forgot ALL about her!

I just send Sam a brief update on the progress of one of his undergrads that I'm supervising. His reply:

"great on [name omitted]

forgot ALL about her!"

Oh boy, that gave me a good laugh. Students, this is a great example of why you might need to email your professors more than once to get a response from them. If your message makes it out of sight, it's probably out of mind too.

More thoughts from me soon.

I'm so sick of writing grants

The title says it all. The summer before I started grad school, someone told me, "If you just apply for as many small grants as you can, you're bound to get something eventually." I took the advice to heart. I applied for a whole bunch of small grants and I got a bunch of small grants (and some fellowships). That's awesome. I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing without that support. What I regret now is not trying to apply for bigger money about a year ago. I've funded everything with a couple thousand dollars here and there, totally piecemeal. I've spent an inordinate amount of time keeping track of all of the expenses from the different pots of money (and then trying to get my university to actually give me the money...). Unfortunately, I'm not quite finished. I sent out a grant last week that will cover almost everything, but even if I get that I'll need a little bit more, and if I don't get that I'm not sure what I'll do.

If I'd known when I was applying to grad school what I know now, I think I might have tried harder to find an advisor who already had a big grant that could support at least some of my research. I guess I could've gotten in on Herb's big project, but I chose to strike out on my own. What was I thinking? I'm so sick of writing grants.

Reader question: An ecologist's education, so far?

Today I received a great email from a reader, Sarah:

 ...I was wondering if you'd be willing to answer some questions about your schooling and what you do concerning ecology. I'm a junior in high school and I'd like to be an ecologist like yourself someday.

I of course replied yes, so she wrote back with questions:

Okay so my first question is just to clear things up for me. You have a PHD but you're still in grad school? How did you get to your current level of education and how long did it take? (ex. went to a 4-year college for bachelors, then back for masters, and PHD... etc.) and another question is what are some pros and cons to ecology? (Just in general, could be about learning about ecology in college or your research.)

First things first. I don't have my Ph.D. yet, but I am working on it. Technically I am a Ph.D. candidate because I have passed my preliminary exams. Being a Ph.D. candidate is kind of like being a presidential candidate- you're in the running but haven't earned the title yet. A Ph.D. candidate describes more specifically the type of graduate student that I am (a graduate student can be anyone pursing a Masters or Ph.D.). When I finish my Ph.D., then I can be called Karina Anirak, Ph.D., or Dr. Karina Anirak.

As far as education goes, here's a brief story of how I got to where I am now. I graduated from high school and went to college where I earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology (that took 4 years). I contemplated graduate school, but was not ready to apply because I wanted to gain more work experience in research or education and use that time to reflect on whether or not I really wanted to go to grad school, and if so, for what. Grad school, in any field, is not something you should do because you don't know what else to do. After graduating from college I spent a few years working, traveling, and thinking about whether or not to go back to school (I read a lot about grad school during that time). Did I really want to do research? If so, what would I study? I decided that I wanted to go to grad school so that I could teach biology and do research at the college level, and for that you need a Ph.D. In ecology it is relatively common for people to skip a Masters degree if they have enough research/work experience when they apply, either from their undergraduate education or experiences after that.

I spent hours upon hours researching different graduate programs in ecology (chronicled here, here, and here). I applied during the 2006-07 academic year and began grad school in fall 2007. Now I'm two and a half years into my program. I have completed all of the necessary coursework, identified a research topic, and collected some preliminary data. I organized a committee of scientists (ecogeofemme has been writing about this process recently) who advise me and approved my research topic in my preliminary exam (aka prelims). I expect that it will take me three and a half more years to finish my data collection, analyze it, and write my dissertation. Six years to complete a Ph.D. in ecology is very normal in the U.S. When I finish my Ph.D., I'm not sure exactly what I'll do, but it is likely that I will spend a few more years 'in training' as a post-doctoral fellow (aka post doc).

Pros and cons of being an ecologist? For me I think it's mostly pros. I wrote a post in 2008 that covers many of them. I loved my biology classes in college and I had great professors. Cons? Most ecologists don't have enormous earning potential compared to other fields requiring similar or fewer years of education, but this is only a problem if for some reason your life plans involve needing to be very wealthy.

My advice to Sarah and other young aspiring ecologists is to learn how to learn in whatever classes you take. Figure out how you learn math most effectively. Learn how to find the information you need using search terms and databases.  Learn how to understand the science from reading about it. Make connections between different classes and subjects. Learn how to write well. Those skills will help you succeed in whatever you decide to do. As far as helping you decide what to do with your life, don't stress about it too much now, but do ask people who have interesting jobs how they got there. At the very least, you're bound to get some interesting stories that might help inform your choices down the road.

teaching professional conduct in correspondence

Earlier this week I blogged about a fantastic student of mine for whom I wrote many letters of recommendation. Just yesterday I was contacted by a different student. Her email went something like this:

Hey Karina!! It's Student X...you know, one of the trip to the museum Students? haha. Ok so I have a huge favor to ask of you, like the subject line says...will you be willing to write me a letter of recommendation???? I will owe you my life! haha. It's for an Unusual Internship with Unusual Employer...random, I know, but I graduated in January and my dream of becoming a [Job Kids Dream About] right away hasn't been going too well so I'm just looking around for anything that will benefit me. It's cool if you don't want to do it, I won't hate you :) but if you are willing to help me out I will send you my resume and the link to what the internship is about so you have a clue on what to write. Thanks for taking the time to read this rambling email! I hope your semester has been going great! Another Student always tells me how she sees you at the gym. I miss BioX!!!

Sincerely,
Student X

At first I wasn't sure how to respond. Clearly she needed some advice on etiquette for professional correspondence. After much consideration I replied:

Hi Student,
Wow, that internship sounds quite unusual! As one of my most enthusiastic students, I am happy to help you however I am able. I may be able to write you a letter, but I need to know what the deadline is to know if I have time. In order to write a good letter, I need as much information as possible. Also, I highly recommend reading this page that talks about asking for letters of recommendation. Even in asking for a letter for Unusual Internship, professionalism goes a long way! Especially in this awful job market, you should always err on the side of formality, courtesy, and standard composition. You can start practicing in your correspondence with me. :-)
Cheers,
Karina

I decided to add the smiley face, even though it's a bit ironic considering the context. Apparently, my advice was very well taken. She replied:

Dear Karina,
Thank you very much for helping me out! I will try to be as professional as possible in this email after reading all of those guidelines you sent me. I'm going to keep that because it's very helpful! [Many internship details] I really appreciate this! I'll let you know about the deadline as soon as I find out, and if you can't make it, I'll understand :)

Thanks!!
Student X

What a huge improvement! I'm so glad that she demonstrated that she's capable of higher standards of correspondence. Seems like it should be common sense or at least previously taught, but apparently not. On the bright, this bad habit in students is relatively easily corrected (assuming they actually do know how to write in complete sentences) and a little advice may go a long way in helping someone develop essential professional skills.

undergrads and internships: waiting, accepting, and thanking

The undergrad for whom I wrote 11 letters of recommendation to summer research programs came by my office today to tell me where she's spending the summer. She got rejected/waitlisted at 7 places, hasn't heard from 3, and accepted to 1. She decided to accept the invitation from the one place where she was accepted. I think this is a wise decision even though she hasn't heard from 3 of the places.

I had to make a similar decision as an undergrad when I applied for REU programs because the date by which I had to decline or accept my only offer was before I'd heard from several other places. I'm glad I went with the offer even though it was my last choice program because I'm 99% sure I would not have been accepted elsewhere.

FemaleScienceProfessor recently had a post about student responses (or lack thereof) to acceptance letters to undergraduate summer research programs. I fear that as an undergraduate I may not have responded to the offer I received while I was waiting to hear back from other other programs. I suppose that in my head, telling them that I was waiting to hear back from other places implied that their program was not my first choice (true, but not something I necessarily wanted them to know). Now that I am older and wiser, I see that FSP's advice is absolutely the right: say simply that you aren't sure yet but will respond by the deadline. I wish someone had told me that when I was in college. Listen up you undergraduate readers. I know from this survey that there are at least a few of you reading.

My student did just like FSP said and told me about the outcome of my letters her applications. I am thrilled that my student took the time to write me a letter (by hand! though email would've been fine) to tell me the status of her applications. She also brought me sweets, which she said were the best way to thank someone according to her cultural traditions. I'm excited for her and fully expect that she'll do well this summer.

Recommended reading for applying to grad school

I took time off between my Bachelor's degree and applying to grad school, and I used that time to explore a) if I really truly wanted or needed to go, and b) what the heck I might want to study. This post is intended to help people with the first part more than the second. I read a lot about what to expect (or not expect) from grad school.

I'll start with the resources that are directed at graduate school in science as a whole.

A broadly applicable (for Ph.D. programs) piece of advice was written by Phil Agre, Advice for Undergraduates Considering Grad School. It walks you through generally what grad school is, research, and the application process. This guy seems to have written several interesting pieces of advice for a variety of fields.

Physicist Steven Weinburg wrote a piece published in Nature called Four Golden Lessons, and it can be found here with a response from John A. Duley.

Then there are books. In my first year of grad school I had to take an ethics class that required us to buy Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a M.A. or Ph.D. I was initially put off by the title, but I read most of this book and will keep it to refer back to occasionally. It gives a great overview of things to consider when deciding to apply, how to decide between Masters/Ph.D. and their differences, and financial issues. The introduction is admittedly pretty bleak, but you should read it. It will discourage you from going to grad school because you feel like the extra letters alone will get you a job (it won't) or because you don't know what else to do with your life.

I also read The Ph.D. Process: A Student's Guide to Graduate School in the Sciences before I decided to apply to know what to expect during the different stages of grad school. This book focuses only on Ph.D. programs unlike the first book which also addresses masters programs. There are quotes from grad students in different fields throughout the book. People who are unsure what grad student life is like may especially want to read the Life of a Graduate Student chapter.

I recommend checking out either or both of these books from a library if you're not sure at all what to expect from grad school and just beginning to explore your options. If you find them useful and you decide to go to grad school, try to get yourself a used copy.

Next there are resources aimed at biology students, such as On Graduate Studies in Biology by Kurt Reinhart (pdf). Page 6 has an especially useful "checklist for picking the right advisor" which has a list of questions you may want to ask. I have this file highlighted yellow in the Finder to remind me to revisit it occasionally, as it has advice applicable to the duration of graduate study.

The next two pieces should be read together as they both came out of the graduate program in Zoology at Berkeley. They are relatively general in their advice and would probably be of interest to people who don't have ecology/evolution/behavior aspirations. First read Some Modest Advice for Graduate Students by Stephen Sterns, then read Reply to Sterns (both available as pdfs here).

Finally, there is a slim little volume called How to Do Ecology that is, as the title suggests, aimed at a specific audience. An even better title for it would be How to Become an Ecologist, since it talks you through the grad school process. If your idea of being an ecologist involves spending hours, days, or weeks on end alone with the wilderness, read the chapters on Working with Other People and Communicating What You Find to see how most ecologists have to deal with the social/communication aspects of their career. The three-page conclusion summarizes the most important unwritten rules of ecology as elucidated by the authors.

What resources would you recommend? If there's interest, I might write longer reviews of the books. Happy searching!

Mathematical modeling & Me

This semester I have been working on modifying a published model for Chip's class. What does that mean? Basically, I'm taking a generalized model and adding/removing/adjusting the parameters to make the model fit the plant system we're working on. The system is one in which the other person I'm working with will do her research. I'm not as invested in this project as I am in the other things I have going on this semester, but I find the process of developing this model both useful and fascinating.

Today we had another meeting with Chip to discuss the progress. We're making baby steps in the right direction. We're just about to analyze its stability in the most simple form. Then we can add more species and parameters. Chip has been walking us through the process and clearly describing what we need to do at each step. I really appreciate this because my grasp of the concepts and tools is a bit tenuous. The ease with which Chip understands, develops, and analyzes models is fascinating and still somewhat mysterious to me. When we sit in those meetings with him, though, I am so amazed at how much I've learned in the past year, so I'd like to describe my evolving relationship with calculus.

While I was applying to grad school, I rediscovered why they always emphasize in school that calculus is critical for science- not even ecologists are outside the applications of calculus (I know now that they're right in the thick of it!). One of my weaknesses was (is) math. Many of the people I was interested in working with do a fair amount of ecological modeling of which I had basically zero experience and a very limited understanding. Although part of me just wanted to ignore the deficit and try to get around without it, I knew that it would be in my best interest to put mathphobia aside and work on my weakness.

The opportunity to do just that appeared when a friend told me about EcoMath Camp. I applied, was accepted (did they actually see my B- in calc I?), and found myself to be a small fish in a not-so-big pond of much larger, albeit friendly, fish. It was incredibly challenging for me since my one semester of calculus was so many years ago, but I was able to learn a tremendous amount at my level. EcoMath Camp gave me the confidence to take and survive Chip's population ecology class last fall. Chip's encouragement of relatively mathematically-deficient students like myself combined with his incredible teaching style are why I am in his game theory class this semester.

I'm proud of myself for being able to understand and develop my own model, because this is something I could not have imagined a year ago. I usually know which questions to ask now which is a huge step in the right direction. But, I feel like my comprehension of the 'big picture' is ahead of my mathematical tool kit to actually create the big picture. Today I wrestled for an hour with a derivative that took Chip 3 minutes. I know, he has decades more experience with this, but still.

I think my insecurity with calculus goes way back to 7th grade. My mom (hi mom) has worked in elementary and middle school math education for my entire life. In 4th grade I spent a short time in the accelerated math class but went back to the regular one out of frustration with long division. I did well in the regular math class until junior high. My mom thought it would be good for me to take Geometry in 8th grade, and that I could do Algebra I over the summer at home with her help. Well, I vaguely remember reading about parabolas in the back yard that summer but I didn't do anywhere near as much work as I would've for a normal class.

[Mom- I don't want you to think I blame you for my math insecurity-not at all. A whole combination of factors in high school made my math experience worse when it had the potential to be much better. You have always encouraged me in math and I would not have been accepted to EcoMath Camp if you hadn't helped me improve my essay, so you have been a great positive role model. I also think I'm good at spatial reasoning thanks to those base 10 blocks.]

My shaky foundation in Algebra I became apparent during Algebra II in my freshman year of HS. I had the heaviest possible course load and a flighty teacher who put me to sleep every afternoon (my first case of classroom narcolepsy). I struggled with the quadratic formula and dropped from the honors math track to the regular math track in the middle of the year. I stayed in the regular track so I was 1-2 years younger than most of the students in those classes. I took AP Statistics my junior year and didn't take math at all my senior year. I took one semester of calculus in college, in which I got a B- thanks to help from Jon. Then I spent the next few years hardly thinking about calculus, until I landed back in a classroom last summer with a room full of mathematically gifted undergrads.

So why did I just tell you a brief history of my relationship with math? I'm not exceptionally mathematically talented and I may never be able to do complicated derivatives in 3 minutes, but I am willing to try. You should be too. Especially if it's not your strength, pursue it. Find a great teacher, friend, or tutor, and look for ways that the tools can be applied to ecological problems. Applications are the glue that make the math stick instead of abstractly floating around in your brain without an anchor. I want to encourage everyone who is considering a degree in ecology to take more math. Don't be mathphobic! You can do it, and you will use it.

Working in bed

I really like working in bed with my laptop. I discovered this while I was applying to grad school while we were traveling in RFC last year. I like spending a few (or several, as today) hours after I wake up in the morning working in bed. I woke up around 9 am this morning and finished my grant around 2 pm, then I made pancakes and got back in bed to eat them while posting to my blog. This grant took longer than I thought it would to finish today (my goal was noon), partly because I had to scramble to find a few more sources that I thought I had already nailed down. I think I found a better way to remotely access UBC's electronic library, which reminds me of something I've wanted to mention for a while.

It can be really difficult to apply to graduate school without remote access to a university's electronic library. If you are taking time off before undgrad and grad school (which I highly recommend), don't be afraid to use your friends in academia to get you articles that you would otherwise not have access to. Also, figure out how to remotely access your school's electronic database because you might have access for a while after you graduate. I just discovered in 2007 that I still have access via Small Friendly College. In fact, SFC has access to a journal I regularly use that UBC does not (why not? I have no idea) so I frequently take advantage of that connection.

In other news, I have so much work to do this weekend :-( I have 60 lab reports and problem sets to grade (I haven't started tackling them like I did last time), an essay to write for Herb, articles to read, and I should start on my comprehensive research plan for my Ph.D. (yeah, right). Jon has been at work all day today so I had lots of quiet time to finish that grant, but I don't think I'll do much more school work today. When I'm finished with this post I'm going to get up, get dressed, do a load of laundry, clean the kitchen, start the bread machine, and get ready for our friends to come over for dinner tonight. Ready, set, get out of bed!

Just one of those days...I hope

A word of advice to prospective graduate students: Don't tell graduate students anything you really don't want their advisor to know. Today Herb was talking about a prospective student who visited recently. The student mentioned to me he applied to grad schools for two completely different things: N stuff (what Herb does) and X stuff. I was interested in hearing more about X stuff from him but we didn't get to talk much, so I asked Herb about it today in the context of, "He told me he had two interests- what exactly was X stuff?" Herb kind of chuckled and said, "He never told me about X stuff, we only talked about N!" This won't ruin the prospective student's chances here at all, but I felt a little bad about it. But not too bad. Diverse interests are not a bad thing as long as you also have depth, and I think the student should have mentioned that to Herb.

Overall, though, today was one of those days when I wished I could take back about half of what came out of my mouth. Class discussion was like that, talking with Herb was like that, random social interactions, introductions to new people, everything. It was all awkward and I think I almost always managed to say the wrong thing. I hope this is just a passing blip of blundering.

Summer opportunities for undergrads in ecology

I try to tell my students about all of the awesome opportunities out there for undergraduates in science, and this first one definitely falls in the *awesome* category.

ESA (Ecological Society of America) has a program called SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education, Developments, and Sustainability) whose goal is to try to increase representation of racial and ethnic minority students in the field of ecology. If you are a minority undergrad, ESA SEEDS wants to take you to Alaska for a week in May 2008 to learn about the affects of climate change on polar regions as part of the International Polar Year. It sounds like it will be an awesome trip! I don't see this stated anywhere, but I think they pay for everything (=free for you). Interested? Apply here. The deadline is February 11, 2008.

Summer internship opportunities:

10 weeks at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin for collections-based research
They help cover the cost of getting you there, fund your research, and give you a small stipend. Deadline: March 30, 2008

Great Lakes Summer Fellowship Program (12 weeks)
They are offering 24 full-time 12-week fellowships to undergrad and recent graduates in limnology, from aquatic ecology and outreach to modeling and policy. Check out the opportunities here. They offer a $5000 stipend (this is a lot more than I will earn this summer as a TA). Deadline: February 22, 2008

Eco-Informatics Summer Institute in Orgeon (10 weeks)
This sounds like a really great opportunity for students interested in ecology, math, engineering, and/or computer science to develop interesting projects and learn more about the interdisciplinary field of Eco-Informatics. Recent graduates and early-career graduate students are also eligible. They offer housing, travel assistance, some meals, and a $4000 stipend. Deadline: February 15, 2008

Enhancing Linkages between Mathematics and Ecology in Michigan (7 weeks)
Similarly, this is another program for the quantitative mind and the mathematically inclined. This program involves coursework and field projects. Fellowships provide tuition, room and board, travel, and a $2500 stipend. Undergrads, recent grads, and early-career grad students are eligible to apply. Deadline: March 3, 2008

Remember undergrads, this handful of programs is only the tip of the iceberg. Check out my earlier post to read more about REU programs.

What (not) to write to potential graduate advisors

Female Science Professor did a great post today with generic samples of emails she receives from interested prospective graduate students. If you are interested in going to grad school, don't write emails that fall in the first two categories. It might take you a really long time to go through and read about someone's research and write them a thoughtful email, but that's really what they're looking for. If you are estimating how much time it will take you to research and make inquiries about grad school, you should double or triple that amount of time and it will be closer to accurate. It felt like a significant part-time job for me for about 2 months, and that was even before I really started doing the applications.

Internships: advice for aspiring scientists

Last week in lab I told my students they should use some down time over Thanksgiving break and winter break to look for internships and summer jobs. I wish I had been encouraged earlier in my college career to consider things like Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs. I want my students to start thinking about what they can do this summer (or next summer, or the summer after) because this is the time of year to do it. REU applications are due in February or March and they've got to get it together. Plus, I hope some people will be inspired by all of the awesome opportunities out there in science, and especially in ecology since that's my particular passion.

I spent a long time composing an email to my students about internships (tacked onto some housekeeping about grades so hopefully they'll read it). I linked to the REU program finder site, the Student Conservation Association (SCA) site, and heaps of internship opportunities in Big City. I did an REU program after my junior year of college. I applied to several programs but was only accepted to one in Kansas, not my first choice. It ended up being an awesome summer; I had a great roommate, experienced life in a college town, and did some cool research with someone who was a great advisor. I learned that I wasn't particularly interested in his research paradigm or system, but I did learn a lot about the process of becoming a scientist and life in academia.

The typical REU stipend when I was in Kansas was $3000 for the 10 week program. They also provide housing, food, and travel reimbursement to get you there. As I was poking around REU programs for my students, I discovered the going rate for this summer is $4000 plus room and board and travel. A quick calculation tells me that this (if you assign more than $500 for the housing, food, and travel reimbursement) is more than I make as a TA in 10 weeks. I earn approximately $440 per week before taxes and have to pay rent, bills, and buy food with that. Kind of sad, really, but I'm glad the REU students can earn a decent wage for doing summer research. I think the biggest bummer about REU programs is that you can't participate the summer after you graduate. I'm an advocate of taking time off before going to grad school and an REU program would be a great thing to do during the first summer in the "real" world.

Today one of my students emailed me to say she's interested in plants and wants to talk about career options and grad school. I think she was interested in pharmacy school or something at the beginning of the semester so I'm thrilled to hear she wants to talk about plants. I can't wait to tell her about all of the cool things she can do and study.