Tag Archives: Japan

To the final estuaries

For the final stop on our Japanese sampling leg, we ventured to the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Tokyo was known as Edo (江戸), or estuary, until it became the imperial capital in 1868. An apt location to end our field expedition … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, domestication, evolution, haploid-diploid | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Three Views of Japan

By the time we reached Sendai, we were heading into our fourth week of sharing one tiny suitcase of clothes, while bags of silica were luxuriously spread across three large suitcases! Games of Jenga in the teeny rental cars were … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, community, evolution, haploid-diploid, natural history | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Along the Mackerel Road

We left Hokkaido and flew to Osaka where we collected our next rental car (our first teeny tiny one!) As our flight was delayed due to weather in Hokkaido, we decided to break the journey between Osaka and Obama (it … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, blogging, community, haploid-diploid, natural history, population genetics, speciation | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An unspoiled frontier

“An unspoiled frontier, an escape from industrialized Japan and a chance to connect with nature …” or so says the Rough Guide to Japan (6th edition, September 2014). We had experienced a bit of the city-scene in Hakodate, but the rest … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, conservation, evolution, natural history, population genetics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

In the northern biosphere

As regular readers will know, I’ve spent the summer traveling around the Northern Hemisphere sampling the red seaweed Gracilaria vermiculophylla, an introduced alga in North America and Europe. I’ve rewound to the beginning of the summer in order to highlight our … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, blogging, community, haploid-diploid, natural history | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Dōmo arigatō

Along with my collaborators, Erik Sotka, Courtney Murren, Allan Strand and our battery of students, we have embarked on an intense summer field season. Erik and I are leading the effort of sampling populations of the introduced red seaweed Gracilaria … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, blogging, community, evolution, haploid-diploid, natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A cladoceran invasion

My posts are about to take on a strong bias towards field work and interviews with the researchers kind enough to offer assistance to our lab as we embark on a Northern Hemisphere tour. Not only will we be sampling seaweeds … Continue reading

Posted in population genetics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The ecological fallout: how radioactivity affects wildlife

The current news about radioactivity being released from a nuclear power plant in Japan is sad and worrisome. We are first concerned about the health and safety of individuals who have volunteered to stay at the power plant; they are … Continue reading

Posted in population genetics | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments