Costs and benefits of attending conferences as a student
Recently I attended the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of Canada, which this year was held jointly with the
The sabbatical isn’t what it used to be
Before I was a professor, I had heard of sabbaticals. That’s when a professor spends a year away from
Recommended reads #64
If you haven’t been watching the news lately, you might not have noticed that the United States is in
Prescriptive reviews are a scourge
How do you spot an academic? Listen for gripes about manuscript reviews.
We all get bad reviews. I’m not
Why I avoid lecturing
Academic freedom is glorious. Despite pronouncements to the contrary, university faculty — including most contingent faculty — enjoy tremendous freedom in what
Choosing between “head of lab” and “independent scholar” models
When people ask how I run my lab group, I don’t know how to respond. It boggles me because
Recommended reads #63
The New York Times published a stunning piece about what is happening to the Greenland ice sheet. It’s an
Respecting the time and needs of adjuncts
Almost every university in the US has succumbed to financial pressures and employs a relatively high proportion of adjunct instructors.
The dangers of twitter
When I first joined twitter, I was nervous I might mess up somehow. I wanted to use my professional identity
Ant science: Thieving ants know how to be sneaky
Ectatomma ruidum. Image by Alex Wild
The most recent paper from my lab is a fun one. We show that
