skookumchick | October 26, 2009Folks, we are heading into the home stretch for Donors Choose, and you've helped 1084 kids get access to books they wouldn't have had without your help. That's great. But we can do better.
So.... 24 Sciencewomen blog readers have already donated $1517 to needy projects, and if you can help us make it a little farther, I will donate 10% of our final tally on top.
The criteria:
1) That we make it to $1750 before the challenge closes on Oct 31; OR (that's right, OR!)
2) That 10 more people make donations, no matter how small.
So either a generous person can give ~$230 on their own, or a…
sciencewoman | October 23, 2009This week, Minnow and I present "Where do Insects Live?" in the Science Emergent Readers Series, from which we've previously featured a book on oceans.
(Yes, I am using bugs in the colloquial sense and not just to refer to some Hemiptera.There's plenty of time for Minnow to learn those details later. Who knows, she may go on to a career in entomology.)
It's autumn in Mystery State and bugs are getting harder to find, but Minnow and I did see various bugs under a flower pot, ants on our sidewalk, and a spider on her swing set. On a walk with SciGram, Minnow also found a moth warming up on a…
sciencewoman | October 23, 2009Don't worry, SciWo's storytime is coming later today. But first a word about our on-going DonorsChoose challenge. Along with 22 others, DonorsChoose has already given $50 to our challenge, and now they want to give more...based on how much we raise by Sunday. Here's the scoop:
Next week, we will distribute $200,000, the rest of HP's contribution, to all Social Media Challenge Giving Pages. But this time, your share will be calculated on a pro-rata basis based on the amount you've raised by Sunday. What does that mean? Now is the time to motivate your readers, followers, friends, fam and…
sciencewoman | October 16, 2009This week on SciWo's Storytime, we're reading about Lakes and Ponds in a book by Cassie Mayer, from the same series as an earlier episode about oceans. While the text of this series of books is simple, I'm finding that they are a great way to engage Minnow in a conversation about the topic. Listen to how excited she gets about lakes and boats...
I wanted to take Minnow to a local lake for "No Child Left Inside Day" earlier this Earth Science Week, but instead we played with the neighborhood kids and dug in the dirt, which was pretty fun too. In any case, Minnow and I have a long tradition of…
skookumchick | October 14, 2009I had a realization over the weekend, as I contemplated the enormity of the amount of work I had to do, and the scant allowance of time in which to do it. I have suddenly realized why (at least junior) faculty can be so horrible to their graduate students and post-doctoral staff. It comes down to a complete gridlock of their time.
I have so many people who need to meet with me (I know! Lowly me!) that my days are filled with meetings, or getting to meetings, or class. This means there is really not enough time to get any work done, such as prep for such meetings or such class time. So I…
skookumchick | October 13, 2009Hi, I'm Alice. It's been 11 days since I last blogged.
Things have been busy over the last couple of weeks - even more than usual. I started listing out the stuff I've been doing, but rather than making me feel like I had gotten a lot done, it was just making me tired, so I deleted it.
Instead, I'm going to share a thought with you that I had yesterday. Well, maybe more than one.
Some of you may know (or remember) that I've been seeing a therapist off and on over the last 3 years. I started going for reasons other than why I kept going - when I moved to West Lafayette from Illinois, my…
sciencewoman | October 12, 2009It's Earth Science Week, and this year's theme is Understanding Climate. So it's the perfect time to share some cool videos of women earth scientists and how they are working to improve the diversity and representation of women in atmospheric science. Hat tip to Erika Marin-Spiotta for sharing these videos.
The first three-minute video is about the GRASP program, which gives undergraduate students a chance to do research at Storm Peak Lab in Colorado.
The second ten-minute video is on the ASCENT workshops, that aimed to develop vertical mentoring and lateral networking among women…
sciencewoman | October 9, 2009A few nights ago, Minnow was in the mood to make videos of some of her favorite books - almost any books, except ones with an overt scientific bent. Right now, she wants books with a storyline, and I'm afraid that some of the sciencey books I'd lined up for this month are not story-driven enough for her tastes.
But among the books she picked out, was a Little Golden Book called "Little Cottontail" by Carl Membling and illustrated by Lilian Obligado. As we read the book, it occurred to me that while on the surface this was a heart-warming book about a little rabbit's coming of age, if we dug…
sciencewoman | October 8, 2009 After tropical forests are cleared for agriculture and then abandoned, secondary forests regrow on the site. But how do plant species composition, biomass and soil organic matter differ through this succession of primary forest, pasture, and secondary forest? Employing tools of biogeochemistry, ecosystem ecology, and land-use/land-cover change to examine those and related questions, Erika Marin-Spiotta earned a Ph.D. in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California at Berkeley, a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and…
sciencewoman | October 7, 2009We're a week into our 2009 DonorsChoose challenge, and as of 11 am EDT, we've raised $250 for science education of high poverty students around the country. In 2007, we raised $1104, and last year: "Forty-two Sciencewomen readers contributed a total of $1863 to help 917 needy kids learn about science and engineering." If we're going to get anywhere near that number this year, we need to pick up the pace a bit. I understand that money is tight for all of us, this year more than ever, but money is tighter than ever for public school teachers, who spend an average of $500 to $700 per year out of…
sciencewoman | October 6, 2009I'm preparing material for this week's class on experimental design and data analysis, and I ran across this paragraph which I thought was very interesting:
"The cost of analyzing collected sediment samples usually exceeds that of collecting them. However, the funds for the analysis are wasted if samples are collected at inappropriate locations or do not represent the study area. Further, the proper selection and use of sediment sampling equipment, sample handling, storage and transport are all equally important to the selection of sampling locations. Therefore, about 60% of the time…
sciencewoman | October 5, 2009Remember this summer when I was working on the course design for my new prep on Experimental Design and Data Analysis? We're now a month into the class, and while it has had its rough moments, I think it will ultimately be quite useful to the students enrolled in it.
I'm currently avoiding grading, so I thought I'd take a moment to show the results of an exercise we did the first week. I gave groups of students two sheets of paper. On one I asked them to diagram the scientific method as they understood it. On the other, I asked them to diagram their experience with how scientific research is…
sciencewoman | October 3, 2009This job ad from Katherine Hayhoe, amazing climate scientist and one of my favorite Twitter people, is EXACTLY the sort of career opportunity that we need to see more of.
The realities of our world are that many of us need or wish we had
more flexible jobs - in terms of hours, location, and what we can do
with kids underfoot. With that in mind, about 10 years ago I started a
research consulting company that I hoped would create that ideal job
for me. Today, atmosresearch.com provides occasional to full-time work
to more than a dozen people, over half of us women.
Given our focus on providing…
skookumchick | October 2, 2009I'm digging out of a mound of to-dos, but wanted to make you aware of two opportunities to explore feminist pedagogies and research methods in engineering education at the 2009 FIE later this month. Note participation in the workshop requires advance registration. Please share this notice with other colleagues who might be interested, and feel free to contact me with questions. On behalf of all the presenters, thank you, and we hope to see you in San Antonio
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S3A: Workshop: Feminist Engineering Education: Building a Community of Practice
Sunday October 18 from 6-9 pm in El…
sciencewoman | October 2, 2009In support of our on-going DonorsChoose challenge, this month Minnow and I will be exploring science-related books for SciWo's storytime.
I have to admit, I'm enjoying the challenge of finding sciencey books appropriate for a 2.5 year old's attention span. There seem to be a plethora of books for the 4-8 year old set, but fewer for the younger crowd. Well, that's not true. There are an awful lot of books about animals, especially farm animals, but Minnow has got her animals down pat, and we all know there is more to science than zoology.
I'm also discovering that it is easier to keep Minnow…
sciencewoman | September 30, 2009It's October, one the busiest months of the year. It's the month with Earth Science Week, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Domestic Violence Awareness Month...but one of the happiest features of October is the annual DonorsChoose Social Media Challenge, when we bloggers and tweeters get to exhort our readers to support public school students throughout the US, Alice and I are both going to be busy off-line over the coming weeks, but we're never too busy to give a bit of time and money to help the next generation of scientists and engineers.
This year we are focusing on efforts of bringing…
sciencewoman | September 29, 2009In 2009, I've done ~9 reviews of journal articles, including two in the past week, and not counting the 1-2 more looming in the next two weeks. During the same period, I've submitted one 1st author manuscript, still in review, but probably only going cost 3 reviewers some time.
Anyone see a mass balance problem there? Or do y'all just see a case of a junior faculty member correctly working to build her international reputation in time for tenure? Or something else? 'Cause I'm no longer quite sure what to make of the situation. I'm dancing around the question of "How many reviews are enough?"…
sciencewoman | September 25, 2009Last Saturday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day and Minnow and I got into the spirit of the day by reading the only toddler-appropriate pirate book I know: My Pop-Pop is a Pirate by Pat Croce.
(Even if you don't watch the whole video, check out 1:15 to 2:00 minutes for adorable Minnow talking like a pirate.)
Our local science museum was hosting special pirate day activities, so Minnow and I spent the afternoon at the museum, learning about pirates and shipwrecks and undersea exploration. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the pirates, because I made the mistake of going with…
skookumchick | September 25, 2009A few weeks ago, a post-doc and I were walking past the Physics building on campus when we saw some beautiful yellow fungi coming out of a tree.
Little did I know that, later that week, I would actually *eat* those fungi. And I haven't died yet.
My friend and colleague Donna Riley is visiting our department on sabbatical this semester, and turns out to be a marvelous cook, knitter, and, apparently mushroom hunter. She has already come across some chantrelles in the forest, and it was she who noted that the pretty fungi were not only startling to look at, but good to eat.
They're…
skookumchick | September 23, 2009I'm late in tooting the horn for Mad Chemist Chick, the current host of Scientiae for the October posting. (OMG, how is it way into late September already? Yikes.) Her theme for this month: "The Road Not Taken." She writes:
Was there a point in your career or research where you were faced with two possible paths? Which one did you chose and why? Do you ever regret that decision? Or perhaps it was the best decision you ever made but you did not realized it until much later. Or have you ever taken a path only to discover it dead-ends or is circular? What did you do next? Have you, like the…