When I was in college, one of my science professors had very extreme requirements about the organization of the homework we turned in. The problem sets had to be completed on a certain type of graph paper, and all writing had to be in block capital letters...
H1N1 Vaccination Hysteria Part 3: Alternative remedies vs. Vaccination
This is the third post in a series about the science and societal impacts of the flu and flu vaccination. Specifically, I emphasize the importance of sound scientific literacy in understanding this important topic. Please read the first posts in the...
Bias Bingo!
This is so cool.Instead of playing Gender Bias Bingo alone on my computer, however, it would be much more fun to have a bingo card and bingo chips to bring with me to faculty and committee meetings, or to carry around with me in the halls to use as the...
Wordless Wednesday: Contrasting Colors
Fall creates such beautiful contrasting color arrangements, especially when the leaves of a tree or bush are in transition....
Paid for What I Think
As a result of my taking undergrad language classes for several years, I get all sorts of email targeted at students. Many of these are enticing job opportunities, such as:What would you say if you get PAID for What You Think!!I would say: I already...
What Not To Say
If you are a program officer for a major funding organization (example: NSF), here's what not to say to a young female scientist who asks you for advice about a particular funding opportunity for which she is considering applying:I'm not supposed to...
A surprisingly compact early galaxy
Astronomers are beginning to learn significant details of the structure of galaxies in the early universe. And what they're learning is rather surprising: at least some early galaxies are almost as massive as otherwise similar galaxies in the present...
Strident, Humorless & Shrill
Women now comprise half the work force and have made impressive gains in some professions. An essay by Joanne Lipman in the NY Times on Saturday notes these data but makes a compelling case that they are misleading. Making up half the work force is not...
H1N1 Vaccination Hysteria Part 2: Should I get the shot?
This is the second post in a series about the science and societal impacts of the flu and flu vaccination. Specifically, I emphasize the importance of sound scientific literacy in understanding this important topic. Please read the first post in the...
When 2007 Was
At a conference earlier this year and during some talks by visitors to my department in recent weeks, I noticed something. I heard, on multiple occasions, variations on the following two statements, each made by different people:I published this in my...
H1N1 Vaccination Hysteria Part 1: Is the Swine Flu Vaccine Safe?
Over the next few posts I’ll discuss the importance of sound scientific literacy in understanding the science and societal impacts of the flu and flu vaccination. Many people are rightly concerned about their health and the health of their family. Yet,...
Stop the Clock
A professor friend of mine recently noticed something in her department: all of the tenure-track women (except her) had stopped their tenure clocks for various reasons: e.g., for childbirth or for issues involving school-aged children with disabilities....
Wordless Wednesday: Beautiful Decay
an artichoke flower purple coneflowers unknown flowerThese are pictures I had taken while in the Netherlands in August. I was attracted to the crisp brown dying stalks and petals with hints of life and color against the tall strong stalks and green...
Remotely There
How much has Skype/teleconferencing etc. reduced the need for professional academic travel? For me, not at all. These things have reduced the number of traditional phone calls to a very low number, but there has been no decrease in conference travel...
On Not Being There
It can be difficult to balance a typical research university professor teaching load with a typical research university professor research activity level, not just in terms of the time required to do both when physically in one's own department but also...
Advanced Retreat
Has anyone been to a good faculty retreat? Has anyone been to a constructive, useful retreat that accomplished something substantial that could not otherwise have been accomplished in one or more non-retreat faculty meetings?Has anyone left a faculty...
Carnivals: It's a celebration of science!
Carnivals are like online Zines, you know, those independent creative publications you created in high school or college. Carnivals are a collection of blog articles about a topic. Like a magazine, there is a publication date – some are published quarterly,...
Short Work
[further apologies for sporadic comment moderation during some busy and logistically challenging days]In a class that I am teaching this term, I spend a lot of time writing, drawing, and equationing on the board at the front of the classroom. In some...
NGC 4945: The Milky Way’s not-so-distant Cousin
NGC 4945: The Milky Way’s not-so-distant Cousin (9/2/09)ESO has released a striking new image of a nearby galaxy that many astronomers think closely resembles our own Milky Way. Though the galaxy is seen edge-on, observations of NGC 4945 suggest that...
Night at the Library
Note: My apologies in advance for sporadic comment moderating for a few days.For various reasons related to a complicated weekend schedule and other activities the rest of the week, my daughter and I ended up at a university library on a Friday night...
Wordless Wednesday: Me & the Field Mice
Checking my bag. I caught something. A prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster (my study animal). Palpating the vole to see if she is pregnant. Depending on how far along she is, I'll have to release her back in the field. A Deer Mouse, Peromyscus (not my...
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