- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The seminar, "Best Practices for Scientific Presentations: Information Design, Advanced PowerPoint, and Scientific Storytelling," will take place from 10 to 11 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 15 in 122 Briggs Hall, Kleiber Hall Drive.
"For the past several years I have been teaching workshops to faculty and graduate students at various international organizations/institutions on digital strategies in university instruction," Carey said. These include the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (Nairobi), the European Doctoral School of Demography (Rome), and the Agricultural University of Faisalabad (Pakistan). Carey will package the information he presents on best practices in scientific talks into three domains:
- Information/graphic design concepts—how to visualize information/data clearly and efficiently including decluttering;
- Projection and presentation techniques (PPT)—how to walk audiences through each slide to keep them engaged and their gaze directed; and
- Scientific storytelling—how to structure talks to ensure coherency and flow. Although his workshops typically are multi-day affairs with hands-on projects, he has distilled most of the key concepts and methods into a 50-minute best-practices presentation.
Here's why to attend:
"I ran across this statement while researching: “The amount of time and effort you invest in preparing your talk is in direct proportion to what you have at stake," Carey said. If you attend this presentation, you will know best practices and be made aware of the time it will take you to prepare a talk designed to impress—all depending on “what's at stake."
For more information, contact Carey at jrcarey@ucdavis.edu
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The distinction recognizes outstanding Senate faculty who have achieved the highest level of scholarship. "These are scholars whose work has been internationally recognized and whose teaching performance is excellent," according to the website.
Leal, former professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, serves as a mentor in the campuswide Research Scholars Program in Insect Biology (RSPIB), launched in 2011 and administered by UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty members professor Jay Rosenheim, associate professor Louie Yang and assistant professor Joanna Chiu.
RSPIB aims to provide academically strong and highly motivated undergraduates with a multi-year research experience that cultivates skills that will prepare them for a career in biological research. The annual deadline for undergraduates to apply is April 10.
Leal joins five other current or former faculty members of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology with the “distinguished professor” title: nematologists Howard Ferris and Harry Kaya and entomologists Bruce Hammock, Frank Zalom, Thomas Scott (now emeritus) and James R. Carey. Most are affiliated with RSPIB: Leal, insect physiology; Hammock, insect biochemistry; Zalom, integrated pest management, and Carey, insect demography.
Leal serves as co-chair the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) meeting, to take place Sept. 25-30, 2016 in Orlando, Fla.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Carey, a 35-year member of the UC Davis faculty, is the recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award from the worldwide Entomological Society of America (ESA), announced Richard Levine, ESA's communications program manager.
The award, presented annually to one of the 7000 members of ESA, singles out “what is deemed to be the most outstanding teacher of the year,” Levine said. Carey is the second UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology to receive the honor. Diane Ullman was awarded the prize in 2014.
Carey will receive the honor at the ESA's Nov. 15-18 meeting in Minneapolis, Minn.
He earlier received the 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award from the Pacific Branch of ESA, which covers 11 Western states, U.S. territories and parts of Canada and Mexico; and the UC Davis Academic Senate's 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award, an honor given to internationally recognized professors who excel at teaching.
Over the last five years Carey has developed a technological-savvy teaching program, a groundbreaking model for 21st Century instruction using short, concise videos. He teaches faculty, staff and students how to create the succinct videos, and how to record seminars. All are geared toward ease of learning and increased knowledge retention.
Carey himself has created 125 mini-videos. One of the most viewed is a 12-minute video covering 15 digital ideas and teaching that has drawn national and global attention. For the past several years, Carey has taught video instruction methods throughout the country and for the 9-university Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa. (See his videos on his faculty page at http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/Faculty/James_R_Carey/)
His students continually thank him for motivating, encouraging and inspiring them, praising him as “best teacher” and “invaluable.” A Japanese exchange student lauded him for “his creativity of coursework, unmeasurably broad knowledge and enthusiasm for mentoring.”
His teaching philosophy? “Just as changing weather patterns cannot be understood without a deeper understanding of the drivers of climate change, students need to know the big picture to understand the pixels,” Carey said. “Students learn the need to zoom in and zoom out so that they can consider the details in the context of larger conceptual and operational frameworks.”
Carey teaches two main courses at UC Davis, including an upper-division course titled “Longevity” and a lower-division general education online course titled “Terrorism and War.” In keeping with advancing technology, Carey uses Skype each week to bring in new scientists; uses micro voice, a language miniaturization essay concept, a syllabus familiarization quiz; and paperless exams.
Carey's deep interest in the use of digital technology in academia started when he chaired the UC Academic Senate University Committee on Research Policy. He described a framework or “road map” for using video capture of seminars to increase research synergy across the 10 UC campuses. The University of California TV station, UCTV, then used this publication as a roadmap for creating the video platform, UCTV Seminars. To date, the website has tallied some 10 million seminar downloads.
One reason for the popularity of this new platform, Carey said, “is a low-tech, low-cost, and easy-to-use video recording equipment that anyone can use.” Seminars should be “public,” he said, and the tax-paying public ought to be able to view the seminars for free.
Carey is internationally known for his research in insect demography, mortality dynamics, and insect invasion biology and is considered the preeminent global authority on arthropod demography. Carey was selected a plenary speaker for the 2016 International Congress of Entomology in Orlando, Fla., where he will present “Insect Demography: A 21st Century Tour.”
He holds a bachelor of science degree in fisheries and wildlife biology and a master's degree in entomology from Iowa State University. He received his doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley in 1980 and then joined the UC Davis entomology faculty that year.
Carey is a Fellow of ESA as well as of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Gerontological Society of America, and the California Academy of Science. He has authored 250 scientific publications and three books, including the highly cited Demography for Biologists with Special Emphasis on Insects (Oxford, 1993).
Among his major accomplishments in video technology:
Write Like a Professor: The Research Term Paper. To meet the considerable challenge of teaching writing to classes of 250 students, Carey created a playlist of 13 videos.
One Minute Entomology. Carey innovated the concept of the “one minute expert” by launching student-produced videos that are 60 seconds in length. To date, students taught by Carey and two colleagues have produced more than 125 videos. In this ongoing project, students learn entomology, insect identification, succinct writing and speaking, best practices for slide presentation, peer review and teamwork.
How to Make an Insect Collection. Carey taught undergraduate and graduate students how to gather information and produce short videos for “How to Make an Insect Collection.” The award-winning project, considered by ESA as the best of its kind on the internet, includes a playlist of 11 short videos showing different aspects of insect collecting--from use of nets and hand collecting to pinning mounting and labeling.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
DAVIS--The African country of Namibia, one of the least densely populated countries in the world, should be on everyone's bucket list, says Distinguished Professor James R. Carey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, who will give a special presentation on “African Odyssey: A Natural History and Cultural Journey Through Uganda, Namibia and Kenya” on Wednesday, May 6 on the UC Davis campus.
Carey's highly produced, digitally-sophisticated production will include photographs, video and audio of wildlife, people and places that he and his wife, Patty, experienced while traveling in three African countries.
The presentation, open to all interested persons, will be from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall. Sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, it will be video-recorded and posted on the Internet for later viewing.
Carey, who received the 2015 Distinguished Teaching Award from the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America (PBESA) for his technological innovations, creativity and excellence in the UC system and beyond, has taught video instruction methods for the 9-university Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa, including Nairobi, Kampala and Uganda for several years.
"Africa is a cultural and natural history treasure trove that far exceeded our expectations on all of our road trips through several countries,” Carey said. “One of the continent's best kept secrets is the country of Namibia in the southwest with its stunning beauty, friendly people, impressive roads and national parks teaming with wildlife. It is on few people's bucket list of places to visit---but it should be at the top of the list for Africa."
The presentation will include includes material from their 2,000 mile road trip in Uganda (2014) to see the critically endangered mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the Batwa Pigmys in Mgahinga National Park, chimpanzees at the Budongo Field Station, and wildlife in Murchison Falls National Park (Nile headwaters).
Their 1,800 mile road trip around Namibia (2015) included safaris in Etosha National Park, an overland expedition to see the desert elephants in Twyfelfontein, a drive along the Skeleton Coast, a walk through the world's largest fur seal colony at Cape Cross, a kayak adventure among swimming seals in Walvis Bay, guided tours through Himba and Damara tribal villages, and a trek along the crest of the world's second highest sand dune (Sossusvlei's Big Daddy).
He also will engage his audience with the sights and sounds of the fog-harvesting Namib Desert beetle, the “click language” of bushmen, ancient petroglyphs, and the professional Safari Cats Dancers & Acrobats from Nairobi.
Professor Carey videographed the trip, while his wife Patty and sister-in-law Barbara Brown captured the still photographs.
Namibia, a former Germany colony, is named for the Naimb Desert, considered the oldest desert in the world. Namibia's population is 2.1 million.
Carey last year received the 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award from the UC Davis Academic Senate, an honor given to internationally recognized professors who excel at teaching.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Scott is the recipient of the C. W. Woodworth Award, the highest honor given by PBESA. He will present a 20-minute seminar at the meeting.
In addition, the department's Linnaean team will compete at the PBESA meeting for a chance to participate in the national ESA's Linnaean Games. In the Linnaean Games, university teams--primarily comprised of graduate students--answer randomly selected questions about insects, entomologists, and entomological facts. It's a fun-filled competition with friendly rivalries. Further details on the Linnaean game will be announced later.
The ESA meeting is set Nov. 15-18 in Minneapolis.
The PBESA meeting, to be held in in the Coeur d'Alene Resort, is themed “Celebrating Entomological Discoveries in the Pacific Branch.”
The opening plenary speaker is Bethany Marshall of Washington State University who will discuss "Natureas Teacher, Insect as Muse." See the official announcement.
Links (read about their work)
James Carey
Thomas Scott
Mohammad-Amir Aghaee