Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dear CAnMove Members,

we are approaching the ending of 2014, which has been a very active and successful year for the CAnMove program. Still we can enjoy temperatures above zero and some birds have still not left Sweden for wintering further south. In my garden the European robin sang side by side with the wren this morning.

We have passed the Swedish Research Council Midterm Evaluation of the program with continued funding and very good review and recommendation from the expert panel. We can now look forward with confidence and seek support for the longterm future ahead.

The database work is taking form thanks to Mats dedicated work and we are at the stage where we now very soon can fill the database with our varions tracking data, making comparative work and efficient handling of data as well as increasing the visibility as we have planned. Åke Lindström has further taking on the job to coordinate our interests in a planned national database iniative called SeIBER, where CAnMove will be part.

Our technical lab led by Johan and Arne is developing innovative microdataloggers, support projects on computer vision needs by Giuseppe and bioinformatics from Björn with great success. New technology has been implemented to track animal movements across scales and we have taken part in several new collaborative projects. Christina, Caroline and Helena all support us by coordinating communication, meetings and our web site. Peter and Anne help with financial matters. Thank You All for this excellent support and work! Thanks also to the old and new CAnMove Board for Your great support to the program in 2014.

Many research projects which have received funding from CAnMove is now paying off with new interesting data. At the upcoming conference in January, more detailed reports will be given from the projects so please remember to sign up for the conference.

We have further received funding for an information/ E-book project, which has started with excellent speed and engagement from our PhD students and postdocs as well as Aron our photographer. Caroline is doing an excellent job coordinating the project, which has resulted in a large bulk of text and school exercisers for students age 12-16. I am very excited to support the development of the project and see the outcome next year.

I look forward to be part of and stimulate new scientific endevours resulting from the enormous creativity, interactions and engagement among members within and outside CAnMove.

Thank You all for your work and contributions to CAnMove in 2014!

I wish you all a relaxed Christmas Holiday and a successful New Year! See you back in 2015!

Susanne

PhD positions on bird and insect migration

Two PhD opportunities within the frame of ENRAM (“European Network for the Radar surveillance of Animal Movement”) has been announced.
One in Switzerland:
 “Temporal and spatially explicit forecast-model for broad-front bird migration across Switzerland based on radar surveillance”.
The other at Rothamstead/Lancaster: "Changing patterns of insect migration studied with a network of weather radars."

Two different Stable Isotope Short Courses at the University of Utah in 2015

There will be two different Stable Isotope Short Courses at the University of Utah in 2015:

Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry and Ecology, June 15-26, 2015

Isotopes in Spatial Ecology and Biogeochemistry, June 15-26, 2015

https://itce.utah.edu/courses.html  

We are pleased to open the application period for the 2015 Stable Isotope Short Courses at the University of Utah. In addition to the 20th annual offering of the Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry and Ecology Course (aka “Iso-Camp”), emphasizing fundamental environmental and biological theory underlying isotope fractionation processes and a broad spectrum of ecological and environmental applications, we are excited about the 3rd offering of the companion course, Isotopes in Spatial Ecology and Biogeochemistry (aka “The SPATIAL Short Course”), focused on large datasets, spatial analysis and modeling, and scaling with isotopic data.

Both classes will be limited-enrollment, multi-instructor lecture (morning) and laboratory (afternoon) short courses.  The courses are targeted to graduate students and postdoctoral investigators interested in learning more about the applications of stable isotopes at natural abundance levels to environmental, biogeochemical, marine, and ecological studies.  A limited number of lecture-only slots will be reserved for postdocs and faculty looking to gain exposure to scientific and technical course content without the full immersion experience offered by the full lecture+lab sequence.  The courses will:

1)  be offered at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City

2)  be limited to 25-27 participants in order to maximize interaction and access to laboratory resources; an additional 5 openings for the lecture-only course will be made available for postdocs and faculty

3)  consist of a morning lecture/discussion and an afternoon laboratory; each course will feature ~17 instructors, experts selected from across the country for their breadth of experience and for their interest in teaching and interacting with students

4)  include a hands-on laboratory experience each day. 

For Iso-Camp the laboratory experiences will include full access and use of ThermoElectron isotope ratio mass spectrometers and Picarro cavity-ring down spectrometers. The IRMS is equipped with elemental analyzers, continuous flow capacities, GC, TCEA, pre-con, laser, common-acid-bath. Available also are vacuum preparation lines for organic and inorganic compounds of biological and environmental interest. 

For the SPATIAL short course students will work with Picarro CRDS analyzers and a range of geospatial data management and modeling environments, including MySQL, ArcGIS, IsoMAP, R, and various research software packages developed and used by the instructors, their students, and collaborators.

Many of the evenings in both courses will be set aside for discussions of current research interests, group dinners and additional talks. There will also be opportunities for social events in the nearby Wasatch Mountains.

Typically our applicants have come from all across the United States as well as from many different foreign countries.  We select students with a diversity of academic interests, geographical diversity, and research experiences in mind. We seek students who are interested in learning broadly about stable isotope applications and in interacting with other students and faculty.  We encourage applications from members of underrepresented groups. Past participants have had backgrounds in disciplines including animal and plant physiology, ecology and ecosystem science, biogeochemistry, anthropology, atmospheric science, marine science, oceanography, paleontology, forensic science, industry, and geology.

Applications will be accepted until February 6, 2015. Application forms for both courses can be reached through the webpage https://itce.utah.edu/apply.html.  We will notify applicants by the last week of February 2015 regarding acceptance into the course and how to begin planning for lodging arrangements, tuition payments, reading materials, etc.

We will be offering a limited number of participant support awards to offset expenses related to participation in the courses. If you are interested in being considered for one of the awards, additional information beyond the initial application is required. Details are posted on the application website. We will announce recipients by the last week of February 2015, as well.

On behalf of the other instructors who participate in these courses from our campus as well as from across (and beyond!) the United States, let us say that we look forward to your application and encourage you to explore the program information on our website.

Happy Holidays.

Gabe Bowen, Thure Cerling, and Jim Ehleringer

Ecology of Animal Migration course 2015 - put this date in your calender!