CISAB | Guest Speaker Comments

C E N T E R F O R T H E I N T E G R A T I V E S T U D Y O F A N I M A L B E H A V I O R

A C A D E M I C S

V I S I T I N G S P E A K E R C O M M E N T S

Each year, the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior invites prominent researchers to campus to give a guest lecture and to interact with students in the Program in Animal Behavior. Over the years, we've asked speakers to comment on their impression of our program and to suggest ways in which we might improve. We are proud of the academic reputation Indiana University has acquired for research and training in animal behavior.

"You'll get high marks from me! I can say, quite sincerely, that my 'official' hosts, Bill Rowland and his students, provided the most intellectual stimulation that I have felt in many years of giving colloquia on the lecture circuit... I came away with new ideas, which is, after all, the best compliment I can give you...[I]nterdisciplinary research not only is here to stay but may be an approach that we disregard at our peril."

Karen L. Hollis (1994)
Department of Psychology & Education
Mount Holyoke College

HOLLIS RESEARCH

"I perceive the strength of the RTG to be its interdisciplinary nature. You have escaped the box into which the current bandwagon of behavioral ecology has driven... I had a wonderful time with Bill Rowland's students...The research being done on fish behavior is among the best anywhere... I have advised a number of undergraduates to apply for graduate school at IU... because, over the last decade, it has become one of the best universities for the study of animal behavior."

George W. Barlow (1991)
Department of Zoology
U.C.-Berkeley

CISAB LECTURE

"My impression was that the RTG was doing an impressive job of bringing people together and creating interactions that might not have existed otherwise... [I]t goes without saying that your group is made up of a number of really first class researchers."
W.G. (Ted) Hall (1992) Department of Psychology Duke University	CISAB LECTURE

"[M]y interactions with students and faculty and postdocs were impressive and abundant. I left feeling very fortunate that I had experienced such an educational time -- and very envious (though not in a malevolent way) -- of the folks who could enjoy the environment that I discovered there!"
Janice Moore (1992) Department of Zoology Colorado State University

"I think the sheer density of expertise is a big strength... [I]s there a greater critical mass of animal behavior folks anywhere east of Davis and west of Oxford?"
Martin Daly (1991) Department of Psychology McMaster University	CISAB LECTURE

"I enjoyed my visit with the students and the faculty a great deal. I returned to UCLA envious that you had a group interested in behavior and physiology. The ability to share ideas, and the enthusiasm associated with these ideas, was refreshing. So much biology has become reduced to molecules and cells while loosing the whole organism. I enjoyed the CISAB integration of all of these.... I would [advise students to apply to the program], especially if they were truly interested in the physiology underlying behavior of organisms under natural conditions."

Barney A. Schlinger (1995)
Department of Physiological Sciences
UCLA

CISAB LECTURE
SCHLINGER RESEARCH

"Strengths [of the Center and the Program in Animal Behavior]: (1) A high degree of interaction among faculty, and among graduate students, (2) a building located close to the center of campus, equipped with meeting and research facilities, (3) active, interactive faculty in behavioral endocrinology, neurobiology, learning and other critical areas in integrative behavior.... I would advise excellent undergraduates to apply to Indiana."

Judy A. Stamps (1998)
Department of Ecology & Evolution
UC-Davis

CISAB LECTURE
STAMPS RESEARCH

"This program is extremely well administered and seems quite cohesive. The quality of the student participants seems outstanding. It is a fine example of how an RTG [Research and Training Grant] should work to benefit the scientific development of students.... I was very impressed with the enthusiasm exhibited by the students and their strong participation in discussions after my presentation.... This is a premier graduate program that actively seeks to provide students with the best training possible. The seminar that I participated in is an excellent example of this -- it provides an invaluable opportunity for students to meet with a variety of active researchers outside the university."

John D. Buntin (1995)
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

CISAB LECTURE

"The multidisciplinary approach is very novel and will no doubt influence the thinking of the students for the remainder of their careers. Interactions between students / post-docs and faculty also seemed very strong."
Margaret M. McCarthy (1995) Department of Physiology University of Maryland	CISAB LECTURE

"I was tremendously impressed with the program at IU and specifically the way in which this grant seemed to have catalyzed and brought people together... I was very favorably impressed and would be glad to say so to any review panel that asked for my opinion."
Thomas Quinn (1993) Department of Fisheries University of Washington

"The 'integrative' feature of the CISAB is the key strength. The different levels of analyses and approaches seemed to be understood and appreciated by all the students. This is particularly important in training the next generation of organismal biologists."
Randy J. Nelson (1998) Department of Psychology Department of Neuroscience Johns Hopkins University	CISAB LECTURE

"I have nothing but positive remarks to make about the program - the multidisciplinary aspect seems fully realized... I hope the program will be continued for the indefinite future."
Gilbert Gottlieb (1992) Department of Psychology UNG - Greensboro	CISAB LECTURE

"Rod Suthers's work leads the field. I learnt a great deal from my visit and I was most impressed with his theoretical range and with the astonishing technical expertise in the lab. I would be very happy to send a student to his lab... the students and postdocs I interacted with appeared to be doing high quality work."
Catherine Carr (1993) Department of Zoology University of Maryland	CARR RESEARCH

"The strength of the RTG [ Research Training Group in Animal Behavior ] is that it is working. Everyone is excited about the RTG; it has taken an already excellent program in animal behavior and made it better... The research underway is extremely high quality."
Jeffrey Lucas (1991) Department of Biological Sciences Purdue University	LUCAS RESEARCH

"I was very favorably impressed with the interactions I had with both students and faculty during my visit. The facilities for doing research were first-rate."
H. Carl Gerhardt (1992) Division of Biological Sciences University of Missouri

"I was impressed by the interaction among faculty.... Everyone was excited about their own research and willing to discuss a variety of ideas.... [My interaction with CISAB students] was especially rewarding. This is a very good group of students, very bright and very easy to talk to."
Michael J. Ryan (1998) Department of Zoology University of Texas	CISAB LECTURE RYAN RESEARCH

"The key measure of the strength of any training program is the quality of the faculty, and I was very impressed with the faculty at Indiana.... The mix of researchers fulfills well the program's promise to blend together mechanistic and evolutionary approaches, which I think is a very valuable overall strategy.... I had a great time talking to various students; certainly the whole visit was set up to maximize such interaction. The idea of having the students take the speaker out to dinner on their own, without any local faculty present, is a great way to foster candid exchanges.... I saw some really excellent facilities for studying behavior; in particular the aviaries I was shown were the best and most extensive I have ever seen.... I saw three really excellent research programs in my area while at Indiana -- those of West and King, Ketterson and Nolan, and Rod Suthers. All three of these programs are as good as any in the country.... I have advised students to apply to work at Indiana in the past, and I will certainly continue to do so in the future. Beyond the excellence of the individual research programs, I think it is important that a critical mass of interest exists for the area of bird behavior and for behavior in general. I would like to add that this was the best-organized seminar visit that I can recall."

William A. Searcy (1998)
Department of Biology
University of Miami

CISAB LECTURE

"The strength of the Program in Animal Behavior and CISAB is excellent faculty at a major university with sufficient funding to attract outstanding graduate students and supoprt for their research as well. What other institution has an organization like CISAB? .... Without question this was the most stimulating and enjoyable trip I've ever had. The students were uniformly well-trained, enthusiastic about their work and doing fascinating research."

Stephen M. Shuster (1999)
Department of Biological Sciences
Northern Arizona University

CISAB LECTURE
SHUSTER RESEARCH

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