Kari Malen

Dou Yue, Zhai Deli and Fan Huan listen attentively

The course included participation in Long Term research projects.  These shots are taken during the Restoration Ecology portion.  This year we took baseline measurements and started a few treatments in both Rubber plantation and Pomelo grove in an effort to understand processes of aiding natural regeneration times.  Looking forward to seeing what happens.  Thanks everyone for your help!

Zhuangfang and family were nice enough to share their home and good cooking will all 30 of us!  Thank you so much.  Here are a few shots from the trip!

Delectable Dai dishes

The ‘beginning’ of this adventure has long since passed.  But here are a few overdue views from those days.  Enjoy!  AND…post some of your photos too (it’s easy)!

What do we do with this?

Schedule Update….

Hello everyone.  There are a few small changed to the schedule that I will announce in lecture tonight, but they are also listed here.  They involve food, so pay attention!

1. July 25…10:00 a.m. After Arthropods and Independent Projects we will have some recreation! Ultimate Frisbee at 6 p.m. in front of the museum (very near to the hotel).  This is optional, but quite fun.  Please join us.

2. July 25 Dinner.  At 8:15 we will meet at the basketball court and have BBQ in town.

3. July 26- 10:00 a.m.  An additional, yet optional, talk will be given on “R” Statistical Program and How to Use it.

It should last 30min to 1 hour. You should bring your laptop computer or work with someone who has one.           He will show how to import/export data, plot and calculate diversity metrics, and run linear regression, PCA, t-test, and ANOVA.

Before coming to the tutorial, in the following order please:

1. Install R
Download the newest version of R here:
http://cran.r-project.org/

2. Then install the vegan package. To do this, once you have R open, on the menu bar go to “packages,” “install package(s),” choose a mirror (the USA CA 1 mirror works well), scroll down and then double click on “vegan.”

3. Then install tinn-R, a text editor for R.
https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/mrhelmus/Tinn-R_1.19.2.3_setup.exe

July 26- 20:00 Ryan Kepler will discuss Cordyceps.  This lecture was previously scheduled for  7/30 and has been changed.

THANKS!!!!

Hello friends and family members who have loved ones here at the AFEC-X course.  In light of the recent earthquake that has made International headlines, I want to let everyone know that the course and all participants were in no way affected. The epicenter was quite far from here and I for one did not even notice.  We are all doing well and thank you for your calls, e-mails and genuine concern.

And so it has begun!!!!

Finally meeting all the faces that I have been communicating with over the last several months has been the highlight  for me in these first days of the course.   It is funny how you start to create a person from e-mail interactions; guessing their voice, personality, mannerisms just from words typed on a white screen. And then to have each of the students and professors personalities come alive all in one place at one time is like when reading a book becomes a movie in your mind.  A bit overwhelming as it is to have everyone in one place, I must say the real live version is much more interesting and dynamic than I could have ever imagined.

There is such a diversity of culture, background and life experience in this group it is certain that we will all benefit from the next 4 weeks. AND with this wonderful blog we get to share it with all of YOU as well as US, as a record of this whole experience.

I look forward to all of it and am happy everyone arrived safely!

-ksm