Sept. 26: The Field & Berry Lab Group met at noon to discuss plans for the Fall Quarter. It was decided to continue meeting weekly at this hour with members of the group discussing their current or planned research interests. Four new graduate students were introduced. Chris Field described a Workshop on Biofuels in Germany from which he had just returned. He also described the IPCC Meeting in Geneva when he was elected Co-Chair of Working Group 2 mentioned above. The Stanford Report of Sept. 24 describes what both Stanford and Carnegie may expect from Chris' leadership in this international organization during the next five years. His Co-Chair is Vicente Barros of Argentina.
Tasting: Four different brands of dark chocolate picked up by Chris in Germany. (Always a winner & so good for you!)
Oct. 3: At the weekly Lab Meeting Roland Pieruschka described his research on the stomata of different plants and how they work in different environments. He began with an evolutionary history of how stomata probably evolved through time and the advantages they convey to plant growth.
Tasting: Roland brought four jars of green olives, two of them stuffed with lemon peel or jalapeño pepper, plus accompanying French bread and cream cheese.
Oct. 10: Claire Lunch spoke about her ongoing research project at Jasper Ridge. Basically she is looking to see what potential climate changes may affect primary production of native grasslands. She looked into the effect of litter on growth during the following season over a 10-yr period from 1998-2008. The effects of added CO2, heat, nitrogen & rain were also considered. Nothing definitive has shown up yet although the amount of sunshine correlated with the most growth.
Tasting: Claire brought six cheeses, two each made from sheep, goat or cow's milk. Of the two, one was a soft cheese and the other a hard cheddar. All were from Europe and had good flavor, but the cow's soft cheese was a bit too old.
Oct. 17: Adam Wolf described the Basics of Ensemble Assimilation This means ways of entering biochemical data into a mathematical model that will predict future conditions.
The Tasting was American Coca-Cola, which uses high fructose corn syrup, versus Mexican Coca-Cola, which uses cane sugar.  Although the Mexican cokes had an advantage because they were in glass instead of cans, they were much more enjoyable to all, presumably due to the sweetener.
Oct. 22: This week's Stanford Report as well as the "Spotlight" section on the Stanford home page feature Darcy, Kyla, and the Jasper Ridge summer interns -- Sara, Chris, Briana, and Annie. You may view the article at http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/october22/jasper-102208.html
Oct. 24: Kyla Dahlin described the research project she did last summer titled Mapping Vegetation at Jasper Ridge with two Stanford student interns. They made measurements of plants in over 50, randomly chosen plots, relating to biomass and carbon sequestration.
Tasting: We tasted two varieties of pine nuts, one from China and a second purchased locally in Albuquerque, NM, and also some Fennel that Kyla had dressed with lemon juice.
Oct. 31: Chris Doughty spoke about How forests and agricultural regions can affect climate through albedo and carbon cycle feedbacks. He reminded us of the complicated interactions between temperature & moisture, light & albedo, clouds, smoke & fungal growth; all responding to climate change. Study of these factors was part of his doctoral thesis at UC Irvine. Now, with the facilities here, he intends to further these studies in new directions.
Tasting: Chris brought five varieties of apples for us to compare including Graeburn, Granny Smith, Johna gold, Fuji & Ambrosia.
In honor of Halloween, Kyla carved a large pumpkin for the Contest at Stanford's Biology Dept.