One of the greatest joys of being a researcher and teacher is getting to do research projects with students. They bring so much energy and enthusiasm to the lab, and when I get bogged down in R code, they help remind my why I do all of this. Sharmila is a high school student who has been working with me for the last two semesters. She speaks better for herself than I ever could for her, so here is a video of her discussing her climate activism and how it motivates her research at the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research! Sharmila has been such an amazing colleague, so I want to brag a little bit more about the work she is doing. In her first semester working with me, Sharmila helped analyze tree core data for a project led by Dr. Kelly Heilman, another post doc in the lab (check out more videos about the project, featuring Kelly and PI Dr. Margaret Evans). This semester, Sharmila, started her own project to test for intraspecies variation in the response of common pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) to climate. She is taking the lead on the project, with me as her (trusty?) sidekick, so she is handling the literature review, data management, and analysis. Look forward to seeing the output from this project! The results should be cool and important, and Sharmila is a fantastic writer.
Sadly for me, but good for the world, Sharmila will moving on to college in the fall, after a wildly successful round of college applications. She is currently planning to pursue a degree in environmental science, geosciences, or ecology, and she hopes to go on to grad school. If you ever encounter her in the future, know that she is someone you want to work with! Sharmila, congrats on all your successes so far, and thank you for all your work! It's been so much fun for me, and I look forward to seeing everything you accomplish!
0 Comments
I categorize myself as a listener and ponderer more than a talker or a writer, so I never saw myself starting a blog. There was one failed attempt to keep a travel blog during my study abroad experience in South Africa, but I was invariably more interested in trapping dung beetles and stalking lions than I was in writing about it. However, I have come to see the appeal of having an archive for my musings, whether or not anyone else reads them, and perhaps I will sleep better at night if I translate those musings into something more organized and tangible. Anyway, a blog came as part of this Weebly theme, so why fight it? So, whether you are here by accident or searching for something specific, welcome to my blog. Here are some of the topics I hope to cover: Research: We learn a wide variety of lessons as we work through our research processes, and much of that cannot be conveyed in the publish. I plan to use this blog for exploring some of the lessons, both conceptual and methodological, I learn from my own research, as well as to post informal descriptions of the research I publish. Teaching: As I get started with my post-doctoral career, I am looking forward to incorporating my knowledge about the principles of effective teaching into my own course design. I know I have a lot to learn, and there is more research coming out every day. I hope to post on some of the latest news in education research (maybe my own someday!) and assignments I create for classes to get feedback and hopefully spark ideas for others. Natural history: When conducting research, it's easy to get bogged down in technical details and dense theories and forget about the natural wonder that motivates so many of us to study ecology. Here I will post natural history tidbits that I pick up in my explorations, as a reminder of all the little things that make ecology so enchanting. Travel: I became an ecologist in part because it gave me the excuse (and sometimes the money) to travel and experience new places. I like to travel as much as a can for work and for fun, so look here for updates on my adventures both in the United States and abroad! |
Author
Enthusiast of mathematical models and grand outdoor adventures. Archives
Categories
|