In a couple of weeks, California State University system faculty — over 26,000 of them — are preparing to strike for five days. This infographic does a nice job of explaining why; the short version is that CSU faculty are not being paid as much as their peers (alarmingly, most […]
I’ve recently started watching The Great British Baking Show*. I’m a bit late to the game, because, despite calling myself a foodie, I am not a fan of cooking shows. The American ones, at least, are so cutthroat, competitive, and nasty that I find them stressful. The trash-talking, sabotage, and antagonism […]
I told a group of students a while ago that we had red pandas in North America until “relatively recently.” Big mistake. “Wait,” one stopped me. “What do you mean by ‘relatively recently?’” Oh, you know. 4.5 million years. I don’t know if paleo cultivates the temporal mind, or if the temporal […]
It’s resolution season, which means we’re spending more time than usual assessing ourselves, our efforts, and our goals. I’ve had a few people reach out to me lately asking me for suggestions on how to actively promote diversity in their departments, so I thought I’d share some strategies that are relatively easy. […]
Some of the best aspects of academic jobs can also be the most challenging: Deadlines are often self-imposed. We have to juggle a wide range of tasks each day that often involve mental gymnastics in order to switch gears (and we mix metaphors!). We’re our own bosses, and usually our own […]
Spend enough time on the internet (especially Twitter) and you’re bound to come across trolls– people (usually men) who spend a large portion of their time seeking people out to harass (common favorites seem to include climate scientists, women, social justice advocates, evolutionary scientists, reproductive rights activists, but anyone can find themselves a […]
A Muslim teenager who made an electronic clock by hand was arrested this week under suspicion of terrorism. National Geographic was purchased by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Public broadcasting television show Sesame Street partnered with premium cable channel HBO. And meanwhile, every week there’s another “I quit” story from someone leaving academia, citing […]
Last week I attended the 100th Ecological Society of America annual meeting in Baltimore. Happy Birthday, ESA! It also occurred to me that I’ve been going to ESA for ten years now (which means I’ve attended 10% of ESA’s!)– my very first was in Montreal in 2005, in the summer […]
It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since I moved to Vacationland to start a faculty position! One sign that time has passed is the dwindling funds in my startup account. When you get a new faculty position, you negotiate for things like start date, teaching, spousal hires, and […]
For decades, paleontology was broadly a descriptive science; it was seen by many as a novelty, but not necessarily relevant to the study of modern systems. This has changed as our field has become more quantitative, but also as methodological advances have led to better dating and data that have allowed […]
The Contemplative Mammoth 