As it is a rainy and cold February day in Oregon, I decided to write this post to highlight the awesome and bright work that Katie and Danielle (and Colleen too) are doing this term. As you might remember, Katie and Danielle started working last spring on our beloved "dead bird project" - now renamed the "bird specimen project" (which hopefully sounds a little kinder). When Colleen and I started this project, we had a very simple plan. 1. Collect bird specimens that people have hanging out in their freezers 2. Run Hg on their feathers 3. Compare feather tracts to see which feather is the best to use for future Hg assessments.
From that simple start, this project has become an exercise in confusion and uncertainty (so pretty much real science). The more we read, the more we think about new angles. The more we analyze, the more we feel like we have no idea what we are doing. But through all of that Katie and Danielle have persevered. They have made countless graphs. We have read and talked about so many papers. And I'm so proud of everything that they have figured out and worked through. I remember back to being an undergrad and I think I thought of science as a much more direct process than I think of it now (see this great TED Talk about "the cloud"). Katie and Danielle are getting first hand experience with being stuck in the cloud!
This term, Katie, Danielle and Colleen presented a joint oral presentation at the Willamette Valley Bird Symposium. This symposium is supported in part by the American Ornithologists' Union and showcases bird research for the public. It was a packed room (over 100 attendees) and all three were articulate and clear (despite any nerves that they might have been having). Katie and Danielle just presented their own posters at the Fisheries and Wildlife Research Advances in Fish, Wildlife, and Ecology (RAWFE) Conference last Friday. Each time I have been impressed by the effort they put into clearly communicating their science. They have taken this very confusing project and made it accessible to everyone. Great job ladies and I look forward to what we will find this spring!
From that simple start, this project has become an exercise in confusion and uncertainty (so pretty much real science). The more we read, the more we think about new angles. The more we analyze, the more we feel like we have no idea what we are doing. But through all of that Katie and Danielle have persevered. They have made countless graphs. We have read and talked about so many papers. And I'm so proud of everything that they have figured out and worked through. I remember back to being an undergrad and I think I thought of science as a much more direct process than I think of it now (see this great TED Talk about "the cloud"). Katie and Danielle are getting first hand experience with being stuck in the cloud!
This term, Katie, Danielle and Colleen presented a joint oral presentation at the Willamette Valley Bird Symposium. This symposium is supported in part by the American Ornithologists' Union and showcases bird research for the public. It was a packed room (over 100 attendees) and all three were articulate and clear (despite any nerves that they might have been having). Katie and Danielle just presented their own posters at the Fisheries and Wildlife Research Advances in Fish, Wildlife, and Ecology (RAWFE) Conference last Friday. Each time I have been impressed by the effort they put into clearly communicating their science. They have taken this very confusing project and made it accessible to everyone. Great job ladies and I look forward to what we will find this spring!