CTR People in the News
This page highlights interviews with CTR researchers and news features on CTR activities.
Media Highlights
UCLA Newsroom
"Predicting hotspots for future flu outbreaks"
by Alison Hewitt
An article on a research paper recently published by the Center for Tropical Research. The topic is on predicting likely hotspots for reassortment based on research locations where bird flu outbreaks, human flu outbreaks and swine populations overlapped. The paper itself is in the peer-reviewed public health journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
March 13, 2013
UCLA Newsroom
"UCLA professor leads effort to protect Africa's rainforests from ravages of climate change"
by Alison Hewitt
Article on an international research project investigating the effect of climate change on biodiversity in Central Africa's rainforests. The project is headed by CTR Director Thomas Smith under a $4.95 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
January 18, 2013
UCLA Newsroom
"Growing threats to biodiversity 'arks'"
by Alison Hewitt
Article on a study on averting biodiversity collapse in protected tropical areas which Center for Tropical Research director Tom Smith participated in. The study itself is published in the journal Nature.
July 25, 2012
Allanblackia - World Agroforestry Centre- West and Central Africa Region
"We need more concerted efforts to save the Congo Basin"
Special issue of Allanblackia
Dr. Zac Tchoundjeu wins the 2012 National Geographic/Buffet Award for his invaluable contributions toward the conservation of biodiversity in the Congo Basin.
July 2012
Sierra Club
"Rainforest Hero Leaves Brazil for Los Angeles"
by Courtney Hayden
Article on Hilton Oyamaguchi's talk at the G2 Gallery's Young Environmentalists Symposium. The talk features his efforts to protect tree frogs and preserve transitional savannah between patches of dense vegetation.
May 14, 2012
Mother Nature Network
"UCLA's Dr. Thomas Smith trains students to tackle Earth-changing issues"
by Gerri Miller
Article on Professor Thomas Smith's research, training, and teaching.
The story was also featured on the News page of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
April 25, 2012
The Institute for Bird Populations Newsletter
"Connecting Wintering and Breeding Sites of Migratory Songbirds Using New Isotopic and Genetic Methods"
Volume 12 of MAPS Chat, the annual newsletter of the MAPS program, features CTR Researcher Kristen Ruegg's article on migratory songbirds.
March 16, 2012
Egypt Independent
"With high-tech system, Egypt hopes to avoid possible pandemic"
by Louise Sarant
Report on the workshop on avian influenza conducted by researchers from CTR for Egyptian researchers, veterinarians, and ecologists.
The story was also featured on the News page of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
January 3, 2012
National Science Foundation website - Award Highlights
“Mapping Avian Influenza Risk in U.S. Wild Songbirds”
The National Science Foundation featured the Center for Tropical Research study, "Effects of Deforestation on the Prevalence of Blood-Borne Pathogens in African Rainforest Birds."
The story was also featured on the News page of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
January 25, 2012
IoES News, PRWeb.com, Mongabay.com
"First REDD+ Project in Cameroon announced"
Coverage announcing the Center for Tropical Research (CTR) partnership with Global Green Carbon Corporation (GGC) on a major conservation project in Cameroon.
View the coverage by PRWeb.com and Mongabay.com.
December 12, 2011
UCLA Newsroom
"UCLA scientists find H1N1 flu virus prevalent in animals in Africa"
by Stuart Wolpert
Report on an article by CTR researchers and colleagues recently accepted by Veterinary Microbiology, “Pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza virus in Swine, Cameroon 2010”
Reports on the article were carried on various websites, including: ScienceDaily, Fogarty News, PhysOrg.com, UC Health, Pandemic Information News, Bio-Medicine, and InfectionControlToday.
September 22, 2011
CNE-TV
CNE-TV spolighted the G2 Gallery event on April 27, 2011supporting the UCLA International Research and Training Center in Cameroon. Part 1 covers highlights of the program and part 2 features interviews with Tom Smith and Kevin Njabo.
To view the coverage, click here.
April 30, 2011
Nature
"Day of reckoning for Ecuador's biodiversity"
By Kelly Swing, founding director of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station, Universidad San Francisco de Quito and CTR Senior Research Fellow
To view PDF of article, click here.
January 20, 2011
Science
"The Fight for Yasuni"
By Eric Marx
To view PDF of article, click here. Also see ScienceShot: Yasuni Reveals Its Hidden Creatures and The Fight for Yasuni Photo Slideshow.
November 26, 2010
UCLA Newsroom
“West Nile virus more prevalent in low-income neighborhoods, study finds”
by Phil Hampton
Report on an article by CTR researchers and colleagues published online in PLoS ONE, “Economic conditions predict prevalence of West Nile virus”
Reports on the article were also published in UC Health, The Orange County Register and other publications.
November 15, 2010
The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, & Abolition, Yale University
“Judith Carney, Siddharth Kara, and Richard Rosomoff to Share $25,000 Frederick Douglass Book Prize"
Press release on award for the best book written in English on slavery or abolition. CTR affiliates Carney and Rosomoff won for their book In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa's Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World (University of California Press)
November 5, 2010
Also see the University of California Press Blog and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability news posting.
November 10, 2010
American Geophysical Union
"Staggering tree loss from 2005 Amazon storm"
Press release on online in press article by CTR researchers and colleagues in Geophysical Research Letters, "Widespread Amazon forest tree mortality from a single cross-basin squall line event."
July 12, 2010
Article publication also covered in NASA/JPL News and Features, Science Daily, and ScienceNow.
Reuters
“U.S. songbirds carry low-risk bird flu, study finds”
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
Reuters story carried on multiple media websites nationally and internationally, including ABC News and MSNBC
July 6, 2010
Report on article by CTR researchers and colleagues published online in BMC Infectious Diseases, “Mapping the risk of avian influenza in wild birds in the U.S.”
National Science Foundation
Press release 10-112, “Borne on the Wing: Avian Influenza Risk in U.S. Wild Songbirds Mapped”
Results are first to track avian influenza virus in passerines
July 6, 2010
Press release on article by CTR researchers and colleagues published online in BMC Infectious Diseases, “Mapping the risk of avian influenza in wild birds in the U.S.”
Ciencia y Desarrollo
“El Tapir – Representante ancestral de una tierra de gigantes”
(The tapir – Representative of an ancestral land of giants)
Article (in Spanish) in Mexican magazine published by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
by Eduardo Mendoza Ramirez (on his study)
February 2010
Natural History
"Pompadours in the Palms"
A rare bird’s elaborate mating habits help a tropical tree disperse its seeds.
by Jordan Karubian
Natural History Magazine PDF
February 2010
El Comercio
“La vida secreta del pájaro paraguas longipéndulo”
(The secret life of the long-wattled umbrellabird)
Ecuadorian newspaper article (in Spanish) on study conducted by Dr. Jordan Karubian, CTR Latin America Director
El Comercio newspaper PDF
May 10, 2009
Faculty of 1000 Biology
Paper by CTR researchers A. Kirschel, D. Blumstein, and T. Smith chosen by Faculty of 1000 Biology as a "must read" (with a 6.0 rating)
by Jonathan Losos and Terry J. Ord
June 2, 2009
Original paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "Character displacement of song and morphology in African tinkerbirds"
UCLA Newsroom
"UCLA scientists discover ultrasonic communication among frogs"
by Stuart Wolpert
May 8, 2009
Reporting on article published in PLoS ONE, "Pure Ultrasonic Communication in an Endemic Bornean Frog"
Our University
A Newsletter from the University of California President for the UC Community
April 2009
featuring UCLA Today article, "Teaching eco ethics in the Ecuadorean rainforest"
UCLA Today
"Teaching eco ethics in the Ecuadorean rainforest"
by Phil Hampton and Judy Lin
March 19, 2009
New York Times
"New World Wolves and Coyotes Owe Debt to Dogs"
by Mark Derr
February 6, 2009
Reporting on article published in Science Express, "Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves"
Additional news coverage from UCLA Newsroom
The Post News Line
"Gov't, Partners Mobilise Against Avian Influenza"
by Edith Wirdze
February 9, 2009
UCLA Magazine
"A New Jungle Book: Teaching Eco Ethics"
by Phil Hampton
January 1, 2009
National Geographic News
"PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Regurgitating Birds Aid Rain Forest"
by Hayley Rutger
November 25, 2008
Journal of Biology Publishes Minireview
"Islands in the sky: the impact of Pleistocene climate cycles on biodiversity"
by Allan J. Baker
Novermber 3, 2008
Minireview of paper by John McCormack et al. in BMC Biology
"Integrating paleoecology and genetics of bird populations in two sky island archipelagos"
UCLA Newsroom Press Release
"Global warming affects warm-weather species too, study finds"
by Phil Hampton
October 9, 2008
Article in Science magazine
"Global Warming, Elevation Range Shifts, and Lowland Biotic Attrition in the Wet Tropics"
by Robert K. Colwell et al.
October 10, 2008
UCLA College Report Volume 10
"Creating a New Defense for Biodiversity"
by Judith Forman
Summer 2008
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Press Release
"Could Preserving Biodiversity Reduce Disease? EPA Funds $2.25 Million to Research Connections"
Contact: Melissa Anley-Mills
July 23, 2008
Today Online
"UCLA goes back to nature at BioBlitz"
by Judy Lin
June 6, 2008
VenturaCountyStar
"Santa Monica Mountains bioblitz invites nature lovers 24 hour observation"
by Zeke Barlow
May 31, 2008
Molecular Ecology Podcast
Interview with Professors Thomas Smith and Louis Bernatchez, summit co-organizers and Molecular Ecology Special Issue Guest Editors
February 2008
Available on Molecular Ecology website
Focus the Nation Podcast
CTR Director Thomas Smith's address to the Focus the Nation audience at UCLA
January 31, 2008
http://www.sustain.ucla.edu
Also available on UCLA's iTunes U: http://www.sustain.ucla.edu/academics/sustainability_media_on_itunes_u.php
Université Laval's au fil des evénements
"L’éprouvette Terre"
by Jean Hamman
January 24, 2008
(to view English translation, click here)
UCLA Magazine
"First Response"
by Kathy Svitil
January 2008
UCLA Newsroom
"Global warming, other research from UCLA summit featured in journal"
by Phil Hampton
December 18, 2007
New Science
"Humans take control of evolution"
by Peter Aldhous
February 17, 2007
To view article, click here.
UCLA Daily Bruin
"Science & Health: Summit to link politics, environment"
by Seda Terzyan
February 8, 2007
National Wildlife Magazine
"The Lands Where Species Are Born"
by Steve Nadis
February / March 2005
Published: Wednesday, January 14, 2009