My secret vice is reading Clive Cussler adventure paperbacks. I enjoy the way that they weave science, travel, and history together with ludicrous James Bond style heroes and villains. I recently came across the statistic in a Cussler novel, which is very probably rooted in research, that only about 10% of the information in the world's libraries has been digitized, and […]
Social Media
My 6 favourite #SciComm tweets since I got back on the grid
#WinterTerm2016 is a wrap: some of what went down
It's Friday of Week 13, and next Monday is the last day of classes, before final exams begin, next Wednesday. York University's Winter Term 2016 began earlier than any other Ontario university, so, we finish early, too. Here are some Plant Ecology students today, weary, yet still smiling (ok, I asked them to smile), from left […]
@YorkuScientists project wants you!
Project Page -- Check Availability of Dates -- Sign Up Form Many STEM researchers and teachers have found found Twitter to be an efficient and effective way of communicating about their work with each other, and a broader audience. In addition to individuals tweeting, the institutional account is also a thing. But, as many institutions discover, creating and […]
#ProfChat: Male undergrads think that the smartest Biology student in the class is unlikely to be female
One of the reasons for the renewed interest in addressing systemic barriers to women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is a plethora of recent social sciences peer-reviewed research into implicit or unconscious bias, stereotype threat, and the Dunning Kruger Effect. I think that Ben Schmidt has created the most compelling data visualization tool for illustrating […]
Why academics should regularly attend conferences where we don't present our work. Pt 1
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics), one always presents new research at every conference one attends. (Or at the very least, one must be a co-author on a talk or poster). Growing up as an ecological researcher, I've observed that there are two main reason for this ALWAYS […]
The sky high Opportunity Cost of dealing with #HigherEd administration
The reason I am late by a week with this post, is that I spent a ton of time last week: 1. With inspiring high school students and great colleagues (at right). For the 2nd year, I judged the Toronto Envirothon at the Ontario Science Centre. 2. With inspiring university students: I edited the publishable research of my […]
Jim Woodgett discusses the Challenges of Science Communication
Yesterday, Monday 2 March, Dr. Jim Woodgett, research director of Mount Sinai's Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, spoke about the issues and challenges faced by scientists, when it comes to doing effective communication of science in the public understanding of science realm. If you’re a Canadian scientist on Twitter you will know him as @JWoodgett, and may […]
Keeping on the bright side: High & Low points of my 2014 #HigherEd year in numbers
An Academic New Year's Resolution list: For 2015, 101 Big And Small Ways To Make A Difference In Academia http://t.co/DCBuVYWyLo — Conditional Accept (@conditionaccept) January 7, 2015 In my experience, what I do remains a mystery to most people both within and outside of Higher Education. When they were young, my daughters told me that […]
Confronting Structural Sexism in #STEM: Pt 2
Because everyone who writes science blogs has written about this in the last few weeks, I'm joining the pack to give my 2 cents worth about the online attacks against those women in STEM who commented on the shirt worn by Dr. Matt Taylor of the ESA Rosetta Mission, while he was explaining the Philae probe's landing […]
