Boundaries

It's end-of-semester crunch time, so I probably won't be rambling on here much for the next week or so. I have a final project due for my ecological systems modeling course that includes a manuscript and conference-style presentation. And I need to write a proposal for my final dissertation chapter topic to give to my advisor before I leave town for winter break. At this point I will just be thrilled to finish everything in time!

Before "signing off" for a bit I do want to share an article that was in my science news email this morning:

What is the meaning of 'one' plant or animal?

The paper promotes an interesting discussion of boundaries and what the definition of an organism should be based on levels of cooperation (link to actual paper is below).  We cover topics like this in the Ecology as a Research Discipline course at the start of our PhD studies - one of the two required courses for PiE students.

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READING: Queller et al. (2009) Beyond society: the evolution of organismality. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences.

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