Do you like it spicy?

They say that variety is the spice of life and this summer (Australian summer) I’m testing that idea.

For all of my previous research I’ve focused on one species at a time. Trying to catch all of the adults, find all of their nests, measure as many as possible, and generally become totally obsessed with one single species. 

Top: Superb-fairy wren. Bottom: Friarbird

This has some big advantages. You  become very cued into all of their little noises, what their nests look like, how they act when building or feeding nestlings, and the other little nuances that you need to get the job done. This knowledge provides the edge you need to get a large enough sample size, a tricky thing when working with free-living birds.

 

  As a result, I am very, very tuned in to two species, the dark-eyed junco and the superb fairy-wren. For both, I know all their little noises, I know their behaviors, I know where they like to nest and have a well-developed search image for their little hidden nests. 

Top: Varied Sittela, Bottom: Leaden Flycatcher

But now the game has changed. This year, in addition to focusing on female fairy-wren aggression and song, I'm also comparing nestlings color and begging calls. As a result, I need to find nests for a bunch of different species I've never worked with before. Most of them I recognize if I see them, some are new, and I am an expert on exactly none of them. This project is riding on me becoming a bit of an expert for a whole list of species, and fast.

Top: White-throated Gerygone, Bottom: Grey fantail

My days are now split between wrens and just about every other bird species living on the study-site (exceptions are parrots, ducks, birds of prey, etc). The result? Lots of fun and exhaustion. I am very much enjoying learning new birds and the challenge of finding their nests, which they try to hide. This also means that the work is never finished. I might find every fairy-wren nest in the area, but that doesn't mean I 'm done, just time to change gears. There is always more to find.  So, here's a little sample of my day to day.

Hurry-up and wait

In the life of a biologist it seems that the days are made up of bursts of hectic activity punctuated by long tedious bouts of waiting: waiting for the animal to show up, waiting for the assay to incubate, waiting for a decision from the granting agency, waiting for a decision from the journal editor. So much waiting, you feel like your brain is rusting.

This can be especially true in the field, where you can spend several hours or days waiting, and then suddenly, within minutes, it's over. In reference to this pattern of events, a colleague of mine once said

"Fieldwork is 80% boredom, 20% sheer terror".

This problem doesn't go away after you've finished the fieldwork, it can also be an issue when you are working on the analysis and writing. There are times when you are really jazzed about a project and don't need any help focusing, just get the heck out of the way and let me work. But, sometimes you find yourself in one of these waiting periods and it can be hard to do anything more than twiddle your thumbs. This doesn't mean there is nothing to do, more likely, there are a thousand things to do, but you are not immediately jazzed about any of them.

Before returning to academia I was not a to-do list kind of person. But lately I have been a list fanatic. Mostly, I use these lists when I'm in one of these waiting periods and don't have a lot of motivation. I've gotten into the habitat of keeping a running list of the many little things that need to be done. Makes me a little bit rust resistant.

Rock-stars

Joan Jett

What do rock stars and scientists have in common?
It sounds like the set-up for a bad pun, but in reality we actually have quite a bit in common.
Because my partner is a rock-star (kind of) I am exposed to the music world more than most biologists, and it has granted me some insight into the surprising similarities.

• Creativity: Both scientists and rock-stars are constantly trying to innovate, and find a way to do something new and exciting. The end results are very different, but for both fields you can choose to do what everyone else is doing, or forge a new path. Doing what everyone else does might work in the short-term, but no-one will remember the copy-cats in a few years. Instead we remember the artists/scientist that give us a new perspective. 
• Rejection: Talk to any musician or scientist and ask them about rejection. Both will have plenty to say on the subject. Both worlds require a tough skin and a willingness to get back up after being knocked down, again and again. And not only are you being rejected, it is for something you created, something you slaved over, something you are proud of. Sometimes I wonder about the level of masochism in both fields, because despite the low rates of success, we just keep trying.
• Skill: Sure there is the occasional talentless hack that makes it big in music, but for the most part being a successful musician requires serious commitment and the development of skill. The same goes for scientists. There are a few lucky idiots out there, but most of us work really, really, hard at what we do. 
• Glamorous lifestyles: Forbes recently produced a list of the least stressful jobs and made the mistake of listing University Professor as the #1 least stressful career. This attracted a tidal wave of backlash from people actually doing the job, and a rebuttal by another Forbes author. While amusing, and way off base, I think the articles tone reflects the general public's opinion of what it is academics actually do, what our day to day lives are actually like. The same can be said for musicians, most of who have to maintain day jobs to support their art. Going on tour sounds exotic and exciting, but the reality is hours on the road, long days, late nights and lots of time away from friends and family. Even the superstar rockers are often exhausted, beaten to pulp by the brutal schedule, constant demands, and the need to perform or face disgruntled fans that feel like you owe them.
• Passion: So why put up with all this, the rejection, the difficult work, the demanding lifestyle? It all comes down to passion. We're willing to fail and fail and fail, and to work for hours on end because the other options are so much less appealing. There are hundreds of other things I could do for a living that do not require me to cope with rejection on such a regular basis, or would allow me to earn a much bigger paycheck for fewer hours and easier work, but you won't see me heading that direction unless I run out of other options.

Bottom line, because we are pursuing our passions, we have the coolest jobs in the world.

Unconventional teaching tools

Down here in the southern hemisphere classes are starting up again after the summer/holiday break. In my current role as a postdoctoral fellow I'm not doing any formal teaching, and I find that I'm missing it. It's not writing lectures and grading tests that I miss, but the interaction with students. I like the challenge of trying to find a new way to explain an old topic.

Along these lines I recently came across an article discussing effective teaching methods. The author focus on a new style called "peer instruction" that encourages students to learn from one and another, rather than listen to a professor lecture for the full time.

I'm pleased to see methods like these gaining more attention. I have used this particular method in my classes and found it very effective. The students that already understand the concept get a deeper understanding by having to teach it themselves. The students having problems grasping a tough topic often learn better from someone who just figured it out themselves. This method is particularly fun when teaching field courses.

The physicists have done a lot of great work to understand more effective ways of teaching complicated scientific concepts. I'm looking forward to it being a bigger parts of other subjects as well.