tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63334656318468049932024-02-21T09:43:25.117-08:00Sweet Tea, ScienceAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00480221212578540934noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-69206574770120562772015-11-04T07:11:00.000-08:002015-11-04T07:11:18.504-08:00NEW HOME! Come Visit Us!We are super pleased to announce that Sweet Tea, Science has a new home over at <a href="http://sweetteascience.com/">sweetteascience.com</a>! We've moved onto the Wordpress platform and have a shiney new .com name. Rachel and I love blogging together and hope that this will give us a fresh, motivated push forward.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07938681589661715634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-79629622691615314712015-07-28T10:25:00.001-07:002015-08-04T13:30:13.530-07:00Meridith and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Qualifying Exam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve made my way all the way to the end of my 20th year of schooling without much in the way of seemingly insurmountable challenges. Sure, the post secondary life is peppered with exams (SAT, ACT, GRE), finals, applications processes, and so on, but while all of these have caused me stress in the past, none even compare to my qualifying exams of my PhD program. This past May, after a year of courses and months of studying, I tackled three days of intense examinations which included a day of two 3-hour Stats Theory exams and nearly 48 hours of a take home applied project. I went in with months of studying, waves of support from friends and family (thanks!) , 6 pages front and back of notes to use, and even a belly full of sushi. I come out… completely and utterly defeated. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img-s2.onedio.com/id-53e33e44b12a4b1911ad6a17/rev-0/raw/s-39dd44aa24eb167b01077de0887fdc4ebbd9c667.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img-s2.onedio.com/id-53e33e44b12a4b1911ad6a17/rev-0/raw/s-39dd44aa24eb167b01077de0887fdc4ebbd9c667.gif" height="176" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Failed like I failed to keep it together during<br />
this episode of Dr. Who.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Going back a bit, studying leading up to these exams had pretty much become my life on top of coursework for my spring classes. The Fear and Guilt set in early and persisted throughout that time. If I was studying I was afraid of not being able to get enough exam practice and progress made in time. If I wasn’t studying, I felt guilty for spending any of the available time I had on anything else. Maintaining your mental health is important during this time, but it becomes increasingly difficult when anytime you make an effort to carve out time for yourself or your relationships that Guilt is always looming. When that first day finally arrived and we had our two theory exams, I tried to pump myself up and really believe in my abilities. I’d always pulled it together before! My brain was just. not. having it. Some of the questions threw me through a loop, some were from topics from other classes that I had not reviewed, some were fairly straightforward but my scumbag brain decided to wait to remember everything relevant until right as I was turning in my exams. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.themoviescene.co.uk/reviews/_img/1603-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.themoviescene.co.uk/reviews/_img/1603-2.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Afterwards we all desperately needed to unwind and decompress. Even our break between the two theory exams was only effective at allowing me time to dwell. If I can make a strong recommendation to others who might be in this between-exams position in the future: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">do NOT talk over things with your classmates</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Especially if you’re in my position at the bottom of the pack. I unfortunately did not listen to this advice given to me by others and well, and to put it frankly, I proceeded to freak the fuck out a bit about my first exam. To quote one of my favorite childhood movies, Return to Oz, “It can’t be helped now, Jack”. The highlight of that day was without challenge the party thrown for grad students by a member of my cohort. We did talk too much about the exams at first, but the stress was finally beginning to melt away with every Just Dance dance-off, round of Cards Against Humanity, and over-enthusiastic karaoke song. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://goingconcern.com/sites/default/files/failed.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://goingconcern.com/sites/default/files/failed.gif" height="195" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If only this was how we got our results!</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I really wish I could spend the rest of this post discussing how to translate from coursework and studying to the rigors of summer research. I bet I’d have some great insight into that particular tract. Unfortunately, I had only just begun to switch gears when my results came back and it became quite evident that my summer would be consumed with frantic studying in an attempt to get up to speed on the past year of theoretical topics so that I might pass the exams upon my second chance in August. I cannot really describe how this felt other than soul crushing. For perhaps for the first time in my life I had gone up against a big goal, tried my damnedest, and then utterly failed. Facing a complete confidence breakdown, only further accented as I was one of the first to get my results back, I really floundered for a few weeks. Hell, I still am to a lesser degree. The barrage of support came swiftly and while I’m so grateful for all of those people and their nice words, at the time I was so far buried under my own pessimism that not much got through to me. I hope I was at least able to file away all of those comments, suggestions, and encouragements for later as I was more emotional able to process it all.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sinking back into studying has all but completely taken over my summer plans. My advisor, who has been wonderfully supportive and helpful through this entire process, has made it clear that my one and only priority for the summer is studying as I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">absolutely need</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to show improvement come August. So for the past month and a half, and the next month to come studying is once more my life. I’m still trying to enjoy myself and take in the sights around Seattle, but I have to be way more focused and disciplined than normal. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.38;">I wish I could provide more tips and suggestions for people who might
find themselves in similar positions, but for now I've just got a big ol' hunk
of solidarity. I'm hoping that the power of hindsight will kick in more after I
retake my exams and find out the results. If anyone else has any words of
wisdom I would love to hear about your experience! For now, thanks for the
support and OMG I've got to go study.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07938681589661715634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-56029342227827344182015-04-22T15:00:00.000-07:002015-04-22T16:21:18.874-07:00#EarthDayThanks and Earth Day Resolutions<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some truth about me as a person? I'm horrible at New Years resolutions. Don't get me wrong, I love them. I plan them. I hoard them, coming up with way too many and getting overly excited about all of them. I make lists, and timelines, and mini-goals. Unfortunately, it seems the outcome 98% of the time is a few months of triumphant, self-improving activity, followed by a slow shift back into my normal pattern of existence. But, over the past 5 years, each Earth Day I have made a second batch of resolutions. With this set of commitments, I've experienced an almost unprecedented success rate. Over the years, I've greatly reduced my plastic consumption, I have committed to the concept of reusing pretty much everything, and I cut all animal derived products from my diet. As someone who is really used to failing and having to restart as part of her daily life (because, scientist), I've started to wonder why my Earth Day Resolutions stick, while so many other intentions (I'm doing all the dishes everyday starting tomorrow!) seem to fall to the wayside. After some reflection, I believe the reason is twofold. First, I have strong examples of conservation champions, and, second, Earth Day Resolutions aren't actually about global impacts for me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is an essay in two parts. The first part is a love letter to to the people in my life who made real for me the importance of conservation and preservation of the Earth. The second bit contains my 2015 Earth Day Resolutions and explains why I think you should make some too!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XnTqPzTjdfjkAP5V8voXfwMFB3RlzbW0oXDtWpn7pLVenU6OuG8unoSA6fA09pK5xpljh7hYJUH35E2AG6a_3mopd9hyphenhypheno3gpm5SFYIccTlzL6Cp87mSH-7j-bfXo4Vsob7sbffRsviY/s1600/SAM_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XnTqPzTjdfjkAP5V8voXfwMFB3RlzbW0oXDtWpn7pLVenU6OuG8unoSA6fA09pK5xpljh7hYJUH35E2AG6a_3mopd9hyphenhypheno3gpm5SFYIccTlzL6Cp87mSH-7j-bfXo4Vsob7sbffRsviY/s1600/SAM_0236.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">True Confessions: I probably have enough pictures of myself hugging trees to fill an entire photo album</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><u><b>#EarthDayThanks, A Letter of Love and Gratitude</b></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't think, if you did a survey on the street, you would find anyone willing to admit that they don't care about the conservation of our planet's ecosystems and resources. And, on the most basic level, I truly believe that almost everyone does care, it's just that they are either actively deluding </span>themselves<span style="font-family: inherit;">, or they just don't really get it. As Aldo Leopold famously wrote in </span><u style="font-family: inherit;">A Sand County Almanac</u><span style="font-family: inherit;">, "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds." Obviously, there are a number of ways to learn the importance of a thing, and reading and education are but two. Another would be active demonstration of the things worth.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">About a week back, I got an email from a buddy who is a </span><a href="http://www.switzernetwork.org/become-fellow" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">Switzer Fellow</a><span style="line-height: 18px;"> about a social media campaign called </span><a href="http://www.earthdaythanks.com/" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">#EarthDayThanks</a><span style="line-height: 18px;">. The full description can be found </span><a href="http://www.earthdaythanks.com/#!about/c10fk" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="line-height: 18px;">, but the short and the long of it is that we all take a few minutes and thank those who have influenced us to care about the health of our planet. It's a great idea, and a great way to bring awareness to names that, for many of us, are very familiar. Think the previously quoted Aldo Leopold, my girl Rachel Carson, or even Darwin. We can also draw attention to personal heros; one of mine is Jane Lubchenco, the first female NOAA Administrator. But, to me, the cool thing about this campaign is its emphasis on people we know personally, people we love and local leaders alike. These are the people who are showing those who maybe "don't get it" why preservation, conservation, and sustainability are important. If you know people like this, I encourage you to write your own #EarthDayThanks post, even if Earth Day has officially passed. It can be a tweet, a Facebook status, a Tumblr post, or a full blog essay. These are people courageously facing the world of wounds Leopold wrote of, and they deserve to know we stand behind them.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">So.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Dr. Albert Meier, my #EarthDayThanks goes out to you. When I was only 19, you showed me the joys of ecological exploration as an academic persuit. You are a tireless educator, turning an Ecology course, which is a hoop for many pre-professional students, into an immersive and life changing experience. The extra time you take in planning and executing course field trips to the Smoky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico is not required, but I know it has shown countless young people their first glimpses of the vast abundance of this planet's biodiversity. I know that, each year, you still cry on the last day of class when you quote </span></span>Slobodkin and Dykhuizen, "It is almost too late to start, but tomorrow is even later."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">While you care for all your students, I know you take special pride in educating the next generation of ecologists. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">You are never stingy with your praise, and you are open with your advice. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">You told me once, though I'm not sure you will remember it now, that a well timed research</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> project can inspire a wave of conservation actions that activism taken alone never could. You said it as a matter of course, something internalized to your personal belief system over the years of your experience. I want you to know that this is a part of me now as well. My own stuttering quest for understanding is founded in this idea. How do I ask the questions that can spark human actions? How can I cultivate a scientifically fertile ground for the next conservation campaign? </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">You are tireless in your pursuit</span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> of funds to preserve</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> and protect the natural heritage lands of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As a native of Louisiana, I know you're always trying to score points with us northern-southern folk, but any long standing joke about your "Kentuckian Points" falls short of your actual achievements for conservation in the state. If people ever wonder about the value of a bluebell or the true tragedy of the American chestnut, they need only look to your devotion and passion to begin to understand the value of these thing.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">My sister Sara (an ecologist), myself, Albert, and Meridith. December 2013.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">My parents, Mark and Juanita Wigginton, my #EarthDayThanks goes out to you. Thank you for putting me in a baby backpack and carrying me through the Ozark Mountains. Thank you for teaching me the names of trees, letting me keep crayfish in back porch tanks for observation, and buying approximately one million ZooBooks. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Thank you for taking me backpacking, when the trip was really just for the guys, you and your college friends who were homesteaders and prairie restorationists</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">. Thank you for letting my follow you around the garden all morning, not really helping, but spewing an endless stream of natural history questions. Thank you for answering. Thank you for admitting when you didn't know the answers, but helping me look them up in books later. Thank you for teaching sixth graders science and enduring angry parent calls when you inform their children they are made of stardust. Thank you for teaching me that I am made of stardust.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thank you for growing your own food, refusing to turn on the AC in the summer, living with minimal heat in the winter, your endless insistence on carpooling, line drying your clothes, composting, recycling, reusing, making things instead of buying them, looking for local goods, starting a CSA business </span><i style="line-height: 18px;">way</i><span style="line-height: 18px;"> before that was hip, patching my pants, never blinking an eye when your children became vegetarians, explaining to all the relatives when one of your children became a vegan, for never ever purchasing a new car, for never once flinching in the face of being pigeon holed as the hippie parents by other soccer moms or the guys you grilled with at the company picnic. For all the other million little ways you explicitly demonstrated a lifestyle that turned belief and knowledge into action, thank you. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thank you for your soft footprint on the Earth where your decedents will walk. </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">My Parents, Summer 2010</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">No blog post or letter could really portray the earnestness</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> with which I recognize the impact these three individuals have had on my relationship to this planet. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><u><b>Earth Day Resolutions</b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><u><br /></u></span>
I truly hope that, if you examine your life, you can find someone who deserves your #EarthDayThanks. And, after reflecting on the firm foundation of my conservation passion, I'm ready to make my 2015 Earth Day Resolutions. I know there are a few in the crowd who might poo-poo the notion of making individual changes in the name of the Earth. The more I learn about our global problems, the more I begin to grasp how my own personal choices are like a drop of water in the ocean, certainly not enough to turn the tide. And still, I will strongly contend that our personal choices continue to matter. What we choose to do day after day, the habits we cultivate, those count.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">First, and most obviously, cultural change can and will make a difference, but culture won't change unless we demand it. Every day, when you interact with the world, you are voting. We vote with our dollars, or lack there of. We vote with our actions. One of the reasons there are more plastic bottle soda machines than there are aluminum can machines is because we, as consumers, asked for them with our purchasing power. I asked for that for years, but then I changed my vote. You can too.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I'm casting all my votes for this.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Second, and perhaps more importantly, living in line with your values is empowering. Yes, our current environmental problems require global solutions. Yes, there really is only so much a single person can do. But, damn it, I'm going to do it. For me, keeping my Earth Day Resolutions is part of creating a life that demonstrates my personal belief systems. I'm a far cry from a perfect global citizen, but each year, as I commit to a few more small changes, I create a life that is more honest to myself and compassionate to my planet. For me, that's reason enough to try.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Without further adieu, my 2015 Earth Day Resolutions:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1) Optimize household water conservation</b> - I live in California for goodness sake. I've got a bucket to catch shower water, but I want to streamline the actual showering process and re-think my dishes doing approach. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2) Reduce my wedding's carbon footprint</b> - I'm getting married in Kentucky and numerous friend and family members are traveling to be there for this pretty big day in my life. There is also all the <i>stuff</i> that weddings consume. I've been hardcore scheming about this for over a year now. Six months of for the day of the event, it's time to put plans into action.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;">3) Stop purchasing new clothes</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> - Don't read this the wrong way. I'm actually at the precipice of a wardrobe makeover. Eighty percent of the clothes I currently own (this is not an exaggeration) are over 6 years old. Most of them </span>acquired<span style="font-family: inherit;"> before I moved to CA in the summer of 2009. A large bulk of them were things I was given for free by friends and family members. I am, supposedly, a young professional, so I think I need clothes that fit properly and suit my tastes, not the tastes of my sister/cousin/former roommates. I'm committing to the wardrobe revamp, but I want to purchase at least 90% of the items second hand. </span><a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2012/11/why-is-least-important.html" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Reuse is my favorite R</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you have any #EarthDayThanks for Earth Day Resolutions? Please share them in the comments below!</span><br />
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Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-91453753954685706022015-04-14T15:00:00.000-07:002015-04-14T15:00:04.786-07:00Blog Slacker Gives Peak into Real Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Meridith and I were commiserating yesterday that we had been STS Slackers. But, y'all, real life (RL) got so real these past few weeks. Meridith is studying for her qualifying exams, and my lab mate and I have been racing against phenology to get our projects in the field. We study the same invasive plant and have actually been experimenting with an <b>amazing</b> work sharing system. More on that later, probably.</div>
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Anyway, all that to say, getting two blog posts out a month is pretty much where we are at these days. We, of course, have tons of awesome plans and big ideas, but all those take time. Time's a bit of a commodity these days. So, in lieu of completely disappearing from the internet, I give you a peak into my RL, as seen from my iPhone.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbe9EDo8eNfR5tqIlUlGmaA1MbfJ9co-ANJtYs8bh_6YE9fIbbouI5Qv0P91cnrK-lbfUXZ0ItkV8c0uaVb6kndEDYeK_EN6JNbNE91NHzPWS59nBJXZxLnPo82OpnS_8rk2rrMT3cfU/s1600/IMG_3436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbe9EDo8eNfR5tqIlUlGmaA1MbfJ9co-ANJtYs8bh_6YE9fIbbouI5Qv0P91cnrK-lbfUXZ0ItkV8c0uaVb6kndEDYeK_EN6JNbNE91NHzPWS59nBJXZxLnPo82OpnS_8rk2rrMT3cfU/s1600/IMG_3436.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Here we have the Rachel in her natural habitat, obnoxiously posing with an obscene amount of pin flags. This might have been the day when I started the "<a href="http://sweetteascience.tumblr.com/post/114699270048/you-might-be-an-ecologist-if" target="_blank">You Might be an Ecologist if...</a>" meme on Tumblr.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpZ0E3YmUBN6vGp604QyH0bj4fIJCBtlpqaeg5TryJrH_VDpwPBrFxrsbtedhyHp-UcivsLrQyXx4nxpvZraOlI3JcTsgNEJCf727P_HNDle2eBb7fPhsPIjHrnILNSBpc6c9zicnNdU/s1600/IMG_3560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpZ0E3YmUBN6vGp604QyH0bj4fIJCBtlpqaeg5TryJrH_VDpwPBrFxrsbtedhyHp-UcivsLrQyXx4nxpvZraOlI3JcTsgNEJCf727P_HNDle2eBb7fPhsPIjHrnILNSBpc6c9zicnNdU/s1600/IMG_3560.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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Some might call that a soup bowl. To them, I say, you don't know my life.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7FPIifSCUYm9m1XO6ixam2m5z0HMogHxLENWXAO2Ps7J_I3Dr7jtqBm1kENtfYGrNwWuFCa-bs-KCr8Zyuy1d985euU3NwD6RsYR5fuTcYilHGuaKD7VvR89-f82pO14MKgZ5T0ylZo/s1600/IMG_3561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7FPIifSCUYm9m1XO6ixam2m5z0HMogHxLENWXAO2Ps7J_I3Dr7jtqBm1kENtfYGrNwWuFCa-bs-KCr8Zyuy1d985euU3NwD6RsYR5fuTcYilHGuaKD7VvR89-f82pO14MKgZ5T0ylZo/s1600/IMG_3561.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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Not a bad place to hike through to get to work. There is a big'ol marsh right on the other side of that rise. Coyote Brush in the foreground.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqVyzTknEoo9eGDwJ7VRV4qQr_z_slY2H-Avo9_Gs-2EyWCnJtaeVS6Oo24znddyw32u_zxaAlZUi71Oqbs3QDo6Zh3e9gQ_e4CXpddo7QYcXXDXXm7_mWlxFQIVzdZwg6ND5SB7o6NzY/s1600/IMG_3564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqVyzTknEoo9eGDwJ7VRV4qQr_z_slY2H-Avo9_Gs-2EyWCnJtaeVS6Oo24znddyw32u_zxaAlZUi71Oqbs3QDo6Zh3e9gQ_e4CXpddo7QYcXXDXXm7_mWlxFQIVzdZwg6ND5SB7o6NzY/s1600/IMG_3564.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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The aforementioned marsh. All the grayish standing biomass you see in the fore to midground is the invasive plant my labmate and I study. If you look closely, you can see this year's stems emerging below the standing dead stems.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eVJAtHxM6-CeAqKtRPzpmvkQmcvQ6D1UqEj58YCmY8PGR2Bcyn6o8tE8MqsTu-OfivCHMccNx_oUDC_tjR-XJ6mqvuO6bnmVR6Ujq9JbuDb-XVw-sKrlXQM5JdByqtE2OpBr7yDL-RE/s1600/IMG_3566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdo0THYYvNaPh3OQlZEvr8fmRrC7nSUgMcLVT4MZEUEcHIexSN7ghrCcT1hidjxcB5hk8zAb7gPH_Ly5lRyoGSmvG9XcgsMniG1_72Qek9xgI_Waba_BeZQ4WThZaD7eM8wFHt3dPkIU/s1600/IMG_3567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdo0THYYvNaPh3OQlZEvr8fmRrC7nSUgMcLVT4MZEUEcHIexSN7ghrCcT1hidjxcB5hk8zAb7gPH_Ly5lRyoGSmvG9XcgsMniG1_72Qek9xgI_Waba_BeZQ4WThZaD7eM8wFHt3dPkIU/s1600/IMG_3567.JPG" height="400" width="298" /></a><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eVJAtHxM6-CeAqKtRPzpmvkQmcvQ6D1UqEj58YCmY8PGR2Bcyn6o8tE8MqsTu-OfivCHMccNx_oUDC_tjR-XJ6mqvuO6bnmVR6Ujq9JbuDb-XVw-sKrlXQM5JdByqtE2OpBr7yDL-RE/s1600/IMG_3566.JPG" height="238" width="320" /></div>
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Wee little channel running through the marsh shown on the left. On the right, you see one of my more on point field looks. Hiking boots, soccer socks, running tights. Kids, this is what happens when you refuse to do your laundry. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzjVKTWxkdqDeKOcPGevqnZo_H1xB5xv5xL709-nZTtLzDH0s3pCTFDwUV4MC0Ik7GXVlpCH6RaoU3HUxjfdFh3PS9Z-0IiJ0Tr8r2e1rFj0cS1FJgIswJuKFey9cQkTuiQ_8oHhEoYo/s1600/IMG_3548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzjVKTWxkdqDeKOcPGevqnZo_H1xB5xv5xL709-nZTtLzDH0s3pCTFDwUV4MC0Ik7GXVlpCH6RaoU3HUxjfdFh3PS9Z-0IiJ0Tr8r2e1rFj0cS1FJgIswJuKFey9cQkTuiQ_8oHhEoYo/s1600/IMG_3548.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm also the treasurer for the<a href="http://davisscb.wix.com/scbdavis" target="_blank"> Davis chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology</a>. We had our spring quarter meeting recently, and the guest speaker was a bat conservationist. She has several bats that she cannot release because of serious injuries they sustained, and she brings them around to give educational demonstrations. Look at these adorable Pallid Bats!! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJRWkl76gtYHJ_aVWqnxbG_X3kcSVPmbE4sTvsw5F-qfQbqB_bSqMiRuP4ulob6g5O0t9pzuI41Q9awUdA-S6TGq0In9Ns5J3piYvaNWVuar3uxRpPkf5vnT-C0jEvUTs-dvcf7rwyxt8/s1600/IMG_3570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJRWkl76gtYHJ_aVWqnxbG_X3kcSVPmbE4sTvsw5F-qfQbqB_bSqMiRuP4ulob6g5O0t9pzuI41Q9awUdA-S6TGq0In9Ns5J3piYvaNWVuar3uxRpPkf5vnT-C0jEvUTs-dvcf7rwyxt8/s1600/IMG_3570.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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I also sometimes garden. Adorable strawBABIES!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwTYjdnKFEC0sla8n5MG3bmxYqYvF3r9VGyCapPcM013FiC5NRBII2jaaMS-xeth6IPF29TxJ0ueviHXtj6BvQuhYvYzQPMSsft8PjR4Vochp9D0y8N5DW75ul28rK8qNZiblapSG8pqY/s1600/IMG_3449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwTYjdnKFEC0sla8n5MG3bmxYqYvF3r9VGyCapPcM013FiC5NRBII2jaaMS-xeth6IPF29TxJ0ueviHXtj6BvQuhYvYzQPMSsft8PjR4Vochp9D0y8N5DW75ul28rK8qNZiblapSG8pqY/s1600/IMG_3449.JPG" height="400" width="298" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBnkQwfB0RGHqqIRHd2IZx3k7oyC4GWW6eXXdIvQKEYEHmp9Vy3Yt03OwKdq8dbkJ6wawjBVZdmkehaZPmh9C0iNSbXPXPYaxYA3wvMNXwcO5K7fN92Q4QZY-40oO04H4zaVcIuIo1MI/s1600/IMG_3525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBnkQwfB0RGHqqIRHd2IZx3k7oyC4GWW6eXXdIvQKEYEHmp9Vy3Yt03OwKdq8dbkJ6wawjBVZdmkehaZPmh9C0iNSbXPXPYaxYA3wvMNXwcO5K7fN92Q4QZY-40oO04H4zaVcIuIo1MI/s1600/IMG_3525.JPG" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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"You Might be an Ecologist if..." the inside of your car looks like this. For reference, there are about 500 litter bags in there that we deployed for my labmate's super cool decomposition experiment. Also, if you are looking for the person who took all the sharpies from the lab...it totally wasn't me.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjA7HqNLVzP1kilGuWMGM6TDt9D_QaYQXBbYaPt2M1hPowuvThWTXYlImX87ky0GXJB7IvP8psR1aEZ2UYAZGWpdJpcZByAxEeDFMazocg0vnW3n5jbfMDUAQ57_4r5C5fVh7BkF8eFQ/s1600/IMG_3530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjA7HqNLVzP1kilGuWMGM6TDt9D_QaYQXBbYaPt2M1hPowuvThWTXYlImX87ky0GXJB7IvP8psR1aEZ2UYAZGWpdJpcZByAxEeDFMazocg0vnW3n5jbfMDUAQ57_4r5C5fVh7BkF8eFQ/s1600/IMG_3530.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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A really nice polychete (about the diameter of my index finger!) of some sort that got stranded when the tide went out. I tried to move him back into the water, but he, traumatically, exploded when I touched him. I may or may not have squealed. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7S2jyLIWwW7ShwePq5BYnypcrl2TzEzlOMpsn_yIUh-3k4-KzRgNwJGqFTmdvvRAzOM0Gpqs9RiZBCxVoZ5sVGcMpbHxot-SGEuv3_hu4Lv6yLtJftipz2PhMt5MLtb09kaOM34kiuZg/s1600/IMG_3541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7S2jyLIWwW7ShwePq5BYnypcrl2TzEzlOMpsn_yIUh-3k4-KzRgNwJGqFTmdvvRAzOM0Gpqs9RiZBCxVoZ5sVGcMpbHxot-SGEuv3_hu4Lv6yLtJftipz2PhMt5MLtb09kaOM34kiuZg/s1600/IMG_3541.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlhwTWJy23N7tu-49KdDzi5LbuEwP2Yw_aTqqsrvy9AHTYXUUTy6E3TAQf3yETQAgdvi3vXKVUNND9YA8oZSsrTBaz-sFuyGyb3KghIBLSSuLSj8aeeqAEUHq0uWT1lxdhB5W2Zb2ul0/s1600/IMG_3431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlhwTWJy23N7tu-49KdDzi5LbuEwP2Yw_aTqqsrvy9AHTYXUUTy6E3TAQf3yETQAgdvi3vXKVUNND9YA8oZSsrTBaz-sFuyGyb3KghIBLSSuLSj8aeeqAEUHq0uWT1lxdhB5W2Zb2ul0/s1600/IMG_3431.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'd say these two pictures pretty much sum up my diet as of late. In case anyone who read this <a href="http://sweetteascience.tumblr.com/post/115629693558/im-the-type-of-tired-where-ive-been-sitting-in" target="_blank">Tumblr post</a> was wondering, I totally ate that ice cream. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXi9jRAMjFMT01-pUDJmngamUxmG3d65IN7DuI7aA35tk-FfrBCXLfA3bnhEsGfdTSwe2d1UcWhC5wnfdOXk-IfUrPqfN-s-ar1SOpupYnMR1Z2_cQqu62ynqRODtcTLZjX5qFT-rgaAs/s1600/IMG_3452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXi9jRAMjFMT01-pUDJmngamUxmG3d65IN7DuI7aA35tk-FfrBCXLfA3bnhEsGfdTSwe2d1UcWhC5wnfdOXk-IfUrPqfN-s-ar1SOpupYnMR1Z2_cQqu62ynqRODtcTLZjX5qFT-rgaAs/s1600/IMG_3452.JPG" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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More content soon! Until next time, I'll be trying not to get stuck in the mud.</div>
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Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-89611658625541678062015-03-18T12:38:00.002-07:002015-03-18T12:39:02.143-07:00Being an Involved Grad Student<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>A.K.A How to being involved AND score free meals</b><br />
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I'm a fairly involved graduate student. Rachel is as well. The benefits are numerous, but some of the top reasons we like to be involved include contributing to our respective departments and universities, building our C.V., access to amazing workshops/events/etc, in addition to always knowing where the free food on campus is located! Below are some of our top ways for you to get involved within your own programs!<br />
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<b><u>Check Your Emails</u></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdY1ozpo2KGhUr_suLJ-_R5erxRPVihItBiEyoClxGzMqlr106ejfpx0OWaoYblLxQCti8y7g3DiQcXDoN0Dwcp_aRt7n5C9GWOSQD60wLkvMmyLKIqKiw4rxetCC88TSV3eZtv7WwFQY/s1600/Screenshot+2015-03-10+12.48.23.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdY1ozpo2KGhUr_suLJ-_R5erxRPVihItBiEyoClxGzMqlr106ejfpx0OWaoYblLxQCti8y7g3DiQcXDoN0Dwcp_aRt7n5C9GWOSQD60wLkvMmyLKIqKiw4rxetCC88TSV3eZtv7WwFQY/s1600/Screenshot+2015-03-10+12.48.23.png" height="246" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inbox Success! Now to stay on top of it!</td></tr>
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I cannot believe the amount of people in my department who don’t keep up with their inbox! It’s not so scary to peek in and give them all a read. Then also, don’t be afraid to delete them! Granted, I’m on the far other end of this spectrum, constantly checking, deleting, and sending emails to the other students in my department. Zero email inbox is my happy place. Trust me though, there are plenty of opportunities waiting for you to read about in your inbox! I get emails about social events, workshop opportunities, conferences, class announcements, etc.<br />
<i>Free Food Score: 2 out of 5 Pizzas.</i><br />
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<b><u>Join your GSA (or START one)</u></b><br />
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The level of involvement will surely vary between departments, but I’ve found that even my department’s small (and frankly, underutilized) Graduate Student Association is full of potential! When I arrived at PSU our GSA was just called SAC and it was a loosely defined organization with just a string of presidents who took responsibility for organizing a social event every so often. No one really knew what SAC stood for. I think Student Advisory Committee, but it was neither quite a committee nor advisitory. Luckily, we voted at our last meeting to officially change it to Statistics Graduate Student Association! In my short time being involved (since last fall) I’ve served as webmaster and made a bad ass website for us, organized weekly grad student workshops that now have Panera catering, organized a successful laser tag outing, AND been promoted to vice president. I’m looking forward to running for president next year. If your department doesn’t have a group already, ask around and check into the procedures for creating a campus group! It’s a mostly painless process and usually once recognized, you’ll be able to apply for funding. <br />
<i>Free Food Score: 5 out of 5 Pizzas</i><br />
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<b><u>Check out College/University Level GSA Groups</u></b><br />
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Often the lifestyle of a grad student dictates that you spend the majority of your time on campus in a very few number of locations, interacting with only a limited number of colleagues. If you’re anything like me then you probably love to nerd about about your chosen field of study and you enjoy hanging out with others who share that passion! It can be hard to meet graduate students in other fields, but once you do it can open a whole new social aspect of your grad student life! Check to see if your school has graduate associations at the college or university level and check out their calendar for events that will draw in students from all across campus. Penn State’s GPSA hosts a plethora of amazing social events, workshops, coffee hours, talks, etc all year long, including a giant end-of-the-year field day for grad students. These organizations are also key for staying informed and involved with grad student rights and issues. Health care is a key issue for everyone insured through their university and there a lots of changes still taking place through the Affordable Care Act. Make sure that your voice is heard!<br />
<i>Free Food Score: 4 out of 5 Pizzas</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ln55_aJlIb6jS_ooT4kLZAYWdZkhD5na5OCCOLqRC6nR_FfoTVgBD8rKA8PGW6v2by5ctR97touMAeOuYfkylec4myHy2ixio2wFZ3CBN16llhDG919PgoPRnt_ybWwlGBgi8RLLfQI/s1600/Screenshot+2015-03-17+22.16.19.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ln55_aJlIb6jS_ooT4kLZAYWdZkhD5na5OCCOLqRC6nR_FfoTVgBD8rKA8PGW6v2by5ctR97touMAeOuYfkylec4myHy2ixio2wFZ3CBN16llhDG919PgoPRnt_ybWwlGBgi8RLLfQI/s1600/Screenshot+2015-03-17+22.16.19.png" height="320" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note the intimidating countdown until <br />
the hardest test of my life. Blarg.</td></tr>
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<b><u>Be an Officer</u></b><br />
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The current student associations don’t have quite what you like going on? Be that change you want to see! Get involved. Get elected. Join committees and plan some events to your liking! You can also choose your level of involvement. Remember, everyone else is also a graduate student so they’ll be more than understanding if school, research, life gets more involved. I especially enjoy my role as webmaster where I’ve been able to create web pages through PSU’s partnership with Wordpress. It’s much simpler than I anticipated and such a great tool to have learned.<br />
<i>Free Pizza Score: 3 out of 5 Pizzas</i><br />
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<b><u>Twitter!</u></b><br />
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Academia is quickly taking over Twitter. I love using it to keep up with current events and issues in science, as well as living vicariously through Anna Kendrick. Even if you don’t want to keep up tweeting from an account, you can still use one to cultivate lists of accounts to follow. I keep a list of accounts that provide relevant Penn State and statistics news so that I can have them on our SGSA website in a convenient Twitter widget. My hope is that even the students and faculty in Stats that don’t tweet (a LOT of them) still have easy access to the information. It’s a great place to hear about research, events, funding opportunities, jobs, free food, and sports.<br />
<i>Free Food Score: 1 out of 5 Pizzas </i><br />
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<b><u>Offer to Show Prospective Students Around</u></b><br />
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You were a young student applying for grad school not so long ago. You remember how nerve-racking the whole process is! Volunteering to take a prospective student out to lunch is a win-win situation. You get to tell them your honest feelings about the program and possibly your advisor (Check out last week’s post for more on this!) so they are fully informed and you both get lunch, usually paid for by your department. My department is having our recruitment day next friday and I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I was in their position. That visit and the emails I exchanged with two students really sold me on choosing Penn State and Statistics for my PhD program. I’m so happy to be here and to have the opportunity to help guide potential new graduate students towards a similar decision!<br />
<i>Free Food Score: 5 out of 5 Pizzas</i><br />
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If there's anything we've missed or if you'd like to share your own experiences let us know! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07938681589661715634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-87515360324939339882015-03-05T11:09:00.000-08:002015-03-05T15:46:10.385-08:00Questions to Ask when Choosing a Graduate Adviser <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few weeks back, my graduate group had its prospective student weekend, where all the top ranked applicants get to come and meet professors and current students. Meeting and greeting all these hopeful students got me and a few others thinking about the process of choosing a graduate adviser. STS wrote a bit about how to <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/06/finding-graduate-advisor.html" target="_blank">find and contact prospective PIs</a> in the past, but that post doesn’t touch on how to make a decision once you have a few professors interested in working with you. In many academic fields, your relationship with your major professor is the most important professional relationship you will have for many, many years. Even when you earn your degree, a prospective employer will still want to know what your mentor thought of you. So, it’s crucial to choose a person who you feel will not only aid your academic growth, but who you are generally compatible with on a personal level. You don’t need to be BFFs, but things like having drastically mismatched communication styles, academic expectations, or assumptions about levels of involvement can make the road to degree completion much more hazardous. And, on a broader scale, it’s really not worth it to work with Bigshot-Publishes-Yearly-In-Nature if they are unkind, unhelpful, or unavailable. </span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-8354c68b-eb2e-e8da-cfbe-491c944b2fb2" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Below, I’ve compiled a list of pretty well every question I have ever asked, been asked, or wished I’d asked during the process of choosing a graduate mentor. I’ve divided it into three main groups: questions to ask the professor, questions to ask graduate students in their lab, and questions to ask any graduate student in the program. You certainly don’t have to ask all these things, but do a little soul searching beforehand and think about what </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> matters to you. You are making a commitment to work with someone regularly for the next several </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">years</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Sure, they are interviewing you, but you are also interviewing them. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the fact that this list is long, it’s obviously not exhaustive. Give more suggestions in the comments below! </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Questions to Ask the Professor</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Okay, it’s time to put your big-person pants on and get serious. Asking thoughtful questions will make you more memorable, and nothing is worse than getting to that point in the interview when they ask, “Do you have any questions for me?” and coming up dry. Plus, this is going to be one of the most </span><span style="line-height: 20.0727272033691px; white-space: pre-wrap;">important</span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"> people in your life for the next 4-6 years. When I was having these talks before choosing a PhD program, I compared it to going on lots of first dates. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What can I expect from you/the program as far as funding and support?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38;">I know it’s awkward, but it's very </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20.0727272033691px;">important</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38;"> and it shows you mean business when you ask about money, so just do it. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Make sure and think long term. Don’t just worry about year one, ask how you might expect to be funded for the entire duration of your degree. Answers like, “I expect my students to apply for external fellowships.” are normal, but it’s good to know that sort of thing up front. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What can I expect as far as lab or field support? Do they employ technicians or undergraduates? Are these employees tied to certain projects exclusively?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s nice to know if there is a lab manager who knows where all the equipment is kept and what sort of condition it’s in currently. You also want to feel out the availability of undergraduate employees and volunteers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How would you describe your mentoring style?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are they hands on; are they hands off; do they view themselves as more of a boss or someone who is working with other (albeit young) professionals? You can compare how they describe themselves with how their students describe them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many students do you plan on concurrently mentoring?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Code for, “How much time will you have to support me when I need you?” or “How many other people do I have to fight for your money?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are your day-to-day expectations? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some advisers want to meet once a week, some once a month, some only when you need them. Some people expect to see your face everyday and to know where to find you from 9-5 at the least. Others will be fine with you working from home. This is another chance to see if your personal style matches with this professor’s.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What type of skills do you expect me to come in knowing or expect me to learn during my time in your lab? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>If they expect you to know R, SAS, ArcGIS, or a set of field skills and lab techniques before you begin, that’s important information. It’s likely they would have weeded you out via some of these things, but if not you need to be aware. Also, if you didn't already know what they expect during your degree, you can see if those expectations align with your interest and goals. Bonus points if you ask what resources are available in the lab/program/University for </i></span><span style="line-height: 20.0727272033691px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>acquiring</i></span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> these skills. </i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How often and when in their graduate careers do students in the lab publish papers? What are your views about authorship on papers with students? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are they first author on everything to come out of the lab? Are there big lab projects that everyone is involved in and get’s to be part of writing up? This is also another good gauge of the PI’s expectations of you as a student.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you for meeting with me. What are the next steps I can expect?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, you liked them. It’s fair to ask when you might hear something, or what contingencies acceptance of your application might depends on, such as departmental funding or pending grant applications.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Questions to Ask Graduate Students in the Lab:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is equally as important as talking to the professor themselves. A few pro-tips. Talk on the phone or in person. People are more likely to be honest and candid when they don’t have to write it down. If you can, try to talk to students who have graduated; they have nothing to lose by keeping it real. Just like PIs, graduate students will ask you what you're interested in and what your experience is. Have something </span><span style="line-height: 20.0727272033691px; white-space: pre-wrap;">intelligent</span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"> prepared to say (remember, your expressed interests are not a binding contract!); sometimes </span><span style="line-height: 20.0727272033691px; white-space: pre-wrap;">professors</span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ask members of their labs for opinions about you later. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can you describe your research? How do you feel fits in with the PI's research program?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a polite question to ask, and it will help you gauge other questions this student might have specific insights about for you. It can also give you hints about lab structure. Does the PI only choose students who study things closely related to their own work, or are they more open? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is the PI's advising style?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are they hands on; are they hands off; do they view themselves as more of a boss or someone who is working with other (albeit young) professionals? You can compare how the students describe them to how they describe themselves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How would you describe your working relationship with the PI? With other students in the lab?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You want to find out if people collaborate in the lab group, if the PI is active in providing feedback, and if that feedback is generally helpful and constructive. Similarly, in graduate school, you learn just as much, if not more, from your peers. So, do other students in the lab collaborate or work share? Do they give helpful feedback on your ideas and work?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you find the PI to be approachable? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True story. Four days before my QE exam I tapped on my mentors door and had an unannounced, mini- breakdown, minus the tears thank God. I think I might have actually exploded if I hadn’t felt I could go to him for reassurance and support. It doesn’t have to be that extreme, but you do want to know if students feel comfortable approaching their major professor. You need someone you aren’t afraid to feel stupid in front of, because feeling stupid is what grad school is all about (spoiler). </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does the major professor deal with conflict?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are they direct and reasonable? Are they passive aggressive or bat shit? This is very, very important. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How often do students start in the lab and not complete their degrees (they choose not to continue in the program, change labs, change programs, etc.)?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the last three PhD students have moved on without getting their degrees, it might not be a problem with the students.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is the lab culture like? How often do you have lab meetings, and what are they like?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You want to know if students are competitive with one another, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you like. You want to find out how much lab members collaborate, hang out, or work share. Asking about lab meetings can be a good way to gauge how the lab interacts as a whole.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you TA/RA? How difficult is it to secure TA/RA positions?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This will depend on the answer the PI gives you about funding, but if you’re going to need to TA or RA, it’s good to know how difficult it is to get those positions. It’s also a good idea to ask about the application process, because you’ll generally have to do this for your first year before you even arrive on campus. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How often do members of the lab travel to workshops or conferences? Which ones do you generally attend? Is there lab/program/University support for travel?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have I mentioned that knowing about money is important? Here is another example of that fact. Conferences are important to your professional development, so you want to know the conferences lab members are attending and how they pay to get there. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Questions to Ask Graduate Students from the Program at Large:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my view, who you work for is the most important choice, and the reputation of the program is secondary. However, there are some things students outside of the lab you are applying with can tell you that can be very helpful in making a final decision. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you know students in Professor So-and-So’s lab? How do they seem to like it?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s unlikely that an outside student will be really honest with you concerning their views of other professors. But, they might give helpful feedback about the general mental state of students in that lab. I’ve heard this question answered as “They seem happy,” “It seems like that professor has really high expectations,” or “Students in that lab are very productive!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How would they describe the culture of students within the program? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Are students within the program competitive with one another, or is the atmosphere </i></span><span style="line-height: 22.0799999237061px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>collegial</i></span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>? My own opinion is that you want to come out of your graduate education with a bunch of smart colleagues, not a bunch of people you have been trying to outdo for 4-6 years. </i></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How would you describe the attitude of professors toward students in the program? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are professors within the program competitive with one another, or is the atmosphere collegial? This will obviously influence the attitude of the students in the program. You also want to gauge how easy it is to collaborate or meet with professors other than your major professor. Is there an open door policy? Do professors generally make time for students?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How would you describe the administrative and University support available to the program?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is there a great office staffer who knows all about all the paperwork? Is the person who administers grants for your graduate group super helpful, or not? If students generally feel like they struggle to find answers for programmatic questions, that will be a pain you should be prepared to deal with if you choose that program. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is there an active student group for the program or for graduate students at large on the campus?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ideally, you want there to be a feedback mechanism between the students in the program and the faculty, staff, and administration. A good student group provides this. A situation where you have a voice is always a better situation. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is the social scene within the program?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes, graduate school will make you feel like a cotton-headed ninny muggins. If students get together for happy hour, play intramural sports together, or love game nights, it will give you a chance to check in with other people who are sharing your experience. Because you are not a cotton-headed ninny muggins. </span></span></div>
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Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-52012450820788506132015-02-17T15:00:00.000-08:002015-02-23T10:32:13.832-08:00Citizen Science: What, Why, and How<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a post I’ve been intending to write for a long, long time. It’s a lot easier to write about my day to day life as an ecologist and PhD student. In fact, any time I turn my computer on to write something that isn’t about me or about my personal research, I get this super intense surge of imposter syndrome. I’ll stop the unnecessary preamble there for now. It’s just my attempt to keep my writing in this space authentic, as I think it’s important to be honest about the struggles we face, even if they are mundane (Ermahgerd, writing a blog? What if someone *gasp* </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reads it</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?!)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBKlAD0JdxUJeFRfVzR7po_foyg92FQo7P-ysAXx4tJEV4rMapx7e4SoPjrrvNDSSJRrDVReOz8uRmw1aMDejUrsJPdmzKTyhxhO4A7UmWrhCxmprp5h641gITFcwCDGQGZmgmNrxhPc/s1600/DSCN0055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBKlAD0JdxUJeFRfVzR7po_foyg92FQo7P-ysAXx4tJEV4rMapx7e4SoPjrrvNDSSJRrDVReOz8uRmw1aMDejUrsJPdmzKTyhxhO4A7UmWrhCxmprp5h641gITFcwCDGQGZmgmNrxhPc/s1600/DSCN0055.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Training citizen scientists out at Stebbins Cold Canyon UC NRS</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The term citizen science has been buzzing around in scientific circles for a number of years now. When I first drafted this last week, the </span><a href="http://citizenscienceassociation.org/conference/citizen-science-2015/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">first annual conference</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the </span><a href="http://citizenscienceassociation.org/overview/who-we-are/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Citizen Science Association</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was just wrapping up in San Jose, CA. This conference showcased the amazing body of scholarly research concerning citizen science, which is telling us a larger and more coherent story about the practice every day. I have had the pleasure of working with professional scientists and educators whose whole course of study revolves around the design and training of participants for these endeavors. I will offer here the briefest of introductions based on my own reading and experience and a little anecdote about a citizen science group I help facilitate in my area. For a peer-reviewed take on the matter, look to the fabulous overview by Bonney and colleagues’ from 2014 in Science (so it’s short and sweet) entitled, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next Steps for Citizen Science</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is Citizen Science anyway?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First things first, what is citizen science anyway? Well, first of all, it is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">science</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. That’s a major point to emphasize. Data collected by these projects should answer scientific questions or test specific hypotheses. Second, this is science being performed by individuals who are (in most cases) not formally trained as research scientists. There is a huge variety within the citizen science genre, but, in my experience, most projects fall into three main categories: atlas/survey, monitoring, and manipulative/experimental. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atlas or survey projects use the increased person power provided by citizen scientists to attempt to catalog </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">all</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of something. Whether it’s </span><a href="http://schoolofants.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ants</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in your backyard, </span><a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/projects/bioblitz/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">critters</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in a park, or </span><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/beespotter-illinois/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bees</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in your garden, these sorts of projects tap into our collective observation skills to gather useful data about when and where things occur. For me, personally, online games that help map things (proteins, </span><a href="http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/post/37792261076/eyewire-game-map-neurons" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">neurons!!</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) fall into this same category. Others might disagree. These sorts of projects don’t generally ask you to make observations at any set interval, they just want to know what you saw. Monitoring based citizen science projects are also observation based, but time and place are more important. Most monitoring projects are hoping to capture any changes that are occurring over time. These changes could be in </span><a href="http://budburst.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">timing</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of events, </span><a href="http://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">composition</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of plant and animal communities, or an </span><a href="http://scistarter.com/project/1049-Stream%20Team?tab=project&utm_medium=scistarterblog&utm_source=scistarter&utm_campaign=SEPT2014water&utm_content=Stream%20Team" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">indicator</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of environmental health. Actual manipulative citizen science projects are more rare, and tend to occur in conjunction with specific researchers. If anyone has cool examples of projects like these, put them in the comments below! And, because things rarely fit into three neat little categories, feel free to share other examples. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9jlkYBNyHEE749xVKL55FIgDKh91eKBi7Z5lOiNVeLeBVgVa0HGJgXAqDo1UQ-smuKYWnnLAWhHnZ_wKtzVcpXtG3L3xbqsbtmT-kvKrv5kF5lBk4hXt48elDH19-0gBaxGgXeUkJkM/s1600/IMG_2426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9jlkYBNyHEE749xVKL55FIgDKh91eKBi7Z5lOiNVeLeBVgVa0HGJgXAqDo1UQ-smuKYWnnLAWhHnZ_wKtzVcpXtG3L3xbqsbtmT-kvKrv5kF5lBk4hXt48elDH19-0gBaxGgXeUkJkM/s1600/IMG_2426.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Expanding leaves. Photo Cred: Allie Weill,<br />
hand model Rachel Wigginton</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some might ask the point of such a practice, as scientists, myself included, spend years training to do what we do. I wanted to point out here at the get-go that there are many studies looking at the accuracy of data collected by citizen science projects (see 2, 3, and 4 for examples), and with proper training, data collected by these projects can absolutely be used to answer scientific questions</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. So, formally trained scientists are still needed to design the protocols, set-up sites, and perform proper training for volunteers. I can tell you from personal experience, doing this is a lot of effort up front. There are also the back end costs of coordinating volunteers, keeping citizens engaged in the project, and curating the data that is gathered. That said, I’m clearly not out of job thanks to these projects, but why would I even bother?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are a few really great incentives for scientists to make citizen science work. First, and non-research related, you are doing some amazing outreach. We all remember that moment during our scientific training when things started to click, and I can almost 100% guarantee you that “click” didn’t come in the classroom. It came when you were taking your first baby steps into actually </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">doing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> science. By working with citizen scientists, you are allowing people who might never get to have a hands on experience with science to get up close and personal with a study system. You will be amazed how quickly these citizens start </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thinking like scientists</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I can imagine few things more gratifying than having a volunteer tell you a project has changed how they look at the world. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The second, and totally research related, reason to get involved in citizen science is the increase in data resolution these sorts of projects afford to us. Certainly, myself and a few intrepid undergraduates will know a lot about native </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spartina</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> restoration in the SF Bay by the end of my PhD research (at least I hope!). But when we attempt to </span><a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/search/label/Scale%20Matters" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">scale</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> up, both in time and space, it’s hard to get a handle one some questions without a bigger team. Think about one of the oldest citizen science project, the </span><a href="http://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Audubon Christmas Bird Count</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Obviously, no single researcher or even a team of researchers, could have maintained that many survey points each year or kept observations going all the way back to 1900! And before you start poo-pooing all this data, return to my above comment. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the proper training</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, citizen science data can be used for papers that get published in peer reviewed journals. Take, for example, the 90 or so publications based on data from </span><a href="http://ebird.org/content/ebird/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eBird</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We need to stop seeing citizen science as just a way to pad a broader impacts statement and start treating it as a scientific opportunity. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnYxZfrRPfWUEAisZQWk3UCylRU6TF7ppvPn21IeCOUVZVLZrAi3glmKhzElWP1N5pYFoRxmqB_3zqd10HcHbXq4ZJQMOBCeTc3628FQN24zX3Et-iy5ipHk9dzmkfBgsRMAgtIgZhL5k/s1600/PA260006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnYxZfrRPfWUEAisZQWk3UCylRU6TF7ppvPn21IeCOUVZVLZrAi3glmKhzElWP1N5pYFoRxmqB_3zqd10HcHbXq4ZJQMOBCeTc3628FQN24zX3Et-iy5ipHk9dzmkfBgsRMAgtIgZhL5k/s1600/PA260006.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The inspiring folks of the CPP Stebbins</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Case Study: California Phenology Project at Stebbins Cold Canyon</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, I’ll be the first to admit that not every research question, or even every research program, has an appropriate place for citizen science to fit. Like every tool, there is no need to make a round peg fit a square hole. For example, I work in a very sensitive habitat type on plants and invertebrates living in the soil. There are several endangered plants and animals in my system. Getting citizens involved in a meaningful way isn’t in the cards for me, at least not yet. So, here is my pitch for why, even if you can’t address your own research, you should still stick a toe in the citizen science pool. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the spring of the first year of my PhD program, I was working on a </span><a href="http://conservationmanagement.ucdavis.edu/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conservation Management</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> degree certificate. This certificate entails taking some course work, which I was going to take anyway, and doing a group project. Our group was approached by some staff from the </span><a href="http://nrs.ucop.edu/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UC Natural Reserve System</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, who had a bit of extra funding for a community outreach project. We decided a citizen science project would fit that bill. So, in the fall of 2013, a group of students and two faculty advisers (one ecology, one education) started meeting to discuss what sort of project would fit well at our nearby UC NRS site, </span><a href="http://nrs.ucop.edu/reserves/stebbins/stebbins_cold_canyon.htm" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stebbins Cold Canyon</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Stebbins is unique for several reasons. First, it’s one of the few UC NRS sites that is open to the public, with some pretty stellar hiking trails. Second, one of the said hiking trails recently got listed on some online hiking forum, and the rate of visitation has gotten pretty high in the last few years. Last, most of those visitors have </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">no </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">idea that this is a research site where science is actively happening.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We went through a large list of existing citizen science projects and also emailed all the researchers doing work out at Stebbins. We really wanted to make sure any data we gathered ended up with a scientists at the other end. There is already a complete species list for the site, so we nixed any atlas style citizen science projects. In the end, we settled on starting a new site for the </span><a href="https://www.usanpn.org/cpp/node/8" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">California Phenology Project</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which is a subset of the </span><a href="https://www.usanpn.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">National Phenology Network</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This project is part of a nation wide effort to capture changes in the timing of life events for plants and animals (ie: phenology) as they relate to climate change. I think this is a prime example of the type of question that can really only be addressed with a literal army of data points. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpgXImKa-DWwFvHTurxBeZUEG_KfcJR64MY0B-JweMP_F8G1u3s-Cegkn8FOQKedIsGJM7Jn7eOhUQl4mTN1we_89Tjl4F3357t-9thLRBjIvBXjJR3BgWQY4-i2md-ivVvb2pxzEHl8/s1600/IMG_3360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpgXImKa-DWwFvHTurxBeZUEG_KfcJR64MY0B-JweMP_F8G1u3s-Cegkn8FOQKedIsGJM7Jn7eOhUQl4mTN1we_89Tjl4F3357t-9thLRBjIvBXjJR3BgWQY4-i2md-ivVvb2pxzEHl8/s1600/IMG_3360.JPG" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water in the creek at Stebbins Cold Canyon UC NRS</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you foolishly think, like I did, that simply starting a new site for an existing project wouldn’t be that much work, you’re very wrong. Because this is such a well thought out project, with some pretty specific scientific questions, the requirements for establishing a phenology trail are fairly in depth. Then you have recruiting and training volunteers, making sure they are entering data, coordinating all the monitoring sessions, etc., etc., ect. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And if you’ll recall, this isn’t even the system I study. I don’t even really study climate change. But you know what, being involved with this project has been one of the most rewarding parts of my graduate career to date. First, I feel like I’m really addressing the needs of a land manager (UC NRS) by educating visitors about the scientific use of Stebbins. Not only do our volunteers now know tons more about the site, but they are always telling us about conversations they have had with others on the trail. More importantly, I absolutely feel like our team has helped to change the world views of all our volunteers. I feel as though I have seen these people start to think and interact with the world like scientists. They have told us they notice the differences in flowering times between locations. They think about what our recent rain storm will mean for the phenology of the plants up at the canyon. They note the differing amounts of pollinators on plants at different phenological stages. I could go on. It’s magnificent. And very, very humbling. Because sometimes, I forget to be awed by the first Toyon berries of the year, then we get an email from a volunteer, who is so excited to be the first one with a “yes” data point in the ripe fruit column. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have started to see conference presentations utilizing the NPN and CPP data sets. This is real science ya’ll. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sold. How can I get involved?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a scientist, you can start your own citizen science project to assist you with your research! Look for the standards and best practices explained by the Citizen Science Association. Or, you can do like we did, and expand an existing project. If you are an interested citizen, look for a project going on in your area. </span><a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zooniverse</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a great online repository of the many, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">many</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> projects going on right now. There are all levels of involvement, from coding video from the comfort of your own home, to hitting the trail with a data sheet after a weekend of rather intense training. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And hey, if you are a scientists or a citizen who wants to get involved with the CPP at Stebbins Cold Canyon, check out </span><a href="http://cppstebbins.wordpress.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our website</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and shoot us a line! We’d love to have you on our team.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -31.5pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1. Bonney, R., Shirk, J. L., Phillips, T. B., Wiggins, A., Ballard, H. L., Miller-rushing, A. J., & Parrish, J. K. (2014). Next Steps for Citizen Science. Science, 343(March), 1436–1437.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -31.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Crall, A. W., Newman, G. J., Stohlgren, T. J., Holfelder, K. A., Graham, J., & Waller, D. M. (2011). Assessing citizen science data quality: an invasive species case study. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conservation Letters</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(6), 433-442.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -31.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Delaney, D. G., Sperling, C. D., Adams, C. S., & Leung, B. (2008). Marine invasive species: validation of citizen science and implications for national monitoring networks. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Biological Invasions</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(1), 117-128.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Galloway, A. W., Tudor, M. T., & HAEGEN, W. M. V. (2006). The reliability of citizen science: a case study of Oregon white oak stand surveys. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wildlife Society Bulletin</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">34</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(5), 1425-1429.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Gardiner, M. M., Allee, L. L., Brown, P. M., Losey, J. E., Roy, H. E., & Smyth, R. R. (2012). Lessons from lady beetles: accuracy of monitoring data from US and UK citizen-science programs. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(9), 471-476.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-53803144835402376352015-02-06T16:43:00.001-08:002015-02-06T16:50:40.726-08:00Part 3 - And Now for Something Completely Different<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>How We Came to be Here - A Story in Three Parts</b><br />
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<i>This week STS will be sharing stories of coming to careers in STEM fields. We hope we can offer three different perspectives on finding your career path, navigating higher education, and deciding how and when your journey needs to change. We’d love to hear any and all of your stories about finding your calling or your struggles/victories if you’re still trying to figure it out right now. Please share! It’s important for all of us (especially those in high school and undergrad) to know that there is no single, best way to approach this crazy adventure. For Part 1, which is Rachel's story, click <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2015/02/part-1-totally-expected-journey.html" target="_blank">here</a>. For Part 2, which is Chelsea’s story, click <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2015/02/part-2-money-isnt-everything-or.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can I do it on my own? </td></tr>
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I have some impressive posts to follow! I am very lucky to have two wildly inspirational best friends that are both doing such amazing things with their lives. I suppose it’s time for my story. Unlike Rachel and Chelsea, after graduating from WKU in 2009 I took an academic year off to reconsider my options for moving forward. I’d had lots of wonderful experiences during my undergraduate years thanks to my mentor, Dr. Albert Meier. At that point I had done research, internships, studying abroad, an honors thesis, but even with all of this involvement, I still was terribly intimidated by the prospect of graduate school. Albert often reassured me that I could go straight into a PhD program, but to me that seemed like rushing the process. During the time I was working on applications to different programs I was living at home and working at a Red Robin to save money. A lot of my friends had already been accepted and moved onto graduate programs while I still had a giant pile of uncertainty in my future. This was a pretty bleak time for me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Mexico has Whataburger! <br />
Milkshakes + Fries help with <br />
grad school frustrations.</td></tr>
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For a while it seemed like every potential path was quickly met with disappointment. I thought I had a position lined up as a research assistant in Costa Rica for a short time, but I believe that graduate student ended up employing a friend instead. A professor that I had been talking to at UC Santa Barbara (<span style="font-family: inherit;">close to where Rachel was at the time!), but again disappointment arrived as he informed me he was departing for a different university. It was getting late in the grad school search season and I was scouring the <span id="docs-internal-guid-bdd4f4ec-615d-533e-9477-1e0de5a06ebf"><a href="https://listserv.umd.edu/archives/ecolog-l.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ecolog listserv</span></a><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="http://wfscjobs.tamu.edu/job-board/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Texas A&M Wildlife Job Board</span></a><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span> for any PhD or MS listing that was even remotely interesting at t</span>his point. Thankfully, I came across a listing for a fully funded MS level grad program focused on algal research at a Fish and Wildlife department in New Mexico. Now the cogs were really falling into place.<br />
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Within 11 days I went from inquiring about the posting, to interviewing, to applying to NMSU, to acceptance. All of a sudden I had a plan and only a few months before moving across the country to start working on research that summer. Sure, it was intimidating going from spending most of my time in bed watching Netflix to leading a team of undergrads in designing and conducting experiments, but it sure was just what I needed to jump start my enthusiasm and motivation! I cannot say enough good things about my academic experience during my Master’s. I had a supportive advisor who taught me to be more confident and self reliant as a researcher. I found time to travel and attend conferences. I started taking more and more applied statistics courses which opened my eyes how useful such knowledge was to scientists. By the time I finished 2 ½ years later, I was emerging a much more self-assured, competent scientist.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland</td></tr>
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My research and coursework left me with lots of new questions and motivation, and I was sure of wanting to return for a PhD. However, I once more went the route of gap year, this time with a much clearer vision of how to proceed. While my time in New Mexico was academically fulfilling, I was left a bit drained on a more personal and emotional level. I knew I needed to devote time to myself away from school and thanks to very supportive parents and the low cost of living in Las Cruces, I was able to travel for three months through Europe on my own during the summer of 2013. Even now I’m surprised at the extent that this trip has left such a lasting impression on me. I believe that the double dose of academic and interpersonal confidence was crucial for my next steps towards finding a PhD program.<br />
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While searching for programs I was eager to incorporate my newfound interest in statistics with my established background in biology/ecology. I sent applications to Biostatistics, Biomathematics, Ecology, and Statistics programs, unsure of exactly what path I wanted to take, or even what was available. I even applied to a program at UC Davis which had the added appeal of Rachel’s lovely presence! Penn State piqued my interest when I stumbled across this site for a <a href="http://sites.stat.psu.edu/~gpp/graduate_programs.htm" target="_blank">Center for Statistical Ecology and Environmental Statistics</a>. Oddly enough, this center no longer exists, but I had already applied and been accepted when I found out! I was reluctant initially to accept a position in a purely statistical department, but talking to the graduate advisors, current students, and several professors during my recruitment visit that reassured me that I would have ample opportunity to incorporate an interdisciplinary approach. This was exactly what I needed to solidify my decision. Now I’m in my second semester as a statistics grad student with no regrets about my switch in fields.<br />
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I hope everyone has enjoyed our series on our respective paths to where we are now. Navigating life, school, and careers can be rough and we want you to know that lots of people struggle with finding a path. If you would like to share your own experiences, or even guest post for us, let us know! Until next time, check out these pictures of my besties and me at Mount St Helen's.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07938681589661715634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-73747782279379056552015-02-04T17:31:00.001-08:002015-08-04T13:09:09.309-07:00Part 2: Money isn’t Everything - or - Breaking up with Science<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How We Came to be Here - A Story in Three Parts</span></b></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This week STS will be sharing stories of coming to careers in STEM fields. We hope we can offer three different perspectives on finding your career path, navigating higher education, and deciding how and when your journey needs to change. We’d love to hear any and all of your stories about finding your calling or your struggles/victories if you’re still trying to figure it out right now. Please share! It’s important for all of us (especially those in high school and undergrad) to know that there is no single, best way to approach this crazy adventure. For Part 1, which is Rachel's story, click <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2015/02/part-1-totally-expected-journey.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </i> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My name is Chelsea. I have known Meridith since I moved to Kentucky in 1996. That was 19 year ago! Before anything else, I would like to use this guest post as a forum to show some funny pictures of us together, and then I will talk about science.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sa1A-Gr2HS-Ph0tCotXZ_MQ5U94IarGqU5zG36OG7gqPxC_ceMCFFj9NFO0ELdzldiYRIA70x6f70Wf9qPvvaAqr11wNpKcneSjuyREg9uoUxDi2QB8KN8tJsWg122U9F9I" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="IMG_1100.JPG" border="0" height="480" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sa1A-Gr2HS-Ph0tCotXZ_MQ5U94IarGqU5zG36OG7gqPxC_ceMCFFj9NFO0ELdzldiYRIA70x6f70Wf9qPvvaAqr11wNpKcneSjuyREg9uoUxDi2QB8KN8tJsWg122U9F9I" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Photographic evidence of Meridith and Chelsea’s </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">especially long friendship. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">This was taken </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">at Meridith’s house in 1997.</span></span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part 2: Money isn’t Everything - or - Breaking up with Science</span></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_zRP2JUbmBTDmLbET84Z2WwmSpEYJvlrm3dP7z-BmrM-GTyuRNeTUlIHgRTsogFx-lhgAqcLQ0SvH9NfAjLrmV__MBrKVXF2wlCLgPyB7TCJa3HQAj6YgLSEfsgPrx2zEsF63-vvK-k7" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_zRP2JUbmBTDmLbET84Z2WwmSpEYJvlrm3dP7z-BmrM-GTyuRNeTUlIHgRTsogFx-lhgAqcLQ0SvH9NfAjLrmV__MBrKVXF2wlCLgPyB7TCJa3HQAj6YgLSEfsgPrx2zEsF63-vvK-k7" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Prom. Chelsea in pink, Meridith</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">wearing aqua. I was the only one who got </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">the giant poofy dress memo.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wanted to share my story of taking a break from my relationship with science to find out what really matters to me. I am writing this for those who might be feeling burnt out or unsure about their paths. In all stages of life these are completely normal feelings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am an American living in Japan where I work as an assistant language teacher (ALT) for the Japanese Exchange & Teaching (JET) program. In Japan I teach English to freshman high school students. But it was not always this way; I used to be a geologist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Meridith and myself together in 2013 as full</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> fledged grown ups. I met up with her during her epic</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">cross-country trip in Europe two years ago.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2009 I graduated with my BS in geology from
Western Kentucky University (<i>Editor's Note: For those keeping track at home, this is another proud WKY alumna)</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">. That year I moved to Albuquerque, NM where I began
my M.S. in Geochemistry at the University of New Mexico. I hit the ground
running in graduate school with an M.S. research project that was big and sexy
and proposed a major elaboration on something that very few groups had managed
to achieve (foreshadowing). My proposed work involved locating nano-scale
grains of stardust from ancient, long-dead stars locked away in meteorites on Earth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, my original M.S. project was a big sexy dud. I spent almost a year and a half failing at locating said stardust and generally not knowing what to do about it. The failures were not my fault, but I internalized and agonized over every one of them. At the time I didn’t realize how common failed projects are, and that science wouldn’t quite work without the failures! However, it <i>felt </i>like every day I trudged into the dark lab in the basement of my school, put in my time, and got nothing in return. I was at a motivational low and the stars were just not with me (quite literally, it seems). Finally I had the conversation with my advisor that it was time to cut our losses.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQIxsNbnmSqGFsVwwmzPqVyQtBOtFHGLxEoSnYl1IYWkVzL0Xua5Hhixym0CJ6fYt_0r_ML8YvL9dX8vAo1GXtZwCmUjWEm2IFY6wN146URufogCccdtzxAbvcEb_-QFtO8qW3c_vkrg/s1600/cebpost1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQIxsNbnmSqGFsVwwmzPqVyQtBOtFHGLxEoSnYl1IYWkVzL0Xua5Hhixym0CJ6fYt_0r_ML8YvL9dX8vAo1GXtZwCmUjWEm2IFY6wN146URufogCccdtzxAbvcEb_-QFtO8qW3c_vkrg/s1600/cebpost1.gif" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com/post/100358496917/trying-to-abandon-a-failing-project" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">WSWCGS Trying to Abandon a Failing Project</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We salvaged the materials that we could and spun the thesis statement on a different axis. I still managed to scrape together a M.S.-worthy project from the dust (not stardust) of the original project. I graduated from a two-year M.S. program in three years’ time (Editor’s Note: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To all you other overachievers, 3 years on an M.S. isn’t really super uncommon. That’s how long it took me (Rachel)</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). I have never published my thesis work despite having 2 fleshed out manuscripts saved and waiting (Chelsea’s Note: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I realize how silly that sounds, but I’m just not ready</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">).</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A photo of me at my job as a mining</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> geologist in Nevada.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2012, with a freshly conferred MS degree and zero regard for what really interested me, I began slinging resumes into the black hole of internet job posts for anything labeled “junior geologist” or “geologist I.” Those of you in the market for a job know what a self-critical time this can be. Through fluke and recommendation, I landed a job with a uranium mining company in Albuquerque as a staff geologist. I had never before considered mining as a career prospect, nor did I have much interest in it to be honest. After my first month I discovered that the uranium mining industry is, unfortunately, full of good ol` boys who still think women belong in the home. My opportunities as a woman in that company were limited. In fact once an aging male superior spent 20 minutes imploring me to bring proper footwear into the field, as if I were going to go clip-clopping around abandoned mine sites while wearing stilettos because I was young and female. Soon I got that familiar it`s-time-to-move-on itch… I only lasted 9 months before I found another job.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My next job, still in mining, brought me to work for one of the world’s largest gold producers. This job was big and flashy, brought me 2000 feet underground into an active mine everyday, and came with a nice big paycheck. I signed on eagerly, ready for the next step in things I felt I was supposed to be doing. If I could say anything to my past self at that point, it would be this:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How did you think that leaving a job you were unhappy in for a similar job in the same industry you disliked was a good idea?</span></b></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I lasted two years in mining job number two.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The life path of a professional scientist, in my mind, was supposed to go like this: get an undergraduate degree, get a post-secondary degree, get a fancy job, make money, be happy, end. I was doing everything that I was supposed to do. I had a good science-minded job with good benefits. Yet my happiness level and direction in life were very low. Every day I woke up several hours before the crack of dawn, boarded the company bus for my 10 hour shift at a mine located in a remote desert, spent half of the day underground inhaling dust and diesel fumes, and then came home and collapsed in exhaustion. Rinse and repeat.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuaK7OGWHwTWcKQd58oMQQVnA44e1EA1_7j5aMB1s_Qh2g_4nsKCzZRdgk-OXF6C0RCSNid0m-4N1vr6MjP8TOzMP2l5fJII25ro4vQpBInTxtOH0ZWxp6bY3E2uXFLK7xJPv6Hpd1II/s1600/cebpost2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuaK7OGWHwTWcKQd58oMQQVnA44e1EA1_7j5aMB1s_Qh2g_4nsKCzZRdgk-OXF6C0RCSNid0m-4N1vr6MjP8TOzMP2l5fJII25ro4vQpBInTxtOH0ZWxp6bY3E2uXFLK7xJPv6Hpd1II/s1600/cebpost2.gif" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com/post/100249510859/how-i-feel-about-a-failed-experiment-in-industry" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">WSWCGS How I Feel About a Failed Project in Industry</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like the end of a bad relationship, I felt something changing inside of myself. In the past, I had a clear vision of how science could be my vehicle for learning and change, but I no longer knew why I was doing what I was doing. I needed out, and, as this is a real break-up story and not a romcom, I had to save myself. I took out a piece of paper and wrote down the things that made me happy. It sounds silly but it can be difficult to remember every day why you are doing what you are doing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest member of my happiness brainstorm was science. Next was teaching. In graduate school I taught an intro geology lab that I adored. I later taught at the local aquarium as a volunteer and as a volunteer science educator at elementary schools. I loved the energy I felt when standing in front of a group of students and trying to help them understand scientific problems and gain the courage to ask their own scientific questions. Also on my happiness list was the country of Japan. I had visited Japan in 2008 for a conference, and I was positively itching to return.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I began to search for career opportunities that would point me in the direction of the things that made me happiest in life, which sounds obvious in writing but took me roughly 26 years of life to understand. I learned about the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.us.emb-japan.go.jp%2FJET%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFq8MJsN2h_FApQXvize_BmLTXPRQ" target="_blank">JET program</a>, which allows foreigners with little Japanese ability to teach conversational English in Japanese K-12 schools. While admittedly light on science, JET gave me an avenue to combine my love for teaching with my love for Japan. In April 2014 I learned that I was accepted for a position in the rural Shimane prefecture. Leaving the comfort, security, and paycheck of my job in mining, I dropped everything and moved to Japan in August of 2014. This is one of the most difficult and rewarding things I have ever done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many people were confused by this action, and many saw what I was doing as a mistake. Why would anyone want to leave their now 3-years-old, secure career in science behind to move to Japan and teach English? Well, science and I had lost our spark, and I needed some alone time to work out my issues. I needed to realign my life compass and figure out exactly where I wanted to go and why I wanted to go there.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhploBz2SqewKDED2IxziE8gzkhztEThstu299tm7zJsSkkhZaaZXV8bThGUfXyXEgvkW2RlDs8upMTMM5A83OivTfDNqEDTsujXYOKMCodsSfEm4R7hXURAPBiWeLLYcyeLEfemCQXSAM/s1600/cebpost3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhploBz2SqewKDED2IxziE8gzkhztEThstu299tm7zJsSkkhZaaZXV8bThGUfXyXEgvkW2RlDs8upMTMM5A83OivTfDNqEDTsujXYOKMCodsSfEm4R7hXURAPBiWeLLYcyeLEfemCQXSAM/s1600/cebpost3.gif" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com/post/99726199666/how-i-feel-when-i-finally-graduate" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">WSWCGS - How I Feel When I Finally Graduate</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now it’s February 2015, and it has been almost a year since I admitted to myself that I couldn’t clearly imagine my future with science in it. I am happily living and working in Japan. I don’t make very much money, I don’t speak very much Japanese yet, and this job is only guaranteed for one year at a time. But I am the happiest I have been in a long time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interestingly, science has worked its way back into my life. I now live in a country with a <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-asia-30653825&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEK9_M8kEwDhiNv-NQg3ZYltWSN1Q" target="_blank">drastically declining birth rate</a> where women are feeling more pressure than ever to stay home and have babies. The UNESCO 2007 UIS database (UN statistics division) estimates that women make up just 25% of tertiary science enrolment at Japanese universities. Females in this country have <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goldmansachs.com%2Four-thinking%2Foutlook%2Fwomenomics4-folder%2Fwomenomics4-time-to-walk-the-talk.pdf&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNF2WLyhIT8xo7fqRnLugzZiN4nGug" target="_blank">very little encouragement to get involved in STEM fields</a>, and Japan has the lowest number of registered female scientists out of any OECD country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a living, breathing example of a female scientist, I have assumed a very unintended science advocate roll in my Japanese school. I am known among my local JET cohort as “the scientist” and at school, even outside of classes, I often speak about science and career opportunities in science with my senior high school students and staff members. I have several sciencey-minded community activities up my sleeve. And recently I’ve had the opportunity to help coach high-profile Japanese scientists in a nearby materials science laboratory about how to give the best scientific presentations in English. And I’m having a blast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took some extreme career upheaval and a transpacific move, but science is suddenly fun again. Science and I did have a connection, it just wasn’t the one I was trying to force it to be. Our connection was embedded in one of the things that makes me most happy: education. I am enjoying my time in Japan so much that I signed on for a second year with JET, but when I get back to the US I plan to begin my PhD in science education.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00480221212578540934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-36214493586350962152015-02-02T15:00:00.000-08:002015-02-04T18:00:02.568-08:00Part 1: A Totally Expected Journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>How We Came to be Here - A Story in Three Parts</b></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This week, myself, Meridith, and a guest author, will be sharing our stories of coming to careers in STEM fields. We hope we can offer three different perspectives on finding your career path, navigating higher education, and deciding how and when your journey needs to change. We’d love to hear any and all of your stories about finding your calling or your struggles/victories if you’re still trying to figure it out right now. Please share! It’s important for all of us (especially those in high school and undergrad) to know that there is no single, best way to approach this crazy adventure. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It is not the only or the easiest way to come to the truth. It is one way.” - Wendell Berry</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 1: A Totally Expected Journey </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When applying for my PhD program, my soon-to-be mentor offered up some solid advice about writing and entrance essay to an ecology graduate program, “For the love of God, don’t tell us how you were a little kid with a bucket on the beach.” Good advice for standing out in the pile of 100 essays written by little kids playing in the sand who grew up to become would-be scientists playing the sand. I am, now, going to completely disregard that advice. Here, making our point this week, I think it’s important.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was introduced to the natural world, bare feet first, on my family farm in rural Kentucky. My parents are both trained scientists, a plant pathologist and a horticulturist. However, when I was young, my father worked as a control room operator in a factory and mother ran our family farm. We grew tobacco and various crops for sale and subsistence. I grew up working our fields, learning about photosynthesis from pea plants, and cataloguing crayfish in the aquarium (or five) my parents let me keep on the front porch. I poked, I planted, and I was taught the names of trees before I knew the names of all the states. My first celebrity crush was Jeff Corwin. My brother has a degree in Aquatic Biology and my sister is working on her MS in Ecology and Ecosystem Sciences. To say we never had a chance to be anything other than science nerds is, likely, the understatement of the year. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjILYayLP97x7ovmdQmSazM4ENcEE6Gv07S2MJ9k4T3nfRsSXEDKPhSAGZkCrFc313a0veUBhulIR5ijfRYnBwcY3iGlw-vaHGlhjhAdo7qZdNyTTM8bNxs6K-KOa2CaIqFgrgjlyTU4ro/s1600/IMG_3345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjILYayLP97x7ovmdQmSazM4ENcEE6Gv07S2MJ9k4T3nfRsSXEDKPhSAGZkCrFc313a0veUBhulIR5ijfRYnBwcY3iGlw-vaHGlhjhAdo7qZdNyTTM8bNxs6K-KOa2CaIqFgrgjlyTU4ro/s1600/IMG_3345.JPG" height="460" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evidence 1: I planted that watermelon. I was over the moon when it started to grow. I think this image says a lot.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite the fact that I told people I wanted to be a field biologist when I was 10, I lost sight of that ideal during high school. Career tests don’t usually turn up “ecologist” as an option. Lucky for me, in the spring of my freshman year, the second half of the intro bio series for majors focused on biodiversity, conservation, and ecology. And, here was a person instructing the course who seemed to be making his career out of asking questions about the way nature worked! I’ve been exceedingly lucky to have amazing mentors in my life, and Dr. Mike Stokes was the first. Before the semester was out, he had helped me secure a position working in the Aquatic Ecology Lab with Dr. Scott Grubbs. I spent the summer in streams and rivers all over western Kentucky. I stopped thinking about Jeff Corwin and started day dreaming about Raymond Lindeman and EO Wilson. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigh829YiWwFppFwVnqPASxqYJ3Sd2sYP8cViwgLBQWLcSprAAGVrw9enJrHSHSg-lttiGq7WRl9FjQ2CQ1M9ZNwIUbjUHY8Ga3pLEYB5Fd-4ZfedTqjmXyJMGOVyr1CfdX7cH0hutLTck/s1600/Wigginton+Sibs+River.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigh829YiWwFppFwVnqPASxqYJ3Sd2sYP8cViwgLBQWLcSprAAGVrw9enJrHSHSg-lttiGq7WRl9FjQ2CQ1M9ZNwIUbjUHY8Ga3pLEYB5Fd-4ZfedTqjmXyJMGOVyr1CfdX7cH0hutLTck/s1600/Wigginton+Sibs+River.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evidence 2: The adult Wigginton siblings, turning over rocks.</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was also the summer when Meridith decided to be my best friend. I mention this because I’m super duper shy, and the way I remember the start of our relationship goes something like this: Mer - “Can I come over to your house and watch a movie?” Rach - “Sure, if you don’t have anything you’d rather do.” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*proceed to drink leftover keg beer out of milk cartons and sing Moulin Rouge songs*</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Editor's note: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Rachel's the cutest if she thought I wasn't going to add THE picture of this night. See below.</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) I don’t just bring this up to talk about how adorable we are (though, obvi), but because having another young, female friend who was very serious about becoming a research scientist was fundamental to my success. Meridith has always inspired me. And, she introduced me to her, and soon to be my, undergraduate mentor, Dr. Albert Meier. I told Albert about myself and my interests, and he told me I should get a PhD. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1927693_520848413852_4395_n.jpg?oh=b9e47af4544f727d5dc12957c88401ac&oe=555FB7C0" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1927693_520848413852_4395_n.jpg?oh=b9e47af4544f727d5dc12957c88401ac&oe=555FB7C0" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Falling in bestie love.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fast forward four years, and I had written an honor’s thesis, which was difficult, done research in several countries, which was a blast, and applied for lots of fancy scholarships to get my graduate degree overseas. I don’t get any of them. I was pretty disappointed, so taking a year off from school seemed like the best plan. Unfortunately, it was 2008, and around January 2009 I realize that trying to find a job right then was going to be the literal worst. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When people ask how I ended up studying tidal marshes in California, I usually say that I wanted to translate my aquatic research experience to a marine environment, and I wanted to move to California. That’s true. There were also </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">very</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> few graduate programs still accepting applications when I decided “Oh yeah, I should do that.” I have never been luckier than when I emailed Dr. Christine Whitcraft and asked if she had a place for a Master’s Student that fall. What seemed like a very short amount of time later, I was moving all my belongings over 2,000 miles away from the place I had spent my entire life. But I loved it. My MS experience was challenging, there were absolutly times I hated it, but I mostly remember having so much fun! Having a young, female mentor and a lab full of aspiring (almost entirely) female ecologists was so inspiring. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQSzwB3pUVMdcHmnLZenu2jOeSFji02uuPoMqNze8GymMx2ARcH0X1xhGSHTxemfZLcAqhS_cvVLdXsbjmNok5_7R9OvH3mh9isLyU6XltKYbeT70meYjx_Bz-1F1Mgum4yQhd6M1790/s1600/P5060221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQSzwB3pUVMdcHmnLZenu2jOeSFji02uuPoMqNze8GymMx2ARcH0X1xhGSHTxemfZLcAqhS_cvVLdXsbjmNok5_7R9OvH3mh9isLyU6XltKYbeT70meYjx_Bz-1F1Mgum4yQhd6M1790/s1600/P5060221.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evidence 3: The women of the Wetland Ecology Lab. Class, class, class.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">For me, getting my MS ended up as a way to get more experience so that I could go into my PhD program prepared. I think I really lucked out that I ran out of time to apply for PhD positions in 2009; I don’t think I would have made it if I’d even been accepted. But, post-MS, I felt prepared and excited. Choosing a PhD program was difficult and simple all at the same time. UC Davis was my top choice because it kept my partner and I in California and the program seem to suit my personality and career goals. I cast a wide net, but ended up moving up the California coast to start my PhD right after finishing my MS. </span><br />
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which leads me to...here, where I am now. I’ve been in school from the time I turned 5, I’ve always known what I wanted to be, and when I was 19, someone finally put a name to that ideal. Ecologist. Of the three stories you will read this week, mine is probably the most boring. I wanted to be an ecologist, someone told me I should get a PhD in ecology to be and ecologist, and now I’m doing that. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I won’t say there haven’t been times when I thought about quitting (my first field season for my PhD was very, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">very</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> rough) or instances where I’ve let my personal life and relationships lead my career decisions (there is a long list of schools I didn’t even apply to because the locations didn’t work my partner). However, I’ve always had a very strong idea of what my goal was. Recently, I’ve come to realize that my degree goal isn’t actually an endgame. There are so many ways to “be an ecologist,” and I’m currently giving a lot of thought to how, where, and why, I want to practice my science. I’m excited for my very linear life trajectory to get a little more twisty in the years to come. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjA5e4pthEsCDgrK76ji4oUAAbXP1vwzQFQQz1eKJrc6Ztw0CygjWrteToa3ilDASbFXj_72A-IJsYZMzuWPPleZPQdGG2mLJpQZ5VDHBOSV7LGRkCyt5KINzrCBJ9iP2t396wY32IxQ4/s1600/1928964_518823247302_4450_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjA5e4pthEsCDgrK76ji4oUAAbXP1vwzQFQQz1eKJrc6Ztw0CygjWrteToa3ilDASbFXj_72A-IJsYZMzuWPPleZPQdGG2mLJpQZ5VDHBOSV7LGRkCyt5KINzrCBJ9iP2t396wY32IxQ4/s1600/1928964_518823247302_4450_n.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exactly how I remember my first year of getting paid to do ecology. 2006.</td></tr>
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Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-31918805971452207652015-01-20T16:32:00.000-08:002015-01-20T16:32:22.325-08:00Hindsight and Foresight <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Cohort Chums getting their learn on.</td></tr>
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I finished my first semester of my PhD program last month after a long, very long, oh-so-long semester. For context, my previous educational career was in the biological sciences, but when applying to grad school (round two) I made the decision to pursue a degree in Statistics. This semester has held a lot of firsts, frustrations, and failures, but now that the dust has settled, I can look back on it with a clear view (hindsight is 20/20!). I want to take this time to reflect so that I can hopefully emerge with a more confident approach to my future semesters.<br />
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I was a little reluctant at first to reflect too much on my semester. It’s easy to be pessimistic when the stress is taking over your emotions. For a while I was getting really down on myself because for the first time in my life I wasn’t one of the students at the top. Or even in the middle. Even during my Master’s there was a pretty even playing field and it wasn’t difficult to get all A’s. Penn State is a whole other level of educational adventures. No, I’m not going to be the top student in my cohort. But, my undergraduate mentor, Albert Meier, was always fond of telling his students to take credit for their work at least three times. I am the one that has ventured so far outside of my comfort zone that I can barely see my precious old zone full of security and science. I am the one that improved over 60 points from one of my midterm exams to the final. I am the one who organized homework sessions and study sessions and grad student development workshops. It’s so important to not let yourself ignore your own achievements, especially during tougher times.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_pTlfTV7Rmq1_oNA-LsdnygpqPdL5ZLEL4HyuuIXenDk55XqVfkE46Wz1Bb3d2GeVpWQf3X4biFGK3yY9uyqmrW6myPote7LmNJnYRRxAJPgUjwKjhnRnO9xXHqww7L0KZPjKK9yDi6E/s1600/Screenshot+2015-01-18+15.45.39.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_pTlfTV7Rmq1_oNA-LsdnygpqPdL5ZLEL4HyuuIXenDk55XqVfkE46Wz1Bb3d2GeVpWQf3X4biFGK3yY9uyqmrW6myPote7LmNJnYRRxAJPgUjwKjhnRnO9xXHqww7L0KZPjKK9yDi6E/s1600/Screenshot+2015-01-18+15.45.39.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel and I being almost as cute<br /> as Garcia during a Skype Chat.</td></tr>
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My weekly accountability partnership meetings with Rachel work wonders for my productivity and confidence. I love sharing the ups and downs of my week with Rachel (and her sister, Sara) and have a great, positive support group to send me into the next week freshly motivated. This motivation and focus is really what ultimately helped me to get a lot of the aforementioned accomplishments done amidst the struggles of classes.These meetings began to get more sparse once my exams started up and Rachel’s quals neared, but we agreed that sometimes it’s necessary to put things on the backburner for a while if you need to focus. No reason to feel guilty or stressed if you have to cancel or postpone on someone. You know best how much you can handle on your plate, and if you need to take a few things off, don't let it get you down. I also found that when I was getting overwhelmed, it was helpful to just ask around for help! My cohort chums were vital when I was getting bogged down with homework. It's easy to think that you're the only one struggling, but a quick chat confirmed that there were several of us that wanted some extra help and we still work together to work/talk through our homeworks (which is encouraged by our professors as long as we all write it up separately).<br />
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Looking towards the future is always my favorite part. Well needed breaks from school are usually just what I need to get re-motivated for the path ahead. I’m heading into part two of what very well may be the single most difficult year of schoolings of my entire life and I want to have my head on right. My department’s PhD program had undergone some recent changes that went into effect with my class, so everyone is a bit frazzled, but also very open to making changes. I like that my experiences (however tough) and feedback are very much valued within the department. My main goal for this semester is to be vocal with my questions. I'm usually the one in the front row with my hand raised in classes, but I've been letting myself get more and more intimidated by professors and classes so I stopped asking as many questions. But no more! My new classes and professors have been very enjoyable and I can already tell I'm feeling more comfortable and confident.<br />
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There's lots of events and programs that I want to be more involved with in the future. However, I do need to be mindful of my time and try not to spread myself too thin. A quick talk with your advisor/supervisor can help you settle on a plan of action. I talked with my academic advisor and we agreed that I'll hold off on starting any research projects until this summer, after hopefully PASSING all three sections of my quals. I really want to focus long term on increasing my leadership roles within the department and university, but I will have to keep that to a minimum for now. It's really frustrating to have to hold off on a lot of these tasks and goals that I feel personally better suited to, but mastering the foundation of the content is my number one priority!<br />
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To Recap:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Give yourself credit when it's due!</li>
<li>Figure out the best way to keep yourself motivated and focused.</li>
<li>Don't be afraid to say no or not now to opportunities.</li>
<li>Communicate with your cohort/fellow graduate students.</li>
<li>Eye on the prize.</li>
<li>Don't be afraid to speak up and ask questions!</li>
<li>Communicate your plan with your advisor/supervisor.</li>
</ul>
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Best to luck to everyone on their new semester! </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07938681589661715634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-49154715502456596642015-01-13T16:09:00.001-08:002015-01-13T16:14:32.873-08:00Science Travel 2014: A Year in Review<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I figured I needed to write this post before we were too far down our 2015 paths to really justify reflecting on 2014. As readers of this blog know, I’m all about conservation, but I’m also adamant about <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/06/making-time-for-nature.html" target="_blank">getting out there and enjoying nature</a> and engaging in science for fun. Life is busy, and making time for these sorts of experiences can be a challenge, but it’s so worth it. We owe it to ourselves. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The mountains are calling, and I must go.” ― </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Muir</span></i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39EhZD_yybyE7WNkAgYoJgUBCImLFJryoK3s5GfL2BRQkRx_G1wrZLsvBAGVi1yZJhd4ibCQL21jg8mowp-NM3IbWw5dkpey0vPThxQU8d6HS7Qj828J4eqFd0R9lY0XBhNRHtPUkwSU/s1600/P9140386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39EhZD_yybyE7WNkAgYoJgUBCImLFJryoK3s5GfL2BRQkRx_G1wrZLsvBAGVi1yZJhd4ibCQL21jg8mowp-NM3IbWw5dkpey0vPThxQU8d6HS7Qj828J4eqFd0R9lY0XBhNRHtPUkwSU/s1600/P9140386.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Off the road on Beartooth Scenic Highway - Sept. 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Mer and our boos. Lake Michigan - Jan 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meridith and I have mentioned our yearly New Year’s Eve get together with our college besties on <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2015/01/2014-reflections-resolutions-and-round.html" target="_blank">numerous </a><a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-refreshed-look-back-at-stss-first-year.html" target="_blank">occasions</a>. We rang in 2014 with that group of lovely friends from a cabin on the shores of Lake Michigan. In the afternoon, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on the first day of the year, we took a snowy hike down to the shores of the lake.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We went sledding, threw snowballs, and marveled at the vast, frozen body of water. It might have been a little chillier than a new year's day walk in sunny CA, but I still think it was well worth it! Walking out of doors is, by far, the best way to ring in the new year.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the ice piling up at the lake shore behind him!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The core NYE crew - Lake Michigan Jan 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Napa Tri Crew - April 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think fieldwork ate the rest of January, February, and March. I was outside and all up in science literally all the time. This was my first field season, so I hope you’ll excuse the lack of recreational activities. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In April, I ran my second sprint triathlon</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with some of my favorite ecologists (and friends!). The <a href="http://hitstriathlonseries.com/napa-valley-ca/" target="_blank">Napa HITS Triathlon series</a> begins with a swim in <a href="http://goberryessa.com/destination/" target="_blank">Lake Berryessa</a>, followed by a bike ride beside some beautiful vineyards, and ends with a run through the rolling hills. I love this race because whenever you start to think “Oh dang, I’m really tired!” you can just look around at the gorgeous surroundings and get energized again. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During May, Daniel and I traveled a little bit north and west to see his cousin graduate from Sonoma State University (we are so proud of her!). </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.nps.gov/pore/index.htm" target="_blank">Point Reyes National Seashore</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is only a little bit away, and we had never visited the park, despite it basically being in our back yard. This was part of our effort to hike once a week, which we were still going pretty strong on up until this point. We had a great time, but I made my classic National Park visiting mistake. I always forget National Parks are huge! We were aiming to visit the lighthouse and attempt some whale watching, but when we got to the nearest ranger station, the lighthouse was another 45 minute drive up the coast. We decided to maximize our outside-of-the-car time and just hike from where we found ourselves (<a href="http://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm#CP_JUMP_63132" target="_blank">Bear Valley Visitor’s Center</a>). I did feel like a bit of a liar, I had totally brought Daniel out with the promise of charismatic megafauna.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The meadow along Bear Valley Trail - Point Reyes National Seashore May 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bear Valley Trail - Point Reyes NS May 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Either way a really nice park ranger gave us all the options and highlighted the map. Obviously, Mer and I love park rangers. We ended up choosing the Bear Valley Trail, which lead to the coast, though we didn’t have time to get all the way to the water. The trail did pass through several different ecosystems, including a Douglas Fir forest, a riparian zone, and an open meadow (looked like a dry meadow, but not sure).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June was a busy month for me. I was starting the bulk of my summer fieldwork in July, so while I was prepping for that effort, I was also trying to pack in some fun outings. We spent one awesome Saturday at a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">local you-pick place called <a href="http://thecloverleaffarm.com/" target="_blank">Clover Leaf Farm</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Cheap, organic, and very pollinator friendly! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Somewhere around the middle of the month, our local chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB-Davis) sponsored a hike down to the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/wa/region3/yolo/" target="_blank">Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. One of my friends, a bat ecologist, lead the hike, and right around dusk we watched thousands of Mexican free tailed bats leave their roost under the bypass to forage. It was really amazing and the pictures 100% do not do it justice. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clover Leaf You-Pick Farm - June 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mexican Free-tailed bat population under they bypass - Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area June 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YOLO</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, at the very end of the month, Daniel and I took his cousins (the one who graduated college and her brother who just graduated high school) on a camping trip to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.nps.gov/lavo/index.htm" target="_blank">Lassen Volcanic National Park</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I had never been to this park, so it totally counts toward <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2013/07/eco-inspiration-love-letter-to-usa.html" target="_blank">my big goal</a>! We tried to listen to the USA world cup game on our drive from Davis to <a href="http://www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/manzanita-lake-campground.htm" target="_blank">Manzanita Lake Campground</a>. It was a great campground, with a convenient general store and great access to the beautiful hiking loop around the lake. We took the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/hiking_manzanita_lake.htm" target="_blank">lake loop</a> before heading back to set-up camp and make dinner. I’m proud to say that this was a vegan camping trip save the marshmallows the others ate (I ate <a href="http://chicagoveganfoods.com/products/dandies-vegan-marshmallows/" target="_blank">these</a>, which are fantastic). </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manzanita Lake Lassen Volcanic National Park - June 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW4jW2xjwFsDOtltwaGPAfj_sV2u6FjfW4GK2QH3ACVkTlpBwUu9HJm2IdFlAiQQy9hfmrHeiYnsGffAyfYI7jdv74LAl9JfeqlguQJ9q9uzQ487TeoArsQlDLuNnzm6uUTMdapher7y0/s1600/P6220056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW4jW2xjwFsDOtltwaGPAfj_sV2u6FjfW4GK2QH3ACVkTlpBwUu9HJm2IdFlAiQQy9hfmrHeiYnsGffAyfYI7jdv74LAl9JfeqlguQJ9q9uzQ487TeoArsQlDLuNnzm6uUTMdapher7y0/s1600/P6220056.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paradise Meadow Lassen Volcanic National Park - June 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bumpass Hell Lassen Volcanic National Park - June 2014</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KpepgilTND7DpDDNyXvhTziDzCljYPftYFXDL-GU5JcqDsjfaHLyCKYudBISaqA8PyirAyHNrxlkV3Hqoqm_LA_jCCHLSSBlF1EpoPpi2r_Ovd5Cgjr4mQJu_yvSgaaYwRU4Z-pQucw/s1600/P6230123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KpepgilTND7DpDDNyXvhTziDzCljYPftYFXDL-GU5JcqDsjfaHLyCKYudBISaqA8PyirAyHNrxlkV3Hqoqm_LA_jCCHLSSBlF1EpoPpi2r_Ovd5Cgjr4mQJu_yvSgaaYwRU4Z-pQucw/s1600/P6230123.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU4ztL8RSUfH-aGreVpzrIuw9dnGGYMvPsMWbNoYkxmERMd1PVnA7epI5ikuYffYxUyUz88VrZPmXMw4tfES2S6f6ZZf-5fFIwtdm95emoiMnhpZSpdyoyjouYkCA18V4lgmrnEdYPzAc/s1600/P6230125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU4ztL8RSUfH-aGreVpzrIuw9dnGGYMvPsMWbNoYkxmERMd1PVnA7epI5ikuYffYxUyUz88VrZPmXMw4tfES2S6f6ZZf-5fFIwtdm95emoiMnhpZSpdyoyjouYkCA18V4lgmrnEdYPzAc/s1600/P6230125.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">On our last day, we started with a 2.4 mile round-trip hike to <a href="http://www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/hiking_kings_creek_falls.htm" target="_blank">Kings Creek Falls</a>. This was by far my favorite hike. The vistas were out of control! If you ever take this trail, don’t be faked out by the not-waterfall-waterfall about 2 miles in, keep going! In the afternoon, we had planned to hike Mount Lassen, but the crew was pretty tuckered out. Instead, we opted for some lunching by the river and a trip to the main visitor’s center. This trip was one of my favorite summer memories. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Kings Creek Falls Lassen Volcanic National Park - June 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Family at Cave Run Lake KY - July 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I traveled home to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kentucky in July</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for my cousin’s wedding. Maybe you don’t know this, but a summer trip to Kentucky isn’t really complete without a river or lake visit. Almost my entire immediate family got to spend time out at <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dbnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=39320" target="_blank">Cave Run Lake</a> swimming, snacking, and generally goofing around. It was a super fun time. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In August, Daniel and I took our </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYC Engagement Trip</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. You can read all about that in a <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-science-side-of-nyc.html" target="_blank">previous blog post</a>, but suffice it to say much (science related) fun was had!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During September, I took a weekend trip to Montana to visit one of my best friends from high school who was about to move overseas to Spain. It was a truly great weekend, and I feel so blessed to have been able to spend that time with her before she was gone. She was staying with her sister and brother-in-law in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bozeman, MT</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. If you’ve never been to Bozeman, you should really check into it. She picked me up at the airport, we got some food at the local co-op, then we headed out on a hike. Seriously, my kind of town. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLSHKjVvRbSDMIdAWHLZegqWu2uSAJMmYbiVPmQUmdlJS-Mt7Rpf0v9UjxQxnqKJiMG9Q6OkZcBhM5duUDtFmad3yydt-EiMLvaY5aNZLvAYinmX22nh77GL6wVjmpHmEmScd7DV9pdI/s1600/DSC00526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLSHKjVvRbSDMIdAWHLZegqWu2uSAJMmYbiVPmQUmdlJS-Mt7Rpf0v9UjxQxnqKJiMG9Q6OkZcBhM5duUDtFmad3yydt-EiMLvaY5aNZLvAYinmX22nh77GL6wVjmpHmEmScd7DV9pdI/s1600/DSC00526.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My girl Emily! Beartooth Scenic Highway - Sept. 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOrlEaYDxVQCpBDOO3BHHy-uTM7pulRphMiAZsQGhlX_OkBwEusc9l9iiwYFEhN2k91_m7ZM44qAJJfo9E5dUFWENwueUvgsvdBiAxY7KPHJ9jqhu2Pp-RfFBkI5fie_xyrvSj5reNgc/s1600/P9120290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOrlEaYDxVQCpBDOO3BHHy-uTM7pulRphMiAZsQGhlX_OkBwEusc9l9iiwYFEhN2k91_m7ZM44qAJJfo9E5dUFWENwueUvgsvdBiAxY7KPHJ9jqhu2Pp-RfFBkI5fie_xyrvSj5reNgc/s1600/P9120290.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bozeman MT - Sept. 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the next two days we traveled through </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">northern <a href="http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm" target="_blank">Yellowstone National Park</a> (near Mammoth) and back up the <a href="http://beartoothhighway.com/" target="_blank">Beartooth Scenic Highway</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I had been to <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/09/joining-ranks-of-tourists-and-fangirls.html" target="_blank">Yellowstone</a> <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/10/bison-and-mosquitoes-and-shriners-oh-my.html" target="_blank">before </a>when Mer and I visited on our <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/search/label/Amazing%20Besties%20National%20Park%20Road%20Trip" target="_blank">Amazing Besties National Park Roadtrip</a> in 2012, but it was interesting to see the park in a different season. The geothermal feathers were fascinating, as always. We also hiked along several rivers and streams with my buddy’s family before we took off on our own. We took in the great views along Beartooth highway, and even pulled off the road for a quick hike through the alpine tundra (my crush of an ecosystem) to a high elevation lake. It was a great send-off for a friendship that has lasted 14 years.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A high elevation lake off Beartooth Scenic Highway - Sept. 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the rest of September and all of October and November I prepared for my qualifying exams. I studied, ate my weight in cookies, did enough yoga to keep me from chewing my fingers off, and was otherwise completely sessile. I think I only ventured outside to tend my garden, and I think I even neglected that in November. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">December 4th was judgement day, and I passed! I spent the following day (Friday) in my PJs in my bed, glorious. But by Saturday afternoon, Daniel and I were on the road for Santa Cruz and some time to reset in nature. If you’ll recall my <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/07/science-book-club-flight-behavior.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> about the novel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flight Behavior</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, you’ll know I was super excited about the idea of viewing one of the migrating monarch butterfly populations. Lucky me, just a little bit over an hour down the road at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541" target="_blank">Natural Bridges State Park</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> there was a monarch roost. We walked along the wooded path to the population, and while it was really beautiful, it was impossible to photograph with my little point-and-click camera. There were only a few small remaining clusters of butterflies as the rain earlier in the week had dispersed many of the individuals. We oohh-ed and aahh-ed, and this elderly park ranger let us check out the colony through his spotting scope! We then took the path up and around, through a freshwater tidal and a salt marsh, then out to the coast. The water was cold, but you always have to put your toes in, right? The day was still young, so we got some coffee and took a 30 minute drive up the road to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=546" target="_blank">Henry Cowell Redwoods State Parks</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. You can never go wrong with coastal redwoods, and I’ll just leave it at that.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural Bridge's State Park CA - Dec 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoz_Qs3_b98549skSjU-VVEizJFS7qV1uPUPPYD_W2HNy2FxbJjIyskPU8YHwA0gZdwB_Xg_HTTWwdK8xuuxZ11YWM5iax8UMSgIWzcz-_5qgKBRPoZfcz35OYIVaFUmWNy_SZtv0LW9w/s1600/IMG_3140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoz_Qs3_b98549skSjU-VVEizJFS7qV1uPUPPYD_W2HNy2FxbJjIyskPU8YHwA0gZdwB_Xg_HTTWwdK8xuuxZ11YWM5iax8UMSgIWzcz-_5qgKBRPoZfcz35OYIVaFUmWNy_SZtv0LW9w/s1600/IMG_3140.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural Bridge's State Park CA - Dec 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love recap posts like this, because I really didn’t think I did that many fun outdoor things this year, but I obviously did. I also discovered a ton of pictures when I was reviewing from hikes and walks in the local Davis area. What a year! I cannot wait to see what adventures 2015 (20Upgrade!) has in store.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What about you? What fun science/nature adventures did 2014 bring you? Any big plans for the new year?</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Henry Cowell State Park CA - Dec. 2014</td></tr>
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Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-62053092556901221562015-01-07T11:54:00.000-08:002015-01-07T11:54:55.247-08:00A RefreshED Look Back at STS's First Year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="goog_1940284634"></span>Sweet Tea, Science, the idea, was proposed by Rachel in November of 2013. However, it was during our annual get together with our wildly amazing group of friends for New Years 2013/2014 that the ball really got rolling over on our <a href="http://sweetteascience.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a>. Recently, we've brought in the New Year once more with some of our favorite, most inspirational people in the world. Among these friends is the creative whirlwind that is J.D. VanSlyke, one half of the voices behind our favorite podcast: <a href="http://www.refreshed.us/" target="_blank">RefreshED</a>! He was kind enough to lead this interview so that we may share some of what we've done over the past year, and a lot of what we're thinking for the future!<br />
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HUGE thanks to JD for his completely fantastic interview questions. Be sure to tune into RefreshED this year. We are very much looking forward to the times ahead and the opportunities that may present themselves. Please <a href="mailto:sweetteascience@gmail.com" target="_blank">let us know</a> if you have any ideas for potential guest posts or if you'd like to collaborate with us in some way! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00480221212578540934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-2295022297350513592015-01-01T19:02:00.001-08:002015-01-06T15:50:08.635-08:002014 Reflections, Resolutions, and Round-Up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITISap6485x5pmdGdjQIiAgJw3FCKeG9LAyBdinlo8Wo9FZR19oO1IGk-290x8f2DGeFPIex6oU3eHD6hcJMW1AhuJ6ORblN2al585IbB037Wm00rPXauMh6tNoEiURRViYNLqSlz0OY/s1600/PC300046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITISap6485x5pmdGdjQIiAgJw3FCKeG9LAyBdinlo8Wo9FZR19oO1IGk-290x8f2DGeFPIex6oU3eHD6hcJMW1AhuJ6ORblN2al585IbB037Wm00rPXauMh6tNoEiURRViYNLqSlz0OY/s1600/PC300046.JPG" height="297" width="400" /></a>Hello, 2015! Rachel and I are living it up with our lovely friends in Boston. This year has been wonderful thus far, but we wanted to take a few moments and reflect on the great things that 2014 brought to us. One of the most rewarding things for us, in the last year, was starting this blog. From the launch of our Tumblr blog in January of 2014 to occupying this space in May, we feel so blessed to have this space to share our experiences as travelers, learners, and burgeoning female scientists!<br />
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Starting the new year sharing the same physical space is always a blessing for us as a creative duo. We've been discussing our ideas/hopes/dreams for the future of Sweet Tea, Science, and you can rest assured that we are cooking up some exciting content for 2015!<br />
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We are so thankful for all of our fantastic readers and everyone who has read and shared our posts in 2014.<br />
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The top five STS blog posts from our inaugural year are as follows:<br />
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<li><a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/10/sts-and-super-science-side-of-tumblr-ta.html" target="_blank">STS and the Super Science Side of Tumblr's TA Tips </a></li>
<li><a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/10/getting-motivation-makeover.html" target="_blank">Getting a Motivational Makeover</a></li>
<li><a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/10/tricks-of-trade-latex.html" target="_blank">Tricks of the Trade: LaTeX</a></li>
<li><a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/07/ten-tips-for-tackling-that-thesis.html" target="_blank">Ten Tips for Tackling that Thesis!</a></li>
<li><a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/07/whats-in-her-field-bag.html" target="_blank">What's in Her (Field) Bag?</a></li>
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<b>What's in Store for 2015:</b></div>
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<li>More <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/p/write-for-sts.html" target="_blank">guest posts</a>! </li>
<li>Rachel getting married!</li>
<li>The continuation and conclusion of our Amazing Besties National Park Road Trip Series! (About time, right?)</li>
<li>Meridith's qualification exams.</li>
<li>Tons of photos of Rachel's quality time in the marsh!</li>
<li>More science travel and conference visits!</li>
<li>Lots of <a href="http://sweetteascience.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a> posts all week long in addition to weekly blog posts on Tuesdays! </li>
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Thanks for the love and support this year. We're also eager to hear all about your plans and motivation for the future, so make sure to drop us a comment/note/tweet/carrier pigeon! </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07938681589661715634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-19315723650574897362014-12-17T14:43:00.003-08:002014-12-20T14:29:56.080-08:00Science Book Club: Ice Whale<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's time again for an installment of the STS Book Club! This time, it's a novel of the young adult variety. Perhaps a perfect stocking stuffer for the 11-year-old, nature-lover in your life? Or, you know, your story-loving 20-something PhD student. </span></i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">My co-conspirators, then and now. Notice that I have grown in my<br />appreciation of pants-wearing. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I grew up on a farm in south central Kentucky with a small expanse of second growth forest rimming the yard and cultivated fields. My siblings, cousins, and I would spend hours in those woods, building treehouses, turning over rocks, and chasing imagined creatures through the understory. Mostly, we would pretend that we were </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">surviving</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We would play like we were 100 instead of, maybe, one mile from home. We had our dogs and we had our “tools” (usually a pocket knife or a hammer), but mostly we had our bravery and our brains. It’s that same feeling of playing at survival that thrills me about backpacking or long canoe trips to this day. No doubt this persistent desire to prove myself against some sort of untamed wilderness was inspired, in part, to my childhood reading list: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">White Fang</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatchet</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, “To Build a Fire,” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Julie of the Wolves</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Side of the Mountain</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to name a few</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I rediscovered my love of young adult and children’s novels when I was writing my Master’s thesis. I found I had less dreams about <a href="https://www.insect.com/sites/default/files/Amphipod.jpg" target="_blank">amphipods </a>if I read before bed, and usually, by the end of the day, I had the reading comprehension of a 14-year-old. I rediscovered my well worn copy of Gary Paulsen’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatchet</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and the rest is history. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;"></span></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;"></span></b></span>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Not hope that he would be rescued--that was gone. But hope in his knowledge. Hope in the fact that he could learn and survive and take care of himself. Tough hope, he thought that night. I am full of though hope.” ― </span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gary Paulsen</span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatchet</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the past 3 years, I’ve re-read many of my childhood favorites and also discovered a few new novels in the genera that I truly love. I’d like to share one of those with you now. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ice Whale</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, by <a href="http://www.jeancraigheadgeorge.com/" target="_blank">Jean Craighead George</a> is a book I read over the summer when I was traveling. George has a great track record with her writing, as she is also the author of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Side of the Mountain</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Julie of the Wolves</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a novel which won her a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal" target="_blank">Newbery Medal</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Plus, I read on her website she has a memoir for children called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Tarantula in my Purse</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. If I write a memoir, I hope the title is half as impressive! </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On with the review!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjhZ6IyKCO80xXAczBfkCvrTtGnxK2OBuuF1mC6_5mU_bjP6DUiixhgMYdq5HOg523lcB1-Ip2595AEtZfv7D-Df4-EkIi1q0i4yN_hiVdLRgvKiqQFsQwBDIIhlynbYpPPZnB60ZGbREt6-A3dsullYIoMYPW0NC0_-11TtuPObWpGgg9Xhpi5SA=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.slj.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/large_Ice_Whale-198x300.jpg" height="400" width="264" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is Ice Whale about?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is an epic tale, spanning families, generations, and two </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px; white-space: pre-wrap;">centuries</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The real story begins in 1848, when young Eskimo boy, Toozak, witnesses a bowhead whale being born. He feels connected to the whale, which has a distinctive marking that looks like a dancing Eskimo. Some years later, the boy, now a young hunter, accidentally betrays the location of a group of bowhead whales </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Balaena mysticetus) </span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">to a whaling ship. To atone for this mistake, the young man and his future offspring are bound to the fate of the whale </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px; white-space: pre-wrap;">whose</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> birth he witnessed, and they must protect him till he dies. Bowheads can live over 100 years, so this initial plot point propels the story through time. Characters and families come, go, and weave together in unexpected ways. There are numerous themes: ocean exploitation, changing culture of native peoples, survival, and science! All the action of the novel is set against the raw beauty of the arctic, an area close to George's heart and a location she often visited during her life. I really think everyone can find something to love in this novel. </span></span></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why I liked it?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So many reasons. First, this novel was published after Mrs. George’s death by her two children, Twig (a writer of children’s literature) and Craig (a biologist who wrote his PhD dissertation about bowhead whales!!). You can hear Ira interview the two about working on the novel on <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/story/scifri-with-her-kids-help-jean-craighead-georges-ice-whale-sees-print/" target="_blank">Science Friday</a>. I love the idea that the author’s interest in her son’s research inspired such a creative endeavor. Also, as Craig edited the novel with his sister, you know the biology is spot on in the book. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second, the whales are characters with personalities, but I’m not certain I’d call George’s approach ananthropomorphism. Whales have names, but they are represented by squiggly lines intended to represent whale calls. Whales do not converse so much as share their intentions through the author. The whales live, fear, love, and are aware of other beings. I love this passage about a meeting between Toozak and the whale, which the Eskimo has named Siku. Below, Siku's name is written from the whale point of view, as a line representing a series of sounds. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); transform: rotate(0rad);"><img height="28px;" src="https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/sNuDTUxUXq-ACZilPsrfjUg/image?w=145&h=28&rev=1&ac=1" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; line-height: 17.25px; transform: rotate(0rad); white-space: pre-wrap;" width="145px;" /></span><span style="line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">surfaced to breathe again, saw the boy, and rolled on his side to bring his eye to the surface. He looked at Toozak and Toozak looked at him, and saw his human-like eyes, with pupils, irises, and eyelids much like his own.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="28px;" src="https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/sNuDTUxUXq-ACZilPsrfjUg/image?w=145&h=28&rev=1&ac=1" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="145px;" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> stared long into Toozak’s kind eyes. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And something happened between them.”</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I love the science this book sneaks into its pages. I learned a lot about bowhead behavior, range, and general biology while reading this book. I also learned some new facts about the arctic. The conservation message is clear, though I cannot say I 100% agree with it (if you read it, let me know your take!). On the whole, I think this work stands as a vision of a hopeful future with a strong warning about the follies of the past. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What could have been better?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The novel spans 200 years, and, honestly, the characters and connections can be a little dizzying. And for a book with such a complex plot, the writing was very simplistic, stark almost. Obviously, the intended audience is somewhere between 10 and 13 years of age, but I couldn't help but wonder if the actual plot would be too confusing for a child of that age. You could take the same approach my mother always took and read the same books as your kids. That way, you can discuss it together (fun!) and help with any potential confusion. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pmdvod.nationalgeographic.com/NG_Video_DEV/822/523/whale_bowhead_480x360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://pmdvod.nationalgeographic.com/NG_Video_DEV/822/523/whale_bowhead_480x360.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bowhead photo courtesy of NatGeo</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who should read this novel?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I said before, this is a novel for middle school kids, but I really enjoyed it. Once I accepted the sparse writing style, I was really taken with the world George created. So, I think everyone should read this book! Maybe you’ve got a child, a case of childhood nostalgia, or you have an overworked brain and just want to be transported. In any case, this is a book for you!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Want to learn more?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Start by checking out Jean Craighead George's <a href="http://www.jeancraigheadgeorge.com/" target="_blank">official website</a>. For a particularly adorbale side-note, look a the section "On Writing."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out some other reviews of the book <a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jean-craighead-george/ice-whale/" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8037-3745-7" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.slj.com/2014/04/books-media/how-jean-craighead-georges-the-ice-whale-got-finished-thanks-to-her-surviving-children/#_" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/books/jean-craighead-george-childrens-author-dies-at-92.html?_r=0" target="_blank">Here </a>is a great NY Times tribute to the author upon her death. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out this <a href="http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/bowheadwhale.htm" target="_blank">NOAA page</a> with some fun facts about bowheads!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>If you read the book or plan to, comment on this post! I would love to discuss it with others!</i></span>
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slj.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F04%2Flarge_Ice_Whale-198x300.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjhZ6IyKCO80xXAczBfkCvrTtGnxK2OBuuF1mC6_5mU_bjP6DUiixhgMYdq5HOg523lcB1-Ip2595AEtZfv7D-Df4-EkIi1q0i4yN_hiVdLRgvKiqQFsQwBDIIhlynbYpPPZnB60ZGbREt6-A3dsullYIoMYPW0NC0_-11TtuPObWpGgg9Xhpi5SA=" -->Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-22491362989676444462014-12-02T18:56:00.001-08:002014-12-02T18:56:42.872-08:00Assess the Stress<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is it guys. Two more weeks and then FINALS! Wow, two sentences into a blog post and I’m already about to reach for the stress chocolate I have stashed in my desk right next to the stress tea. Admittedly, the rest of the semester is going to be non-stop GO, GO, GO, for me and a lot of y’all out there. We’ve all being kicking ass this year and nothing is stopping us now. Even that crippling fear of ending the semester in a horrific crash and burn finals extravaganza doesn’t stand a chance. Not going to happen, folks. Why? Because </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we are going to keep our stress in check</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Rachel and I have both been through our fair share of finals weeks (not to mention Rachel’s COMPS are tomorrow! GO WISH HER LUCK) and we’ve gathered up our top tips for finishing the semester with minimal freak out moments. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hang on to your favorite mantras for dear lif</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">e until it’s all over. My personal favorite currently is “Stay ahead of them game, or at least don’t fall behind”, while I’m pretty sure Rachel’s is “All my tasks are accomplishable”. I used to think mantras were a little silly, but I am a full fledged believer now. Sometimes just taking a moment to remind yourself that you are capable really helps. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Plan Ahead. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have a lot of trouble with this one, even though I meticulously plan out my days via my iCal. My love for sleeping in always dashes my morning plans. So now, I’m trying to make my morning plans part of my evening plans. I really, really recommend </span><a href="http://unfuckyourhabitat.tumblr.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfuck Your Habitat’s</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tumblr for further help on this issue. Tonight I’ve actually got my lunch for tomorrow ready and an outfit picked out for tomorrow!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lists, lists, lists.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We’ve said it before and will say it again. We at STS love (need) our lists. Breaking things down. Crossing them off. I don’t know how people passed finals before lists were invented in 1873 by Baroness von Listenstein. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Talk it out with friends. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes you really just need to vent and complain and get all your frustrations out before you can go back to tackling everything. Even just a quick phone chat can put you in a better mood and chances are you’ll also brighten up your friend’s day as well!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or talk it out with a campus provided therapist. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe your friends are busy. Maybe you just want to discuss something with an unbiased third party. Maybe you really need to reach out for some extra advice. Whatever the reason, know that there are always services on campuses for counselling. Often these services also provide general relaxation workshops during finals. There’s a massage chair and stress ball somewhere waiting for you!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFQKPOp6jkr7jLAs_F8Ksy59T_68Dw1ktAu9S5BU0KQhBhTEh4ZhYJhK85BOuyKm-iXAgou4FBg65KcIfXIVwFgWIfouZhmdidYrvOXMLMTo-ioSxH8JZY-toSC5yKbtqWNY-w2NMFTg/s1600/stressknope.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFQKPOp6jkr7jLAs_F8Ksy59T_68Dw1ktAu9S5BU0KQhBhTEh4ZhYJhK85BOuyKm-iXAgou4FBg65KcIfXIVwFgWIfouZhmdidYrvOXMLMTo-ioSxH8JZY-toSC5yKbtqWNY-w2NMFTg/s1600/stressknope.gif" height="306" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prioritize yourself and your time. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can’t do it all, so don’t put too much unnecessary pressure on yourself to try for the impossible. You come first. Sometimes that means sacrificing in some areas. Maybe your room will be messy for a week or so. Don’t sweat it. Maybe you’ll go over a bit on your dining out budget. You need to each and you don’t have time for much more than campus food. So be it! But do try and get enough rest and mental downtime. You are worth it!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jam to some upbeat <a href="http://8tracks.com/dr-awesome-bartley/assess-the-stress#smart_id=dj:1258348" target="_blank">tunes</a>! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I maked it myself!</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Forget all the previous hints and just join Rachel at <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/kmallikarjuna/23-gifts-david-tennant-has-graced-the-world-with" target="_blank">this website</a> with all the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>David Tennent </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gifs and photos you could ever want. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRy7R0HPC-Q4STKKTExBXJSPOGXFNu0XLfVDONXA5p53Rqppb0cjaGMcynWovWFaAkhNwV3-zyBz0DZfnTt0yE7o0J1PY2m81XHFavWPqWD2qZkAd0J-7q_yrWRx2aijSxyhhp8enalLM/s1600/tumblr_inline_n5wh9nmIt51ry9hph.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRy7R0HPC-Q4STKKTExBXJSPOGXFNu0XLfVDONXA5p53Rqppb0cjaGMcynWovWFaAkhNwV3-zyBz0DZfnTt0yE7o0J1PY2m81XHFavWPqWD2qZkAd0J-7q_yrWRx2aijSxyhhp8enalLM/s1600/tumblr_inline_n5wh9nmIt51ry9hph.gif" height="258" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.1999998092651px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>STS Extra Credit: </b> Let us know what your go-to destressing tips are! </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07938681589661715634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-43602863056126078452014-11-19T14:31:00.000-08:002014-11-20T09:07:55.094-08:00Plans for the Afterward<a href="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5ucvwiifB1rnvwt1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5ucvwiifB1rnvwt1.gif" height="176" width="400" /></a>I'm studying for my qualifying exams right now, and I think I'm firmly in the "What if I FAIL?" phase. I really don't think I'll fail. But, WHAT IF?!! In either case, I'll know in about two weeks. In the afterglow of my success or in the I-don't-give-a-crap phase before deciding on my new career path, I plan to have two days of full on relaxation. Hint, if you come to this blog to hear about actual science things, then now is the time to bow out of this post. Otherwise, here are the things I plan to do when I can close my eyes and not visualize the carbon and nitrogen cycles.<br />
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<b>Watch a lot of TV.</b> Specifically, I'm hoping to catch up on Dr. Who and binge watch <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free!_(anime)" target="_blank">this potentially obnoxious anime</a> about a high school swim team. Don't ask me why, it just seems like the right thing to do.<br />
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I have 55 new blog posts in my Blogger cue. I will <b>read all the blogs</b>. In my PJs, with a latte, and my cat. <br />
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Listen to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ayiB8F6mv0" target="_blank">this </a>song on repeat! Alternatively, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyIlRqh0IJ0" target="_blank">this </a>one.<br />
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I'm going to <b>clean my whole apartment</b>. Top to bottom, vacuum, dust, all the laundry, the works. At the risk of exposing myself for the slob that I am, I'm out of clean forks. That is all.<br />
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Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, <b>sleep</b>.<br />
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Right afterward, I will probably do a string of unhealthy things, like eating obscene quantities of Thai food. After that, I plan to <b>eat all the vegetables</b> and things that you have to mince and chop and steam, because, really, I do not have time for that nonsense right now. </div>
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I mentioned sleeping? Yes, that.<br />
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There are other things on my mind (hiking, swimming, curating an amazing Facebook photo album, etc.), but I don't want to overbook myself.Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-7447777052256893542014-11-11T15:00:00.000-08:002014-11-11T17:40:47.049-08:00Making the Most of MCMC<i>Sometimes in grad school you need to write about topics that you yourself have little to no clue about. Part of this learning process is figuring out how to teach yourself some of these very difficult concepts. This blog post comes from a blog post I co-wrote with my cohort chum, Justin, </i><br />
By: Justin and Meridith<br />
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Markov Chains, and particularly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markov_chain_Monte_Carlo">Markov Chains Monte Carlo</a>, are a difficult concept to explain. In fact, Dr. Hanks has stated that they are “Easier done than said.” At the very basis of everything,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markov_chain"> Markov Chains</a> are a system that transitions from one state to another state. It is a random memorylessness process, that is, the next state depends only on the <b>current state</b> and not on the sequence of events that preceded it. I have scoured the web and believe the following to be the simplest visual introduction to Markov Chains. (Spoiler Alert: It arose from someone - Andrey Markov - being a sassmaster.)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/o-jdJxXL_W4" width="560"></iframe>
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<a name='more'></a>From here, it’s easy to start to gain an appreciation for the wide breadth of applications available for Markov Chains. However, if we want to transition, as it were, from Markov Chains to Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations, we must first explore <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_method">Monte Carlo methods</a>. These methods are a class of computational algorithms that utilize repeated random sampling (simulations) to obtain the distribution of an unknown probabilistic entity. The modern version of the Monte Carlo method was invented in the late 1940s by Stanislaw Ulam (coolest name ever), while he was working on nuclear weapons projects at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (think Manhattan Project). It was named by Nicholas Metropolis, after the Monte Carlo Casino, where Ulam's uncle often gambled. Because reasons, apparently.<strong><strong> </strong></strong>
Peter Muller’s <a href="https://cms.psu.edu/section/content/default.asp?WCI=pgDisplay&WCU=CRSCNT&ENTRY_ID=37840A0253254A93A5526DA412F27115" target="_blank">article</a> gives a brief introduction of Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation, a method that enables the simulation of Bayesian posterior distributions and thus facilitates the use of Bayesian inference. According to Muller, the goal of MCMC is to set up a Markov Chain with an ergodic distribution and some initial state, where the term ergodic indicates that there is a non-zero probability of the process passing from one state to any other state at each step. Starting at the initial state, transitions (from one state to another) are simulated and the simulated states recorded. The ergodic sample average of simulated states will then converge to the value of the desired posterior integral.
Muller notes that two conditions must be met in order to use the resulting integral estimates:
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<li>As the number of simulated transitions, M approaches infinity, the chain must converge to the desired posterior distribution</li>
<li>Some diagnostic must be found to determine when practical convergence occurs, i.e. when a sufficient number of simulations have been performed.</li>
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The first prerequisite, theoretical convergence, can be reduced to meeting the following three criteria: irreducibility, aperiodicity, and invariance. The second and more ambiguous of the two conditions—a criterion for practical convergence—has several proposed solutions in the literature. For example, Gelman and Rubin (1992) developed an “ANOVA type statistic [for considering] several independent parallel runs of the MCMC simulation,” and Geweke (1992) has suggested a comparison of an early-iterations ergodic average to an ergodic average of later iterations. However, Muller also suggests the simpler method of visual diagnosis via plotting the states for each iteration against the iteration number to judge convergence.<strong><strong> </strong></strong><br />
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Markov Chains and MCMC have many useful applications, ranging across a wide spectrum of fields. One such interesting application is in the game of baseball. When viewing a half-inning in a baseball game, there are 28 possible states based on number of outs--0, 1, 2, or 3--and runners on base--different combinations of having no runners, or having runners on first, second, and/or third base (see <a href="http://www.pankin.com/markov/theory.htm">http://www.pankin.com/markov/theory.htm</a> for a more detailed description of the transition matrix). This gives us a 28x28 transition matrix filled with the probabilities of being in each respective state. From here, we could calculate the expected value of runs scored from each state and analyze how this expectation changes from state to state. We could also extend this to analyzing the probability of scoring a single run by defining a slightly different transition matrix (again, see the link provided above for more detail). Due to its usefulness, MCMC has become a common tool for baseball analysts and sabermetricians (<i>Editor's Note: Totally had to Google <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabermetrics" target="_blank">sabermetrician</a>. I'm feeling I got short changed a little in the job naming category</i>).<br />
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Another useful application is in the field of ecology. A useful <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3647877?seq=2" target="_blank">paper</a>, An Application of Markov Chain Monte Carlo to Community Ecology, serves as a wonderful walkthrough of MCMC with the easily conceptualized example of community assemblages (presence/absence) of birds among islands. As with our stated requirements for MCMC, the next state of bird species' distribution among a set of islands only depends on their current state distribution. The article does a great jobs of connecting the dots from the ecological concept (birds disperse among islands, possibly due to competition) to an ecological question (given the starting state and some measures of competition among species, what is the probability that a random matrix will exhibit the same level of competition) to mathematical challenge (applying MCMC) and then loops the results back around to answer the ecological question (the distribution of finch species among the Galapagos shows evidence of competition!).
If you're feeling extra badass and want to make the jump from learning about MCMC to coding some examples in R be sure to check out the following blog posts!
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<ul>
<li><a href="https://theoreticalecology.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/metropolis-hastings-mcmc-in-r/">https://theoreticalecology.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/metropolis-hastings-mcmc-in-r/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theoreticalecology.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/mcmc-chain-analysis-and-convergence-diagnostics-with-coda-in-r/">https://theoreticalecology.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/mcmc-chain-analysis-and-convergence-diagnostics-with-coda-in-r/</a></li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07938681589661715634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-73674639336565795342014-11-05T23:10:00.000-08:002014-11-05T23:10:13.677-08:00Take the Bus! Good for the Environment, Your Wallet, and Your Wanderlust<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And now for something a bit different!</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ve been writing a lot in the past few weeks about life as a graduate student or some of the things we are learning while on our respective doctoral journeys. However, if you will recall, we also love to go on journeys in general. Meridith and I have always been avid travelers. We have visited numerous other countries together (South Africa, Costa Rica, Panama, England, Aruba…) and separately (Kenya, Argentina, Ireland, Thailand...). While traveling overseas is, literally, one of the best things ever, one of my favorite bar questions to ask people is, “What are the top 5 locations you want to visit in the United States?” I think we spend a lot of time fantasizing about getting to far-off, exotic locations, and that can cause us to overlook the beauty in our own backyard (so to speak). (Editor’s Note: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is so true! One of my big epiphanies from my summer traveling Europe - by bus and train! - was that I had totally under appreciated all there is to see in the good ol’ U S of A.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And while I might get to visit friends or make new friends when traveling overseas, getting a co-conspirator for your State side adventuring is a bit easier.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Mer is one of my all time favorite partners in crime, she and I have always made a point to visit one another regularly. Our college roommates (and often an all-star cast of their amazing boyfriends/girlfriends/partners/pals/siblings) make a point of gathering for New Years Eve. That’s always a treat, and usually involves doing a multi-city flight out of California, to home, to the NYE destination (Boston 2015!), and then back to California. While well worth it, that gets expensive. If you add onto that a trip home during the summer and plane travel really starts to take a bite out of your budget. So, what’s a budget-conscious, environmentally-minded person with a severe case of wanderlust to do? Well, you can hop on the Greyhound and get to a regional destination with little money, hassle, and C0</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: sub; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> wasted. When I was living in Long Beach and Meridith was in Las Cruces, we were frequenting the Greyhound route between Long Beach and El Paso on a semesterly basis!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjF2xB1th7Hrhb4DNPU-0VS24Mq9Mjvknx2A8tTfkbN4CbbqR4n5kFIbqBnrZat1j2T2fYXxsg4XH7ULLcC_0v1GTyFtAOCAi9h7fNUUFG2uit0KMSxHswCT-SGAjJZF_tT5FArNCv8g/s1600/Group+NYE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjF2xB1th7Hrhb4DNPU-0VS24Mq9Mjvknx2A8tTfkbN4CbbqR4n5kFIbqBnrZat1j2T2fYXxsg4XH7ULLcC_0v1GTyFtAOCAi9h7fNUUFG2uit0KMSxHswCT-SGAjJZF_tT5FArNCv8g/s1600/Group+NYE.jpg" height="356" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NYE 2014 Crew</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Rachel. Take the bus? I have a car!” Yeah? Then find a bunch of friends and pile into the car. Carpooling is great, and sometimes it is the most logical option. But, maybe you have a more flexible schedule, you’re traveling solo, or you really want to cut your carbon emissions. In that case, you should really be looking up the local Greyhound and Megabus schedules. I’ve written about my internal conflict concerning the environmental impacts of travel </span><a href="http://practicalecologist.blogspot.com/2013/06/lit-to-ky-pt-1-planes-trains-and-moral.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and I’d suggest you check it out. For those unwilling to read my previous ramblings, my conclusions are simply that bus travel is the most cost effective and environmentally friendly way to transit regionally. Since writing that post over a year ago, I’ve had numerous conversations with people who just can’t seem to get over their bus hang-ups. Maybe this isn’t the most glamorous way to move about the world, but if you are a reasonable traveler who keeps their wits about them, you have very little about which to worry. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe you’re willing to give it a try? I’ll give you a few tips from my numerous Greyhound adventures and misadventures to make your first bus trip a breeze. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5k2ionSwO1qckb7ho1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5k2ionSwO1qckb7ho1_500.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat Bus. The best kind of bus.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, and foremost, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">put your patient pants on</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Unlike plane or train travel, hitting the open road on a Greyhound requires a little less coordination on the part of the company. This might also be part of the “you get what you pay for” part of this equation. I’ve been on some very punctual bus trips...I’ve also waited and waited for my connection. Really though, I’ve slept in plenty of airport chairs waiting for my connecting flight when it was delayed. So, meh, I’d call this a wash really. I just tend to expect the bus to be a little behind its time. (Editor’s Note: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For most people this goes without saying: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">double check your departure time AND date.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I’m going to share my most shameful Greyhound experience because I love y’all. I’m not even sure if I ever told Rachel this, but last NYE my partner and I bussed to/from Chicago and I totally made us </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">miss our bus</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> because I was in charge of the tickets - we were still new and he didn’t know yet how horrible of an idea this was - and got the dates mixed up. So when we were leaving to catch our bus, I took our tickets out and realized that our tickets were for the day before. Cue full shame meltdown and us having to buy a whole ‘nother set of tickets day of, which meant paying full price.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once your bus arrives, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">where you sit matters</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a little bit more than where you sit on a plane. Really, you don’t want to sit near the bathroom. Obviously, right? You should also choose your seat mate (if you have to have one) with at least a little care. My brother has a theory that, when you’re on the bus, you’re much less focused on how you might die than when you’re 10,000 feet above the ground. So, I have (unscientifically) concluded that people are generally less inhibited on the bus. For this reason (or something), I’ve had a lot more interesting and friendly conversations on buses than I’ve ever had on planes. If you want to chat, look for the person who looks like they want to converse. Want to sleep? Look for a fellow napper. In my experience, there is generally at least one bus occupant who really needs to drop the mic; I would suggest not sitting with them. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-u5SvT5iES5VwGAHge0dK44oVM65fIZhPtDnIsDbuTth3il-NIE4Ur1CTZugqM_DHOEMsxvSrN2BYSQzFfpv4wDSE4lnp3oQI7lgATYsKSB4QrhyphenhyphenuN0M1r-hd0q7l9pq7tw2fYmPmew/s1600/Corn+Bday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-u5SvT5iES5VwGAHge0dK44oVM65fIZhPtDnIsDbuTth3il-NIE4Ur1CTZugqM_DHOEMsxvSrN2BYSQzFfpv4wDSE4lnp3oQI7lgATYsKSB4QrhyphenhyphenuN0M1r-hd0q7l9pq7tw2fYmPmew/s1600/Corn+Bday.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mer took a 12 hour bus ride so we could surprise our friend<br />on his birthday!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seat selection handled, now it’s time to occupy yourself. If you’re doing a regional tip, you can try to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">choose an express bus that has wifi</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The wifi on buses is free, unlike on planes. You probably won’t be able to stream Dr. Who, but you can check your email, access gDrive, and generally get some work done. There are also, often, power outlets so you don’t have to worry about your computer or tablet crapping out on you. This is my problem on, literally, every flight. Why don’t I learn? I’m not really sure if there is a cause and effect situation here, but I have found it much easier to get work done on the bus than the plane. Again, maybe because I’m still on the ground? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Normal travel tips apply on the greyhound as well. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Climate control can be something of an issue on the bus.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Consider your relative hot/cold scale when choosing an aisle or window seat. Wear layers so you can add and subtract as needed. Also, you really do want a blanket and a pillow. There will be no smartly dressed attendant to hook you up with one if you forget. Bonus points, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you can bring liquids on the bus</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! Beverages, peanut butter, hummus, and anything else delicious and spreadable is totally allowed. This makes it way easier, for me at least, to avoid the pull of buying weird airport or plane food that is strange in my tummy and wrapped in a bunch of obnoxious, ultrathin plastic.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/30800000/The-Knight-Bus-gif-harry-potter-30802458-500-208.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/30800000/The-Knight-Bus-gif-harry-potter-30802458-500-208.gif" height="133" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Night bus. Also a good option.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How long will your bus adventure be? The longest I’ve been on a Greyhound trip, to date, was 20 hours from El Paso to Long Beach. It was a haul. And as stifled and dehydrated as I usually feel getting off a plane, I felt downright stinky when I disembarked in Long Beach after a 20 hour coach trip. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’ll feel way better if you can brush your teeth, change your shirt, and apply some deodorant during a layover.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Do yourself and the person receiving you at the end of the line a favor and stay fresh. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last tip? Don’t be a douche-bag...or something like that. The most common argument I hear from those reluctant to travel via bus is that it isn’t safe. Not to sound harsh but, these may be the same people who want apps on their phones to keep them out of “bad” parts of town. Get out of the bubble and give yourself a chance to not be afraid of others. I’ve met some friendly, sad, unnerving, and genuinely hilarious people on Greyhounds. And you know what? I’ve met the same set of people in so many other places! See my original statement above, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be a wary traveler, but don’t be afraid of other humans who are just trying to get from point A to point B</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. As Patty Griffith would say, “Grow kindness in our hearts for all the strangers among us, till there are no strangers anymore.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There you go, now take the plunge! Your wallet, the environment, and your wandering soul will thank you! (Editor’s Note: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Benjamin and I are planning on taking a train from Boston to NYC then Megabusing back to State College! Yes, it’s more time-consuming and we’ll have to chill in the cold while waiting for the bus, but the money saved is going to be so worth it!)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnuKkZOU0F1-4qW9UsRAHXt62gAM6pXaHQd3Tx3JKvzwx4UA1CUygySBVAZLlSjq55caFK7uBJsaksDnKLkUgkfSQMq_ukXY_d2y4pYQ0_IpBAA1YoK5l7lmLL_NBSfN3nU-oeH5h5j8/s1600/White+Sands+Spring+Break.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnuKkZOU0F1-4qW9UsRAHXt62gAM6pXaHQd3Tx3JKvzwx4UA1CUygySBVAZLlSjq55caFK7uBJsaksDnKLkUgkfSQMq_ukXY_d2y4pYQ0_IpBAA1YoK5l7lmLL_NBSfN3nU-oeH5h5j8/s1600/White+Sands+Spring+Break.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking after one of my bus trips to visit Meridith in New Mexico.</td></tr>
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Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-73761704630003356662014-10-28T17:57:00.000-07:002014-11-02T10:56:41.602-08:00Tricks of the Trade: LaTeX<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-hXjfTHDn0UGUjIRfgp9RrH3uwX-3nRC-JocTNl6gGqXgm5tvdP9gfKsx6tt3Gvc0zAjR0_5CsPN8J2NWddxsRfx2x5TFahbL_-SZrUyVooO9T2iQC-mFrZCxCcgScN_woL6oQ0koOo/s1600/rogue.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-hXjfTHDn0UGUjIRfgp9RrH3uwX-3nRC-JocTNl6gGqXgm5tvdP9gfKsx6tt3Gvc0zAjR0_5CsPN8J2NWddxsRfx2x5TFahbL_-SZrUyVooO9T2iQC-mFrZCxCcgScN_woL6oQ0koOo/s1600/rogue.gif" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ok, guys. I’ve been studying as a baby statistician (scienctician? statscientist? ecologitician?) for a little while now and I’m here to share some of their secrets. Before I started here at Penn State I had a couple ideas about what other grad students in my department would be like. First, everyone would be computer masters of any and all statistical programs: R, SAS, others that I hadn’t even heard of yet. Second, they’d all be completely on top of everything in all of our classes because they all would’ve completed undergraduate and master’s programs also in statistics. And thirdly, it’d be really hard to relate to other students because of my background in biology and my love for the outdoors (because clearly they’d all prefer sitting inside in front of their computers, right?). Thankfully, I was way off base and not only am I not left in the educational dust, but my cohort is full of awesome students with a wide variety of strengths and abilities. And I must collect them all. Yea, my new goal is to be like some sort of awesome Anna-Paquin-as-Rogue statistician and glean all of the amazing abilities and knowledge while I can. Except I think I’ll stick to taking the time to learn and practice things...instead of the whole touchy hurty thing she does. One of my absolute favorite new acquires is the ability to write and code in LaTeX.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another one of my pre-stats misconceptions was that whenever you saw an equation in a journal article it was created with Word’s super difficult equation editor. Hopefully I’m not the only one who thought this, because now I feel really silly (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Editor’s Note: I assumed mathematical witchcraft, so joke’s on me really.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. LaTeX is a document preparation system for high-quality typesetting often used for technical or scientific documents. Long story short, you could be creating completely badass documents with lots of equations and badassery like these: [<a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6adu_JnV3R5REVXY0h2OEZjSHM&authuser=0" target="_blank">Homework</a> with R Code, <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6adu_JnV3R5cUh4NF8zZHpYRzA&authuser=0" target="_blank">Homework</a> with crazy stat stuff!]. I received my intro to LaTeX during one of the </span><a href="http://mlbartley.wordpress.com/grad-student-resources/cohort-workshops/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cohort Workshops</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I have been arranging on Fridays for my department. Another grad student gave us a very brief introduction and showed us some of the basics. A few downloads, a bunch of googling, and several hours of practice later (not to mention an uninstall and redownload...) I was really starting to get the hang of it! Anyone who’s learning to program knows that you experience some of the most frustrating moments during that initial learning curve. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WHY WON’T YOU JUST COMPILE AND SHOW ME A PDF OF MY NAME AND ‘HELLO WORLD’? I DID EXACTLY WHAT YOU TOLD ME…*</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">deletes comma* Oh...well then. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BEHOLD MY BRILLIANCE! FOR I HATH CREATED A MASTERPIECE!</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would like to encourage everyone to give it a go! I can answer basic questions, but I’ve found that the vast majority of my own beginner’s questions have been accomplished through a few key resources, including the </span><a href="https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Great Googily Moogily</span></a><span style="line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Behold your starting point!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What to Download</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10625091_10101616428147242_7148354988254782854_n.jpg?oh=ec70f973b93339ccccdc15e98e3d365a&oe=54E9DE41&__gda__=1420738366_d0a13e742efd94c0786f1c8dc2d7d512" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10625091_10101616428147242_7148354988254782854_n.jpg?oh=ec70f973b93339ccccdc15e98e3d365a&oe=54E9DE41&__gda__=1420738366_d0a13e742efd94c0786f1c8dc2d7d512" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Just getting this to work took way too long.<br />I don't want to discourage anyone by<br />being exact. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tex - LaTeX is actually a sub-entity of Tex, sort of like Git and Github (which I also am just beginning to understand!) So you’ll actually need to download Tex in order to run LaTeX. Unfortunately, there are slightly different versions for </span><a href="http://miktex.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Windows</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://tug.org/mactex/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mac</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> users but both deal with the same underlying program (if you run anything else, my apologies for being completely unaware of how to guide you). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Editor - The Tex download comes with everything you absolutely need, but I like using an editor for extra pretty colors and the option to code for other programming languages. I like working in </span><a href="http://aquamacs.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aquamacs</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which is the Mac version of </span><a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emacs</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What to Try First</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello, World! - Your first task is to just compile and create a PDF file with the most basic of greetings. I used </span><a href="http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Wiki/index.php/LaTeX:Basics#First_LaTeX_Document" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> website at Art of Problem Solving. Even still I spent way too long before I got my first code to compile and PDF produced. It’s a glorious achievement!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://onewebstrategy.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/celebrate.gif" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Celebration Break! </span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10639688_10101616887841012_4688410518626353820_n.jpg?oh=258a868045ea79cd4b78ed05b1e7b5dd&oe=54B3EA30&__gda__=1424253541_1c11e14a65b15a24a0ba675753145b13" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10639688_10101616887841012_4688410518626353820_n.jpg?oh=258a868045ea79cd4b78ed05b1e7b5dd&oe=54B3EA30&__gda__=1424253541_1c11e14a65b15a24a0ba675753145b13" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">This is about 4 hours later.<br /> I felt like a wizard!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do a Homework in LaTeX - This is not applicable to everyone and for all classes. But if you have a math or stats course where the homework isn’t too intensive consider completing it in LaTeX! One of my professors even wrote lots of handy coding tips on one of my homeworks that helped me a lot the next time around. I love being able to feel accomplished at writing up a nice, clean looking final version even if the homework is crazy difficult. Helps me keep those imposter thoughts at bay!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next Level Stuff</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Update your <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6adu_JnV3R5VEZJd2Q2eHItTUk&authuser=0" target="_blank">CV</a> - This was one of my recommendations for our Motivation <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/10/getting-motivation-makeover.html" target="_blank">blog post</a> last week, but not you can even consider updating your CV in a LaTeX template. I used <a href="http://www.biostat.umn.edu/~brad/8400/HQuick_cv.tex" target="_blank">this</a> one from <a href="http://www.biostat.umn.edu/~brad/" target="_blank">Bradley P Carlin</a> and you can check out my final form! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Write and submit your next manuscript using LaTeX! - Now, I’m nowhere near this stage of my program but I’d wager that quite a few templates or style formatting <a href="http://esapubs.org/esapubs/latexTIPsESA.pdf" target="_blank">guidelines</a> available for submitting a paper using LaTeX! Go, go, go!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Combine with <a href="http://www.rstudio.com/" target="_blank">RStudio</a> to work with <a href="http://yihui.name/knitr/" target="_blank">knitr</a> and <a href="https://www.stat.uni-muenchen.de/~leisch/Sweave/" target="_blank">sweave</a> to produce LaTeX documents with R code and results spliced in!</span></div>
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Basically part of my grand PhD scheme is to master a lot of the computing and presentation side of statistics so that I will be a valuable asset and worthy of ALL the jobs. At least a few options after graduating will be worth the toiling away finding that stray comma or misspelled command. Now that you've heard my favorite new tool I've learned so far please share yours! Or even if your favorite is also LaTeX tell me all the little tricks you've picked up! I want all the tricks! </span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week, doing anything was a struggle. Literally all I wanted to do was watch cartoons, eat burritos, and perform the bare minimum tasks I could get away with doing (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Editor’s note: This is me. Always)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Admitting these sorts of things is what makes the idea of an anonymous blog very appealing on occasion. It’s not because I have a super exciting secret life or anything (spoiler alert: I find my own life very exciting on the whole), but because I think a lot of the things I struggle with as a scientist in training are widely felt but often actively overlooked. Graduate school is where you learn how to learn (because as a scientist, the learning never stops), hone key skills, and net a set of accomplishments that will make you stand out in the job market. It’s a place where people who are fired up about things go to dive deep into problems, and it’s no surprise that so many great innovations are the result of doctoral dissertations. And I’d say, about 50 weeks out of the year, I feel fired up about science. About conservation. About freaking adorable invertebrates and gnarly invasive plants. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adorbs.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been in graduate school for over 5 years, 3 years for my Master’s and 2 full years of PhD work. It would be disingenuous and unhelpful for me to say that, over the past 5 years, I haven’t had motivational slumps. Do I believe there are people who are 100% juiced up all the time, who never have to search for a reason to get reignited over their work? I really do. And I wish I was one of them, but I’m not. Further, I think there are plenty of graduate students who struggle from time to time with motivation. There are a lot of reasons: personal issues, burnout, loss of interest in a project, imposter syndrome. The thing is, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think we are taught to pretend this isn’t happening</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I have stock advice I give to all new graduate students when we are chatting, “Anyone who pretends they have their act together is faking it. Everyone is freaking out.” I think I need to do a bit of taking my own advice. I’m probably not the only one who occasionally sits at their desk and goes “blah.” I don’t think feeling a periodic lack of motivation makes me (or you) a bad scientist. I don’t think it indicates a lack of passion. I think pretending it isn’t happening is less than authentic. I think refusing to yield to these periods and rekindling your fire speaks volumes of capability, passion, and drive. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So here is my truth, as I’ve experienced it on several occasions. I’m sailing along fine, killing it in the lab, balancing several projects, keeping my little fingers tippy-tapping on my writing projects. A large milestone approaches. I start to feel like I’m not doing enough (ironically, these sorts of thought progressions usually happen after 8pm in the lab…) and a little touch of imposter syndrome starts to kick up. How rude! I make plans for how to attack said milestone, I budget out my time, I feel like I can totally do this! Then I’m motionless for a stressful span of days, absolutely sure that as soon as I begin I’ll realize the task is impossible. Things spiral, I consume an unnatural amount of peanut butter, then some action or event clicks things back into place and I’m sprinting again. In the spirit of honestly, it’s absolutely frustrating to look at yourself in the mirror and say aloud, “What’s wrong with me this week?” But, in the end, it’s almost like fighting with your best friend. It’s going to happen at some point, and if you take the time to learn something about them and yourself in the process, you can come out the other side closer than ever.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After that overly honest preamble, I’ll present my non-exhaustive, in no particular order list of things that have gotten my butt back in gear in the past. This is how I kiss and make-up with science when I’ve been neglecting it. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take in some inspirational media</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (of the non-scholarly variety). Here are my go-tos, but your milage may vary</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://jcs.biologists.org/content/121/11/1771.full" target="_blank">This essay</a> about how science is SUPPOSED to make you feel stupid, dummy. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.context.org/iclib/ic30/berry" target="_blank">This poem</a>, always and forever. “Practice resurrection.” </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://faculty.fortlewis.edu/dott_c/bio%20250-swecol/Activities/On%20a%20Monument%20to%20the%20Pigeon.pdf" target="_blank">This essay</a> by Aldo Leopold on extinction. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=untGVUfVGdo" target="_blank">This poem</a> that will make you want to be a better person. “If you’re handing out flashlights in the night, start handing out stars.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make a plan.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I know, you had a plan before, but make a new one. The old one obviously wasn't working.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B_FFvBE8XezSpKAe3gNi6ggRZDxWjv9j4w4MHVKKH61L-bon3iCZ2eca8wb247fkabsNbbJj6twMNzfCodSsd-dPnNef0_t89jaTBl1DHOjwaknKpqNmfKt0j6w1MiWeoQ" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen Shot 2014-10-20 at 9.57.58 PM.png" border="0" height="250" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B_FFvBE8XezSpKAe3gNi6ggRZDxWjv9j4w4MHVKKH61L-bon3iCZ2eca8wb247fkabsNbbJj6twMNzfCodSsd-dPnNef0_t89jaTBl1DHOjwaknKpqNmfKt0j6w1MiWeoQ" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0rad); white-space: pre-wrap;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mer's Plan involves detailed time breakdowns. </td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kill the distractions.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Is an ill family member nagging at your mind? Call them and ease your worries. Do some large batch cooking so you don’t have to worry about the dishes or food for the rest of the week. For goodness sake, get off Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all the other good things to do with the internet. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What helps you focus? Do that.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Exercise? Yoga? A good night’s sleep? Get those things. Trust yourself. Trust that you know the difference between procrastination and positive self-care. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Talk to inspired people.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> You are a very cool person with very cool friends. Find the one who is the most lite up by their current project and parasitize their enthusiasm . I had a super uplifting talk about education leadership with a friend earlier this month. Obviously, I'm not an education scholar, but their passion was infectious (Editor’s note: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rach and I talked about this during our Productivity Meeting last week. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of my first PhD midterms and was NOT available for enthusiasm! I suppose on the flip side of this, when you are feeling on top of your game then you should share your enthusiasm with those who might needs a little extra.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6_oPmoMU6hyphenhyphenE6tkHhhofP1gIajvUvPodQ_OF5ad4Khuf2ebD0e2tf-vVqGlIs1vJX3Lp9wblB2oj6U-QnBf4UPVj1OhrLaaqRc9L_8QbvIXN78LrTCfWdv5bW7mUmkM_JxfdzW2tdTM/s1600/IMG_2953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6_oPmoMU6hyphenhyphenE6tkHhhofP1gIajvUvPodQ_OF5ad4Khuf2ebD0e2tf-vVqGlIs1vJX3Lp9wblB2oj6U-QnBf4UPVj1OhrLaaqRc9L_8QbvIXN78LrTCfWdv5bW7mUmkM_JxfdzW2tdTM/s1600/IMG_2953.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My moral support.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Freaking talk about it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Get a coffee with your gradschool best friend, call your sister, Skype with your mom, chat with your cat, or anyone else who cares about you. It’s great to be internally motivated and sure of your inherent worth or whatever, but when your best accomplishment from the last two days was getting your inbox to zero, you need someone else to remind you of the bigger picture of yourself. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Update your CV.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This seems like a time suck, right? It can be, but adding all your most recent accomplishments to your resume will remind you of times when all your hard work has paid off for you. The only thing better than having someone else remind you that you are awesome is reminding yourself. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey, you, this is your JOB, remember?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Either someone is paying you to do this work or you are paying for the experience yourself. Hopefully it’s the former. Here’s to hoping we never dip below the minimum job performance we need to maintain. Beyond that, would </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> give you a raise or a promotion? Put on some business casual attire and go sit in your workspace. Put yourself on the clock. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make a vision board, write an affirmation.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Am I really that much of a hippie? Apparently so. I’ve made some pretty impressive vision boards in my day. First of all, it’s crafting, which is relaxing. Second, if you put it somewhere where you are forced to stare at it everyday, you’ll be surprised how you realign your actions to start actually working toward your goals. If you’re not into pictures and glue sticks, write an affirmation of your intentions and put it on your bathroom mirror, or the fridge, or wherever else you will see it everyday. The important thing is to see it everyday. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take an actual break. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, don’t start reading fanfiction at 2am when the whole purpose of drinking that cup of coffee was to get some real work done. I’m talking take a mental health day. Draw a bubble bath, go for a hike, and eat all the freaking burritos. Give yourself a break for goodness sake, then rally rally rally.</span></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWk5r1XbYahgx0qlNYJDUl0hex6xU6YfGx3FNli7u3_HHU5lhHt9yLXBHXY0eqLD9YlLijOeHXeYSPi5ofiLPuwMvn2IncjauW53Ub13YMVCbtlHeOJ1DeGX87xfUUG9_UK47kuSJmWY/s1600/P1110170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWk5r1XbYahgx0qlNYJDUl0hex6xU6YfGx3FNli7u3_HHU5lhHt9yLXBHXY0eqLD9YlLijOeHXeYSPi5ofiLPuwMvn2IncjauW53Ub13YMVCbtlHeOJ1DeGX87xfUUG9_UK47kuSJmWY/s1600/P1110170.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't worry, get muddy.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for letting me share something real. Authentic living feels so good. I hope it helps someone else! Anyone else have tips and tricks for snapping out of a funk? I would love to hear them. Until next time, I have some precious inverts to read about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Editor’s Note: I think a big takeaway from this blog post is that while graduate school can be a huge undertaking that commands </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a lot </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of your time, that doesn’t mean you have to let to rule your entire life. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prioritize yourself</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and those important people in your life that you want to spend time with. You could work on Grad School Things all day and all night long and never really reach a stopping point. If you wait until you’re completely caught up on everything you want to do, then you’ll run out of hours in the day. However, if you schedule yourself some Real Life Time along with your Productivity Time you’ll be able to enjoy some of what keeps you motivated and happy. I have been hyper-scheduling my days using my Mac’s iCal program, and I find it helps me stay on track while still allowing myself time to chill doing Life Things without feeling guilty about things I could be working on instead. Don’t let the fear and the guilt get you down or keep you from enjoying life. </span><br />
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Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-16625849707065895412014-10-14T14:00:00.000-07:002014-10-15T10:30:47.846-07:00STS and the Super Science Side of Tumblr TA Tips for Teaching<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">We here at STS have TAed </span></span><i style="color: #626566; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">a lot. </i><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">We both taught lab sections when we were juniors and seniors in undergrad and then we taught more sections during our master's work. I also taught during my first year in PhD land. As a graduate student, TAing is often </span></span><b style="color: #626566; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">non-optional</b><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"> (gotta' pay those bills), </span></span><b style="color: #626566; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">exciting </b><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">(young minds! oh golly!), </span></span><b style="color: #626566; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">frustrating </b><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">(it's ON THE SYLLABUS!), and </span></span><b style="color: #626566; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">intimidating </b><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">(wait, so I have to be in charge of 20+ other legal adults for an hour or more?). So, what are some of the most efficient ways to increase the fun and </span></span><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">excitement</span></span><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"> of </span><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">teaching</span><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">, while minimizing the stresses? </span></span><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">Back at the beginning of the term, Meridith was going through orientation for her new grad school adventure and part of that orientation involved TA training. She posted on our STS Tumblr, and asked the Science Side for their TAing tips and tricks. The response was great! So great, we </span></span><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">decided</span></span><span style="color: #626566;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"> we needed to bring all the responses together and </span><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">archive</span><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"> them here on our blog. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #626566; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">If you're a new graduate student, we hope this helps you put some tools in your forming TA tool belt. Remember, people have personal teaching approaches, so everything doesn't work for everyone! If you're an undergraduate or high school student, maybe this will give you some insight into what your instructors are thinking. I promise, we are all actually working really hard to try and make this a good experience for all of us. If you're a senior graduate student, maybe you have some tips and tricks of your own that aren't included in this post. Share them with us in the comments! </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Head over to http://phdcomics.com/comics.php for more amazing funnies like this one!</span></td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/575533_10100846890965922_517698581_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/575533_10100846890965922_517698581_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><b style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">STS and Science Side of Tumblr TA Tips</span></u></b><br />
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<span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s orientation week for me! Today the focus is on the roles we have as TAs, whether grading or instructing. How many if you have taught before and what are some of your tips?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll report more later but my go to teaching tip is that it is ok to admit you don’t know the answer to a students question! It’s a great opportunity to discuss how to find the answer.</span></div>
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<em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Edit: I’m going to reblog the tips from the reblogs and replies, but I’ll also add them all here and maintain a master list of teaching tip! This was inspired by graduate student teaching, but by all means I’d love to hear your tips if you teach other levels as well. Any topic, too!</span></em></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/mEMjVQkhQe4Baf2YQQwOVoA" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">scigeekalicious</a>: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">DO NOT fall behind on grading. Just do it. It’s a pain, but procrastinating will make it worse. And your students will NOT be happy if you take forever. <span style="background-color: transparent;">For yourself, keep a list of wacky answers on quizzes/exams/homeworks. It can help brighten a long grading session or just a bad day. Share with TA friends if it’s crazy enough.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Answer emails in a timely fashion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Be nice, but don’t be TOO chummy with your students. Keep that professional line drawn at all times. If you want to be friends, wait til the end of the semester. Nothing ruins a reputation faster than whispers of favoritism or any other unprofessional conduct. </span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/mhpy4X058FzghR8GtjZBGUQ" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">hypotheticalresearcher</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When giving back marks, tell students that if they have questions/arguments/challenges with their grade, to e-mail you to set up a time to talk about it. Don’t field lots of angry questions 5 min after returning assignments. It’s overwhelming!</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/mteKIIcjlC6yMyJeDR5J3oA" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">engrprof</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Write learning objectives for each class - it makes it easier to keep on track. Don’t do any one thing for more than 15 minutes - break it up. Students will retain more.</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/mb596hJS0I17xqKXOkrRJaA" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">ktsaurusr3x</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m not a TA but I love doing this with kids. I try to phrase it as how exciting science is that we are always learning things, and that maybe they can find out the answer!</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/m3yPyF-WTD8fb8x-CZxKGZQ" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">preppybiologist</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Don’t take their bad grades too personally. It can be really easy to think that you’re a terrible TA, especially if it’s your first time. Don’t! Remember that it might not be your fault (especially if no one goes to office hours), it might not have anything to do with you. Definitely look for any trends and try to address them if you can, but remember that personal issues happen and undergrads don’t always like to study.</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/mffXEVyDTdjMHn6-8GoiR-g" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">mo-mtn-girl</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Even though it wasn’t a requirement for my labs I always made “handout” to give them. Even if it’s just a list of the figures or terms to know that you already told them about, having something physical in front of them helps you keep everyone on the same page and helps you keep your sanity when they start saying “you told us not to know that etc.” when trying to get out of answering a question wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also, grade with a bottle of wine or a few beers handy especially if it’s a rough session. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first person Mer and I ever TAed for as undergrads.</td></tr>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/mHEvGkTASpZxkZFe-M_K5BQ" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">nonlinearfluctuations</a>: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I actually just was on a panel for TA tips so I will say some of the things we discussed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Try to be clear with how the students are to be graded/what’s expected of them right in the beginning. It save you a lot of trouble arguing with students later on (especially if you have it written down on paper or your website) and for those following directions, it makes grading easier since they are more likely to do it right (such as the case with including units, standard error etc)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Learn names asap. It’s really important. I think that students are more likely to listen to you and respect you if you know their name.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Definitely agree with you about admitting when you don’t know the answer. If they student keeps pushing, you can stay that you will get back to them later (so they know you are thinking about the problem and care), or you can ask the class if anyone else has the answer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Time management is really important. Don’t wait until the end of the semester to grade everything! Try to keep on top of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Even if you feel like you know the material, take a little extra time reviewing before hand. You’d be surprised how much of the little details you forget…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Depending on the type of course you are TAing for and how much feedom you have, try to make the class as interactive as possible (I have students volunteer to work problems on the board. I try not to force any student that doesn’t want to, but will push a little explaining that we all make mistakes so there is nothing to worry about). After a classes, it will build their confidence about asking questions and trying things out.</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/m_LGhbH4qaYDyeiSizsh9Kw" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">scientistsarepeopletoo</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I love, love, love TAing and have done it enough now to have a few dos and don’ts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. TAing is fantastic, but it can easily become a time sink. Remember that you have your own research/coursework/life that needs attention. By all means put your best effort into teaching, but in the end, TAing is not the reason you’re in grad school. Don’t spend five hours putting together the bestest best lesson plan ever when you could have made a great lesson plan in one hour or, in a pinch, a good enough plan in half an hour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Students appreciate a TA who is nice, but they are in your class to learn. The best TA’s are effective teachers who challenge their students. Avoid the impulse to be your students’ friend. You are an authority figure so while you can be very <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">friendly</em>, you need your students respect and attention. Be assertive and, when necessary, tough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Keep in mind that if you do something at the start of the semester, students will expect the same throughout the semester. For instance, my first time teacher, I held extra office hours right before the first quiz. Big mistake! I was really busy with my own work around the time of the second quiz but had a class full of students asking when my extra office hours would be. Not a good situation to be in because I had to choose between neglecting my own work or disappointing my students.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Create a unified professor/TA front. Students will general feel more comfortable around you than the professor. While it’s ok to commiserate with your students, resist the urge to gripe about the professor. Even if you share some of the students complaints, gabbing behind the professor’s back will weaken both your and the professor’s authority.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5. That being said, don’t be afraid to occasionally bend the rules. For example, the rule: the assignment is due at the begin of class. Period. Any late assignments will not be accepted. The situation: one student runs in crying ten minutes into class because they commute and got stuck in traffic or their alarm didn’t go off, or whatever. What to do? My first semester TAing, I’d email the professor, wait three days for a response saying yes, accept the assignment, and then finally accept the assignment. Now? I just accept the assignment. Some students purposefully try to get away with stuff but most are honest, and I’ve certain had enough, “Oh no! I hope my teacher is understanding :s” moments to justify being lenient on a student having a rough day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">6. Grading can be a soul-sucking ordeal. So, treat yourself :) Get some nice snacks and beer (or whatever your beverage of choice is). Listen to music. If you like, arrange to grade together with other TAs. Solidarity!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">7. If you make mistakes (everyone does!), just own up to them and move on. It’s tough being the one at the front of the class! But it can also be a lot of fun! Just don’t be too hard on yourself if anything goes wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/mJqy8yaQUQZ0b_nLJ4ykUFQ" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">taqman2013</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Keep organized ESPECIALLY if you teach a lab. Nothing makes you seem more unreliable than not knowing where things are or not having things labeled correctly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I always start my lab with a ten minute introduction about background information that may be helpful for any new protocols and to address any housekeeping issues so that the entire class is on track.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also, quickly realize that you cannot care about a student’s grade more than the student. I make it clear at the beginning of the quarter that I will work as hard as they do to help them understand the material and make the grade.</span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #626566; font-weight: 700;">Via </span><span style="color: orange;"><b>@nikzstar</b></span><span style="color: #626566; font-weight: 700;">:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I did two semesters as an Undergraduate TA. Stay up with your grading. The kids will sometimes even email you two days later wanting to know how they did on X assignment, more so if a test or quiz is coming up related to that topic. Even if you’re only teaching the lab portion of a course, keep up with what they are covering in the lecture side you will get asked questions about it. Realize that your grad TA you work with is just as swamped as you and try to share the work as much as possible.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com/image-files/jpg-albert-einstein-teaching-quotes-if-you-cant-explain-it-simply-you-dont-understand-it-well-enough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com/image-files/jpg-albert-einstein-teaching-quotes-if-you-cant-explain-it-simply-you-dont-understand-it-well-enough.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">I taught two different class lab sections. For our basic class they made us powerpoints to go over what needed to be covered, realize if your school does this for you it is a godsend and USE IT! It saves you a lot of time. Don’t assume your students did the reading they were supposed to to be prepared, but also don’t assume that no one did it. So do a very brief go through of what you’re going to be doing for the whole class and then help those that didn’t read. Don’t let this get to you, soon you will know exactly which of the students are which and how much freedom or help to give them. Realize that those that don’t read will always require a lot more help in class and don’t let them frustrate you. Always hold office hours and offer study help, most of the time they will not take you up on it, but you need to be there anyways in case they do need and actually come to you for help. Be sure to have your own work with you during office hours so that if no one shows you aren’t sitting there wasting your valuable time, get your work done if no one shows up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Realize that you will get some serious gems as answers to questions on assignments and quizzes. I can still remember and laugh at some 3 years later. Treasure these instead of thinking you’re a horrible TA, you can’t force them to learn.</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/m2JhelMJ9W9Cb9ssRIDYfJQ" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">xiphoidprocess</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I find that hitting them hard on the first day with an incomprehensible double-shot of unbridled science enthusiasm and excitement, plus a terrifying rundown of policies and procedures with arbitrary and draconian consequences works WONDERS. Be a baffling combination of a manic pixie dream science teacher who encourages open questioning and voyages of discovery, and an apex predator who eats undergrads for breakfast. Make them wonder if you’re a little unhinged. Drop casual hints about past careers as a rollergirl or a bounty hunter (note: try this only if you actually have these past careers, because there’s no need to lie). Above all else, scare the SHIT out of them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This serves several purposes:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1) the weak will be weeded out of your section. 2) the number of times you have to growl IT’S ON THE SYLLABUS will be drastically reduced. 3) any time they actually have the courage to ask you to bend your ridiculous “no exceptions” policies, it is more likely to be legitimate. Plus they’ll think you’re reasonable and understanding for letting them be the only special snowflake who got a rule bent for them, when in fact you intended on bending that rule in the first place for people who needed it.</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Via <a class="tumblelog" href="http://tmblr.co/mHA-x6J_lFUa1PYNPdaIZ4A" style="background: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #f55b2c; margin: -1px 0px 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">adisasterpiece</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">i’ve been a TA & teacher, & found this very important when lecturing — make an idiot of yourself! use silly examples & analogies. students LOVE it, laugh, & actually can grasp/recall concepts. & then use an activity that shows them after you tell them. :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #626566; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">Via</span><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><span style="color: #626566; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="color: orange;"><b>s</b></span></span><span style="color: orange;"><b>temtacuar</b></span><span style="color: #626566; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444;">Do little things that keep the morale up! Ex.
If your section falls on a holiday do something fun for it! I TA’d the lab
portion of a course, 6-9PM, and one of our sections fell on Halloween. The last
thing people want to do is lab work on Halloween night. To keep the spirits up
I showed up to teach in a super legit Chewbacca costume (lab coat and goggles
included), and passed out candy after people finished up (no food in the lab!).
Everyone was instantly in a good mood and I gained the much-coveted title of
“best TA ever”. I also allowed the students to use the classroom speakers to
play music that everyone agreed on to help time pass (some of the labs required
lots of repetitive tasks, and the last thing you want to do is pipet, or screen
animals in absolute dead silence).</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #444444;">Via @</span><span style="color: orange;"><b>RachelWigginton</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="color: orange; font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>- </b>If you have a fear of public speaking practice a lecture before you give it. Practice does not mean click through your slides, it means stand up and give the talk at a normal volume. This is my best advice after 11 years of competitive speech and debate. It will never get easier or better unless you give it a <i>serious</i> run-through.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Don't hand back grades on a day when teaching evaluations will be given out</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- About 80% of the time (or more), it's really not you</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- If it's important, repeat it at least three times</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Take every opportunity to apply things to real life situations or issues about which you care deeply. Your passion will come through and make your students more engaged. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Dressing nicer doesn't make you uptight. As a lady on the younger side of my 20s when I started TAing, I noticed a BIG difference in how I was treated by my students when I looked more professional. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">- Pair your constructive criticism with genuine praise</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12539657/?claim=ncq6twux4zp">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-33965573256845670002014-10-07T14:00:00.000-07:002014-10-10T08:28:30.657-07:00Is there a Doctor in the House?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I’m over a month into my PhD program and I’m still oscillating between wild, ecstatic optimism and stone cold, stop you in your tracks fear of the route ahead. Completing a Master’s degree was two and a half years of hard work and setbacks culminating in one of the proudest, happiest moments of my life - successful defending of my thesis. I’m back on track for five more years of the grad student life, but these will be harder, faster, stronger times ahead than before. Good thing I’ve got my <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pandora.com%2Fdaft-punk&ei=oVo0VJc6to6xBJCTgqAE&usg=AFQjCNHeXo4xbs6G2PySweRy07vDuK-TKA&sig2=9HcsTV5Z2R94eKWWHIC52Q&bvm=bv.76943099,d.cWc" target="_blank">Daft Punk</a> pandora station ready to go. My Masters program didn’t entail any qualifying or comprehensive exams so they seem like lofty, impassable goals now. A sentiment shared by my cohort members, but we’ve found that the more information we have the more confidence we gain. We here at STS would like to share what we know about our own roads to knowledge with you the readers so that you guys can find the confidence to face this journey too.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1CsyBp24qDFr89hs7PtET8VDswEULuPbnYws3RyRSPjrDVhc9BGcfrbqXhBqEVJksfyP4C2XfICj4vKjtqgxug0FlSKkk2n7rxFygKmlZWemSF7yYnRyOiXYcaV7mrKbqYzGdqgm3i3Q/s1600/Screenshot+2014-10-07+10.50.39.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1CsyBp24qDFr89hs7PtET8VDswEULuPbnYws3RyRSPjrDVhc9BGcfrbqXhBqEVJksfyP4C2XfICj4vKjtqgxug0FlSKkk2n7rxFygKmlZWemSF7yYnRyOiXYcaV7mrKbqYzGdqgm3i3Q/s1600/Screenshot+2014-10-07+10.50.39.png" height="293" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not freaking out. I am not freaking out. I'm not. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
First things first, what exactly is the difference between quals, comps, and a thesis defense? Well, if you’re in grad school you at least know enough to be shaking in your boots at the prospect of any one of them. As you progress through your PhD program the powers that be (general your advisors) will want to ensure that you’re advancing at the desired pace, thus a few intense, intimidating milestones are thrown at you. The first of these, the Qualifying exam, serves to assess whether the student is capable of conducting doctoral research/scholarship. Quals often also serves as the PhD candidacy examination. Qualification exams are taken early in your program and are often based on required coursework. Once you pass your quals (and sometimes it takes a few tries, don’t worry!) feel free to relax a tiny bit and allow yourself to celebrate! Throw a wild soiree with your cohort! The PhD Comprehensive exam is given by members of your committee once a student has completed the required coursework (generally year 2 or 3, but ultimately depends on your program) and serves to evaluate mastery of the major studied. Sometimes presenting your research proposal can be wrapped up within Comps, as a way so show you have mastered the content necessary to proceed. If you’ve passed your Comps go ahead and celebrate once more! Now all you have left is research, thesis writing, and a thesis defense! It’ll be tough, but you’re in the home stretch. A lot of students are terrified by the time they are fast approaching their thesis defense. A lot rides on that final presentation of research and oral examination by the committee, but honestly once your committee signs off on a date for you to present and defend you’re practically finished already! They don’t want to set you up to fail (it reflects poorly on them as well)! Smooth sailings on through to your doctorate! Congrats once more! You’re a doctor!!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMQpZpv4Wlo-8bGgGpQ1hgNs_TN44k1Le68C3qro5xPIjP-NYv4rRtcEVcC-ICCOHLt9_uZoaE7EyGYjEXZf723M2wP9t5Hh1y9MvobSn0ebKKEXoQQnmj4t2rE46nJbESIbrYBoLJGo/s1600/Mer+and+Rach.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMQpZpv4Wlo-8bGgGpQ1hgNs_TN44k1Le68C3qro5xPIjP-NYv4rRtcEVcC-ICCOHLt9_uZoaE7EyGYjEXZf723M2wP9t5Hh1y9MvobSn0ebKKEXoQQnmj4t2rE46nJbESIbrYBoLJGo/s1600/Mer+and+Rach.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post Masters Celebrations!</td></tr>
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If you picked up on how it sounds like your committee has a lot of power of your progress through your PhD project, then you’re not far from the truth! However, they will also be there to provide you with all of the guidance and insights that you could possibly need. After all, they’ve been in your shoes before and have helped others through your journey. The majority of your committee will be comprised of professors from your department, but if you’re one of those brave souls that goes for a more interdisciplinary approach you’ll likely find members from other departments or even other institutions. You are in charge of approaching and inviting generally four professors to serve on your committee. Something to keep in mind while forming your own band of professors is that you’ll want to ensure that you choose members that will have the time and resources to help you with your thesis research, writing, and defending. You’ll need to have a close working relationship with these people so don’t be afraid to choose based on how well you foresee getting along with them. A highfalutin big wig in your field sounds great to have involved, but if they have no time for you then maybe it’s best to find someone else to serve instead. You want people who are passionate about being on your team and helping your grow and develop to ensure that upon completion of your PhD you’ll be ready to find a postdoc or a job in a variety of fields!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXEh403K9OFEpEwELhMnmGO8IChmKyJRgHVSZQAG6jXBujA8aoKh0E-dU0ohxZK9MwG1ZUMknUqtKh_k9EPy_ZncOXpPr4qL1HqmPjgh0t6qIU1O8w6P4XoGd19IPEl_rEHWMH3xTrBM/s1600/IMG_4616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXEh403K9OFEpEwELhMnmGO8IChmKyJRgHVSZQAG6jXBujA8aoKh0E-dU0ohxZK9MwG1ZUMknUqtKh_k9EPy_ZncOXpPr4qL1HqmPjgh0t6qIU1O8w6P4XoGd19IPEl_rEHWMH3xTrBM/s1600/IMG_4616.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workin' hard with the cohort.</td></tr>
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If you are, like me, at the very beginning of your program with all of these hurdles strewn in your future it can be incredibly intimidating. A lot of doubts can creep into your mind about your ability to gain a mastery of the content, especially if you’ve changed fields! I’ve had quite a few chats with my cohort already about our looming quals at the end of this year. Our department recently changed it’s program for PhD students and we’re the first group to go through this new design! We feel a lot like guinea pigs - the kind that people eat rather than keep for pets! I have dealt with this nervousness by finding out as <a href="http://bulletins.psu.edu/graduate/degreerequirements/degreeReq1#doctoralComprehensive" target="_blank">MUCH</a> as I can about how I am expected to progress through each year. But what has really quelled my quals fears has been talking to my academic advisor and hearing his reassurance that no, the department really isn’t trying to scare anyone off or try and weed us out. They earnestly do want each and every one of us to pass and will provide us with all the resources to do so! Rather, instead of being a weed out process, the qualification exam more serves as a way to ensure that WE are absolutely sure that we want to put in the work necessary to earn a PhD. I’m so grateful that I am part of a large, wonderfully supportive cohort that is already working hard to make sure no one falls behind. If I can recommend just one thing to new graduate students feeling that fear creep in, it’s to talk to your cohort, the grad students that are ahead of you, and professor in your department. The reassurance I’ve gotten from admitting my fears and insecurities to others and in turn hearing theirs has been a tremendous confidence booster!<br />
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You can check out my (Meridith’s) Statistics PhD program expectations in the slide included! If you are interested in hearing about Rachel’s Ecology program (she’s in her 3rd year and has just schedule her comps!) you’ll want to keep an eye on our Sweet Tea, Science <a href="http://sweetteascience.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a> this week! If you are also working on getting your PhD (or Masters!) we’d love to hear how these major exams work in your field/department! There’s so much variety that we can’t hope to cover how these things work for everyone, but go ahead and let your experiences be known down in the comments.<br />
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<br /></div><p><span style="display:none">claimtoken-5437fb02be371</span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07938681589661715634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-89809266543954730692014-10-01T02:00:00.000-07:002014-10-02T11:42:45.974-07:00Bison, and Mosquitoes, and Shriners, Oh My!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFhu2x-6VqT5c0gdPwVq_PsAvcyhcSw56XoatuWxGnZGmw2saVA1OVdHLv3aIaOl2yi07m5QXUGn6jchqg0PC4bX0ck7gSYF8ORR4pmSiH0TiC68iNWkPUkmta233AJapc5ThB4je17q0/s1600/P7230013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFhu2x-6VqT5c0gdPwVq_PsAvcyhcSw56XoatuWxGnZGmw2saVA1OVdHLv3aIaOl2yi07m5QXUGn6jchqg0PC4bX0ck7gSYF8ORR4pmSiH0TiC68iNWkPUkmta233AJapc5ThB4je17q0/s1600/P7230013.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lost Lake</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 14</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yellowstone National Park</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Miles Hiked: 10 (80.7 overall)</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-af2fa78c-cd0e-e34b-0122-a44af5c65a45" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nearing the completion of their Master’s theses, two young, wild women struck out on the adventure of a lifetime. Meridith and Rachel’s <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/search/label/road%20trip%202012" target="_blank">2012 Besties National Park Roadtrip</a> was a transformative journey around the Western US National Parks. 10 states. 9 National Parks and 1 National Monument. One summer of fun!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKcdEA7CYswu9RuIsgcLxsaV_KmMAUHeLSnw3pCkMWdu_1DuYXxXyLDx0_nft6xb-RPb4UMkdSYgFlab7HTB60ghJVl1gkXd6Xaoqx6CEEEA6ZT4s1oAVTaqbZ9iSwWoBKJUQ0dXcccw/s1600/2012-07-23+12.25.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKcdEA7CYswu9RuIsgcLxsaV_KmMAUHeLSnw3pCkMWdu_1DuYXxXyLDx0_nft6xb-RPb4UMkdSYgFlab7HTB60ghJVl1gkXd6Xaoqx6CEEEA6ZT4s1oAVTaqbZ9iSwWoBKJUQ0dXcccw/s1600/2012-07-23+12.25.34.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ecologist in action</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/09/joining-ranks-of-tourists-and-fangirls.html" target="_blank">a day of full on touristing</a>, it was time to get serious. Our alarms went off at 4am, and we slithered out of our sleeping bags. We dressed and washed up in a bleary haze before piling in the car with blankets and binoculars. As per the recommendations of Jim and Dot (the adorable park ranger couple), we drove the 35 miles from Bay Bridge to Tower Falls and hung a left. Along the stretch of road between Tower-Roosevelt and Mammoth, we found a pull off parking spot and were in position just as dawn broke over the sagebrush and meadows. Wolf watching. <a href="http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/yell/nrr-14/sec1.htm" target="_blank">The wolves of Yellowstone</a> get my scientists imagination running. During the mid-90s the National Fish and Wildlife Service <a href="http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolves.htm" target="_blank">reintroduced wolves</a> (mostly from the Canadian population) to Yellowstone, and the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q" target="_blank"> ecological impacts</a> we are seeing appear to be profound. For an excellent look at why top predators are important, check out <a href="http://media.longnow.org/files/2/REVIVE/Estes%20et%20al%20(w%20Berger)%20Trophic%20Downgrading%20%20-%20Science%202011.pdf" target="_blank">this piece</a> by Estes and colleagues. Beyond the science, I think the mythos of these carnivores really plays on some of our most basic, primal thoughts. What I really want to say, is I’m a stereotypical, hippie wolf-lover. Seriously, <a href="http://www.greekk.com/3D-Wolf-T-shirt-short-sleeved" target="_blank">wolves</a>, <a href="http://www.thestory.org/stories/2012-04/wolves-and-man-who-hunts-them" target="_blank">wolves</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Julie-Wolves-HarperClassics-Craighead-George/dp/0064400581" target="_blank">wolves</a>. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWfKnVAJxSWBBGphO3Zz2y57MJ6J19uJde5V8w6F41aoRtdlTulrXxnKnMtn2cU6b34pqE0mbAUWDVghATzSm-fVmBvn1_xeMkOp5rHkgdQUyh95wu7tCu-Cwcei_tkT55iWbGllqjuw/s1600/2012-07-23+09.30.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWfKnVAJxSWBBGphO3Zz2y57MJ6J19uJde5V8w6F41aoRtdlTulrXxnKnMtn2cU6b34pqE0mbAUWDVghATzSm-fVmBvn1_xeMkOp5rHkgdQUyh95wu7tCu-Cwcei_tkT55iWbGllqjuw/s1600/2012-07-23+09.30.43.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swimming Lost Lake</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, we arrive at our spot, we ate some granola. We chatted about how hard core we were. We covered up with blankets, because it was still cold, even inside our car. More snacks. And then...I totally fell asleep! I know, it’s potentially the lamest thing I’ve ever done. Lucky for me, Meridith is not so easily deterred and kept a keen eye out for any sort of non-Bison esque animal. In spite of Mer’s <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2012/03/manifest-your-destiny.html" target="_blank">proven ability to manifest rare wildlife</a>, no dice. Around 5:30, I was reanimated and we watched the frosty Bison graze as more people appeared to enjoy some wildlife watching. A beautiful, if slightly disappointing morning. But you know what soothes such situations? Doughnuts. We gassed up the car, consumed some well deserved sugar, and headed toward Roosevelt Lodge. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkkTVTBdH6V3ux_J2t2a-8FMugje3GyTldRAmVGpyq7O10XPbO5-79XBDEC_MdxUbkIOiha3eZ2FavnzHdfl0eLGowH6QGwcHcIrqr0XaEvJJz5EiXU7KFHf3HoCoOxFPParum1Sbe-Y/s1600/P7230035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkkTVTBdH6V3ux_J2t2a-8FMugje3GyTldRAmVGpyq7O10XPbO5-79XBDEC_MdxUbkIOiha3eZ2FavnzHdfl0eLGowH6QGwcHcIrqr0XaEvJJz5EiXU7KFHf3HoCoOxFPParum1Sbe-Y/s1600/P7230035.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sage and Skirts</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We met up with the <a href="http://www.americansouthwest.net/wyoming/yellowstone/lost-lake-trail.html" target="_blank">Lost Lake</a> trail head behind the Lodge and began our first hike of the day. This trail was a 4 mile loop, which doubled as a horse trail. We wound up through trees, sage, and wildflowers until we came to Lost Lake. This is a really beautiful little lake, at about 6,700 ft above sea level. Little known fact about me, when I see a (clean) body of water, I generally want to be in it. Meridith hung out on the shore, writing and enjoying the flowers, while I waded out past the lily-pads for a morning swim. Shortly, we continued on around the loop and soon came upon one of Yellowstone’s <a href="http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/ntower.htm" target="_blank">petrified trees</a>. This ancient redwood signals just how different the plant communities and climate conditions once were in this area of the world. An art student was also on hand with an antique camera, attempting to recreate period photographs from around the park. Yellowstone. It really attracts everyone. Back around the hill and we were down at the Lodge again where we took a few moments to enjoy our afternoon sammies on some rocking chairs on the front porch. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JqkuMO8HwiNjn7aCjySRQTq6r8Vdx1C_dmISuj8nlMJHAT4Ttw1Q5e3eF6b1Cx4ftg5Gwgf22JGNyGhQ0Jll67l9B0zwN6Vy54Q9sL45Lzhjc20tAYhKqlLFU5OoUAss_JppB0wdQtQ/s1600/2012-07-23+11.51.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JqkuMO8HwiNjn7aCjySRQTq6r8Vdx1C_dmISuj8nlMJHAT4Ttw1Q5e3eF6b1Cx4ftg5Gwgf22JGNyGhQ0Jll67l9B0zwN6Vy54Q9sL45Lzhjc20tAYhKqlLFU5OoUAss_JppB0wdQtQ/s1600/2012-07-23+11.51.55.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petrified Redwood Tree</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As our day had started at 4am, we were getting a bit sleepy. We drove the few miles up to Mammoth Village where we napped in the grass, enjoyed some staff internet, and wrote several <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2012/07/love-letters-and-salutations.html" target="_blank">more </a>adorable postcards. Apparently, composing haikus recharged our batteries, and we set off for the <a href="http://www.americansouthwest.net/wyoming/yellowstone/beaver-ponds-trail.html" target="_blank">Beaver Ponds</a> trail. The initial climb and views were great, but as we neared the ponds themselves, we quickly renamed the trail, Mosquito Ponds. We tried really hard to appreciate the wetland-pond complexes as we hiked rather quickly along the latter half of the trail. Still no moose sightings, which had been our secret hope. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80XM7NrNKPrisOX7oIG-sm3L4k6Z9LvnfdYplCc2ZLNI38q2WLYQitQLc3yCDXIZyF3ywUaVS9BMBrmHvd4iaXXskPHoPKxlClAkup-7-V9l2EfMvi5Z1_7gEOkam_iwwC3Qj1XjJ1Kc/s1600/PostCardsYellowstone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80XM7NrNKPrisOX7oIG-sm3L4k6Z9LvnfdYplCc2ZLNI38q2WLYQitQLc3yCDXIZyF3ywUaVS9BMBrmHvd4iaXXskPHoPKxlClAkup-7-V9l2EfMvi5Z1_7gEOkam_iwwC3Qj1XjJ1Kc/s1600/PostCardsYellowstone.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Road Haikus</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We took a few minutes to wind down from our speed hike by exploring the terraces around Mammoth Hotsprings. I often get caught up in the challenge of hiking. I love to go far and climb high. So, it’s good for me to explore an accessible, interpretive trail. It reminds me of the educational mission of the parks, and I always learn a lot from the signs! By the end of the road trip, we had a running joke when we didn’t know the answer to a question. “Where’s my interpretive sign?!” I also really love when the wild and weird things about nature drawn the public in, and Mammoth Hotsprings are certainly something unique. The smell of sulfur and the strange <a href="http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/otherlifeforms.htm" target="_blank">microbial</a> mats were fascinating. We couldn't help but imagine what early visitors to the park must have thought of these crazy thermal features. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beaver Ponds Trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zWO9edKmYJCe_iuPhAzcMTSFHKQuCKD3SVprjv0qtJSw8DDXO7eCR2rUiL7RGNzU0kGs1hJeGsA_5Zq9zqWUyJvZGiaohBfB40pvao-XMU0yndqzOcXEF5DnxpWpsQmkozQ-3JrPuYc/s1600/P7230055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zWO9edKmYJCe_iuPhAzcMTSFHKQuCKD3SVprjv0qtJSw8DDXO7eCR2rUiL7RGNzU0kGs1hJeGsA_5Zq9zqWUyJvZGiaohBfB40pvao-XMU0yndqzOcXEF5DnxpWpsQmkozQ-3JrPuYc/s1600/P7230055.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beaver Ponds Trail </td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Early visitors to the park? That reminded us, we had seen an advertisement for a lecture happening that evening at Mammoth Lodge (nerd alert). We filled our water bottles and found our seats just as the lights went down before the lecture. What followed was a delightful trip through early Yellowstone with a family of Shriners. The presenter explained that he found a trip scrapbook in an antique shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and spent a few years tracing the history of the book’s contents. The Shriner couple had explored the park in horse carts, ate dinner in large dining tents, and sat in bleachers to watch bears feed on the scraps leftover from the kitchens at Mammoth Lodge. The intersection between personal history and park history was compelling. I especially loved the pictures of the women’s hiking clothes! I was about 1000% certain I was going to fall asleep as we walked into the room, but I was happily alert the whole time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the drive back to our campsite, we watched the sun set over the Bison and chatted about the history of the American West. As we pulled into camp, I set my alarm for 7am. The theme of day two had been water. Tomorrow, the theme was mountains.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1TMkwBHJWV3J2Xn8xOQqR-pOkFyi5LyI0-_d2e2vgIoSo3pcq8_kRbcRx8nTZ6LK45KNL-S7nivS5TNAqDy8EXqGqqWNX378tXnm3FHpcX8l21lcTiNtpbdLHnDagb-uY35Wzc7cfU4/s1600/P7230079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1TMkwBHJWV3J2Xn8xOQqR-pOkFyi5LyI0-_d2e2vgIoSo3pcq8_kRbcRx8nTZ6LK45KNL-S7nivS5TNAqDy8EXqGqqWNX378tXnm3FHpcX8l21lcTiNtpbdLHnDagb-uY35Wzc7cfU4/s1600/P7230079.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mammoth Hotsprings</td></tr>
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Rach Wigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16415002372616142917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333465631846804993.post-27945046965012355642014-09-23T12:58:00.000-07:002014-10-01T11:36:07.389-07:00Joining the Ranks of Tourists and Fangirls in Yellowstone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obligatory "NP Sign" Photo</td></tr>
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Day 13<br />
Yellowstone National Park<br />
Total Miles Hiked: 3.5ish (70.7 overall)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the rain</td></tr>
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<i>Nearing the completion of their Master’s theses, two young, wild women struck out on the adventure of a lifetime. Meridith and Rachel’s 2012 Besties National Park Roadtrip was a transformative journey around the Western US National Parks. 10 states. 9 National Parks and 1 National Monument. One summer of fun!</i><br />
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Yellowstone, the Disney of U.S. National Parks. America’s first national park welcomes over three million people each year, and Rachel and I were certain we wanted to be part of the excitement during our adventures. When we were first planning our trip (which was a very exciting and motivating time during that spring semester) we knew we wanted to take our time exploring this particular gem. Three days seemed adequate, but I’m sure we also could have spent the entire summer there hiking and learning. Even after all of the hiking we had just completed at Rocky Mountain NP, plus arriving at <a href="http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/bridgebaycg.htm" target="_blank">Bridge Bay Campground</a> at 2 am, we couldn’t wait to explore this national treasure!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1IbGRiPCC-3lxoaGczj_FJWml1HanzX1kXoCfy3P6NBfBj1z31gWWi0gVGu0FNYblsYybmtnMJCxg3O_6yqZmsvj2XddjPtmkh8XunsQEvb1yx-7xXPWJiofNqG2_kYbQhxmKIU3hrE/s1600/P7220027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1IbGRiPCC-3lxoaGczj_FJWml1HanzX1kXoCfy3P6NBfBj1z31gWWi0gVGu0FNYblsYybmtnMJCxg3O_6yqZmsvj2XddjPtmkh8XunsQEvb1yx-7xXPWJiofNqG2_kYbQhxmKIU3hrE/s1600/P7220027.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right on time!</td></tr>
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I hope we don’t need to remind you folks, but on our <a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/search/label/road%20trip%202012" target="_blank">Awesome Besties National Park Roadtrip</a> we weren’t messing around. We went on an early morning jog along the <a href="http://www.americansouthwest.net/wyoming/yellowstone/natural-bridge-trail.html" target="_blank">Natural Bridge Trail</a> (this was when we were being extra amazing...I don’t think it lasted all summer), which was both invigorating and a prime opportunity to try and spot a moose! Post-jog and granola hoovering, we struck out toward the epicenter of all that is Yellowstone: Old Faithful. And wow, the crowd here couldn’t have been more different from others we’d seen at the previous parks. People of all ages, itty little dogs on leashes, bikers, hikers, photographers, families, and us were all milling around until the next eruption time. Conveniently, eruption timers were plastered all over the viewing area. Old Faithful really did live up to it’s hype and was spectacular to view.<br />
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As per usual, we sought out the park ranger that looked like they had the full low-down on the park, and, as per usual, we were not disappointed. A lovely old couple took turns answering our questions and suggesting possible itineraries (<i>Editor's Note: Jim and Dot are the business! Go find them!</i>). We explained we had three days, and while we wanted to hit up the major tourist attractions, we were also quite badass and wanted to do some tougher hikes and see some wildlife. Pausing only to insist we go check out another geyser about to erupt, this couple quickly outlined where we should adventure, and and passed on an important safety tip. Apparently, up until this point in our trip we had been walking bear lunches and didn’t even realize. My thoughtful, well-meaning mother bought me a Bear Bell to attach onto my pack to ward off bears. How sweet! However, according to our newest ranger friends, these bells acted more like dinner bells than warding off bells. Good to know; acquiring bear spray was necessary.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg407Pq3W3zPTevBdTLUaDKPMOXVA0jC32R-GZ5Baq8O9nptRySw08h-DszQjpzY56gQSD9frOF-LEArV80WNdXZ_aZx94dzIxERCjl96qMXBFHX8zk4EkNJZ8V1aR6FCMl6fdAbwqZyZw/s1600/P7220031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg407Pq3W3zPTevBdTLUaDKPMOXVA0jC32R-GZ5Baq8O9nptRySw08h-DszQjpzY56gQSD9frOF-LEArV80WNdXZ_aZx94dzIxERCjl96qMXBFHX8zk4EkNJZ8V1aR6FCMl6fdAbwqZyZw/s1600/P7220031.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meridith's idea of heaven</td></tr>
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Luckily, we could mosey on over to one of the many stores scattered around the park by way of the the largest log structure in the world. Thanks to my love for<span style="color: red;"> </span><a href="http://sweetteascience.blogspot.com/2014/09/share-science-documentary-day.html" target="_blank">science documentaries</a> I was able to give Rachel the briefest of overviews of the famous, historic Old Faithful Inn. The highlights: super fantastic craftsmanship and the ice cream shop we found. Rachel treated me to an ice cream cone, and I was in heaven. But, as my luck would have it, heaven was about to get even better. As we wandered back into the lobby, we noticed a man at a small table, which seemed to be set-up for a book signing. Recognition washed over me as I felt my face flush with excitement and sudden anticipation. There, seated before us, was one of my personal heros. The dude who writes the “<a href="http://www.robson.org/gary/whopooped.php" target="_blank">Who Pooped in the Park?</a>” books. Gary D. Robson, in person. Rachel was kind enough to let me fangirl a bit and we went up to get a photo. If you’ll take a moment to imagine a grown woman, possibly with ice cream smudged on her face, trying to contain her excitement whilst in line among a sea of young children, waiting to meet a gruff older man sitting at a table with scat samples covering it….well, then you’ve pretty much nailed the scenario. I managed to resist elbowing a few 8-year-olds out of my way before getting to the front of the line. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0d7Saf9wHbfG0aC71UeU4kgYwiQnyFSNyuEpKrIFl31IAXMlTJgGhWMqQxVZdHSnEWPOt5qUzh3HDqbhd73iQ5YHNTxomB1MkET5D_0VN3B7KrAh8eZESgLIpCKOihl9RxDoryzbOhw/s1600/P7220115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0d7Saf9wHbfG0aC71UeU4kgYwiQnyFSNyuEpKrIFl31IAXMlTJgGhWMqQxVZdHSnEWPOt5qUzh3HDqbhd73iQ5YHNTxomB1MkET5D_0VN3B7KrAh8eZESgLIpCKOihl9RxDoryzbOhw/s1600/P7220115.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our second Grand Canyon together!</td></tr>
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Still star struck, we battled the brewing rains to finally get to the gift shop with bear spray. I was a little dumbfounded at the steep price, but I suppose if you are investing in your personal safety that price is well worth paying (Spoiler Alert: we never needed the bear spray so now when not out on hikes with me, it lives on the rack behind my apartment door where it waits for State College’s unluckiest home intruder.). I honestly don’t remember the entire conversation, but I chatted up the sales clerk while purchasing the bear spray and through some combination of comradery and the ol’ Meridith charm, I walked away with the staff password to the wireless internet in addition to the bear spray! SCORE! We waited out the rest of the afternoon rain while bingeing on stolen...borrowed internet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtO_jtkCo64Zz3qp4-gtmIU0gLRU8lTliAv08ZgSNqoriBLwlD0T8LhkbEX0JMPpVEo8sfdSeUqYVywwqaVSUiuFpA9JKePy2gkclhCyOxTUG9nIsQgl13S9c0irmzqb27bvlx8Preuo/s1600/P7220102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtO_jtkCo64Zz3qp4-gtmIU0gLRU8lTliAv08ZgSNqoriBLwlD0T8LhkbEX0JMPpVEo8sfdSeUqYVywwqaVSUiuFpA9JKePy2gkclhCyOxTUG9nIsQgl13S9c0irmzqb27bvlx8Preuo/s1600/P7220102.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You know, just hanging out on top of a mega-volcano</td></tr>
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Now you might think that it was a total bummer to have rain on our first day of visiting Yellowstone, but it was actually quite beneficial! The afternoon storm scared off the majority of people so we were able to hit up the major tourist highlights without dealing with the crowds! We were treated to amazing experiences and sights at the various geothermal elements, artists paint pots, and even the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Even more, we got to enjoy a pretty sunset and several of the majestic bison! One even was sweet enough to pose stoically in front of the setting sun before ambling across the road right past our car. Being the responsible and safe park goers that we are, we kept a safe distance from the wildlife and stayed inside the car in a designated pull off area. (Excuse me while I side-eye and judge everyone else not as responsible as us). All in all, it was a perfect first day in Yellowstone. We tucked in early because we knew that day two was sure to hold ever more excitement!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/405471_10100506027773492_1941099168_n.jpg?oh=6d93de001e1a421a0801ce3c9e4e2055&oe=5482DB1D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/405471_10100506027773492_1941099168_n.jpg?oh=6d93de001e1a421a0801ce3c9e4e2055&oe=5482DB1D" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magestic</td></tr>
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