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
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
What do you think of when you think about the Galapagos? Darwin, finches, tortoises, blue-footed boobys? What else comes to mind? The word pristine, perhaps? How many people do you think live on the Galapagos (a volcanic archipelago owned by Ecuador, but located well off of the coast)? In 1970 there were around 4,000 … Continue reading
You know that routine when the electricity goes out, but you find yourself flipping the lightswitch every time you walk into a room anyway? That’s how I imagine the people of Toledo felt last week when they went to fill up the tea kettle- take a shower- wash an apple- top off the dog dish- … Continue reading
As a scientist studying issues related to climate change, I have had my share of futile conversation, arguments, and debates with climate deniers. It happens, perhaps too frequently. I recently had one of these conversations with a well-educated, young engineer during a cross-country flight. Said engineer was not so sure that the human impact on … Continue reading
As a grad student I often find myself in conversations with colleagues concerning job prospects, diversity, biases in science, and the difficulties of publishing. I’m lucky to be in a very diverse marine science department full of students from all types of backgrounds. We have more female grad students than male grad students around here, … Continue reading
Do you eat seafood? Most of us do. It is delicious after all. By now I’m sure you are aware of issues involving sustainable seafood. Not all of the fish we eat are fished (or grown) sustainably (ex: orange roughy ). In recent years, sustainable seafood has been on the minds of many and several … Continue reading
Marine conservation has gotten a lot of press lately with President Obama’s plan to extend Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, the release of a new study on seafood fraud, and Leonardo DiCaprio’s pledge to support ocean conservation (Hey Leo, let me know if you are looking for a marine scientist partner!). Here are a … Continue reading
As a coral biologist/physiologist, the ethics of specimen collection for scientific research has been on my mind since day one. We do a lot of destructive sampling in this field. In order to make physiological measurements on a coral, the organism most often be sacrificed. I have seen many a freezer full of collected coral … Continue reading
This past week, I was lucky enough to attend ComSciCon 2014 in Boston. ComSciCon stands for the “Communicating Science Conference” and is basically a workshop run by graduate students, for graduate students, so we can get together, share ideas, and ultimately become better science communicators. The workshop was a whirlwind of panel discussions, writing sessions, 1 … Continue reading
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