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The Premium Rush of Field Ecology

I don’t often endorse late-summer-multiplex-popcorn-with-butter-like-topping fare, but Premium Rush is, for what it is, phenomenal.  It’s true, if you watch the trailer, you’ve basically got the whole thing in microcosm, but trust me, it is much better on the big screen.  It’s basically a 91 minute movie, of which about 85 minutes are mad chase scenes of our bike messenger hero Wilee (pronounced “wiley,” like the coyote, and
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The Natural Side of Big Data

“Big Data” is getting big coverage. For example, this recent column in the New York Times that captures the emergence of Big Data as a cultural meme. Usually, people take a primarily a technophilic view of Big Data. The Times article, for example, describes Big Data as, “applying the tools of artificial intelligence, like machine learning, to vast new troves of data beyond that captured in standard databases.
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#ForewordFriday Observation and Ecology

This week's #forewordFriday comes from two authors that want to expand the methodological toolbox used by ecological scientists, researchers, and students. Come take a look at "how and why direct sensory awareness of the natural world is a bridge to deeper ecological understanding." Enjoy!  
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Benefit of thinning forests for spotted owls is not so clear-cut

The July 26 editorial "Logging for spotted owls" dismisses decades of scientific research by touting one new study that suggests "heavy thinning" (aka, clear-cut lite) of forests could benefit spotted owls. Based on a single computer simulation, the new study suggests that intensive logging will magically prevent "catastrophic fires" such as the Biscuit that "wiped out" owls and other wildlife. This is unfounded.
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Rants from the Hill: Beauregard puppy

There’s nothing wrong with my old dog, except that she is unlucky thirteen years old, never recovered fully from a coyote attack, refuses to hike more than a few miles at a time, and snoozes while jackrabbits clearcut my gardens. Add to this that we have two young daughters constantly in need of photo opportunities, and it became pretty obvious that it was time for a new puppy on the Ranting Hill. Now, I’ve always owned mongrel bitches that I fetched from the pound for a few bucks and a promise to spay.
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#ForewordFriday Stewardship of the Built Environment

When we think of green building, we tend to picture new construction. But Robert A. Young argues that the greenest building is often the one that has already been built. Jump into this week's #forewordFriday for a much-overlooked aspect of sustainable green building.  
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Island Press Staff Picks

This week's pick is from Assistant Editor, Erin Johnson.

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