Today’s diversity biology lab was AWESOME! I knew it would be fun – we looked at Echinoderms, which are just super cool, and we had a bunch of live starfish and sea urchins for them to examine under the scopes. So, that part was expectedly great – we fed the Read more
It’s my turn to teach a lesson next week for the stats class I’m taking this semester (everyone has to do one; my topic is analyzing spatial data). This class was supposed to focus on SAS, but so far we’ve done almost nothing in SAS (which is fine with me Read more
When I arrived in class today to proctor an exam for my Evolution students, I found this on the whiteboard: It legit made me so happy. Also, I told them I would be happy to give them all extra points on their exams … except I wasn’t the one who Read more
Another nice thing happened at school today when I ran into one of my former students. When he was in my class, he’d asked me to write a letter of recommendation for him, to accompany his application for a reasonably prestigious scholarship. I was more than happy to do so; he Read more
So, sometimes I realize that I just really enjoy teaching. Today was one of those days. It was an easy lab, from the teaching standpoint. They worked in small groups to discuss questions from readings about influenza and prion diseases; mostly, all I had to do was wander around and Read more
Few things feel better than a hot shower after three days in the field. It was a good three days, though. Found a total of eight turtles, and the most adorable baby king snake ever. I have never seen a king snake this small before; it was SO TINY AND SO PRECIOUS and really chill about being handled. So beautiful. I’m going to keep checking this location every time I go by; hopefully I’ll be able to see this precious baby again. Photos taken in Lake County, California.
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My presentation at today’s Graduate Showcase went really well! I’m posting the slides here, in case anyone is interested. It only hits on two of my research questions, and all the stats were removed, as this was geared toward a non-scientific audience. Still, it should give an idea about the focus of my research.
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I had such a good time teaching lab today. It was our “forensics” lab, where we talk about DNA fingerprinting techniques. (Specifically restriction fragment analysis and PCR). We do two activities – a “paternity test,” where students analyze a “gel” with the mother, child, and four possible fathers, to determine which Read more
