Monday, December 29, 2014

The Urge to Merge: Towards a Unified Theory on the Origin of Species




Above is my keynote lecture from Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia from a workshop on the Evolutionary Genomics of Symbiosis (Recorded December 2nd, 2014).  Part historical, part philosophical, part research, the lecture discusses the history of evolution and symbiosis (from Darwin to today), the culture divide that polarizes to a certain degree contemporary studies of speciation, and the prospects going forward for unifying evolution, genetics and symbiosis into a coherent theory on species formation.

I specifically review our work on F1 and F2 hybrid lethality induced by Wolbachia endosymbionts and the gut microbiome. With regards to the universality of symbiosis in speciation, I end by asking whether our study system of Nasonia wasps is just hyper-prone to symbionts causing reproductive isolation, or instead have we and others just experimentally asked the question of whether symbionts can drive the origin of species where others have not. Often the difference comes down to simply remeasuring the isolation trait after the microbiome is removed. I suggest that the answer is squarely in the latter category. A speciation geneticist will tend to find the nuclear genes underlying speciation. The speciation microbiologist will tend to find the microbes that cause speciation. Combining these approaches together will give the life sciences a more holistic understanding how new animal and plant species arise. We are not yet there, but the horizon is unfolding for the community to watch and join.

In attendance at this workshop were stellar scientists including Margaret Mcfall-Ngai, Ford Doolittle, John Archiblad, Thomas Bosch, Andrew Roger, Rob Beiko, etc. It appears that Dalhousie and Kiel Universities are on a path to merge their graduate training programs into a beacon of symbiosis scholarship. Keep an eye out for it - it will be a good example to follow.



Saturday, December 27, 2014

Tales from the Biosphere with Ed Yong

Science writer Ed Yong talks about Wolbachia, other symbioses, and the modern science communication ecosystem in this podcast. His story-based approach to Wolbachia biology and science in general is natural, entertaining, and understanding of the general audience who he is writing to. Ed has told a few stories about our research here (speciation) and here (antibiotic gene transfer), but you really get to know him in a speaking setting like this podcast. It's like your sitting in the room and getting an insight on Wolbachia biology and the dynamic job of a serious science journalist who thinks deliberately about how to write. Do listen for a few minutes...


"Communicating Science In The Social Media Age: No-One Has To Read This... " 30th October 2014, University College Cork



Friday, December 26, 2014

Family-friendly travel policies at universities

This post is inspired by the increasing and welcome trend of large academic conferences that provide onsite childcare services. There is good news and some bad news about this service.

The good news is that faculty, staff, and students who take advantage of this relatively new service at meetings now have a way to attend conferences and advance their careers as single parents or dual-career parents. Without such a service, it fair to say their professional development and networking would be (and has been for some) hampered. Reduced opportunities to speak about your work, meet colleagues, and hear about the latest greatest work in the field translates for many to reduced career growth.

The bad news is that the childcare services are heavily overpriced for reasons that probably relate to the observation that the companies have large expenses of their own. Some of them travel around the country to conferences, essentially offering a mobile unit of childcare. They also clearly have a monopoly on the price of care as they are the only service at the conference site. No competition breeds hefty prices. Moreover, bringing children to conferences is bad news for the travelers as the children's airfare has to be covered somehow.

About a year ago, I asked the twitterverse if any universities have family friendly policies that support the costs of child airfare or childcare services at conferences. It just seemed like a natural thing to provide yet my own institution did not. I got one reply, and that one was enough to launch a search for how common this service is. Since then, Ive noticed a number of universities that provide such a service. They are listed below.

If you don't have a family friendly travel policy at your own academic institution, well hopefully you now have some motivation to write your Faculty Senate about driving the change. I am going to do so right away (example letter to Vanderbilt below). If you do have a family friendly travel policy that isn't on this list yet, let me know and Ill add it.

Cornell University | Faculty Dependent Care Travel Fund | $1500 per year
Northwestern University | Dependent Care Professional Travel Grant Program | $750 per year
University of Michigan | Child Travel Expense Policy | $1000 per year
Brown University | Dependent Care Travel Fund | $750 per year
UC Berkeley | Dependent Care Travel Policy | In development


EXAMPLE LETTER

December 27, 2014                                                                          

Dear Paul and Colleagues:

Thank you for taking the time to read this proposal on behalf of Vanderbilt University's single and dual-career parents. From research staff to faculty, parents in academia often struggle to find the work-life balance and financial resources to attend national and international meetings because the costs of airfare and childcare services are near prohibitive. Indeed, childcare is an increasing and welcome trend at large meetings, yet without the support to travel to conferences, staff and faculty parents must restrict their professional development and networking. As a result, their (and Vanderbilt's) scholarship is at a disadvantage relative to parents who are not juggling a single or dual career in academia.

In response to this escalating demand, universities are launching Family-Friendly Travel Policies. I have listed five examples below with web links in red. Each of them support parents with financial assistance for airfare and/or childcare services to attend meetings. At a time when single and dual-career parents are rising, it seems that a similar policy at Vanderbilt would not only lift the burden of current employees, but serve as a recruiting tool for those that consider family policies in the job search. A reduced opportunity to speak about your work, meet colleagues, and hear about the latest work in the field translates for many to reduced career growth. We can eliminate this bias and at the same time lift the spirit around family-friendly policies at Vanderbilt. 

Ø  Cornell University | Faculty Dependent Care Travel Fund | $1500 per year
Ø  Northwestern University | Dependent Care Professional Travel Grant Program | $750 per year
Ø  University of Michigan | Child Travel Expense Policy | $1000 per year
Ø  Brown University | Dependent Care Travel Fund | $750 per year
Ø  UC Berkeley | Dependent Care Travel Policy | In development

Thank you very much for considering this Faculty Life principle.


Sincerely,
Seth Bordenstein

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Should you consider attending ASM 2015 this spring?

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The general program for the 2015 American Society of Microbiology meeting in New Orleans is out, and registration is now open. The sessions look incredible, and I've listed them below as I imagine they might resonate with many of the readers of this blog. The bolded sessions look particularly interesting for scholars of symbiosis or host-microbe interactions. This is one conference that makes a daring attempt to cover the many exciting developments in all of microbiology, including a major focus on eukaryotic-microbe symbioses.

I've had the great pleasure of attending two other general ASM conferences in the past few years and am always deeply impressed with 1) gender balance of speakers 2) career development stage of speakers 3) the opportunity to meet those people you've always wanted to 4) the high quality of the lectures 5) the vendor booths (ton of free science schwag) 6) the remarkable organization. This is a PROFESSIONAL meeting in every sense of the word. Do consider coming and if it is your first time, I promise that you will not be disappointed. Hope to see you there.

If you have kids, ASM is very good about offering onsite childcare services. More info here.

(disclaimer: I am hosting the session on Holobionts and Their Hologenomes in which the following people are scheduled to speak: Eugene and Ilana Rosenberg (Tel Aviv University), Jonathan Klassen (U. Connecticut), and Nicole Webster (Australian Institute of Marine Science)). 

Sunday, May 31

Plenary Sessions
8:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Afternoon Symposia

2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Special Interest Sessions

4:45 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Monday, June 1

Plenary Sessions
8:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Afternoon Symposia

2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Special Interest Sessions

4:45 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 2

Plenary Sessions
8:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.