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Category Archives: Academia
Ten years later: the Lionepha paper is out
In September of 2009, I arrived in Oregon, excited to begin my new position at Oregon State University. I was also excited to live near Marys Peak, as the top of Marys Peak was the locality of capture of the … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Fieldwork, Revising Bembidiina, Taxonomic Process
Tagged Lionepha, revisions
1 Comment
Discovering Insect Species: state of the art in Trepanedoris
As mentioned in my previous post, I outlined the state of the art in Trepanedoris research to the students in my Discovering Insect Species course. Here’s the story I told them. (As the class will be focusing on Trepanedoris in … Continue reading
Discovering Insect Species: hands-on with Trepanedoris
I’m a bit behind in posts about the Discovering Insect Species course, because so much has happened so quickly. Last week we examined our catch from the local field trip and learned how to prepare specimens, and we learned the state of … Continue reading
Sharing the joy of discovery
Nine undergraduate students, my graduate student John Sproul, and me. Over the next ten weeks we will go into the field, find beetles, look at them under the microscope, do dissections, photograph them, make predictions about species boundaries, extract their DNA, PCR … Continue reading
The legacy of a taxonomist
I have recently been looking through the notes of Kenneth W. Cooper, a renaissance entomologist who wore many hats, one of which was as someone passionate about the same beetles I love, the genus Bembidion. Kenneth and I began corresponding … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Taxonomic Process
Tagged discovery, quantum publication, science, taxonomy
6 Comments
Time is the coin of your life
In my wallet I have a fortune from a fortune cookie which I opened long ago (I don’t remember where or when). It says: Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only … Continue reading
The excitement of discovering patterns in nature
When a pattern in nature emerges, suddenly revealed through new data, I get a high unlike any other. It is this aspect of systematic and taxonomic work that I like the best, which keeps me enthralled, and which I crave … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Musings, Revising Bembidiina, Taxonomic Process
Tagged patterns, scientific process
1 Comment
Academic Beans: Citing Software
Scientific software is worthy of being cited on its own, without reference to a paper in which the software is described, and citations of the software should be tracked in the same way one would for a standard journal article. … Continue reading
Posted in Academia
2 Comments
Academic Beans: the strange world where 1 can equal 5
One of the interesting aspects of scientists in academia is that they love to quantify things wherever possible. In some circumstances, this is a very good idea, as it can lead to greater precision and rigor. But the increased rigor … Continue reading
David Maddison
The Subulate Palpomere 