PHE’s Mark Stoeckle and colleague David Thaler published a new research paper in PLOS ONE, DNA Barcoding Works in Practice but Not in (Neutral) Theory. The paper examines what DNA barcoding can tell us about how evolution works. The authors argue for a radically different view of evolution to account for the widespread pattern of limited variation within species and larger differences among them, a feature that underlies the general effectiveness of DNA barcoding.
News
Peak Farmland and Potatoes
We post Peak Farmland and Potatoes, Jesse Ausubel’s Plenary address to the 2014 Potato Business Summit of the United Potato Growers of America, San Antonio, 8 January 2014.
Rockefeller #1
We share in the pride of everyone at The Rockefeller University that it ranked #1 in a recent survey of the impact of research of 750 universities around the world.
Science Saturday May 3 2014
Kate Stoeckle (Sushigate–How We Became DNA Detectives–You Can Too!) and Mark Stoeckle (Citizens Help Study Icky and Mysterious City Pest–Cockroaches) showcased their work on May 3 at Rockefeller’s first “Science Saturday” which attracted 740 people including 375 children to view many wonders of science practiced by Rockefeller researchers.
Liberazione dell’Ambiente at Amazon
Jesse Ausubel’s autobiography, La liberazione dell’ambiente, is now available at Amazon Italy and on sale in bookstores throughout Italy. Here’s a photo of Jesse with publisher Sante di Renzo, editor Maria Pia Felici, and the designer of La liberazione dell’ambiente, with photos of copies on sale in bookstores in Rome and Florence May 2014
DNA barcoding and taxonomy’s future
Mark Stoeckle is interviewed by Jenny Marder for PBS News Hour on DNA barcoding and taxonomy’s future
Cal Tech Harris Distinguished lecture
Together with long-time colleague Nebosja Nakicenovic, Jesse Ausubel will give the William and Myrtle Harris Distinguished lectures in Science and Civilization on “Cars and Civilization” at the California Institute of Technology on 30 April 2014.
Jesse’s autobiography published & on sale
Di Renzo has now published Jesse Ausubel’s short autobiography.
The book spans Jesse’s roots, childhood, and education, and then the major chapters of his career: climate change, industrial ecology, Census of Marine Life, DNA barcoding, Encyclopedia of Life, and Deep Carbon Observatory. Some college humor and an operatic spy story fill out the picture.
For a little more information, please see the 26 February 2014 post.
Including tax and shipping to the USA, the cost on a Mastercard or Visa is EUR 26.48
Breakthrough Institute prize
The Breakthrough Institute has announced that on 22 June in California it will award Jesse Ausubel the Breakthrough Paradigm Prize for 2014. “This annual Prize honors those whose work has made a major contribution to realizing a future where all the world’s inhabitants can enjoy secure, free, prosperous, and fulfilling lives on an ecologically vibrant planet.” Jesse was chosen “in recognition of your scholarship describing how to save nature through the use of technology. Your research and writings on population, technology, energy, materials, agriculture, and pollution have inspired a generation of scholars and analysts focused on reducing humankind’s negative impacts on the nonhuman world. “ Thanks to Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, co-founders of the Breakthrough Institute.
Jesse Ausubel autobiography in Italian
The Roman publisher Di Renzo commissioned Jesse Ausubel to write for its series of short autobiographies, I Dialoghi. Jesse’s 112-page autobiography, La liberazione dell’ambiente (The Liberation of the Environment), will be published in April 2014. Jesse is pleased to be listed after Noam Chomsky and Desmond Morris but before one of his heroes, Giordano Bruno (whose volume is an imaginary interview). Jesse’s story spans his youth and career. Thanks to the outstanding editor and translator at Di Renzo, Maria Pia Felici.