Discovering the Great Tree of Life

tags: Tree of Life, conservation, biodiversity, ecology, evolution, biology, statistics, teaching, streaming video

This video presents a very brief glimpse into what I do as a professional researcher studying "my birds" -- the parrots of the South Pacific Ocean (during those rare and beautiful times when I actually have a job!!). It features interviews with one of the scientists whom I worked with when I was in grad school at the University of Washington: Scott Edwards, who now is at Harvard University. To say the least, this video fills me with intense longing to reclaim my long lost life.

Did you notice that the "bacteria" they showed on this video were not bacteria at all, but rather, were actually Paramecia? I am absolutely surprised that error made it past all those scientists who made this film.