Educational Policies Committee Program Proposal, College of Natural Resources, September 13, 2013 - MS and PhD in Forestry

The Department of Wildland Resources proposes to restructure its MS and PhD in Forestry by dropping the existing specializations in Forest Biology and in Forest Economics and Policy

Daily Maine Campus survey results: Student not offended by sexist language

The majority of female students who responded to the recent Daily Maine Campus survey said they are not offended when sexist language is used in the classroom and they have not been the victims of sexual discrimination in class. Students from the departments of geology, forest biology, journalism, computer science, business, and philosophy participated in the survey

Online forest biology and tree identification graduate class for public school educators

As a result of certification and accreditation standards, public school teachers are often required to take graduate education courses. However, it is often difficult for these teachers/students to take courses in residence at campuses. Further, there is often a shortage of specialized courses in their area of teaching. There is also a demand for natural-resource-based classes since, in Virginia, many of the standards of learning can be effectively taught using examples from forests. In response to the above issues, we developed an entirely online graduate course that covered forest biology, management, and tree identification. In the summer of 2001, 24 students successfully completed the course. Students were required to learn to identify 80 trees and shrubs in nine separate groups. They were also taught tree growth and structure, reproduction, carbon uptake, water relations, growth regulators, cold hardiness and dormancy, soils and site productivity, and silviculture. The course content was delivered on three CD-ROMS and administration occurred through a Web site. Nine cumulative tree ID quizzes were given online as well as two comprehensive exams covering the tree biology topics. We will present the basic structure of the course, class administration, share insights and student feedback

Plant Index Card for \u3cem\u3eRubus parviflorus\u3c/em\u3e,Western Thimbleberry

This is one example of a research card used by Dr. Jane Claire Dirks-Edmunds. Dirks-Edmunds used these cards to catalog the plants, animals, and insects at her Saddleback Mountain research site during the 1950s. This card has notes on Rubus parviflorus (thimbleberry) a part of the Rosaceae (rose) family

New Prey Families for \u3ci\u3eCrabro Advena\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

Three new prey families of adult Diptera are presented for Crabro advena, bringing to 14 the total number of fly families captured by this euryphagous wasp. The variety of prey flies used as provisions by this species is probably related to its varied nesting habitat

First Record of \u3ci\u3eTachysphex Pechumani\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) From Indiana

A nesting population of Tachysphex pechumani is recorded from near Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Porter County, Indiana. This record is a western extension of the known range of this uncommon species. Nesting biology of T. pechumani at this locality was similar to previously published observations on this species

\u3ci\u3eAuplopus Carbonarius,\u3c/i\u3e, a Palearctic Spider Wasp, Extends Its Range to Michigan (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae)

Three females of Auplopus carbonarius, a Palearctic species detected recently in southeastern New York, were collected in a Malaise trap in Ann Arbor, Michigan, during the summer of 1988. Females of the species can be separated morphologically from those of the similar A. variolarum by the polished and essentially impunctate pygidium, dusky wings, and median clypeal tooth

A New Host Family for \u3ci\u3eLyroda Subita\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

Lyroda subita, a sphecid that ordinarily stocks its cells with Gryllidae, is reported provisioning a two-celled nest in upstate New York with Tridactylidae. The structure of the nest, depth of celis, stages of wasps, and degree of paralysis of the prey are described