One of my friends is about to do her prelims so I've read her proposal and I just watched her practice her prelim presentation. I think what she's doing is really cool, and I've got some serious dissertation envy!
I'm not jealous of her in a negative way, but rather I find myself thinking, "How can I make my research more like hers in the future?" It also makes me think "what if" I'd made different choices in my Ph.D.
I've mentioned before that part of me wishes that I had done local field work instead of flying halfway around the world. If I had done field work here in Big City, her project has all of the elements that I would have liked to include. It's interdisciplinary and just awesome.
Maybe for my postdoc.
Showing posts with label interdisciplinarity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interdisciplinarity. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Saturday, July 31, 2010
More than I can chew?
Yesterday I had a crazy busy day in which I met with Sam for several hours, submitted a huge final report for my interdisciplinary project, and didn't eat lunch until 5 pm. Then I talked to Leo at happy hour, went straight to dancing, and then proceeded to play office chair games in a gym and drop an egg off of a building until 3 am. Anyways, while talking to Sam yesterday, it dawned on me that I might end up with two Ph.D.'s worth of data, or at least it feels like that right now.
I've got my main project with the critter study system. I collect some data that I'm not so enthusiastic about, but I also set up an experiment that could be really cool. I'm going to do some other experiments on my next trip. I wrote my big proposal that got rejected for this system, but I'm not going to pursue that part of the project anymore. I should still get 2+ dissertation chapters out of this.
I've still got that review paper from forever ago that has hardly budged an inch in more than a year, but will likely be my introductory chapter. Then there's the database project. That's what I was working on with Sam yesterday. It's going slowly but will be cool and powerful. That should be fodder for a chapter in my dissertation.
Now I'm working on a proposal for a slightly different study system. It's super exciting and is likely to lead to management recommendations (read: totally applicable to a real-world problem). The more I think about it, the more excited I get about it, but it's also daunting. It occurred to me while discussing experimental design possibilities with Sam that this project alone could be the bulk of a dissertation. I think that (if it works) this project will provide the most important chapter(s) in my dissertation, which is something I could not have anticipated even just a year ago when I first had the idea.
I'm excited about all of these projects, though admittedly least excited about the review paper and some of my critter system data. I just hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew.
I've got my main project with the critter study system. I collect some data that I'm not so enthusiastic about, but I also set up an experiment that could be really cool. I'm going to do some other experiments on my next trip. I wrote my big proposal that got rejected for this system, but I'm not going to pursue that part of the project anymore. I should still get 2+ dissertation chapters out of this.
I've still got that review paper from forever ago that has hardly budged an inch in more than a year, but will likely be my introductory chapter. Then there's the database project. That's what I was working on with Sam yesterday. It's going slowly but will be cool and powerful. That should be fodder for a chapter in my dissertation.
Now I'm working on a proposal for a slightly different study system. It's super exciting and is likely to lead to management recommendations (read: totally applicable to a real-world problem). The more I think about it, the more excited I get about it, but it's also daunting. It occurred to me while discussing experimental design possibilities with Sam that this project alone could be the bulk of a dissertation. I think that (if it works) this project will provide the most important chapter(s) in my dissertation, which is something I could not have anticipated even just a year ago when I first had the idea.
I'm excited about all of these projects, though admittedly least excited about the review paper and some of my critter system data. I just hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Summer blues
This is past the point in my summer when I start to panic about everything that I haven't done yet that I need to accomplish. July feels like my last whole month of summer (work). August will be half filled by the ESA conference and a week at the beach. There's still so much data to analyze... and so little time.
On the bright side, the end of my interdisciplinary project is in sight. I've been having weekly skype meetings with my #1 collaborator on the project, and we've successfully divided and conquered the data analysis and we're finishing the writeup in the next week. We're submitting it as a report to our higher-ups, not a journal, so it won't go through an insane number of revisions. If we decide (much later) to publish it, we'll have something to start from. We had a whole-group skype meeting today and decided that we will consider our project "finished" in mid-August when we complete one final report as a group. Beyond that, we can each take pieces further to publication as it suits our goals (or not).
I've also decided that I need to be focusing strongly on submitting another big grant to fund my final two field seasons in 2011. I need to prioritize the analysis that will be included in that proposal, and worry less about the other analyses. My oh my, I have a lot to think about.
On the bright side, the end of my interdisciplinary project is in sight. I've been having weekly skype meetings with my #1 collaborator on the project, and we've successfully divided and conquered the data analysis and we're finishing the writeup in the next week. We're submitting it as a report to our higher-ups, not a journal, so it won't go through an insane number of revisions. If we decide (much later) to publish it, we'll have something to start from. We had a whole-group skype meeting today and decided that we will consider our project "finished" in mid-August when we complete one final report as a group. Beyond that, we can each take pieces further to publication as it suits our goals (or not).
I've also decided that I need to be focusing strongly on submitting another big grant to fund my final two field seasons in 2011. I need to prioritize the analysis that will be included in that proposal, and worry less about the other analyses. My oh my, I have a lot to think about.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Just buy the nicer one
My interdisciplinary cohort has been plagued this semester by trying to save money. First we tried to buy tweezers. Someone with considerable experience told us to buy reverse-action tweezers that were about $50 each. We decided to find cheaper alternative reverse-action tweezers and buy a few nicer (~$10) fine tweezers. Somehow the nice normal tweezers never got ordered (I think I was the only one who thought they were important to have) and we went through THREE DIFFERENT KINDS of CRAPPY reverse-action tweezers. Some of you who know me in real life may know that I'm a bit of a penny pincher, but in the case of the tweezers I advocated spending a little more to get some good ones because I know that working with crappy tweezers is, well, crappy. For as much as we spent on all of those crappy tweezers (not to mention the time we wasted returning them), we should've just bought a couple of $50 pairs and some of the $10 ones I wanted.
This week we had a similar ordeal. Way back at the beginning of our project several months ago, we ordered a piece of electronic equipment that will make our data entry go much more quickly. This week we finally sat down to figure out how to use it. Guess what? We bought the cheapest one* out there and isn't sophisticated enough to work with the system we're using. It isn't worth it to return the one we have (15% restocking fee), and the least expensive ones that do what we need are $150-200. Even worse, we can't get it this week so that delays part of our data entry until 2010.
This unfortunate mistake means that we won't completely finish our part of the raw data processing in 2009 like I hoped. However, we should be able to do everything except the part that requires the thing we don't have, which is quite a lot. I guess I can handle that.
These events have reminded me that for my own fieldwork it is worthwhile to get at least two of each of the best equipment I can afford so that it is less likely to fail me where I can't possibly replace it and in the event it does break or I lose it, I'll have a backup.
*I had absolutely nothing to do with the decision to buy the high-tech piece of crap because I was in Ukenzagapia when they ordered that.
This week we had a similar ordeal. Way back at the beginning of our project several months ago, we ordered a piece of electronic equipment that will make our data entry go much more quickly. This week we finally sat down to figure out how to use it. Guess what? We bought the cheapest one* out there and isn't sophisticated enough to work with the system we're using. It isn't worth it to return the one we have (15% restocking fee), and the least expensive ones that do what we need are $150-200. Even worse, we can't get it this week so that delays part of our data entry until 2010.
This unfortunate mistake means that we won't completely finish our part of the raw data processing in 2009 like I hoped. However, we should be able to do everything except the part that requires the thing we don't have, which is quite a lot. I guess I can handle that.
These events have reminded me that for my own fieldwork it is worthwhile to get at least two of each of the best equipment I can afford so that it is less likely to fail me where I can't possibly replace it and in the event it does break or I lose it, I'll have a backup.
*I had absolutely nothing to do with the decision to buy the high-tech piece of crap because I was in Ukenzagapia when they ordered that.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
DONE!
Today I finished my group project for the term. Hooray! It feels great to not have that hanging over my head anymore. My group crafted an interesting proposal for a project that we don't intend to do, but I really like the idea and I plan to keep it around in case I end up in a position where I need to pull an interdisciplinary urban ecology proposal out of my hat. Seriously though, I'd like to do this project someday (just not for my dissertation).
This may very well be the last course I take in graduate school. I don't think I need any more. That's a liberating thought. Now it's all about finishing the project with my interdisciplinary cohort and (more importantly) my dissertation! I am looking forward to using the rest of the time before the holidays to do some serious thinking about where my dissertation is headed. Oh my.
This may very well be the last course I take in graduate school. I don't think I need any more. That's a liberating thought. Now it's all about finishing the project with my interdisciplinary cohort and (more importantly) my dissertation! I am looking forward to using the rest of the time before the holidays to do some serious thinking about where my dissertation is headed. Oh my.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Pre-New Year's Resolutions
Janus Professor just posted a list of the things she wants to accomplish before the end of the year, and I've been thinking about this too (I feel accountable because of this post).
Academic goals:
Academic goals:
- Send a short note out for publication. It's nothing big. I'm working on it with Sam. We should be able to send it somewhere in the next few weeks.
- Submit my review paper. OMG I need to send this somewhere, for my own sake. Herb just warned everyone in the lab he's spending the entire month of December writing his next big grant proposal so he won't look at anything else until that's done. I planned to submit this paper with him as second author (I think people will be more likely to read and find it that way), but since he's busy I'm just going to pull my shit together and send it someplace that it's almost certain to get rejected from, but my goal for this paper is submission by Dec. 31. If/when it gets rejected I'll send it to Herb and he can work his magic and we'll try someplace else.
- Enter all of my freaking data from the summer (again). I can do this. When I finish this task I will get a massage.
- Schedule my next committee meeting. Better yet, have a committee meeting. That might not happen until January though.
- Finish processing raw data for my interdisciplinary group project.
- Go rock climbing at least 6 more times.
- Go dancing at least once (reasonable goals here).
Friday, November 20, 2009
Co-presenter anxiety
This weekend I'm giving a presentation with another person in my interdisciplinary cohort about the project we've been working on. It's going to be a large, mixed audience- some prominent scientists but mostly non-scientists who are enthusiasts about what we studied in our project. We're slated to present between two senior scientists, to an audience of about 100 people. It's a little intimidating.
Getting this presentation ready has taken more of my week than I expected it to, and my co-presenter is making me kinda anxious. I'm pretty sure we'll be great and people will love us, but he keeps bringing up all of the unknowns (What will the room be like? How big will our screen be? What if they mistake us for experts? What if someone asks us a question we can't answer?). I'm just trying to go with the flow. Our presentation is nearly final now, and we're practicing tomorrow evening. He's bringing his girlfriend over tonight and so we'll practice the presentation after dinner. I just want to have fun with this presentation and convince all these laypeople of the greatness of our project.
Getting this presentation ready has taken more of my week than I expected it to, and my co-presenter is making me kinda anxious. I'm pretty sure we'll be great and people will love us, but he keeps bringing up all of the unknowns (What will the room be like? How big will our screen be? What if they mistake us for experts? What if someone asks us a question we can't answer?). I'm just trying to go with the flow. Our presentation is nearly final now, and we're practicing tomorrow evening. He's bringing his girlfriend over tonight and so we'll practice the presentation after dinner. I just want to have fun with this presentation and convince all these laypeople of the greatness of our project.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Interdisciplinary day
I'm going on nearly 11 hours of non-stop interdisciplinarity. Today I've worked on three different group projects with three different groups!
One of the projects I worked on today involved a conference call with people from the interdisciplinary conference I went to in October. We're trying to write a synthesis paper. It's pretty far outside my comfort zone/realm of professional experience, but I find the exercise interesting. I'm not sure yet how I fit into the project, and there's a possibility that ultimately I won't be an author. But, it's about a timely and widely relevant topic that is at least worth thinking about in much more depth than I have to date.
One of the things I've enjoyed so far about the project is suggesting ways to make the collaborative process easier. I set up a wiki for the group, which my interdisciplinary cohort at UBC has found to be very helpful in the writing and editing process. We're also using a shared Zotero library. I think we should be using Mendeley, but so far I think I'm the only person who has heard of it so we're using Zotero because most people are already somewhat familiar and comforatable with it. I really hope that everyone will use the wiki because I think it's a great way to keep up on what other people in the group are writing and thinking without having to ask them for their most recent writing. I'm a little worried that people will hesitate to put their first drafts on the wiki, especially after FSP wrote about this phenomenon.
Good group dynamics seem to be a critical component of a successful long-distance writing project. So far, it seems to be going well. There are a few leaders spearheading the project, one of whom will almost certainly be first author, and we're all amicably working out who will do what. The thing that I worry about most is that the project won't be grounded enough in concrete applications of the concepts and ideas we're writing about. We'll see.
One of the projects I worked on today involved a conference call with people from the interdisciplinary conference I went to in October. We're trying to write a synthesis paper. It's pretty far outside my comfort zone/realm of professional experience, but I find the exercise interesting. I'm not sure yet how I fit into the project, and there's a possibility that ultimately I won't be an author. But, it's about a timely and widely relevant topic that is at least worth thinking about in much more depth than I have to date.
One of the things I've enjoyed so far about the project is suggesting ways to make the collaborative process easier. I set up a wiki for the group, which my interdisciplinary cohort at UBC has found to be very helpful in the writing and editing process. We're also using a shared Zotero library. I think we should be using Mendeley, but so far I think I'm the only person who has heard of it so we're using Zotero because most people are already somewhat familiar and comforatable with it. I really hope that everyone will use the wiki because I think it's a great way to keep up on what other people in the group are writing and thinking without having to ask them for their most recent writing. I'm a little worried that people will hesitate to put their first drafts on the wiki, especially after FSP wrote about this phenomenon.
Good group dynamics seem to be a critical component of a successful long-distance writing project. So far, it seems to be going well. There are a few leaders spearheading the project, one of whom will almost certainly be first author, and we're all amicably working out who will do what. The thing that I worry about most is that the project won't be grounded enough in concrete applications of the concepts and ideas we're writing about. We'll see.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Post-conference recollection
I got back from the interdisciplinary conference around 10:30 last night. I met some awesome people, including another grad student who's working on stuff that is conceptually very similar to what I'm doing. I also met another student working in Ukenzagapia. I didn't get any revelations about my place in the inter/trans/multi-disciplinary world, but I had a lot of great conversations. It sounds like a group of us are going to pursue a conceptual publication (quite outside ecology). That's cool. It's possible that 2010 will be a big publication year for me since there are several things in the works but we'll see.
I've also got an idea for a smaller conference that was born out of this one. I'm going to see if any of the other students in my interdisciplinary program are interested.
Now I'm trying to catch up on what I missed and figure out what my priorities are for this week and next. We're getting two cats from our friends who are about to go traveling for a year. Starting on Wednesday, we're going to have at least 3 guests sleeping at our house every night for a week. I'm looking forward to it, but it also means I need to be really efficient with my time at school.
I've also got an idea for a smaller conference that was born out of this one. I'm going to see if any of the other students in my interdisciplinary program are interested.
Now I'm trying to catch up on what I missed and figure out what my priorities are for this week and next. We're getting two cats from our friends who are about to go traveling for a year. Starting on Wednesday, we're going to have at least 3 guests sleeping at our house every night for a week. I'm looking forward to it, but it also means I need to be really efficient with my time at school.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Eureka! for the wrong project
Gigirose's comment on this post made me think about insights gleaned in down time. I'm not sure that I get many ideas when I'm baking bread, but I have gotten at least one. I just wish the project idea was actually for my project!
The other day I woke up extremely excited about a project idea that I originally thought of while I was in Ukenzagapia. It came to me in an "ah ha!" moment. I thought about it a little bit at the time, but not too much. For some reason, the other night I must have been dreaming about it, or thinking in my sleep or something.* I should say, though, that this project has absolutely, totally, nothing to do with any of the research pies I've got my fingers in. It's a different system, needs a different field site, and would be a complete change of direction. I'm not going to do it, or at least not anytime soon. I think I'll file it away for a later time. It might be a good one to do with undergrads if I end up at a teaching institution.
Anyways, I talked about it quite a bit with Jon on our way back from Canada. What I like about the idea I came up with is that I think it could provide impetus for more environmentally-friendly behavior change in people. I'm struggling a bit with my current research to tie it into change, or policy, or education. Of course it's important to understand more about the basics of ecology, but sometimes I get discouraged when I can't seem to make clear and pertinent connections. I'm trying to revisit my Ph.D. plan to see what is feasible, affordable, applicable, and exciting for me. This conversation with Jon about the relevance of this Eureka! project got me thinking and talking about what aspects of my real research I find exciting. I'm hoping to get some good ideas from this interdisciplinary conference about ways that my research can relate to broader issues and impacts.
*I did once do some calendar math in my sleep and suddenly woke up with a sudden realization about a birthday. It wouldn't be noteworthy except that I definitely did not know it when I went to sleep, figured it out in my sleep, and woke up knowing it.
The other day I woke up extremely excited about a project idea that I originally thought of while I was in Ukenzagapia. It came to me in an "ah ha!" moment. I thought about it a little bit at the time, but not too much. For some reason, the other night I must have been dreaming about it, or thinking in my sleep or something.* I should say, though, that this project has absolutely, totally, nothing to do with any of the research pies I've got my fingers in. It's a different system, needs a different field site, and would be a complete change of direction. I'm not going to do it, or at least not anytime soon. I think I'll file it away for a later time. It might be a good one to do with undergrads if I end up at a teaching institution.
Anyways, I talked about it quite a bit with Jon on our way back from Canada. What I like about the idea I came up with is that I think it could provide impetus for more environmentally-friendly behavior change in people. I'm struggling a bit with my current research to tie it into change, or policy, or education. Of course it's important to understand more about the basics of ecology, but sometimes I get discouraged when I can't seem to make clear and pertinent connections. I'm trying to revisit my Ph.D. plan to see what is feasible, affordable, applicable, and exciting for me. This conversation with Jon about the relevance of this Eureka! project got me thinking and talking about what aspects of my real research I find exciting. I'm hoping to get some good ideas from this interdisciplinary conference about ways that my research can relate to broader issues and impacts.
*I did once do some calendar math in my sleep and suddenly woke up with a sudden realization about a birthday. It wouldn't be noteworthy except that I definitely did not know it when I went to sleep, figured it out in my sleep, and woke up knowing it.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Inspiration
Yesterday morning I had a meeting with Herb. We talked for almost two hours, and I think I did an ok job of articulating my insecurities. I told Herb that I know he's a hands-off advisor but that I think I'm going to need more advice this year than in years past. The most helpful thing he said was that I need to find something I'm interested in doing and forget about what anyone else thinks I should be doing. Overall, the conversation was somewhat unfulfilling but I'm glad I talked to him.
Then I went to an event at Big Natural History Museum. It was one of those events with free food and alcohol where they try to woo donors for specific museum initiatives. Anyways, I'm really glad that I went because it reminded me of some of the reasons that I wanted to do research in Africa in the first place. Sometimes I need to feel all warm and fuzzy about my 'mission.'
Next month I'm going to an interdisciplinary conference and I expect to be energized by all of the ideas I'll encounter there. I hope I'll be able to channel that excitement into figuring out what I'm most motivated to do in Ukenzagapia.
Then I went to an event at Big Natural History Museum. It was one of those events with free food and alcohol where they try to woo donors for specific museum initiatives. Anyways, I'm really glad that I went because it reminded me of some of the reasons that I wanted to do research in Africa in the first place. Sometimes I need to feel all warm and fuzzy about my 'mission.'
Next month I'm going to an interdisciplinary conference and I expect to be energized by all of the ideas I'll encounter there. I hope I'll be able to channel that excitement into figuring out what I'm most motivated to do in Ukenzagapia.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
general craziness, and apparently I should keep a blog
On Wednesday night, Jon and I hosted a visiting scientist who my
interdisciplinary cohort asked to help us with our project. He was
already coming in for another event so he came out a day early to meet
with us. I, feeling bad about missing the event this weekend related
to our project, volunteered to host him. It worked out fine and he is
a great person, but it certainly didn't make the week any less
stressful.
interdisciplinary cohort asked to help us with our project. He was
already coming in for another event so he came out a day early to meet
with us. I, feeling bad about missing the event this weekend related
to our project, volunteered to host him. It worked out fine and he is
a great person, but it certainly didn't make the week any less
stressful.
I spent most of Thursday meeting with my interdisciplinary group and
the visiting scientist. Our project is really coming together in an
exciting way and I'm sad to be missing a big chunk of the field work
this summer. There's plenty that I can do from afar, but it will be
harder. I've really got to make time and space for myself to think
about that project in addition to what I'll have going on in
Ukenzagapia.
My interdisciplinary cohort is going to have some kind of blog about
our project. I explained how Google Analytics works, mentioning that
Jon and I had a blog while we traveled in RFC, and my cohort was like,
"You should totally keep a blog this summer in Ukenzagapia!" Ummm...
Yeah. I guess I should. I gave a somewhat hesitant non-committal
response. So, should I have a real research blog where I talk for real
and non-anonymously about what I do? In addition to this one which I
have no intention of giving up? What do you think?
Sunday, April 5, 2009
we've got a project
Several months ago I wrote about the challenges that my cohort of interdisciplinary fellows faced in trying to design a project that combined all of our areas of expertise and strengths. On Friday, we finally committed to a project!
It is exciting to have identified a project, and even more exciting to see how each one of us fits into it. We will be working with several other individuals on project at a public institution.We will finish our part of the project in the next year, and the rest of the project will continue, hopefully better for our involvement.
It is exciting to have identified a project, and even more exciting to see how each one of us fits into it. We will be working with several other individuals on project at a public institution.We will finish our part of the project in the next year, and the rest of the project will continue, hopefully better for our involvement.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
science communication
My final assignment last semester was a proposal for developing and assessing a community outreach program for my research in Ukenzagapia. In the process of writing the proposal, I realized a theme that came up time and time again last semester: things can go horribly wrong when the general public doesn't understand what scientists are doing.
Over the course of the semester, I saw several examples of situations that got ugly because scientists didn't communicate soon enough or clearly enough the goals and/or methods of their work with members of the community. This probably also has to do with framing, which Kent Holsinger has written about on his blog Uncommon Ground.
As part of my interdisciplinary fellowship, we learned about two cases in the Big City area where concerned and vociferous citizens brought projects to a grinding halt. The first case involved citizens who opposed ecological restoration projects, and the second was a hazardous waste treatment plan that didn't involve the local community soon enough. I think both cases were failure of scientists to effectively communicate their work. Illustrating the importance of science communication wasn't a goal of the course at all, but it turned out to be an unintended theme.
Now I see opportunities for science communication everywhere. For example, they should've had at least one entire lecture in my animal ethics class about research communication with non-scientific audiences. For heaven's sake, most of the biomedical researchers in that class may have to live in fear of violent animal rights activists for the rest of their professional lives if scientists don't speak up about what they do and direct at least part of the dialogue.
In the most unfortunate science miscommunication event, a grad student from UBC is caught up in a mess of accusations about her/his research. UBC lawyers are involved, and I'm hoping that it doesn't get out of control. The worst part about this situation is, I think, that the grad student and the accuser actually have common interests. In any case, the student is now on the defensive and so is the university.
It's very important for me both personally and professionally that Ukenzagapians as well as U.S. taxpayers understand what I do and why my research is significant. But in order for me to communicate that clearly, I've got to be sure I thoroughly understand it myself. Preparing for my prelims gives me an opportunity to construct my proposal around meaningful questions and practice communicating what I do. If only I could tell you here!
Over the course of the semester, I saw several examples of situations that got ugly because scientists didn't communicate soon enough or clearly enough the goals and/or methods of their work with members of the community. This probably also has to do with framing, which Kent Holsinger has written about on his blog Uncommon Ground.
As part of my interdisciplinary fellowship, we learned about two cases in the Big City area where concerned and vociferous citizens brought projects to a grinding halt. The first case involved citizens who opposed ecological restoration projects, and the second was a hazardous waste treatment plan that didn't involve the local community soon enough. I think both cases were failure of scientists to effectively communicate their work. Illustrating the importance of science communication wasn't a goal of the course at all, but it turned out to be an unintended theme.
Now I see opportunities for science communication everywhere. For example, they should've had at least one entire lecture in my animal ethics class about research communication with non-scientific audiences. For heaven's sake, most of the biomedical researchers in that class may have to live in fear of violent animal rights activists for the rest of their professional lives if scientists don't speak up about what they do and direct at least part of the dialogue.
In the most unfortunate science miscommunication event, a grad student from UBC is caught up in a mess of accusations about her/his research. UBC lawyers are involved, and I'm hoping that it doesn't get out of control. The worst part about this situation is, I think, that the grad student and the accuser actually have common interests. In any case, the student is now on the defensive and so is the university.
It's very important for me both personally and professionally that Ukenzagapians as well as U.S. taxpayers understand what I do and why my research is significant. But in order for me to communicate that clearly, I've got to be sure I thoroughly understand it myself. Preparing for my prelims gives me an opportunity to construct my proposal around meaningful questions and practice communicating what I do. If only I could tell you here!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
seeing benefits from interdisciplinary work
I recently attended a small interdisciplinary conference of sorts. It wasn't really a research conference, but more of a "here's what my organization/institution is doing" with a sustainability theme. This fits perfectly into my interdisciplinary fellowship and it was so exciting for me to see all of the partnerships that resulted in tangible benefits for people and the environment. It inspired me to keep thinking about how I see myself doing interdisciplinary work.
One session in particular was related to getting kids outside to encourage their natural interest in nature and outdoor play (awesome article on the matter can be found here). The great thing about the presentation is that organizations with diverse missions related to youth violence, social justice, exercise, ecological restoration, and career training were coming together by finding common interests in environmental sustainability.
In my head this post was a lot more exciting, but I'm having trouble conveying that without giving everything away. Sorry!
One session in particular was related to getting kids outside to encourage their natural interest in nature and outdoor play (awesome article on the matter can be found here). The great thing about the presentation is that organizations with diverse missions related to youth violence, social justice, exercise, ecological restoration, and career training were coming together by finding common interests in environmental sustainability.
In my head this post was a lot more exciting, but I'm having trouble conveying that without giving everything away. Sorry!
Friday, November 21, 2008
dum da da dum...
...I have a committee! I had a great meeting with Melody this morning and she agreed to be on my committee. Then I had a moment of panic in which I couldn't remember if I'd actually ever asked Chip to be on my committee. I've been assuming for several months now that he would be, but I couldn't remember asking! So I tracked him down, asked him, and he said, "Yes, that would be great. But if you'd sent me an email about scheduling a meeting I would've just assumed I had already agreed to be on it!"
Next I've got to schedule a meeting with everyone. Speaking of meetings, I spent most of today in meetings. My interdisciplinary group* had a highly productive meeting this afternoon that lasted for several hours. We still have a lot of work to do, but it was great to make significant progress today.
*I'm inclined to call it my 'fellowship group' but that sounds like I'm talking about a church group! We did spend a little while todaybashing talking about the Atlas of Creation...
Next I've got to schedule a meeting with everyone. Speaking of meetings, I spent most of today in meetings. My interdisciplinary group* had a highly productive meeting this afternoon that lasted for several hours. We still have a lot of work to do, but it was great to make significant progress today.
*I'm inclined to call it my 'fellowship group' but that sounds like I'm talking about a church group! We did spend a little while today
Thursday, November 13, 2008
conceptualizing interdisciplinary work
This year I received a fellowship to do interdisciplinary work as part of my Ph.D. training. I'm not going to distinguish between inter/trans/multidisciplinary work. Basically I'm working with other graduate students from different departments with a common theme of sustainability. One of the main things we need to accomplish is a group project that incorporates our skills and disciplines in a cohesive way. This is remarkably more difficult than it first sounds.
This semester we've been meeting with professionals who do interdisciplinary work all the time. It has been exciting to learn about their projects and interesting to hear about the challenges. Now we're at the point in the semester when we have to come up with ideas of our own. All we have to do is propose a project, we don't actually have to do what we propose (at least not yet).
We started our discussion about this by picking a site and independently thinking of projects within our line of research that could be done there. We ended up with a list of mini-projects that lack a central question we want to answer. This became obvious at our last meeting, so now we're trying a slightly different approach by asking a question that we can work together to answer (in retrospect, this probably sounds really obvious but it isn't necessarily).
This conversation within my group has made me think about what it means to collaborate on an interdisciplinary project. Will I be working within my discipline on a small stand-alone piece of a larger question, or will I being doing something that is totally integrated with other disciplines and maybe only broadly relates to my specific sub-field? Ultimately, how do I see my role as a collaborator? Will I expand my horizons or stay squarely within my field as part of the larger whole?
Perhaps part of the difficulty for us is the artificial nature of the project. Instead of finding a problem and assembling a group of diverse people to answer a question or come up with a solution, we have the group of people and have to find a question we can answer based on who we have to work with.
You can expect more posts on this topic in the near future as the semester draws to a close and we have to come up with a proposal!
This semester we've been meeting with professionals who do interdisciplinary work all the time. It has been exciting to learn about their projects and interesting to hear about the challenges. Now we're at the point in the semester when we have to come up with ideas of our own. All we have to do is propose a project, we don't actually have to do what we propose (at least not yet).
We started our discussion about this by picking a site and independently thinking of projects within our line of research that could be done there. We ended up with a list of mini-projects that lack a central question we want to answer. This became obvious at our last meeting, so now we're trying a slightly different approach by asking a question that we can work together to answer (in retrospect, this probably sounds really obvious but it isn't necessarily).
This conversation within my group has made me think about what it means to collaborate on an interdisciplinary project. Will I be working within my discipline on a small stand-alone piece of a larger question, or will I being doing something that is totally integrated with other disciplines and maybe only broadly relates to my specific sub-field? Ultimately, how do I see my role as a collaborator? Will I expand my horizons or stay squarely within my field as part of the larger whole?
Perhaps part of the difficulty for us is the artificial nature of the project. Instead of finding a problem and assembling a group of diverse people to answer a question or come up with a solution, we have the group of people and have to find a question we can answer based on who we have to work with.
You can expect more posts on this topic in the near future as the semester draws to a close and we have to come up with a proposal!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)