Reminders for First Research Write up:
FIRST Write-up Spring2026 (Gosh there are a lot of details here….!)
Examples of useful papers for First Research Write up:
- Morse and Schmitt (1985)(a useful classic paper for fruit/seed dispersal-although a bit old) Do feel free to cite this in your paper!
- Sipe and Linnerooth 1995 (also a bit old but still a good one) Do feel free to cite this in your paper!
Hint if you go to Google Scholar or the other library data bases and insert the following key terms you should fine some newer articles too- “seed size wind dispersal distance”
- Trump 2016 (This is for when you need a bit of a break.)
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Reminders for Second Research Write up:
Literature Citation Suggestions
- SurfaceWatersAntibioticResist (This is the one we read in class.)
- Klein et al 2018 Antibiotic Use Global Over Time (A general article showing increase in use over time.)
- Schneider 2022 (A good one on phenotypic plasticity in plants.)
- And here are two articles if you are writing up the Dandelion data!
Sample Write-up
My Conversation with Gemini-Mad Libs Research Paper (This actually gives you a pretty good idea of what a very basic research paper should look like.)
Specific Writing Suggestions
- Do consider reviewing some of the basic write-up expectations/suggestions posted above!! Also remember you emailed me comments on “where you went wrong” on your first write-up. Its really great to avoid making the same mistake again.
- Don’t forget your sample sizes (maybe in the Methods)-super important and easy to forget! (look at the list of datasets in the top right R panel).
- Consider writing your results “through” these graphs. You do not need to address any other results, just the results presented in your 4 graphs. Then also describe the patterns you see in your graphs (figures) in words, and add the results of any statistical tests for at least 2 of your 4 graphs!! Any questions about this structure? For example, in your results I should be able to find one or two sentence description of the pattern you found along with the statistical results associated with your particular chosen figures. See the Rmd file for structure of those sentences!! (See also my awesome AI “Mad Libs” example-I think it is pretty funny.)
- Do you remember what goes in the Discussion? (we will talk about it in lab)
- After your Discussion you will have your citations. Research papers should be easy to find-there is a lot out there as long as you choose your keywords strategically. Google Scholar can work well as can the links that Audrey Gunn provided through the library research resources. Make sure these are peer reviewed research papers! Also remember the GIGO rule applies here (garbage in garbage out). This means you still need to proofread your citations even if you use Zotero. This citation format is APA and basically identical to “Ecology” style which is standard in Biology because it is one of the most simple and straight forward styles. I would aim for 4 citations at least? That is one more than last time!
- Are you good with Methods? Any questions?? Please ask!!
- For your figures…many of us prefer these pasted at the very end of your write up since that is what you do when submitting to a journal for publication. Also remember that we generally do not have a title above each graph. We only do that when we have a whole set of 4 graphs all together-which you can do but don’t need to. Do remember to check your units and to add a figure legend below describing what is in your figure. (“Fig. 1. A comparison between……..” Make it sentence-like!)
Dandelion Data: Code we gave you allowed you to make 2 different kinds of graphs. Please use those two and THEN modify that code to make 2 more of your choice! Please include statistical results for at least 2 of these graphs and include those results in your written results section.
Antibiotic Resistance in E. coli Data: Code we gave you allowed you to make 3 different graphs. The first two you ran actually shared some of the same data. Feel free to use the second graph in the series that we gave you code for (graph below) and the third graph we provide code for, BUT then choose 2 more graphs to make. Please include statistical results for at least 2 of these graphs and include those results in your written results section.
Water Sample Data: We provide code to create 3 different graphs. Feel free to include any 2 of those and THEN make 2 of your own! Please include statistical results for at least 2 of these graphs and include those results in your written results section.
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Link to C. elegans paper
Links for Population Genetics Simulation
Population Genetic simulation web site
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Links for wolves handout
1. Go browse this article from 2014…https://www.science.org/content/article/us-park-service-nixes-immediate-genetic-rescue-isle-royale-wolves
How many wolves does this article say were left on Isle Royale in 2014? Main take away message was…?
2. Now go browse this article from 2016….http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/extreme-inbreeding-likely-spells-doom-isle-royale-wolves
How many wolves were left at this point in time? Main take away message was?
3. Now go browse this article from Sept 2018…https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/09/inbred-isle-royale-wolves-get-company-rebooting-world-s-longest-running-ecological
Main take-away message was?
4. And this: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/02/06/isle-royale-wolf-mainland-bridge
5. And this: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/04/06/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-wild-minnesota-wolf
6. And this talks about how they finally got out there this January to survey after having a variety of problems. https://www.mlive.com/news/2026/01/wolf-moose-study-team-reaches-remote-michigan-island-during-deep-freeze.html
Look up the latest on your own!
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MEGA PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS
POSTER MAKING INFO FOR MEGA PROJECT
- Here is the template you will use to make your poster.
- Please make your own copy and save it elsewhere to work on with your group!!!
- Be prepared to share it in a folder after saving it as a pdf! (link coming)
- Please follow the font size and length suggestions in the template!
- Just like in your write-ups you will have an introduction, methods, results, discussion and literature cited sections. Listen carefully in lab for more specific instructions!
DO check out this site that my grad school office mate (Colin) made regarding poster best practices!