EEB Spring-a-Ling celebration

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology celebrated another successful academic year gone by at the annual Spring-a-Ling picnic at Gallup Park, Ann Arbor. Friday, May 16, 2014 was the usual cool but sunny afternoon for the picnic.

The festivities included sharing barbecued burgers, hot dogs and potluck dishes. There was an abundance of conversation and laughter, oohing and aahing over many EEB babies, tossing a Frisbee, and slacklining along the shores of the Huron River where goslings and protective geese parents joined the fray. The turnout was great and included faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, families and friends.

Professor and Chair Diarmaid ÓFoighil announced the EEB Outstanding Paper of the Year, which went to graduate students Micaela Martinez-Bakker and Kevin Bakker for "Human birth seasonality: latitudinal gradient and interplay with childhood disease dynamics," published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Graduate student and faculty achievements were recognized and everyone gathered for a special welcome photograph for incoming faculty member, Dr. Nyeema Harris, who joins EEB in fall 2015.

Special thanks to the social committee for the multitude of tasks and planning involved in putting the event together: Sonja Botes, Mark Brahce, Anna Cihak, Dr. Laura Eidietis, Jeff Shi. Hats off to those who lent a helping hand in various ways: Cindy Carl, Chuan Li, Damon Place, Xinzhu (April) Wei.

Scroll down for more photos. Photo credit: Dale Austin. 

Read more about the Outstanding Paper of the Year in previous EEB web news.