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.

Need some samples collected from the middle of nowhere?

There's an organization called Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation that is connecting scientists who need data collected in hard-to-access places with the talented, hard-core people who can get there. I think this is a fantastic idea. I hope it takes off!

Accounting

I'm working on the accounting for my last trip. I swore I was going to keep on top of entering my expenses, which I did for about 6 weeks and then everything like that (and reading email) went to hell once we really started working 7 days a week. I recorded the vast majority of it in my daily planner, but now once again I'm having to sort out which expenses came from which pot of money, exactly.

There was a withdrawal and currency exchange transaction for which I didn't have receipts this time, and I was sitting here thinking, "Did I change $200 at that place? Or was it $300?" I was about to email Cam to ask if he remembers (yeah right), when I flipped back through my notebook where I write all sorts of misc things, and sure enough I wrote it down. $300 it is! That means I can account for all $4570 that I brought in USD! I haven't figured out yet how much of the Ukenzagapian currency I can account for, but I'm pleased as punch about the USD. I still have to figure out how much I have left in my big grant, how much of our money I spent, and how much money I spent from what Sam gave me. I have receipts all over the place.

When I'm in the field, about 1/3 of the things I write in my book are money-related, and because I'm kind of paranoid about Ukenzagapians overseeing the sums of money I manage, I tend to write in a way that makes it unclear which currency I'm working with (or even that I'm writing about money at all). This is not very good if I have to look back at my notes to figure stuff out. I need to be more clear about this!

While I'm thinking about money, that reminds me that I still have to actually do our taxes from 2010, and I'm still not 100% clear if I have to pay taxes on research awards even if I can clearly account for the research expenses, but I think the answer is yes (because they aren't "qualified educational expenses"). I'd be much happier paying these taxes if we had universal single-payer healthcare and if 60% of it didn't go towards war.

Categorization & frustration

In general, I like organizing and sorting things, but I am easily overwhelmed when something doesn't fit into a category. This is manifests itself in all sorts of ways in my life. Tidying the apartment. Packing. Entering and analyzing data. I hate it.

I tend to deal with this tidying and packing problem by making piles of miscellaneous things, but then I fuss over them for a while, trying to categorize them, before hiding them out of sight. But I can't just do that with data... It is so frustrating sometimes that the world wasn't made categorically! There's always a judgement call to be made in categorizing those boundary points. If I have to do it a handful of times, ok. But if I need to make a whole bunch of decisions that could really go one way or the other... ack!

Obviously, today I'm dealing with some data that aren't clearly one thing or the other. I've been reading about ways in which other people have dealt with this, but the best way to approach it still isn't clear to me.

I talked to John about my dilemma. He also loves categorizing things and has a meticulously organized, data-filled music collection on his computer. When he has music with incompleteable data, he just deletes it. Unfortunately, I can't just delete the difficult ones!

I'm tempted to work on the easy ones for now and come back to the hard ones when I'm less frustrated.

Meeting at the airport

Today I met Sam at the airport- on his way to Ukenzagapia. I had to give him some things for Cam, and my last chance was to bring them to the airport. He is flying the same airline/route that I prefer so I knew exactly when and where to meet him. I arrived before him, met his cab with a baggage cart, handed him a hard drive and a bottle of pills, and then we talked while standing in the line to check his bags. It turns out he had to give me some forms to submit so it was also good for him that I met him there. It was a kind of a weird place (and occasion) to meet, but I suppose stranger meetings have happened.

Aiming up

A year and a half ago I started a manuscript with Sam and Dr. K that was just supposed to be a short natural history note. It has been rejected twice (once without review, once with). The second place from which it was rejected is truly where I think it belongs because I think it is the most appropriate audience. Unfortunately, they won't reconsider it so we're looking elsewhere. We're aiming up.

What do I mean by "aiming up"? Academic journals are ranked by how frequently they get cited in other literature. The more-cited journals (the cream of the crop being Science and Nature) are more prestigious, reach a broader audience, and are much more difficult to get a manuscript accepted. Their impact factors are around 30. For comparison, the first place we submitted had an impact factor 1-1.5. Then we submitted it to a journal with impact factor 0.5-1. This isn't world-changing science, but it's something that other folks who are interested in these things would want to know.

Sam really thinks this manuscript has a shot at a >4 impact factor journal, so that's where we're submitting next. The paper has changed and grown a lot, but I'm still anxious about sending it there, because I'm pretty sure it's going to get rejected without review. If that happens, I think the next place to send it is down... way down (someplace that doesn't even have an impact factor). I guess it could go to another ~1 journal, but I'm skeptical there too.

I just turned over another draft to Sam to work his magic on it because he's the one with the vision and confidence to aim high... fingers crossed. I want this thing accepted somewhere this summer.

Just me & the plants

Our lab is pretty empty for the summer. Only one other student is around, and she isn't in the office much and keeps odd hours. Herb is mostly in Big City, but he's not in the office very often either. So pretty much it's just me and the houseplants. I've got all of the plants from all of the other offices in my lab now so they don't die.

In general, most of the department's grad students are gone for the summer but thankfully I have two friends down the hall who will mostly be around. It's kind of lonely without lab mates, but I don't mind too much. It means I can play my music loudly and sing along with Adele and Meaghan Smith :-)

Graduation gift ideas

My cousin is graduating from high school and is headed to a fantastic SLAC next year. I am SO excited for her, because her other choice was a big state school. I don't know this cousin very well, but I think we have some common interests (biology at least) and I think college will be a positive and transformative experience for her. She's from a small rural town and her parents are pretty darn conservative (socially and politically). They don't have much money at all, but she's got a full ride to this SLAC.
I'd really like to get her something special for graduation. I remember giving some of my younger friends a small set a drawers full of all kinds of little useful things (paper clips, sticky tack, tape, etc). I could do that for my cousin, but since I do still have some folks reading my blog I thought I'd ask if any of you have awesome ideas for an SLAC-bound high school grad. Did you get any really awesome graduation gifts? What great graduation gifts have you given?
I really hope she loves her SLAC as much as I love SFC. Seriously, my SFC professors sign their emails "Love" (at least to me!). I just got an email today from one of my profs who is leaving shortly for Ukenzagapia :-)

What do you use for making posters?

What software do you use to design posters? What do you like/dislike about that program? How does it compare to other programs you've used?
I've got a couple of poster presentations to make from scratch this summer and I'm wondering if I should use something other than Powerpoint.

Project priorities

I counted NINE different projects that I'm working on. I've got to make significant progress on several of them this summer!
-Interdisciplinary project. This will end with a poster presentation this summer and won't be part of my dissertation.
-Review paper (hopefully the intro to my dissertation)
-Other manuscript (probably not part of my dissertation)
-Project A (a chapter)
-Project B (another chapter)
-Project C (half a chapter)
-Project D (other half a chapter)
-Database (maybe part of my dissertation)
-Bonus project (not part of my dissertation)
Highest priority (things in the analysis/writing/submitting stages):
Project A
Other manuscript
Review paper
Interdisciplinary project
Project D
The other things (especially the bonus project) can wait. I'll be working on the database this summer too but it's not in the analysis stage yet so I'm just helping the development along. I'm not sure if I should try to tackle these things one at a time, like spend a week working almost totally on the "other manuscript" with a clear goal at the end before I move on to tackle the next big thing? Maybe I'll try that and see how it goes. It would be good to get the closest-to-done manuscripts out the door.

Routines

Thanks for the comments on my post about establishing routines. In case you're wondering, here are some of the routines I've made up for myself:

Every weekday: Go to the gym or do an exercise video at home. I've found I really do best if I have to do it every day.

Mondays: Bake bread (in the bread machine) before work so it's ready when I get home. Also cook dinner (with extra for lunches).

Thursdays: Go rock climbing. Make pizza for dinner.

Saturdays: Do laundry.

Sundays: Take care of my houseplants and outside plants. Cook dinner (with extra for lunches). Read in the evening with Jon.

The important part of these routines for me is that I'm NOT going to do these things on other days. So, if I don't wash something on Saturday, it has to wait until the next week. This is an especially important limitation for plants, as I can spend hours piddling around repotting things and fussing over my plants. Today I planted lots of seeds outside and repotted two of my houseplants. Anything other than watering has to wait until next weekend.

There are still very few regularly scheduled things in my professional life. My basic work routine is get to school by 9 am and work at least 40 hours per week.  On Thursdays I call my field assistants in Nyota (though I often don't get through to them). I'm also going to study statistics every Thursday with a classmate. I'll study Ukenzagapese another day during the week (yet-to-be-determined based on my classmate's schedule). I might attend the lab meetings of another lab (depending on when they schedule them).  

Meetings with my advisor? What? Is that something you're supposed to do on a regular basis? Yeah, that doesn't happen. I just met with Herb the other day to give him a rundown of how this past field season went, and tomorrow I'm meeting with Sam to talk about the zillion projects we're working on together. Herb doesn't plan to be around much for more of the summer, and Sam will be going back to Ukenzagapia for a stretch. I think I'll be seeing more of Sam, though. Maybe I will end up having regular meetings with him (or his students) while he's around.

This week I need to come up with a plan for advancing several different projects this summer. I'll probably write more on this after I've given it some serious thought!

New GRFP guide and FAQ

I just completed my required annual GRF reporting and noticed several changes in the new program guide (link to pdf) compared to last year's (link to pdf). Since I think at least 1 other fellow reads my blog, I thought I'd mention these.

-They discontinued the Fellows Abroad program which allowed folks to study at a foreign institution.

-You can't have another kind of federal fellowship (e.g. EPA STAR) and a GRF, even if you wouldn't be paid by them both at the same time.

-Maternity leave explicitly qualifies as medical deferment, but the time allowable is dependent on your university's policies.

-Teaching is now explicitly NOT allowed while they are paying you a stipend (if you need to teach, you must defer a year or forfeit).

-Language is much stricter regarding deadlines for annual reporting. If you're late, your fellowship WILL be terminated. If you haven't done it yet, the deadline is May 1!

The new FAQ is here.

Getting back in the groove

I'm certainly doing a good job getting my body back in the right time zone! I got home on Tuesday afternoon, went out for a belated anniversary dinner with Jon, and stayed up until 10 pm. On Wednesday I woke up at 5:45 (not bad), did stuff around the house all day, then went to trivia night and was up until nearly midnight. I slept until about 7:30 on Thursday, went to campus, and then went to a bachelorette party and ended up crashing at my friend's house and going home this morning. Tonight our friend is having a going-away-for-the-summer party, and on Saturday we're going to a wedding. It's a celebratory week.

I'm really trying hard to establish new home routines for myself now. Part of the reason I was able to do such an insane amount of work in Nyota was that I had a routine that didn't vary much, my life was pretty simple, and someone was cooking for me. It's much more complicated here and there are many more distractions (husband! puppy! houseplants! youtube! cooking! housework! - I had none of these in Nyota). I'm trying to simplify my life by scheduling things so that I just know when I do them and don't waste time and energy deciding whether or not I should do them (I do this a lot). So far I'm mostly doing this with things at home, but I think I'll do it with some school things too. I'm not the kind of person for whom routines come easily (I think I've blogged about this before), so I have to make a conscious effort to create and stick to them.

I'm curious, my readers, if you have created routines for similar reasons. If so, what have they been?

Mortality and traveling

Traveling nearly always makes me think about my mortality. I think this is fairly common. However, as I've come and gone from Ukenzagapia, I've become more and more accustomed to the routine and I have less and less fear creeping into my thoughts. When I left Ukenzagapia a year ago, I was mentally checking off all of the dangerous things I do. Last motorbike ride. Last bus ride. Last taxi ride. Last takeoff. As my plane neared the ground at Big City airport and tree leaves came into view, I breathed a sigh of relief thinking, "Ok, if anything happens to the plane now, I'm pretty sure I could survive". Last landing. I thought about writing this post a year ago, but I still felt too superstitious about writing my relief at avoiding death. But we're all mortal, and worrying about it certainly isn't going to make the time we have any more enjoyable, so it's time to get this confession out there.

End of season

My gosh. I think the past 3 months might have been the busiest 3 months of my life as I crammed in a crazy amount of field work. I feel like nearly every post I've written from the field this time has said this, but I've gotta say it again. I've gotten SO much better at everything related to doing research in Ukenzagapia. Everything! This was my best field season yet. I've set up a management system for Sam's project that I'm involved in, and I think things will keep running without me. My field assistants got a lot more computer practice, and will be emailing photos every month of the data sheets (for 4 different projects- 2 of which are wholly mine and 2 that aren't) before they can get paid.

My last two days in Nyota were run on very little sleep, some caffeine, and a lot of adrenaline. I had to prep tons of data sheets for while I'm gone and pack & inventory all of my supplies and equipment. My housemate Cam will be in Nyota until August, leaving shortly before I return in August. This works out perfectly for me and so I left nearly everything at the house in Nyota this time, and some clothes at my American friend's house in the city. As a result, I'm going home with 1 bag nearly empty and the only reason it isn't empty is because I'm bringing home stuff for Cam.

Unfortunately, my last night in the country was marred by robbery. I was walking back from the grocery store with Cam in the wealthy mostly expat neighborhood where my friend lives when a car suddenly pulled up very close and slowed down just enough to grab my bag through the window. Stupidly, I didn't let go because I didn't want the bastards to take my bag on principle, and so I got pulled to the ground when they sped away and dragged a short distance before the bag strap broke. I had my phone in my pocket and Cam carried the money in his, so the only thing they got was less than $30 worth of groceries. I hope they were sorely disappointed by their takings. The neighborhood is generally safe, but there are a few things I should have done differently. First of all, I should not have used a reusable grocery bag to carry my groceries. It was a cloth bag that obviously looked like a purse. Secondly, Cam probably should have carried the bag instead of me. He is much larger, though it might not have made a difference. Thirdly, I should not have been carrying the bag on my streetside shoulder. It made it so easy for them to grab. It happened so fast that I didn't even have time to shout and the only thing I thought was, "Don't take my bag you #@$%ers!" Neither Cam nor I got so much as a glimpse of the license plate. I got some nice road rash on my arm and my hip, which put a hole in my pants and my underwear. I was shaken up my it and I'm kind of sore, but all things considered it wasn't a huge deal. They didn't take much of value and I didn't get that hurt.

This departure from Ukenzagapia was more emotional than the others. I'm also probably more exhausted than I've ever been. I'm really becoming attached to Nyota, and now that the end is in sight with just one more trip, I'm thinking about what it means to wrap this up. I'm overflowing with gratitude for the people who have helped me tremendously, like my American friend and my taxi driver Violet. Furthermore, this is the longest that Jon and I have gone without seeing each other since 2004 and I'm so excited to see him again. Yesterday was our second anniversary and in those two years, we have spent 10 months apart. That's far too long. Thankfully, I have an incredibly patient and supportive husband.

I'm halfway home on my layover in Europe. I thought I'd be able to go to the first aid station and get some antibiotic ointment and new medical tape to bandage my wounds, but it turns out they won't help you until your fork over at least $40 for a consultation, so I just washed up in a handicapped restroom and will make do until I get home. Home. Home. HOME! I'm going home.