Trent Publication Makes Global Contribution to Scientific Field
Dr. Paul Frost and Environmental and Life Sciences Ph.D. graduates launch Ratios Matter newsletter
The concept of ecological stoichiometry may not be familiar to everyone, but this scientific approach to studying nutrient ratios in the environment is being applied to better understand everything from algal blooms in lakes, and the growth of cancerous tumours, to the origin of life on Earth.
Now, thanks to the Ratios Matter newsletter, a quarterly publication launched in January 2017 by Dr. Paul Frost, associate professor of Biology and three Ph.D. graduates from Trent’s Environmental and Life Sciences (ENLS) program, researchers now have a source of news directly related to the important field of ecological stoichiometry.
Professor Frost, who currently holds the David Schindler Endowed Professorship of Aquatic Science, has assumed the role of editor-in-chief for the newsletter, which was created at Trent University.
“I started the newsletter because there are no publications dedicated entirely to this topic,” he stated. “I hope to create a greater sense of community and establish a broader reach among ecologists. Our goal is an informative, educational, and interesting newsletter that provides a forum to share and discuss topics involving ecological stoichiometry.”
As part of their education at Trent, Dr. Charlotte Narr ‘11, Dr. Clay Prater and Dr. Nicole Wagner ’03 all worked on ecological stoichiometry with Dr. Frost in the Frost Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology at Trent. Now Ph.D. graduates of the ENLS program, Drs. Narr, Prater, and Wagner eagerly joined the project as associate editors. The team also includes scientists from the United States, Germany, Argentina, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Reaching global audiences, the inaugural issue was recently publicized by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology and has been receiving favourable responses from scientists around the world.
“One of our goals is to encourage the use of elemental ratios as a tool for scientists worldwide,” said Dr. Prater. “By participating in the newsletter, we are actively searching out the newest research and distilling findings into their core ideas. It affords us opportunities as early career scientists to be active participants in our field. It’s never too early to start contributing back to your scientific field.”
Readers can learn more about the newsletter or subscribe by emailing ratiosmatter@gmail.com