Course – 1st Edition
Comparative Approaches in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Science
October 9th-13th, 2017, Valencia (Spain)
Ecology
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Course Overview
The last decades have witnessed significant changes in the attitudes of ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and conservation scientists towards open-access data. The availability of information on species’ conservation status (IUCN), geographic ranges (GBIF), functional traits (CLOPA, BIEN) and demographic rates (COMPADRE, COMADRE, BIDDABA, MALDABA, DATLife) offer the unprecedented opportunity to examine global drivers of life history strategies using robust statistical tools on large datasets and phylogenetic methods.
This workshop brings together some of the leaders in functional ecology, demography, conservation science, and phylogenetic analyses to train participants on the combined predictive potential of these disciplines for ecology, evolution and conservation biology at a global scale. The first half of the week will be devoted to equipping the participants with key theoretical and technical knowledge, while during the second half the participants will develop group projects using the analytical approaches and open-access data made available during the course.
The course is specifically targeted towards graduate students (MSc and PhD), postdocs and senior researchers with an interest in being exposed to big data in these fields, or with strength in one of the aforementioned disciplines but interest in merging approaches and theories with others (e.g. phylogenetic comparative analyses).
Requirements
Participants must be familiar with R to the level of being able to interpret R scripts (with comments) provided by the instructors.
Familiarity with at least one of the following disciplines is recommended: Population ecology, phylogenetic comparative analyses, functional ecology, and big data.
All participants must bring their own personal laptop.
Contact
LOCATION
DATE
January 14th-18th, 2019
LANGUAGE
English
COURSE LENGTH & ECTS
32.5 hours on-site.
This course is equivalent to 2 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) at the Life Science Zurich Graduate School.
The recognition of ECTS by other institutions depends on each university or school.
PLACES
Places are limited to 25 participants and will be occupied by strict registration order.
Participants who have completed the course will receive a certificate at the end of it.
Dr. Ignasi Bartomeus
Estación Biológica de Doñana
Spain
Dr. Dalia Amor Conde
Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging
Denmark
Dr. Jean-Michel Gaillard
CNRS – Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive
France
Dr. Jean-François Lemaître
CNRS – Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive
France
Dr. Alejandro Ordonez-Gloria
Aarhus Universitet
Denmark
Dr. Owen R. Jones
Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging
Denmark
Dr. Rob Salguero-Gómez
University of Sheffield
United Kingdom
Dr. Ana Rosa Gómez-Cano
Transmitting Science
Spain
Dr. Soledad De Esteban-Trivigno
Transmitting Science
Spain
Contact: courses@transmittingscience.com
Program
Daily Program
Monday, 9th October, 2017.
- Morning:
- Welcome to Transmitting Science (S. De Esteban-Trivigno).
- Introduction of course and instructors (R. Salguero-Gómez).
- Introduction of participants (All).
- Course expectations (R. Salguero-Gómez).
- Matrix population models (R. Salguero-Gómez).
- Exercises with matrix population models (All).
- Intro to COMPADRE & COMADRE (O. R. Jones).
- Afternoon:
- Exercises with COMPADRE & COMADRE (All).
- Life history traits (R. Salguero-Gómez and O. R. Jones).
- Exercises on derivation of life history traits (All).
- Transient dynamics (R. Salguero-Gómez).
- Exercises on transient dynamics (All).
- Intro to MALDABBA & BIDDABA (J.-M. Gaillard and J.-F. Lemaître).
- Exercises with MALDABBA & BIDDABA (All).
Tuesday, 10th October, 2017.
- Morning:
- Fast-slow continuum of life history strategies (J.-M. Gaillard).
- Exercises and discussion on fast-slow continuum (All).
- IUCN species list (D. A. Conde).
- Exercises IUCN species list (All).
- DISKo & GenBank database (D. A. Conde).
- Exercises with DISKo database and GenBank (All).
- Afternoon:
- Functional diversity and biogeography (GBIF) (A. Ordonez-Gloria).
- Exercises functional traits and species distribution (All).
- Merging data: Taxize and other packages (I. Bartomeus).
- Exercises merging data (All).
- Discussion on group projects with the instructors (All).
Wednesday, 11th October, 2017.
- Morning:
- Intro to phylogenetic analyses (O. R. Jones).
- Exercises with phylogenetic analyses (All).
- Advanced phylogenetic analyses (O. R. Jones).
- Exercises with phylogenetic analyses (All).
- Afternoon:
- Imputation of missing data (A. Ordonez-Gloria).
- Ten most common mistakes that I have done (or witnessed) with big data (I. Bartomeus).
- Working group discussion (All).
- Working group discussion (All).
- Group projects (All).
- Ping-Pong tournament (All).
Thursday, 12th October, 2017.
- Morning:
- Module on interest group A (All).
- Group projects (All).
- Group projects (All).
- Afternoon:
- Module on interest group B (All).
- Group projects (All).
- Volunteers’ presentations (All).
Friday, 13th October, 2017.
- Morning:
- Module on interest group C (All).
- Group projects (All).
- Volunteers’ presentations (All).
- Afternoon:
- Group projects (All).
- Volunteers’ presentations (All).
- Course evaluation and certification (S. De Esteban-Trivigno).
- Closing of course (R. Salguero-Gómez).
Fees
- Course Fee
- Early bird (until January 31st, 2020):
- 545 € *
(436 € for Ambassador Institutions) - Regular (after January 31st, 2020):
- 634 € *
(507.20 € for Ambassador Institutions) - This includes course material, coffee breaks and lunches (VAT included).
* Participants from companies/industry will have an extra charge of 100 €.
- Course Fee + Accommodation Package
- Early bird (until January 31st, 2020):
- 895 €*
(786 € for Ambassador Institutions)
- Regular (after January 31st, 2020):
- 984 €*
(857.20 € for Ambassador Institutions) - This includes course material, coffee breaks, transportation between the Venue and Heraklion, accommodation from Sunday to Friday, breakfasts, lunches and dinners (VAT included).
* Participants from companies/industry will have an extra charge of 100 €.
You can check the list of Ambassador Institutions. If you want your institution to become a Transmitting Science Ambassador please contact us at communication@transmittingscience.com
Schedule
Course Schedule
Participants will make their own way
- Wednesday to Sunday:
- 9:30 to 13:30 Lessons.
- 13:30 to 15:00 Lunch (included).
- 15:00 to 18:00 Lessons.
The class schedule is approximate; it is possible that the content of one day may run into the next and a working day may be longer than advertised.
Course + Accommodation Package Schedule
- Tuesday:
- 19:00 Meeting point in Estación del Norte (Valencia train station) to take the bus to Grao de Gandía.
- 20:00 Registration at the Hotel.
- 20:30 Dinner.
- Wednesday to Saturday:
- 08:00 to 09:00 Breakfast
- 9:30 to 13:30 Lessons
- 13:30 to 15:00 Lunch (included)
- 15:00 to 18:00 Lessons
- 20:30 Dinner
- Sunday:
- 8:00 to 9:00 Breakfast.
- 9:30 to 13:30 Lessons
- 13:30 to 15:00 Lunch (included)
- 15:00 to 18:00 Lessons
- 18:00 Meeting point in the Venue to take the bus to Valencia city.
- 19:00 Arrival at Estación del Norte (Valencia train station).
Valencia train station is connected with Valencia Airport by subway. There will be more information about how to get there soon.
The class schedule is approximate; it is possible that the content of one day may run into the next and a working day may be longer than advertised.
Accommodation
If you take the Accommodation Package you will be hosted in the Cibeles Hotel, in single-sex shared dormitories (2 – 3 people) with bathroom en-suite.
A supplemental charge will be added if you prefer to stay in a single room.
Accommodation is included from Sunday (check-in) to Friday (check-out). Breakfast, lunch and dinner are also provided during the week, starting from the dinner of Sunday to lunch of Friday (included).
Hotel Cibeles is located at 3 blocks from the Venue and 3 blocks from the beach.
More information
The Accommodation Package includes transportation from the centre of Heraklion to the venue and back, at the start and end of the course, respectively. The trip takes around 1 hour 50 minutes each way. If you require transportation from or to Chania (the other city of Crete with an airport), please contact the course coordinator who can arrange it at an additional cost.
If you do not wish to take the Accommodation Package, you can find a few other options in the surrounding area. However, please be aware that access to and travelling around the area requires a private vehicle as public transport is scarce. Therefore, course participants will find choosing the Accommodation Package more convenient.
Funding
Discounts are not cumulative and apply only on the Course Fee. We offer the possibility of paying in two instalments (contact courses@transmittingscience.com).
5 % Discount
Former participants will have a 5 % discount on the Course Fee.
20 % Discount
20 % discount on the Course Fee is offered for members of some organizations (Ambassador Institutions). If you want to apply to this discount please indicate it in the Registration form (proof will be asked later).
40 % Discount
Unemployed scientists living in the country were the course will be held, as well as PhD students based in that country without any grant or scholarship to develop their PhD, could benefit from a 40 % discount on the Course Fee. If you want to ask for this discount, please contact the course coordinator. That would apply for a maximum of 2 places and they will be covered by strict inscription order.
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Funding
Discounts are not cumulative and apply only on the Course Fee. We offer the possibility of paying in two instalments (contact courses@transmittingscience.com).
5 % Discount
Former participants will have a 5 % discount on the Course Fee.
20 % Discount
20 % discount on the Course Fee is offered for members of some organizations (Ambassador Institutions). If you want to apply to this discount please indicate it in the Registration form (proof will be asked later).
40 % Discount
Unemployed scientists living in the country were the course will be held, as well as PhD students based in that country without any grant or scholarship to develop their PhD, could benefit from a 40 % discount on the Course Fee. If you want to ask for this discount, please contact the course coordinator. That would apply for a maximum of 2 places and they will be covered by strict inscription order.