logo by Sungsik Kong

Welcome

The 2019 Midwest Phylogenetics Workshop will be held 3-9 June 2019 at Itasca Biological Station.

Its goal is to provide instruction in phylogenetic comparative methods and build connections among researchers in the Midwest US.

The fantastic workshops offered at Wood’s Hole and Bodega Bay provide much of our inspiration, but we’ll also do things our own way.

Student applications will be accepted until 7 Jan 2019. See the Application section below.

Update, Feb 6: Admissions decisions were emailed today. Thank you all for so much interest in our workshop. It was fantastic to read about so many exciting research ideas and so much enthusiasm for phylogenetics!

Instructors

We have a great team of instructors who will interact with you throughout the week.

Emma is the person to contact if you have questions. (But first please check our FAQ.)

Course Content

Scope

The general scope of this workshop is learning about macroevolution by analyzing phylogenetic trees. We will emphasize probabilistic models, including intuition for how they work and how their processes leave signal in phylogenetic data. Our goal as teachers is that you will learn about the logic of phylogenetic comparative methods.

Note 1: We will include a short review of constructing phylogenies, but if this is your main goal you will not be well-served by this workshop.

Note 2: We will include some hands-on computer time, but if your main goal is to learn the details of particular software packages, you will not be well-served by this workshop.

Topics

Much of the week will be spent on traditional topics:

We will also delve into an assortment of other topics, TBD but for example:

Software use is not the primary focus of this workshop, but we will have some hands-on computer sessions. Many of the instructors are developers for phylogenetics software, including:

Application

We anticipate that students in the workshop will already have started using phylogenetic comparative methods in their research. Our goal is to provide a deeper understanding of these methods by building up from a firm foundation of their components. We welcome both empirically-minded and theoretically-minded students.

If this sounds like a good match to your research trajectory, please fill out the application form.

Applications will be accepted until 7 January 2019.

Logistics

We will arrive at Itasca on Mon 3 June 2019 and depart on Sun June 9 2019. Everyone will live at the field station that week—there are student dorm cabins and a cafeteria on site. Read more about the facilities and fun nearby activities (kayak to the headwaters of the Mississippi River!) on the Itasca Biological Station website.

Participation will be heavily subsidized by generous support from NSF. We will therefore collect only a nominal registration fee of $75 per student.

Students will need to arrange and pay for their own travel. For those flying into MSP, we will help coordinate your ride to Itasca. For those driving, we will ask for your help with that coordination.

Safe Workshop Environment

The Midwest Phylogenetics Workshop is committed to providing a safe, inclusive, and professional environment for learning and working.

All participants agree to follow our Code of Conduct. Additionally, all participants must comply with field station instructions regarding safety in and around Itasca.

If you have particular accessibility needs, please notify us after you have been admitted to the workshop.

FAQ

Why do you have so many different logos?

We asked workshop participants to design logos for us, and there was a lot of artistic enthusiasm! Thanks to Bruce Martin, Sungsik Kong, and Tracy Heath.

Do I need to be living in the Midwest to apply? What counts as “Midwest,” anyway?

Our workshop name—and the choice of instructors—bears a geographic signature because we hope to build connections among researchers who are within semi-easy collaborative distance. How strictly we stick to geographic boundaries will depend on the pool of student applications we receive.

Here is one interpretation of “Midwest” from FiveThirtyEight.

My career stage is XXX. Should I apply?

There are no specific limits on career stage. We expect that many workshop participants will be mid-stage graduate students. But participants may well include postdocs, faculty, other researchers, and very advanced undergraduates. Please assess for yourself whether the workshop description above seems to suit your level of knowledge and interests.

I’m not really a methods wizard. Should I apply?

We encourage you to apply if you have strong interest in phylogenetic comparative methods—don’t self-select yourself out! Even if you think you lack quantitative knowledge now, if you’re keen to learn we want to teach you. The point of the workshop is to address gaps in knowledge, and there will be plenty of opportunity to discuss and ask questions.

When will I know if my application is accepted and I can attend the workshop?

Hopefully by the end of January. We’re not sure how many applications to expect, but we’ll do our best to consider them all promptly.

Should I lump Hawaii and Texas into the “Midwest” in my geographic analyses?

Heath and Rosana were postdocs at Univ Minnesota during workshop preparations. This information may be useful for your dispersal rate estimates.

What will it cost?

You’ll need to pay for your travel but not much else. See the Logistics section above.

May I bring my own data to work on? Must I?

We will have sessions where you can work on whatever you want while asking for help from instructors. Applying methods you have learned about to your own data would be an excellent way to take advantage of this time. But there are other ways to make good use of it, too, so bringing your own data is not required.

Can I bring family members?

There is limited lodging at the field station, and unfortunately they cannot guarantee us space for people other than workshop participants. If this presents a barrier for your attendance, however, please notify us after you are admitted to the workshop—we may be able to get creative with cabin assignments, and there is some nearby lodging in Itasca State Park.

Can/Should I bring XXX?

If XXX = bug repellent, then yes! Also bring your own bedding and bath towel.

We must all follow the field station regulations. In particular, there are strong restrictions on alcohol, and no pets or weapons are allowed. See also the field station FAQ and lots more info about Itasca.

Will this workshop be offered in future years?

We have no immediate plans (or funding) to repeat this workshop. But please contact us if you are interested in carrying it forward.