Highly intelligent students, staff, and their bright children

This post is jointly written by a postdoc in ecology/evolution, and a PhD student in education sciences. Our backgrounds may be very different, but we share the interest in changing the learning culture at university, which currently leaves some of the brightest minds behind. To explain what we mean by that, we would like to take you on a personal journey about our own struggles and how they shaped our views on the higher education system.

Personal tipping points

“Perhaps because I visited these forests and was struck by their uniqueness (such as the remnant Nothofagus forest) and vibrant life, I felt the recent massive destruction as a mental and even physical stress.”

Aggregating Asian demographic data hinders diversity initiatives

Why does being considered Asian or Asian American matter in STEM fields? How do these categorizations impact ecologists that identify as Asian or Asian American? In this post, we discuss our journeys as Asian American ecologists. Additionally, we present evidence and argue that disaggregating demographic data for Asian Americans is essential for increasing diversity in STEM fields, with specific regard to ecology.

Big data also need big concepts

In biology, data on species abundance, diversity and traits are made openly available in big biodiversity databases: big data. Here, I highlight some problems that big data approaches can have, which is particularly worrying if analysis outcomes are used to inform (inter)national policies on conservation strategies.*

The color purple, and the feeding ecology of a snail

Tyrian purple is a unique dye, which comes from the snail Hexaplex trunculus. Thousands of years ago, so many snails were harvested that the shells left behind forever changed the landscape of many Mediterranean cities. These middens, mounds of shell remains reflect the demand of ancient royalty for something as simple as the color purple. By pairing archeological studies of middens with modern experiments, the feeding patterns of H. trunculus can be revealed.

Short-term Organizational Tools for Scientists

A big part of a student’s daily work is organizing their professional life – managing tasks and effectively using their time each day to meet long-term goals. But, as a friend of mine recently pointed out, little in our training prepares us for this critical, but difficult, task. In this post, I describe tools and share resources and advice related to short-term (daily/weekly task) organization that I’ve picked up in my last three years of grad school. This is a follow up to my previous post on tools/resources related to long-term organization.

Long-term Organizational Tools for Scientists

A big part of a student’s daily work is organizing their professional life – deciding on project priorities, keeping track of resources, mapping out long-term research plans, and setting appropriate goals. But, as a friend of mine recently pointed out, little in our training prepares us for this critical, but difficult and unintuitive, task. In this post, I describe tools and share resources and advice related to long-term organization that I’ve picked up in my last three years of grad school. I’ll be following this up with a second post on tools/resources related to short-term (daily/weekly task) organization.

Who rewards you?

In this incredibly demanding environment, it was so important for me to find my own pleasure in my work, to understand that I could fix my own principles and values, not look for them elsewhere. It took me awhile to figure this out….

Evolutionary Ecology & Ecosystem Ecology 101: PhD student perspectives on Duke’s required course for ecology PhDs

All Duke PhD students in ecology are required to enroll in a class entitled Ecological Perspectives: Evolution to Ecosystems. The syllabus covers two subdisciplines of ecology, taught collaboratively by faculty from each subdiscipline with no cross training. Only two out of 16 students identified with either subdiscipline. What did students learn?

Evolutionary Ecology & Ecosystem Ecology 101: instructor perspectives on Duke’s required course for ecology PhDs

All Duke PhD students in ecology are required to enroll in a class entitled Ecological Perspectives: Evolution to Ecosystems. The syllabus covers two subdisciplines of ecology, taught collaboratively by faculty from each subdiscipline with no cross training. Only two out of 16 students identified with either subdiscipline. What did the instructors learn?

The Network Beneath Us: On the Discovery of Mycorrhizae and How They Shaped Our World

When plants made their foray onto land 460 million years ago, they weren’t alone; along with them evolved a new type of fungi, without which the first plants would likely not have survived. Fast forward to the present, and those same fungi now inhabit the roots of 80-90% of modern vascular land plants, offering nutrients in exchange for carbohydrates, with groups ranging from coveted truffles to species with newly discovered symbioses in the Mucoromycotina, previously thought to be only parasitic or saprophytic.