With the generation of energy at the top of everyone’s minds, it might be easy to forget how and where all that energy is stored and transported to the populations that need it. Even in a world bereft of renewable energy sources (I am not advocating this in any shape or form), energy storage can … Continue reading
Obligatory marine science reference. Back in high school, I remember visiting the house of a friend whose parents were the proud owners of two bulldogs. They were cute and slobbery (the dogs, not the parents), but what I most vividly recall about them are how the sound of their snuffles and wheezes would fill the whole house. The upside … Continue reading
Big data is a nebulous term. In addition to being the name of a band (which is now one of my Pandora stations), it also describes very, very, very large amounts of data collected in all range of disciplines, from finance to astronomy and everything in between (yes, even in marine sciences!). With the advent … Continue reading
In a new study made available last week via PNAS, MIT scientists (and list of multi-national, multi-disciplinary) collaborators have uncovered that corals can actually manipulate flow near their bodies and are not left to depend solely on the whims of ambient flow. Corals are sessile and depend on flow to exchange nutrients and dissolved gases … Continue reading
Editorials about academia are quick to point out the startling gaps between earning a PhD and becoming a professor. Justin and Megan recently wrote about pragmatic ways current PhD students might respond to this roadblock, and it certainly is an alarming issue. Based on letters in major journals though, one is left with the impression … Continue reading
Welcome to a new series of articles all about the people behind the science. Every month, we will profile students, technicians, and professors in order to personalize the at times inaccessible world of research. You might say Barbara Zemskova is our resident mixologist – of the ocean that is. Barbara is one of our fellow graduate students … Continue reading
An interesting editorial appeared in the most recent issue of Nature entitled: There is life after academia. In it, the author points out that so called “alternative” careers are in fact the norm for science PhDs. The info-graphic below shows that about one half of one percent of all STEM PhD graduates end up as tenured … Continue reading
No matter the size, color, or species, what unites almost all of life on Earth is it’s ultimate dependence on sunlight. Plants use energy from the sun to grow, which we and other organisms then utilize through stuffing those plants (and animals that have eaten plants) into our greedy mouths. However, there are exceptions to … Continue reading
I recently returned from the 2014 International Marine Conservation Congress (in Scotland, which was pretty awesome) where I heard some great marine conservation presentations and met many interesting marine scientists/conservationists. Above all, I was inspired by the themes that were repeated throughout the week, calling on us as scientists to make marine science matter. … Continue reading
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