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Conference Description

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: A Celebration of Research in Arts and Sciences

• Indiana University Northwest’s College of Arts and Sciences is hosting its 4th annual research conference on November 15th and 16th, 2007.
• The purpose of the conference is to showcase research and creative activity in the humanities, social and natural sciences by students (graduate and undergraduate) and faculty.
• All student presenters are eligible for the Arts and Sciences Student Researcher Award. A completed talk / paper / presentation must be submitted by 11/01/2007 to be considered for the award.
• Registration fee for non-IU Northwest participants: $25 / faculty; $10 / student, payable to IU Northwest Arts and Sciences.
• Thursday evening keynote speaker, William J. Cooper, University of California, Irvine, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Director, Urban Water Research Center, Nature Photographer. Dr. Cooper will be presenting a slide show on Yellow Eyed Penguins.

There are 17 species of penguins on Earth. The Yellow Eyed penguins are one of the rarest penguins in the world and live in the southern part of New Zealand and on some of the sounding islands. It is estimated that the total population is around 4,000 individuals. They are the third largest penguin. They breed once a year with the adults sharing both in the incubation of the eggs and feeding the young. The birds fledge in March, at which the adults molt. During molting the adults are confined to land and do not eat for 3 – 4 weeks, usually loosing 2 – 4 kilos in body weight.

It has been estimated that they expend the equivalent energy of running a marathon each day to get food for themselves and when the chicks are in the nest for them, as well. They live in loose colonies but nest beyond sight of another pair. The nest may be as far as one kilometer in land and in some cases to get to their nest they have to navigate up cliffs that are up to 100 meters high.

This presentation, which will be held Thursday evening (November 15th at 6:00pm) will have video footage of the adults feeding 6-day old chicks and a power point presentation which will provide the back setting of the Otago Peninsula, south island New Zealand.

• Friday’s lunchtime keynote speaker, will be Dr. Spencer Cortwright, Associate Professor of Biology, Indiana University Northwest. He will present “Nature through Ecological Eyes,” which focuses on an ecologist’s interpretation of Midwestern nature preserves. This presentation will begin at 12:15pm in the Library Conference Center.

Many people visit nature preserves, and each person’s experience is unique. Psycho-social release, aesthetics, exercise, etc. are some of the motivations for visiting nature preserves. "Seeing" nature preserves through an ecologist’s eyes adds another interesting and exciting perspective to those traversing nature preserves. This presentation displays thematically arranged slides (e.g. drought effects on plants, animal coloration, etc.) taken in Midwestern nature preserves. The images display what a scientist sees in the preserve and emphasizes that there are plenty of interesting and insightful things to contemplate beyond a surface view of the preserve. These sorts of things are easy to see, and exposing them is intellectually stimulating. Moreover, identifying important ecological processes and rationalizing their causes is fun. Each individual can learn to find ways to reject early ideas as they revisit preserves year after year. In the end, visits to local nature preserves are magnified in terms of personal values.