Not long ago I was "interviewed" by a first year student who was given the task of talking to a science professor about her job, career path, life, motivation etc. The student's assignment wasn't particularly well defined, or, at least, the student wasn't...
Faculty Smorgasboard
At various times in my career as a professor, I have participated in graduate-level courses in which different faculty appear for a day, a week, or a couple of weeks to talk about their general or specific research field with a diverse group of grad...
Wordless Wednesday: Urban Nature Scapes (France)
Tree-lined avenues, well-manicured lawns, and beds of cultivated flowers are the parts of nature many urbanite come to know and love. This is our green space, our comfortable wild oasis. And oasis is really the best way to describe it - a...
Professor Grade-Anxiety
Here's a post by Science Professor (a.k.a., me) in Scientopia about the anxiety some professors feel about giving students bad grades, and in particular the visceral experience of handing back not-good exam or other graded work to studen...
Fire Away
Perhaps it is time to discuss again the topic of "firing". I have previously discussed the topic of students (essentially) firing their adviser (in most cases by moving on to another adviser) and have also touched on topics involving the termination...
Throw Them Out?
A recent post about a colleague's postdoc who is disrespectful (in more than a casual way) to female postdocs, but not to female professors or students, attracted many comments, including some from those who felt that the postdoc should be immediately...
Selected readings 10/24/10
Interesting reading and news items.Please leave some comments that indicate which articles you find most interesting or that identify topics you would like to read about, and I will try to include more articles of a similar nature in the futureThese...
Bed Bugs v. Grandma
The academic year is still young, but already there is a new trend apparent in Reasons Why Students Can't Take The Exam (on the scheduled day) or Turn In The Homework (on the scheduled day): bed bugs.Colleagues teaching large intro classes report having...
Both Here and There
Although I continue to be quite content here on Blogspot as FSP, every once in a while (once a week? I haven't decided), I will also be in Scientopia as a "Science Professor" (sans F); e.g., today. I hope this doesn't get too complicated, but when I...
Read Me?
Some comments to yesterday's post reminded me of something I have been wondering:If you are the (or a) major author on a paper submitted for review, how many of the references you cite have you read?My adviser in graduate school told me that I should...
Can You Rephrase That?
As I was reviewing a manuscript recently, I saw this sentence:.." and existing models to explain this phenomenon are inadequate [3].[3] FSP 2001"So, is my model inadequate or did my 2001 paper state that existing models were inadequate.. or both?In fact,...
Everything is Important
Last week I was asked a classic student question that is surely among the most hated by the professors of the world:Did I miss anything important? Does anyone ever answer "No"?If the answer really is no, then either I am not doing my job well or I am...
To Catch a Frog or Toad
I have a list of 100+ Things to do outside – a growing list of suggestions for family-friendly outdoor activities. #77. Catch a Frog. I’m actually pretty good at this. I think it’s because of my years of handling voles. Voles are quick little field mice....
Dear Search Committee
Last week in The Chronicle of Higher Education, there was an advice column that provided a how-to guide to writing a cover letter for applications for faculty positions. In this particular case, the focus was on 2-year colleges, institutions with which...
An "Island Universe" in the Coma Cluster
An "Island Universe" in the Coma Cluster (8/10/10)A long-exposure Hubble Space Telescope image shows a majestic face-on spiral galaxy located deep within the Coma Cluster of galaxies, which lies 320 million light-years away in the northern constellation...
Many Many Men
Sometimes it seems like I could write a blog post about how much I like pistachio ice cream, and I would get comments like "Why do you hate men so much? Why are you always writing about sexism? Why do you always twist things to be about gender?".I have...
Grad Data
If you ask me (as someone did in the comments on yesterday's post) how many female grad students I am advising, I could tell you the exact number, although I won't. If, however, you ask me the number I have advised over my entire career, I could not...
The Long Haul
Some research projects take a long time to get off the ground, if they ever even make it, and it can be difficult to keep everyone in a research group focused and motivated during the long (2-3+ year) time required to determine if some projects will...
A Wise Latina Scientist
We met in the Ladies Room near the main Auditorium at Bucknell University. I was attending my very first professional science conference (Animal Behavior Society) and was trying to shake off my nerves before giving my first talk. I knew absolutely no...
Peer Sexism
A colleague at another institution has a postdoc with whom I have interacted from time to time. My colleague's research interests are very broad, and this particular postdoc's research field is quite different from mine. Nevertheless, when I work with...
Give the Girls a Chance
A colleague of mine is in an academic system in which he, as Big Professor, directly selects a few graduate students who will work with him. There is no admissions committee or other complicating factors like that; he just looks around and selects 1-2...
The Lengths We'll Go
As I mentioned yesterday, I recently had a little medical crisis and ended up in a hospital emergency room after teaching a class. By going to the ER after my class, my husband and I both missed a faculty meeting.As I lay on an ER gurney hooked up to...
Teach for a Cure?
Has anyone studied the biochemical changes experienced by teachers while they are teaching? I guess it would be difficult to stick wires all over someone's head and body and still reproduce a normal teaching environment (in most cases). I am curious...
Intervention
One of my TAs encountered a disrespectful student in the very first lab of the academic year. He decided to just be 'cool' and not confront the student, but says that he will talk to the student if the problem persists.This situation raises issues of...
An Elegant Galaxy in an Unusual Light
An Elegant Galaxy in an Unusual Light (9/22/10)A new image taken with the powerful HAWK-I camera on ESO’s Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile shows the beautiful barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 in infrared light. NGC 1365 is a member of...
Cool Teachings
This year, I am experimenting with teaching with an iPad instead of a laptop when I project images. Why am I doing this?Is it a lame and ultimately doomed attempt to appear cool? I don't think so..Is it because the laptop is heavier and therefore carrying...
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