Last week we had our annual group retreat, this time in El Leoncito Astronomical Complex, located in El Leoncito National Park, San Juan. The idea of the retreat is to mix academic activity with walks in natural areas and other fun activities. It is the fourth time we do this activity, and it was as successful as in previous years (see the accounts of previous retreats here, here and here).
We were eleven participants this year: eight from our group in Mendoza plus Hugo and Joana from Bahía Blanca and Mariana from San Juan. Each of us had to give a 10-min talk about our research, with plenty of time for questions and discussion. We also did a hike to mount El Leoncito and to El Rincón fall, a night sky observation, played board games after dinner, and visited Pampa del Leoncito, a flat depression formed by sediments. The Astronomical Complex, run by CONICET, is a perfect setting for this kind of activities, as it combines impressive infrastructure for lodging and meal services plus a great natural setting away from the city noise.
Benjamin Schwarz, a doctoral student from the University of Freiburg, will be working with us until March 2019. During his Ph.D. research he is stuying the daily and seasonal dynamics of ecological interaction networks under the mentorship of Jochen Fründ, Carsten Dormann and myself. During his stay in Mendoza he will be conducting a study of the effects of exotic plant species on the temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator interactions. Welcome Benjamin!
Micaela Santos is in Finland to spend four months with 
This week we received the visit of Edgar Chávez González, master’s student at the Institute of Ecology in Xalapa, México. He will be with us until early August, collaborating with Diego in the study of the temporal dynamics of plant-hummingbird networks.
Ecological Interactions Lab 