News
Urban Sparrows Change Their Tune April 3, 2012
The noisy hustle and bustle of the modern American city has affected the behavior of urban songbirds. In this article from the journal Animal Behaviour, Assistant Professor Elizabeth Derryberry looks at the white-crowned sparrow, whose birdsong changed between 1969 and 2005 to keep up with the rise in urban ambient noise. Not only did the birds get louder, but they started singing new songs that could better compete with the sounds of the city. A comparison of the old and new songs suggests the birds' cultural evolution and communication has been impacted.
The Ecology of the Lower 9th Ward March 26, 2012
The New York Times Magazine taps Dr. Mike Blum for insight into the ecology of a post-Katrina Lower 9th Ward in this in-depth article regarding the recovery of the community. Nearly 7 years after the storm, this devastated neighborhood may be still struggling to rebuild, but the flora and fauna have been thriving. Dr. Blum discusses the strong and strange ecological revitalization that has occurred in the Lower 9th Ward, a subject he has been studying as one part of a broader cannon of research relating to recovery from catastrophic events.
A Fish Called 'Caruso' March 14, 2012
A new study from the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology named a new genus of lopliid anglerfishes from the Eocene period, Caruso, after EEB's own Dr. John Caruso.
The Glow Means No! October 18, 2011
Bioluminescence is an evolutionary trait that is found in various creatures, including fish, microorganisms, mushrooms and insects. But not all organisms glow for the same reasons. Biologists, including EEB's own Justin Yeager, have found why the only known bioluminescent millipede glows…
A New Way to Look at Forest Dynamics October 12, 2011
The Manaus region of the Amazon is littered with treefall gaps. But until now, scientists were not able to accurately measure them. Tulane EEB researcher Dr. Robinson Negrón-Juárez along with Dr. Jeffrey Chambers and other colleagues, have published a paper that quantifies treefall gap size and finds that these small disturbances cumulatively account for a larger portion of the annual deforestation of this Amazonian region than previously thought. The significance of the paper's findings was noted by the Faculty of 1000 (www.f1000.com), a website administered by key figures in the fields of medicine and biology that selects the most important journal articles published each month.
Nile Crocodile is Two Species September 14, 2011
Faculty Hope to Inspire Future Scientists August 12, 2011
As the fall semester approaches, three professors in the Tulane Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology are synthesizing lessons learned from a prestigious summer institute that teaches faculty how to interest undergraduate students in science...
'Green Lantern' Film Taps Tulane Expert July 28, 2011
What does a dead space alien really look like? When the Green Lantern movie crew, filming in New Orleans, needed to know if their special-effects creations were believable, they turned to Tulane biologist and longtime science fiction fan Bruce Fleury for advice...
A Frog Endangered, But Extinct No More June 17, 2011
'Extinct' frog was under our noses all the time June 15, 2011
Scientists Brew 'Green' Dispersants in Gulf Spill's Wake April 20, 2011
Oil-Eating Bacteria Engineered April 5, 2011
Media Turn to Faculty to Grasp Oil Disaster June 8, 2010
Ever since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20, Tulane faculty members have been called on by the national media to discuss the impact of the ensuing oil leak on wildlife, human health, the economy and the culture of the Gulf Coast...
School of Science and Engineering, 201 Lindy Boggs Center, New Orleans, LA 70118 504-865-5764 sse@tulane.edu