Guest speaker Dr. Douglas Sponsler will discuss “Strong exploration: a philosophy of empirical ecology.”
Abstract:
Empirical ecologists are, as a rule, a happy lot, doing for a living what they would otherwise do for free. It comes as a unwelcome surprise, however, to many a wader-clad, sweep-net wielding graduate student that adventures in empirical ecology easily become misadventures in theoretical and statistical ecology. What, after all, is tick-borne disease compared with the ghastly experience of model non-convergence? What is sunburn to the searing contempt of Reviewer 2? This presentation is for every empirical ecologist who --- having finally completed the field season, processed the last sample, or gotten the model to run --- is faced with the dread realization that they have forgotten, or perhaps never known, what the project was all about. I begin with a look at how theoretical language --- particularly the language of hypotheses and predictions --- is used and abused in ecological literature. From there, I clarify the distinction between confirmatory and exploratory modes of science and how these idealized workflows relate to actual research practices. This distinction established, I show that the confirmatory and exploratory modes of science can be reconciled in the deeper unity of explicit process models. When anchored in explicit, credible, and validated process models --- the criteria for what I will term "strong exploration" --- the exploratory mode that often prevails in empirical ecology is no less rigorous than the confirmatory mode that empirical ecologists feel compelled to feign. It is never too early, but also never too late, to discover the unifying logic of one's project --- and even the distinction between late and early may prove no more than a matter of perspective.
Bio:
Doug Sponsler is a Philadelphia-based ecologist, teacher, and writer. He holds PhD in entomology from Ohio State University and has worked as postdoctoral researcher at Penn State University and the University of Würzburg. The unifying theme of his research, from the rooftops of Philly to the endangered grasslands of Europe, is the trophic ecology of flowers and insects. During the school year, Doug is a full-time high school science teacher; during the summer months, he enjoys research collaborations, writing projects, and beekeeping.