are dominated by stochasticity, ecological traps, and, well, humans – we’re sort of like the crazy cousins at the biological sciences family reunion. Indeed, studying a system in which humans are both the drivers and beneficiaries of environmental change can throw... Continue Reading →
Other posts here at Life in the City have covered the perils, issues, and occasional awkwardness of urban fieldwork from the perspective of the researcher, but have you considered how your naive undergraduate field technician is going to fare when thrown into the urban jungle? After going into the field now a couple of times... Continue Reading →
Sophie Breitbart, PhD student at University of Toronto Mississauga, tells us about her experience in the field working on milkweed. I'm sitting in the railway station Got a ticket to my destination... -Simon and Garfunkel, “Homeward Bound” Who would’ve thought that a young Paul Simon could have so much in common with a perennial herb... Continue Reading →
Posted by Ruth Rivkin (PhD candidate at University of Toronto Mississauga) We’ve all been there: You’re hard at work sampling on someone’s lawn, in a ditch next to the road, or in a public park, when suddenly you hear a voice shouting “Hey you, what the @#$% are you doing over there?!” So now you... Continue Reading →
Collecting samples in urban environments can present some challenges (as Matt Combs describes in "The Good, The Bad, and The Smelly" and Jane Remfert describes in “Urban Residential Field Tip”). As someone working on pigeons in Northeastern cities, I’ve encountered problems while simply trying to collect my samples. Many ornithologists use mist nets, but these... Continue Reading →
I've spent years trapping rats across Manhattan in New York City as I study the urban evolution and ecology of brown rats (Rattus norvegicus). This fieldwork has led to many experiences, some good, some bad, and some smelly. Below are my thoughts about each. THE GOOD: The lunch…New York City provides endless opportunities for good eats... Continue Reading →
Posted by: Brian C. Verrelli, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA The esteemed evolutionary biologist Douglas J. Futuyma once famously wondered “Wherefore and whither the naturalist?” in pondering the role of naturalists and the future of natural history studies. It is hard to imagine one without the other. I could not help but think something similar in... Continue Reading →
Working in urban areas creates a lot of challenges when it comes to gaining access to private lands. Contributor Jane Remfert shares her experience from the field with her tips on how she navigates working on private lands. Posted by: Jane Remfert, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA Sampling in urban field sites involves certain benefits and obstacles. My... Continue Reading →
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