Ecology and evolutionary biology can lead graduate students to far-off places: Alaska, Mexico, northern Michigan. But qualifying exams — the dreaded “prelims” — happen just the same.
To prepare, seven doctoral students at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor held weekly study sessions on Skype, the Internet calling service.
“Without this technology, we could not have bridged the geographical gaps,” Liz Wason, a student who spent the summer at the university’s biological station in Pellston, Mich., said in a written statement. She called Skype “an exciting, real-time way of staying connected and preparing for this important step in our graduate careers.” —Sara Lipka
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