Introducing the EEB Quarterly: By graduate students, for graduate students

The first issue of the EEB Quarterly – an online publication written by and for graduate students in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology – launches today.

“As a graduate student, it’s easy to feel isolated from your department,” says Kennedy Bucci, a PhD student and member of the publication’s editorial team.

“This is especially true when the students in your department are spread across the three U of T campuses, as well as at the Royal Ontario Museum. And during the field season, many of us can be found at research stations across the country and the world.”

The new monthly publication will feature stories about news, culture, science, and graduate student life and will provide Ecology & Evolutionary Biology graduate students with valuable communications experience.

“As scientists, one of our most important – and often overlooked — roles is that of science communicator,” says Bucci. “It’s often difficult to build skills in non-technical writing – between writing grants, papers, theses, and dissertations, writing for the public can sometimes fall through the cracks.”

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology graduate students have a wide variety of research interests: some study ecology, others are interested in evolutionary genetics and genomics, and others focus on theoretical and computational biology.

“While we are all experts in our own projects, most of us have only a vague idea of what’s going on in the labs down the hall,” says Bucci. “Our aim is to bridge this gap between the research happening in our department.”

On the site, readers will find information about events, workshops, seminars and clubs on all three campuses, plus stories from their peers.

“We don’t want to just be a news resource – although that is an important part of our mission,” says Bucci. “We are really looking forward to running stories from our fellow graduate students about their research, their study organisms, their perspectives on grad life, and their opinions on issues relevant to grad students.”