Niguidula+Update+March+8,+2015

This week, I completed an interview with Dr. Bianca Pier. Bianca is the graduate student I refer to in the forward of my first draft. Having recently completed her doctorate, she has a considerable amount of experience in ecology, but only limited experience with invasive species. She has done little direct research on them, but she has spent quite a bit of time around them and the people who work with them (she is a close associate of Jeremy Farrell from the DFWI, who I previously interviewed). The interview presented some interesting data. Her views on the subject of invasive species are more “extreme” than anyone else I have encountered thus far. For example she does not believe that any management actions should be taken against a species unless it is causing harm to humans. She is of the belief that managing ecosystems does not allow the “fittest” species to survive, effectively disrupting evolution. One of the patterns I am beginning to notice is frustration with how funding for scientific endeavors is awarded. Bianca mentioned that it is easier to get funding for the purposes of eradicating an invasive species rather than attempting to understand it. This echoes one of Leslie Surprenant’s sentiments that eradication is easier to fund than prevention because prevention does not produce visible results. In a similar vein, Jeremy Farrell made reference to how broad, sweeping statements are “more publishable.” I also met with the CCP again. We moved through the abstract and into the introduction. One of the things I will work on in the coming week is a refined definition of “invasive species” to use in my paper.