Congratulations to James Thomson who has just been selected as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada, one of Canada’s highest academic honours.

James D. Thomson has investigated pollination biology and pollinator behavior from novel perspectives. Notably, his models and measurements of the fates of pollen grains explain phenomena that are not treated in other bodies of theory.

Congratulations to Professors Asher Cutter and Stephen Wright, who have just been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.

During the academic year 2010-2011, Dan has been honored to be a Senior Visiting Fellow of the Collegium Budapest.  His photo exhibit 'Landscapes' will be on view June 15-July 31, 2011 at Collegium Budapest.  In recognition of this singular honor and pleasure, Dan is delighted to donate all proceeds from the sale of photographs in this exhibition to the Hungarian foundation NEST (New Europe School for Theoretical Biology and Theoretical Ecology).

Jessica Forrest has won the Governor General’s Gold Medal for her PhD thesis work with James Thomson on the interplay between species interactions and environmental change. Jessica’s thesis is entitled "Plant-pollinator interactions in a changing climate". The Governor General’s Gold Medal was first awarded in 1873 by the Earl of Dufferin. This award has since become one of the most prestigious that a student at a Canadian educational institution may receive.  The Gold Medal is awarded to three students who achieved the highest academic standing at the graduate level.

Devin Bloom, a Ph.D. ... read more

Congratulations to EEB Professor John Stinchcombe, who has been awarded a 2011 NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement to support his work on the "Ecological genomics of plant adaptation". The Discovery Accelerator Supplement Program provide substantial and timely additional resources to a small group of outstanding researchers who have a well-established research program. The aim is to accelerate progress and maximize the impact of outstanding research programs. Each supplement is valued at $120,000 over three years, and will provide recipients with additional resources to compete with the best in the world.

This year's Undergraduate Research Fair event was a great success!  Seventeen students showcased the results of their independent research  projects.

  ... read more

The recipient of EEB's Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award for 2010-11 is:

Susana Wadgymar (Weis lab)

This annual award, started in 2007-08, recognizes the important role of TAs in our department and publicly honours the efforts, talents, and dedication of TAs who make an exceptional contribution to the learning experience of their students. Students nominate their TA for this award.

Past recipients are: Alison Cloutier (2007-08), Rob Colautti, Rob Ness,
Murilo Peixoto, and Paul Venturelli (2008-09), and Emily Austen and
Jeffrey Harsant (2009-10).

Susana TA'd in both BIO120H Adaptation and Biodiversity and EEB319H
Population Ecology in 2010-11. A student in EEB319H wrote:  “Not only is ... read more

Profs Tammy Sage and Rowan Sage awarded grant from the Canadian International Development Agency to assist efforts of the International Rice Research Institute and the C4 Rice Consortium to guide breeding and engineering for improved rice yields. ... read more

Attention:  EEB Graduate Faculty, Post docs and graduate students,

The EEB Graduate Appreciation Night will be held on Saturday, April 9, 2011. This will be the concluding event of the departmental colloquium.  It will be hosted by the Tri-Campus Graduate Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the Faculty Club, St.George campus.  Please be sure to RSVP to Laura Ferlito (grad [dot] eeb (at)utoronto [dot] ca) by *March 21, 2011*.

I anticipate a fine evening of socializing and recognizing the accomplishments of our outstanding graduate students.  Please join us.

Best regards,

Nick Collins
Associate Chair Graduate Studies