tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32910364647038152202024-03-18T02:47:40.043-07:00Mary Anning's RevengeMary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-68255723905159609012024-01-12T08:00:00.000-08:002024-01-12T08:00:00.144-08:00Weird & Dead - the Mary Anning's Revenge Podcast<p> Hi! Did you miss us? We've been working on something special...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoecQ6HgmjgUsWit_r-F7xkU5k3lXbVrQ6QSRR6u77Cd7teURVJIwrr0G7D6zmW9tZtGfqlB5HqZQvTbQs9fWyAZxjlJC3akT-P0E9qpwC-G-oHyjijcr7nd7SSjEUlUgq5_F4DZP_eKW1qd_PjUcCvvpJmX64WtgmIOueZ9B7-7sT6OwFrXnjh-I4RHI/s6250/WD%20Podcast%20Icons%20Final%20Edits%202023_Icon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6250" data-original-width="6250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoecQ6HgmjgUsWit_r-F7xkU5k3lXbVrQ6QSRR6u77Cd7teURVJIwrr0G7D6zmW9tZtGfqlB5HqZQvTbQs9fWyAZxjlJC3akT-P0E9qpwC-G-oHyjijcr7nd7SSjEUlUgq5_F4DZP_eKW1qd_PjUcCvvpJmX64WtgmIOueZ9B7-7sT6OwFrXnjh-I4RHI/s320/WD%20Podcast%20Icons%20Final%20Edits%202023_Icon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>That's right! We're both white people in our thirties now so it's time to engage in the sacred rites of our people and start a podcast. Of course ours is about fossils, specifically focusing on the most embarrassing and bizarre stories that evolution has to offer.... which is a lot! From fish fossilized up dinosaur butts to the secret drama behind naming new species, we're spilling all the hottest tea from prehistory!</p><p>The first season debuts January 24th but if you want early access you can find the first episode and tons of bonus content RIGHT NOW <a href="https://www.patreon.com/WeirdandDeadPodcast">on our Patreon</a>. We're talking mini-episodes, pieces we couldn't fit, and the uncut and uncensored versions of episodes too. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>We've got 10 episodes filmed, and if you love Monkey Blue Balls (still one of the most popular search terms to get to this site) you're going to love these.</p><p>On January 24th you'll find our episodes on:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.patreon.com/WeirdandDeadPodcast">Patreon</a>, of course</li><li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3rod7TeTMse0ng70M9Upi6?si=fb5b0b3a04814ae1">Spotify</a></li><li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geology-podcast-network/" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a></li><li>We will also probably be posting on YouTube at some point so we can do captioning (we're working on that part still)</li></ul><div>Big thanks to the folks at the Geology Podcasting Network for helping us edit and put together these episodes. Can't wait for you all to hear 'em!</div><div><br /></div><div>XOXO</div><div>Meaghan & Amy</div><p></p><p><br /><br /></p>Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-39172326671817151022022-10-07T21:35:00.000-07:002022-10-07T21:35:06.764-07:00Unconformity: A MAR Movie Review<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-7HhKZxrIzb8z1ioO-Jl6QaUhBNzK8DpgXBA0Oi9QXMw_bhzhPqLGfWR9w6eXJ5haCLNnglmCR13U9-K5cis6zd66U4xok1knMtgGcUEpBh0RvExeiGwuUtHvD-hSgN2y4--n8hgq6Iej5qAa8ZCxH98zrrCtluBHVKSYsaHJclDdICvinoz33SX/s1616/driving.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="835" data-original-width="1616" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-7HhKZxrIzb8z1ioO-Jl6QaUhBNzK8DpgXBA0Oi9QXMw_bhzhPqLGfWR9w6eXJ5haCLNnglmCR13U9-K5cis6zd66U4xok1knMtgGcUEpBh0RvExeiGwuUtHvD-hSgN2y4--n8hgq6Iej5qAa8ZCxH98zrrCtluBHVKSYsaHJclDdICvinoz33SX/w400-h206/driving.PNG" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have you seen the movie <i>Unconformity</i>? It’s a great Indie film about a geology graduate student doing fieldwork in Nevada and finding herself along the way. We were asked to watch it recently and let us tell you, it’s accurate enough that watching it felt like a fever dream watching our own lives. She finds amazing fossils, she climbs, she gives herself food poisoning in the Nevada desert – and yes, both Amy & Meaghan have done all three and have been to the location where this was filmed. The film is out now on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0B3C2J5GW/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://tubitv.com/movies/678035/unconformity" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> Tubi</a> in select countries and will be available worldwide on YouTube on November 15th. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioLjRhsgQR8TlQuXuY2Cd1n3pdcm8AqJ3qF6gskKqrHxCEhkM3Z253Ysv2z25sDcVm-zMpgLEG5BhZ1JfpjqTb_PZJRUbQwcuRrzymF5SYDqbNY1Muz40SYAAN2Def-1ahf3-8ZwOSw-l7U8oOGWnDbJWxphQ1VP5DjjmRib8j6ujdeLa7ZQOT2zTN/s1686/the%20precious2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="892" data-original-width="1686" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioLjRhsgQR8TlQuXuY2Cd1n3pdcm8AqJ3qF6gskKqrHxCEhkM3Z253Ysv2z25sDcVm-zMpgLEG5BhZ1JfpjqTb_PZJRUbQwcuRrzymF5SYDqbNY1Muz40SYAAN2Def-1ahf3-8ZwOSw-l7U8oOGWnDbJWxphQ1VP5DjjmRib8j6ujdeLa7ZQOT2zTN/s320/the%20precious2.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>We too have spent hours up at night cuddling the precious by headlamps… (note, she finds something way cooler than the ring of power in this movie)</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> Not only is the film a great and beautiful depiction of some of the realities of geology and paleontology, it also hits on some really important topics that plague Academia including sexism, career advancement, and power control issues. To this effect Unconformity also comes along with a guide on how to use the movie to facilitate conversations about these problems, which is available for any university or club to use. We were really excited about this aspect and the movie in general so we sat down with the director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5284628/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0" style="text-decoration: none;"> Jonathan DiMaio</a> to discuss the movie and its impact a little further.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"> </p><a name='more'></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Meaghan: Where exactly was this filmed? We see some really amazing bouldering and climbing shots in particular that are especially beautiful.</span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b> Jonathan:</b> All of the geology scenes were filmed near Beatty Nevada, about two hours northwest of Las Vegas, near the entrance to Death Valley. But the climbing we actually shot in Utah. The footage from the two locations was inter-spliced — we spent a lot of time trying to find a rock wall near Las Vegas where we could bring a film crew and equipment. There is plenty of rock climbing near Las Vegas but a lot of it was like… you have to hike in for an hour which is not really an option with a film crew, or the permits were impossible to get. In the end it all looks the same except to climbers who know Utah’s West Desert. When it’s cut together it works seamlessly.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Meaghan:</b> So in this movie we see a really interesting contrast between how different people use public land, especially between geologists and landowners. When you started creating this movie, what made you choose that particular relationship to highlight?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan:</b> I went out to the desert for the first time with geologists in 2013. I was a field camp manager for a friend of mine who is now a professor at Caltech, Claire Bucholz, but then she was leading a class of undergrads from MIT while completing her dissertation. I knew very little about the desert, geology, land rights issues, but I became interested because of my experience. Also, right after I left, Cliven Bundy and his family took over a highway in southern Nevada, so that sparked my interest in understanding the complexities of land use in the desert. While I was out there I ran across some characters in the desert—nothing like the Bundys who are of course violent right wing extremists—but I became interested in learning more about ranching culture. So I started doing research and getting in touch with ranchers.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ranchers are pretty diverse in their beliefs, and the vast majority of them do not have these extreme Bundy-style anti-government beliefs even if many of them are on a different side of the political spectrum than I might be. But smaller ranches in Nevada and the West are struggling. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Over the last 30 years, ranching in southern Nevada has almost disappeared. That's for a number of reasons, including climate change, and I found I wanted to show how and why these ranches were disappearing. Some of it is related to economics - the ranchers in the movie may be blaming the government, but often larger corporations are buying up property. There’s also a historic drought, and it's difficult to run cattle on open range when there’s not much water. Land use is also limited when certain species are endangered, and yes, there are regulations to make sure land isn’t being abused. I also met a number of ranchers who had gotten to know geologists because they encountered each other out there on the range. So I thought it would be interesting to juxtapose the complexities of ranching and how a certain type of ranching is disappearing with the geology story. There seemed to be some potentially interesting interweaving themes and storylines.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Meaghan: Speaking of - were the cows paid actors?</span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan:</b> Definitely not! They received payment in kind… in… um, whatever they eat, grass.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Meaghan:</b> (laughing) Made a whole movie about ranching, still doesn’t know what cows eat!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Amy:</b> (laughing like a hyena in the background because she obviously finds Meaghan hilarious and definitely isn't laughing because she knows Meaghan is obsessed with cows)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan:</b> (laughs) Well when you work with animals on a film you expect that they will do anything and everything except for what you want them to do. So you need to plan for a lot of filming time for the cows to do their part, because they will do whatever they want.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> Except there were no issues with the cows, which never never happens on a movie set with animals! They just did exactly what we wanted them to do – they even looked at the well! We had this mediocre fake well and they just looked at it like they were thirsty! And they were mooing and it was a great performance.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHEOOItCB5H6Q-HHe8A3rvJQPOwo8xlt52n0NguUcbK4BrQ44zuJQX273D048T8fmdlWn0jTFqAqOSjl4_KJLdtPm1IFcUXCdRieQltTTvUT1HusbxrWKQeXT62ONtk03sNdBDcSobiUufdE_a61x-KDS-pL7zOGV8HCCK_2Z64DjRAjxwGsZTPmT/s1667/Hollywood%20Cows.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="991" data-original-width="1667" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHEOOItCB5H6Q-HHe8A3rvJQPOwo8xlt52n0NguUcbK4BrQ44zuJQX273D048T8fmdlWn0jTFqAqOSjl4_KJLdtPm1IFcUXCdRieQltTTvUT1HusbxrWKQeXT62ONtk03sNdBDcSobiUufdE_a61x-KDS-pL7zOGV8HCCK_2Z64DjRAjxwGsZTPmT/w400-h238/Hollywood%20Cows.PNG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i> Just some regular no-nonsense cows actually doing what they are supposed to do, when they are supposed to do it. Not unusual at all.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Meaghan: </b>10 out of 10 cow performance! Were these Hollywood cows, did you have to fly them out?</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b> Jonathan:</b> Hah, no. I knew we were going to have to find a rancher that would let us film on their property because we didn’t have the budget to hire a ranch for a week. I found this rancher, David Spicer, a very generous man, who let us film on his property. He’s also built bike paths for <a href="https://travelnevada.com/outdoor-recreation/spicer-ranch/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">off road cycling</a> all over his land, and folks from across the West come to his property to bike. On top of that he’s converted the springs on his property into ponds to make them mating grounds for <a href="https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2017/stewardship-with-vision/episode-5-david-spicer/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a toad that’s at risk of being endangered</a>. An interesting place.<br /> <br />He’s near Beatty, Nevada, and at the same time I’d been introduced to Emmy Smith at Johns Hopkins University who had found Ediacaran fossils in the same area. It was a great coincidence that it seemed like we should take advantage of!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Meaghan: </b>oh yes – the Ediacaran fossils that are out there in Nevada are some of my favorites – you know what they are?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan: </b>(becomes nervous this is a test and not a setup for a dumb joke)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Amy:</b> (groans) No, Meaghan is – she’s setting you up for a punchline –</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Meaghan:</b> (with the enthusiasm of a toddler) They’re penis worms!!! <i>Treptichnus</i>, a trace fossil made up by penis worms, the first ecosystem engineers –</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan:</b> Were they the first hardbodied organisms?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Meaghan: </b>No they – OH! Yes. Oh no I got so excited about penis worms I almost missed your excellent hard body joke. Anyhow… lots of penis worms, very funny.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan:</b> We actually chose to use fossils like <i>Dickinsonia</i> and <i>Spriggina</i> that haven’t been found in the Southwest because we wanted the discovery in the movie to feel like a significant finding. So we intentionally put fossils out there that have not been found there!</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Amy: </b>That makes sense! An absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence too, they could still be out there and we just haven’t found ‘em.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIzEbI7vZydffIRMBSu0F-ICWf08aDQ4hmofyqlfPnROdJDuIYuWUsgUt_9Glbq_ByNJ1WGZZz3U0vyGDhTz59FXIE3ojv60jb86ysLZ5tzF6JVlni640kIZsB80wYJMXkmjxGGJiiO3VXzDIMFoj43sNO9GiBEWOFDJWGdpsF7PhUs6pXfUr_C1oB/s1104/lick%20rock.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="1104" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIzEbI7vZydffIRMBSu0F-ICWf08aDQ4hmofyqlfPnROdJDuIYuWUsgUt_9Glbq_ByNJ1WGZZz3U0vyGDhTz59FXIE3ojv60jb86ysLZ5tzF6JVlni640kIZsB80wYJMXkmjxGGJiiO3VXzDIMFoj43sNO9GiBEWOFDJWGdpsF7PhUs6pXfUr_C1oB/w400-h335/lick%20rock.PNG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Or tasted them...</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Amy: This might be some of the most realistic depictions of academia we’ve seen in a movie before – you really nailed both the infighting and the reasons for it, not to give too much away. What made you decide to make a film about this, and how did you do it so well?</span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan: </b>The viewpoint into that world . . . Well I am the son of scientists. My dad is a virologist and my mom is a geneticist. So I grew up in an environment where I got to see behind that curtain, see that academia can at times be petty. There’s gossip, there’s competition, and whenever you get into an ecosystem like this, especially one where something like tenure is being dangled in front of people, folks can behave poorly. So I knew about that world and it was relatively easy to show.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As far as the relationship between Alex and her advisor… I had a mentor, a pretty well-known filmmaker, that took advantage of me in a similar way a number of years ago. I didn’t really want to make a movie about that because it's not that interesting and -</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Amy:</b> It’s too close.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan:</b> Yeah, it’s too close. And I have plenty of friends who are in academia who have terrible stories. I had a friend who was applying for a position and somehow someone also applying for the position gained access to the submission process and actually changed her résumé. In college I saw a very-well respected academic tell a student that his idea was too “outside the box” for an essay in a class, but that he liked the idea so much he was going to use it in his next book. People will always fight for credit and prestige, no matter the field. It’s not limited to science or academia—it certainly happens in film all the time—but I wanted to show that side of academia.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Meaghan: </b>This film touches on some really pervasive problems in academia and field research, without making them the center of the movie which we really appreciate. And to that end, there is a diversity and equity initiative that actually goes along with the film. Can you tell us a little bit more about this initiative – how it started, how people can get involved, what the goal is?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan: </b>I showed an early cut of the film to a number of geologists and other academics for feedback, and I was put in touch with Chris Spencer, a professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada, because I was looking for help to film the thin sections that are part of the title sequence. Chris runs Traveling Geologist and is very interested in geology outreach and making the geosciences more inclusive (he’s also, it turns out, pretty good with a camera too!). Those early viewers along with Chris saw potential in using the film to discuss issues in the geosciences that are depicted in the movie — sexism, plagiarism, bullying, questions related to diversity. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Someone suggested that we make a guide to accompany the film, I mentioned that to Chris, and it kind of took off from there. The idea is that you watch the film as a group, then have a facilitated conversation about the movie and how its portrayal of academia relates to your school or organization. To be clear, the guide we created is not something that Chris and I wrote – we had a whole bunch of people who are really committed to DEI in the geosciences advising on the project, and we had DEI consultants help craft the guide following best practices for what are important and often delicate conversations. Also, something that’s really important to me is that conversations and dialogues about DEI are accompanied by action and funding. To that end, Traveling Geologist has created a <a href="https://www.travelinggeologist.com/scholarship/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">scholarship fund</a>, and half of the proceeds from the screenings will go to funding this scholarship, which will support students from underrepresented groups in the geosciences—people who are BIPOC, women, or from low income backgrounds. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We’ve decided to make the DEI guide available to anyone who asks for it, and after toying with some pricing models, we’ve decided to go with a “Pay what you want” model for schools and organizations. As I mentioned, half the money goes directly to the scholarship. The other half goes to the producers who invested to make the film, and then once they recoup their investment, all further money raised from these screenings will go 100% to the scholarship. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Amy:</b> How do people access this guide?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan: </b>Email <a href="mailto:info@geologymovie.com" style="text-decoration-line: none;">info@geologymovie.com</a> to get a copy!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Meaghan: </b>That sounds like a great initiative! Thank you so much for speaking with us. We really enjoyed the movie and it was great to talk more about it with you.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jonathan:</b> Thank you for having me. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ultimately, we loved this film, loved the geology, and we think you will too. If you're interested in having your University host a movie showing with the DEI guide afterwards, email info@geologymovie.com. You can check the movie out on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0B3C2J5GW/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://tubitv.com/movies/678035/unconformity" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Tubi</a> now. You should also go and rate it - the more ratings it gets the more attention it gets, and that means we'll get to see more movies like this in the future.</span></div></div>Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-35640075712904386592022-04-13T11:04:00.000-07:002022-04-13T11:04:36.815-07:00How to Get a B.S. in Paleontology<p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">There are no
Paleontology undergraduate degrees. A B.S. in Paleontology is exactly that – BS,
or bullshit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Ok, calm down, we don't
mean you can't go study paleontology as an undergraduate – it's just that
there's no easy "paleontology major."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">See, paleontology
is an incredibly broad and interdisciplinary field. We cover the study of life
from its beginnings until now, an incredible swath of time and lifeforms. We
are, as they say, a bit of a know it all!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIf-8j8KU9YjQtr6nZ4gCR5vDt8lN_gGYFwAzNoKMgcZlvB1GA1Vq3Bws3hxk5dryMxCouayx_UPgYcKUp80R52p3Rsd7tlqZKOzBtr1v33XgpyAQDqE9g6SWIr_DGseXYnLzWMAl3YyQ/s2635/MAR+no+BS+logos-01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="2635" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIf-8j8KU9YjQtr6nZ4gCR5vDt8lN_gGYFwAzNoKMgcZlvB1GA1Vq3Bws3hxk5dryMxCouayx_UPgYcKUp80R52p3Rsd7tlqZKOzBtr1v33XgpyAQDqE9g6SWIr_DGseXYnLzWMAl3YyQ/w640-h226/MAR+no+BS+logos-01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Amy studies none of these, really, but she has to know about all of them anyway</div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">We have to be know-it-alls, really - if you are digging up a dinosaur, you need to know how to find that dinosaur what type of rock to look for, you need to understand the rock well enough to know what happened to that dinosaur, you need to be able to identify the bones, you need to be able to safely excavate them and then use chemicals to preserve them, and you need to be able to do the writing and the math it requires to study and describe them. That's a lot of skills!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">With that many skills it's not surprising that paleontologists can end up in all sorts of departments as a result. Between the two of them, Meaghan and Amy have both taught in Anthropology, Biology, Geology, Science Education and Information Science - paleontology truly crosses disciplines.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">If you are starting your career in paleontology and looking at an undergraduate degree, the above sentences might be a little bit overwhelming. If there is no undergraduate paleontology degree, how can you figure out what school to go to in order to become a paleontologists? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Well you're in luck, because that's what this blog post is about – this blog post is for you, someone looking to go to an undergraduate serving university and get a degree that will help them become a paleontologist.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWzlebiSnTRw1rpVrQ6k3rw3VOIZlT-2Yo69JwZhrtH1FFRu1FR_vd9asMXVKmpuanh62BFflmdaQpFEsiRhaRiM1bD_a6vQD4IyRNtymUpLeowUIyoywBFy-DviKre1NlBgeWrD0FKos/s2636/MAR+no+BS+logos-02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="931" data-original-width="2636" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWzlebiSnTRw1rpVrQ6k3rw3VOIZlT-2Yo69JwZhrtH1FFRu1FR_vd9asMXVKmpuanh62BFflmdaQpFEsiRhaRiM1bD_a6vQD4IyRNtymUpLeowUIyoywBFy-DviKre1NlBgeWrD0FKos/w640-h226/MAR+no+BS+logos-02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b><u>Evaluating a School For Paleontology Prowess</u></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">While there may not be
any paleontology undergraduate degrees there are certainly places that have
more paleontology classes than others. So the thing to look for is </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">how many
paleontology classes does this entire school have?</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">To find that information
your first step should be, like it is in so many aspects of our lives…to <b>Google
it</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqA_Fhc0Jd8uaYxPnlOFvFYhpmka5f90XUpRrYFQ2pInHeXs8c_GxvA3hYE7iLr_5aH8WlIV-hjEA1fxSrxzxibqc2-stgWC4pK7LRCYllmRM2h9dKdikSMrEyk0lXAyxDX1CCHgjILM/s801/MAR.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="119" data-original-width="801" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqA_Fhc0Jd8uaYxPnlOFvFYhpmka5f90XUpRrYFQ2pInHeXs8c_GxvA3hYE7iLr_5aH8WlIV-hjEA1fxSrxzxibqc2-stgWC4pK7LRCYllmRM2h9dKdikSMrEyk0lXAyxDX1CCHgjILM/w640-h96/MAR.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Google the school name
and "paleontology" or "paleontologist." This will often pop
up with a professor's lab page – a website where professors describe the
research they and their students do. But not all research groups will show up, either
because the paleontologist at that school doesn't have an operational website or
because that school doesn't have an operational paleontologist! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The next step is to go
to the school's <b>Course Catalog</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1f-rUL1EJ3MV2kW13ThxXHp21HX9OvWXSIy9e7ewY0ffzR53Sh5NdzFdZDPrUQiDdBXNQ0T8uxOjP0tukeYMQRokXZuFAN1ABKAmcf6ydF3RC6y3-2FX-aCayFXCiGIU3SeTDCMwdwgo/s812/MAR2.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="812" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1f-rUL1EJ3MV2kW13ThxXHp21HX9OvWXSIy9e7ewY0ffzR53Sh5NdzFdZDPrUQiDdBXNQ0T8uxOjP0tukeYMQRokXZuFAN1ABKAmcf6ydF3RC6y3-2FX-aCayFXCiGIU3SeTDCMwdwgo/w640-h456/MAR2.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The course catalog is a
Bible that holds all of the courses that are currently taught at a university. Blessed
be the course catalog. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Some course catalogs are
searchable by content word, others need a rosetta stone and a ton of patience
to navigate. For the former, enter "paleontology." For the latter, you're
going to want to look for any course title that sounds paleontology related. We
recommend you start your search by looking at the course titles of certain
departments: geology, anthropology, and biology. These are the departments that
are most likely to have paleontology classes. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Here are a list of
possible course titles for paleontology specific courses that are actually
meant to teach you paleontology:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 0.25in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13.5pt;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">paleontology (duh)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13.5pt;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">paleobiology (paleontology but in a biology
department)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13.5pt;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">paleobotany (plants!)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13.5pt;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">paleopedology/paleosols (this is of soils, but
it counts)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13.5pt;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Ichnofossils/Ichnology (this is of trace fossils
like burrows, etc)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">If any of these classes
have the following words in front of them that just means that they are more
specialized versions of those courses: <i>Mesozoic, Marine, quantitative,
mammalian, invertebrates, vertebrate, human, Cenozoic, trace fossil, plant,
etc</i>. If you see these keywords it usually means that there is a highly
specialized paleontologist who really wants to spend a whole term blathering on
about their specialty.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Heads up:</b> classes in
college are often "cross-listed." A cross-listed class is just a
single class that more than one department is claiming credit for – a sort of
like a hyphenated last name. For example, Central Washington University has GEO
371 Paleobiology and BIOL 371 Paleobiology. That is the exact same class. You
can only take it once, it's just that you could take it for geology or biology
credit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Similarly you might see
the same course title repeated at a 400 and 500 level, i.e. 452 Paleontology and
552 Paleontology. This usually means that it is cross listed between
undergraduate and graduate students, not that it is two different classes. If
it is two different classes the last number will be different e.g. 452 Paleontology
and 553 Paleontology. Yes, this is a stupid and confusing system which is why
we are putting it here so that you know what it means.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">As a <b>second heads up</b>,
sometimes there are classes that sound like they cover paleontology, but they
do so in a way that might not be very interesting to you. They are usually
taught at a very low level and it is taught for one of two purposes: either to
try and recruit students to take that major, or as a very general overview that
is a requirement for all members of that major. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The most common one that
we have seen is something like Dinosaurs, Dinosaur Biology, Introduction to
Dinosaurs. It's almost always taught at a lower level, usually has a huge classroom
size and is often (but not always) taught by someone who is not a paleontologist. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jV3vPnGY8nVCObnNptDNkA9XauWcSZlvxKM2yGyu9zmpjnmb1PeOyFKvKVN8P1Rlmeqmp2M3xsyZqUoq8QNg3zpSuGwoA23ZZVywwVA55kSCIRQ3WFc-nm8K-Gqshqek61dLCIs4rrI/s2913/MAR+no+BS+logos-03.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="2913" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jV3vPnGY8nVCObnNptDNkA9XauWcSZlvxKM2yGyu9zmpjnmb1PeOyFKvKVN8P1Rlmeqmp2M3xsyZqUoq8QNg3zpSuGwoA23ZZVywwVA55kSCIRQ3WFc-nm8K-Gqshqek61dLCIs4rrI/w640-h238/MAR+no+BS+logos-03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Our favorite part of these virtually identical courses is how BORING they make dinosaurs sound.</i></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Another class that does
cover paleontology but is usually meant as a very generalized overview for
non-paleontologists is whatever that geology department is calling Historical Geology.
That could be Earth's Evolution, History of the Earth, Earth's History… You get
the point. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">None of these things
mean that these are a bad class to take, it just means that if you are already
very enthusiastic about dinosaurs this class is probably going to bore the shit
out of you. And since this whole blog post is specifically about getting an
education that will help you go into paleontology it is worth pointing out that
these two classes don't count because most colleges have them, whether or not
they have a paleontologist or lots of paleontology classes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><b><u>Making A Composite Paleontology Degree</u></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">So let's say that you
find a university that offers a ton of paleontology classes – that means three
or more in a single department, excluding the two we just mentioned. This
likely means that they have at least one paleontologist at the school. Because
we are interdisciplinary we can be sneaky and sometimes hard to find, so this
can be a good clue. And the reason that's important is because once you go
to the school that paleontologist can help make sure you take the courses you
need to in order to be successful post-graduation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">But having multiple
paleontology classes also usually means that this is a bigger university. That
might mean that it is not a good fit for you considering things like cost,
class sizes, location, etc. Meaghan switched schools three times in her
undergraduate degree to find the right fit for her - so when we say that the
fit of the school is important we really mean it!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The problem if you go to
a smaller school is not that you will have less exposure to paleontology, it's
that you might not have somebody who can tell you exactly what classes to take
in order to be successful. But that is also what this blog post is for! It
doesn't really matter what you major in – and if you are an over achiever you
might even choose to double or triple major in the things that interest you.
But regardless of what you major in, here are the courses we suggest you take
to make sure your paleontology education is well-rounded even if it doesn't
have the word paleontology on your degree or your transcripts,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Sedimentology/Stratigraphy</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">This covers the type of
rocks that usually have fossils in them! And while you don't have to be a great
geologist to be a paleontologist, having a good introduction to this specific
type of geology can be tremendously helpful if you want to do field
paleontology. Please note that this class often has prerequisites so you will
have to take those too!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Evolution </b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Even if you study soils
or trace fossils, evolution is a fundamental underpinning of everything that a
paleontologist studies. Try and find an upper division version of this class to
take if you can, as that will go into much greater detail than an introductory
class.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Statistics </b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Oh yes we know, math
doesn't sound fun! But statistics is a little bit different. Statistics is
important in the sense that it gives you an idea of probability and bias - how selection bias plays into fossilization
for example is a really key principle. Calculus, on the other hand, sucks and
is basically pointless for paleontologist but you will almost definitely have
to take it anyways… sorry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Osteology</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Did you know that many
fossils have bones? I bet you did and it would probably be useful for you to be
able to identify them! Osteology classes are often offered in biology or archaeology/anthropology
departments. If you can't find one specifically called that you might look at
something called comparative anatomy or Zooarchaeology. These will very frequently
cover animal anatomy and help you learn how to identify bone pieces.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Geographic Information Systems
(GIS)</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Did you know that
fossils occur in space and time and you will have to map them if you go into
the field? Mapping is a lot easier if you can use the computer software that
most paleontologists use for mapping! Taking a GIS class is very helpful
because you will always have to be doing things like recording coordinates
making maps navigating places etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Python or R coding</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Meaghan might be a
little bit biased on this one, but it is good to take a class in these just to
discover if you like it or not. If you do like it… congratulations you have
just entered the most hireable version of paleontology! If you don't like it,
that's okay – you will probably still have to use it at some point down the
line but you won't have to focus on it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Introductory Mineralogy</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Mineralogy is a weird
class that covers geology and chemistry. It will help you a lot with
identifying rocks, and it will give you a little bit of laboratory skills that
can cross apply to field paleontology and fossil preparation. We've put the
word introductory here because most of geology departments have more than one
of these classes and you really just need the basics - unless you find it
exciting and interesting in which case great, keep shining you crazy beautiful
insane mind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">That's it! With these
classes you have created a composite paleontology degree! If you get to throw
an Invertebrate Paleontology and a Paleobotany class on top of these things
that's fantastic but remember that it's not fundamental, so just because a
school doesn't offer those courses doesn't mean you won't be successful.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-22877710024959606732021-06-19T13:50:00.005-07:002021-06-19T13:50:54.653-07:00Meaghan's newest project - a paleontology clothing store!<p> Have you been wondering where Amy & Meaghan are? We are not dead, we assure you - very much alive, just busy with a thousand different projects. This post is about one big project that Meaghan's been spearheading - a paleontology clothing store called <a href="http://www.geopetalfabric.com" target="_blank">Geopetal Fabric</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4QDB2UEnFCMa38_jrmFZzkta9bknFZk_3AJXiyObsP_ZZjGNmUGGNAvDPBDNoF_mWSnF0-x8dFMlzMVm4_vyJnCKwuXLFqoTKK6zJ1lVjH9LP3zidMWFbibNnnaYE2lty9uPHrGz4G9w/s3545/Website+Slideshow-05.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="3545" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4QDB2UEnFCMa38_jrmFZzkta9bknFZk_3AJXiyObsP_ZZjGNmUGGNAvDPBDNoF_mWSnF0-x8dFMlzMVm4_vyJnCKwuXLFqoTKK6zJ1lVjH9LP3zidMWFbibNnnaYE2lty9uPHrGz4G9w/w640-h160/Website+Slideshow-05.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here are some of the cool products Meaghan has made, kindly modelled by awesome local geology friends Valerie and Amy G!</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><b>What's with the store name?</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A geopetal is a special type of fossil or geode that helps geologists figure out what direction was "up" when a rock was deposited. What typically happens is you have something like a clam or a snail die on the seafloor. They fill partially with sand and mud but because nobody is going around squishing sediment into these shells (that would be a weird job), there's often an empty space left inside the shell.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Over time, water moves through the now-hardening sediment and deposits minerals inside these shells, making them kind of like a <a href="http://gigapan.com/galleries/12178/gigapans" target="_blank">half-sand and half-geode structure</a>. When a geologist finds one of these half-geode clams, they know that the sparkly mineral side was the "up" side, while the sandy side was the "down" side. Petal in this case means "to point", but these pretty little clam geodes kind of look like petals, which is the reasoning behind Meaghan's logo. And when you have a lot of these little clam geodes, the scientific term is a "fabric" - hence the term geopetal fabric.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1TE5pIFS36j3nlEaHiltoNL7pEhke7XQa21_S9QLqqlh7hMFw0AlvFyprE-ToZjGCu2SeHNp8EihMQ18TuM2j12n82Obs4dxsAhJgIzcXiITUbqaQGr_Oq_M9Ur_-NLlVQ7PbYD6NkY/s480/Rotating-Logo-Now-Open.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1TE5pIFS36j3nlEaHiltoNL7pEhke7XQa21_S9QLqqlh7hMFw0AlvFyprE-ToZjGCu2SeHNp8EihMQ18TuM2j12n82Obs4dxsAhJgIzcXiITUbqaQGr_Oq_M9Ur_-NLlVQ7PbYD6NkY/s320/Rotating-Logo-Now-Open.gif" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sparkly wiggly clam geode logo</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><b>What type of clothing?</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Lots and lots of different types, and the list is ever-expanding, but Meaghan's store is focusing on subtler science prints. For example, this adorable print looks like an interesting polka dot design to most people, but it's actually featuring conodont teeth - ancient microscopic eel-like creatures. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvXgja44xPkZ7fWD1VfPIzW59V3DoH-lBj2_DPklW9M0ZyuSb6HrSJ-uD2fIaTQg_ej6mheUNuAQZZEEZ1wDr9wTQ9-AYtuC1iU1fR5Tze-kfKplL0_5tRGRy1hKKV3xaiRMGqvYeae8/s2048/GEOPETALpond-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1797" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvXgja44xPkZ7fWD1VfPIzW59V3DoH-lBj2_DPklW9M0ZyuSb6HrSJ-uD2fIaTQg_ej6mheUNuAQZZEEZ1wDr9wTQ9-AYtuC1iU1fR5Tze-kfKplL0_5tRGRy1hKKV3xaiRMGqvYeae8/w351-h400/GEOPETALpond-2.jpg" width="351" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I call this the<a href="https://geopetalfabric.com/products/conodont-t-shirt" target="_blank"> Eeleganza</a> print. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And of course, nothing is better than a good subtle rude joke so here's a gorgeous, glamorous silk scarf Meaghan is modelling that has the Priapulid Paisley design on it... aka, the Penis Worm Print. Oh yes, the 14 days of genitals may be over (thank fuck) but we still out here making dick jokes. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaz5rM0TCTz7pP1EXFcdP3HyJe4JCNQ51-5o980tRcZ0jJufxj3h9UhW8USbJOSq03LA2nqylSUfsR94kC0r5in1HL7IPuvkbbVHiqk3K7Ws8HSwp-Jqi-UTuBCg0MlwkNq7bv9Yvn_Y/s2048/priapulid-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1721" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaz5rM0TCTz7pP1EXFcdP3HyJe4JCNQ51-5o980tRcZ0jJufxj3h9UhW8USbJOSq03LA2nqylSUfsR94kC0r5in1HL7IPuvkbbVHiqk3K7Ws8HSwp-Jqi-UTuBCg0MlwkNq7bv9Yvn_Y/s320/priapulid-4.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://geopetalfabric.com/products/paisley-priapulid-scarf">Penis worms but make it fashion</a>. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>So if you're looking for something funny, pretty, and paleontology-themed, you should check out Meaghan's store, or follow her accounts on <a href="https://twitter.com/GeoPetalFabric">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/geopetalfabric" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/geopetalfabric/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> or <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@geopetalfabric?lang=en" target="_blank">TikTok</a>. And if you're looking for more blog content, you can<a href="https://geopetalfabric.com/blogs/patterns" target="_blank"> subscribe to her blog</a> where she talks in detail about her patterns and their inspiration. <br /><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-55746018092356474602019-04-22T19:00:00.000-07:002019-04-22T19:00:06.389-07:00Tips for Making Your Paper Have Broad Impact<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8Ca5jhaeD-UOZLOa8ATUnNwInXoP-N0oEpaPcZZMsysPXG9JyyAbezoRbvUliBxko2khyphenhyphendxvdiFdMzYWPdi1P_iIup0Is5V1If1gv4-TnDtDiyo4-peoSV3BbtmpmaR1h23ttWGJQLs/s1600/eons+bar.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="1526" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8Ca5jhaeD-UOZLOa8ATUnNwInXoP-N0oEpaPcZZMsysPXG9JyyAbezoRbvUliBxko2khyphenhyphendxvdiFdMzYWPdi1P_iIup0Is5V1If1gv4-TnDtDiyo4-peoSV3BbtmpmaR1h23ttWGJQLs/s640/eons+bar.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Meaghan here! I have been working for PBS Eons for a few months now as a writer. It has been amazing - I have learned so much about different organisms I never really looked into before, and about the whole process of scientific storytelling. Some personal moments of pride include a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1LdMWlNYS4&t=15s" target="_blank">video about climate that went viral</a>, and also slipping a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GneDL2Avf4A&t=82s" target="_blank">9 minute dick joke past the PBS censors</a>. And one of the big things I've learned along the way are that there are certain things you can put in scientific papers that make me want to write love sonnets to the authors, and certain things you can omit that make me want to glitterbomb your office. So that's what this blog is about: what can you put in papers so that it's easier for science writers to read them and get the information they need to compose a good piece of science communication about it?</div>
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Or: please sweet Jesus help me out, mama needs to not have to read 60 papers and resort to Image-J when trying to figure out how tall a T-Rex was.<br />
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<b>1) Please Please Please OMG Please Give Me Basic Info</b><br />
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As a writer, I spend about 90% of my time tracking down dumbass details like "was it bigger than a breadbox." Context really, really matters - but while <i>you as a scientist who hath touched the holy fossils </i>might know that <i>Diplocaulus</i> is about 3 feet long, I don't. So if you don't write that down, I have no idea and spend hours tearing my hair out trying to find out basic details.</div>
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Remember how A/S/L was considered key in 90's chatrooms? Let's make A/S/L a new paleontological hit. That is, <u>Age/Size/Location</u>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65so6KBFZqQ2MXU8g6ORboOe3siUSTybL0a-cOFETAF6HbbqwRkdaVPStXVwOy5PriZqokcDW9NM_i8Bd72W_5Wj-lKHAkzhYwO_Nd3ANT-R782755TdOHVpy_Cr48_x2hVBavVPeZhg/s1600/asl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65so6KBFZqQ2MXU8g6ORboOe3siUSTybL0a-cOFETAF6HbbqwRkdaVPStXVwOy5PriZqokcDW9NM_i8Bd72W_5Wj-lKHAkzhYwO_Nd3ANT-R782755TdOHVpy_Cr48_x2hVBavVPeZhg/s1600/asl.png" /></a></div>
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<i><u>Age </u></i>- most people put something like this in their paper... but not necessarily in a way that is useful to me. Look, I'm a mammalian paleontologist - and I get that I should just have the start and end dates of North American Land Mammal Ages emblazoned on my brain in flaming neon. But I don't. I Google that shit every time - and that's for time periods I know pretty well. What I'm trying to say is that your Permian subdivisions don't make sense to me, please please please give me age ranges too because otherwise I will have to go and rely on Wikipedia or look up a bunch of other papers that ALSO don't tell me when the Rupellian or what-the-fuck-ever was.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cuz this isn't useful to me.</td></tr>
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<i><u>Size - </u></i>See, one of the first pieces of context I really want to know about your organism is HOW GODDAMNED BIG IS IT. I barely know what <i>Marella </i>is, let alone its size. And I know that calculating mass is it's own mess of problems, and even height can be hard when you don't have the full limbs - but for the love of my sanity, can you please tell me if it's like... deer sized versus giraffe sized?? Seal length or guppy length? Tennis ball or basketball? I often have to chase down several papers to try and piece together the most basic size estimate, because while you as the expert paleontologist may know how big <i>Sacabambaspis</i> is... I do not.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And judging by this, nobody else does either. (yes I know how google searching works don't @ me)</td></tr>
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<i><u>Location </u></i>- not just of your specific one! Please don't make me read 10 papers to find the range of one genus. I can and do use the <a href="https://paleobiodb.org/navigator/" target="_blank">Paleobiology Database</a>, but I know that isn't always accurate taxonomically so it'd really be nice if it came from the mouth/keyboard of experts!<br />
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So that's the basics. They're important pieces of context that help the audience become more familiar with your organism. Think of <a href="http://pontus.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/gessner_walrus.jpg" target="_blank">early drawings of walruses</a>, or how people think that <i>Velociraptor </i>is shoulder height - A/S/L will help your friendly neighborhood science writer avoid enforcing these myths!<br />
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But that's not all you can do to help us. </div>
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<b>2 ) Provide Pronunciations</b><br />
I do think it is a very fun game to try and pick organisms with terribly difficult pronunciations for my scripts, because I am mean. Unfortunately Blake (editor, producer, and host) has caught on to this ('cuz I stupidly told him) and now asks me to provide pronunciations in the script.</div>
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Ugh.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's on to my bullshit.</td></tr>
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Anyway, that means I'm going to pass the buck to you. If you are describing a new species, having a phonetic pronunciation guide would be awesome so we can all mispronounce Latin, but, like, together.</div>
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<b>3) Use Mid-Sentence Citations</b><br />
This won't always be possible, depending on the journal format, but putting your citation right next to the piece of information to which it refers makes it easier for me to track down those papers and read more about the topic. I can still do this with citations at the end of the sentence, but if that citation is lumped with 5 others with similar names that might be a lot of guess work for me.</div>
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I don't really have a joke about this. Just do it. I don't want to read any more papers about ancient fish than I 100% have to. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cuz... meh.<br />
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<b>4) Informative Graphics</b></div>
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If you put your range information for a group in a graphic... I will love you forever. No, seriously - it is so, so much easier to see phylogenetic relationships and ranges in graphical or even table form than it is in the text, and makes it super easy to go back and add information later when Blake inevitably asks me "yeah but what about..."</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure/image?size=large&id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153915.g005" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 12.8px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="568" height="640" src="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure/image?size=large&id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153915.g005" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temporal ranges, cute penguin graphics, relationships, AND currents? Be still my nerdy-but-lazy heart!</td></tr>
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<b>5) Put Your Answer In Your Abstract</b></div>
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I can't believe how often this comes up, but if you do an analysis, the result should be in your abstract. If it isn't, I might not read your paper - after all, I'm not trying to become an expert in your field, I'm trying to write an interesting 10 minutes of content. Results in your abstract also help for the many, many papers that I can't get access to - I want to read your paper, but if I can't get it, I can still use it if your abstract is actually informative. Many of PBS's other writers don't have current University affiliations - so they are even less likely to be able to access an article and this comes up even more.</div>
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<b>6) Have an Informative Title</b><br />
I am terrible at writing titles, but I've definitely seen way worse than me since I started this job. If your paper is about a specific organism, maybe put that in the title instead of just "archosaurs" or whatever. It'll show up more readily as something I need to read (we tend to be organism-focused so that's what I'm searching for).</div>
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<b>7) Introductions and Backgrounds On More Than Methods</b><br />
This is something I am super guilty of - talking about the methods rather than the taxa in my intro. But there have been multiple incidences where I as a reader have had to go down rabbit holes because there were no review papers on a group, and all of the individual papers didn't have enough background for me to figure out what members a particular group consisted of (Crocodylia, I am looking at you). So add family relationships, known cool facts, generalized ASL info - this sort of info will help students and outsiders reading your paper, it is <i>insanely</i> valuable. Uh, and while you're at it, define a few key terms for us too, would?</div>
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<b>8) Anatomical Illustrations</b><br />
Look, language is only good for so much. You detailing what a tiny chunk of bone is may be helpful to another paleontologist in your incredibly specific subfield but to anyone else, it is jibberish. Like, I know so much about cranial anatomy that it's absurd, but everyone has their own goddamned words for things so my mammal stuff doesn't translate to your amphibian stuff. Illustrations are really helpful here - particularly when I need to reduce "it's a 4th greater trochanter" to "it's a bone bump on the leg bone."</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tiago_Raugust/publication/260632856/figure/fig10/AS:357647724367879@1462281270743/Left-and-right-femora-of-Chanaresuchus-bonapartei-UFRGS-PV-0877-T-in-posteromedial-a.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="764" height="273" src="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tiago_Raugust/publication/260632856/figure/fig10/AS:357647724367879@1462281270743/Left-and-right-femora-of-Chanaresuchus-bonapartei-UFRGS-PV-0877-T-in-posteromedial-a.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OH it's THAT thing. 'Effin archosaur people man.</td></tr>
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All of these tips are meant specifically to increase your papers utility to a science communicator - but if I'm honest, I think they are good tips for increasing your out-of-sub-field reach too, and for helping students understand your research. So really, this is just generally good advice - what a nice person I am to be giving it to you! Happy goddamned 2019 to all of you. </div>
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Now be nice to me in return and start ASLing your research so I spend less time screaming into the ether.</div>
Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-70615110513605108252019-02-11T18:39:00.002-08:002019-02-11T18:39:32.552-08:00She Found Fossils Interview<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN">We haven’t been posting much because, well, we’ve been busy. Busy <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpPrS4ZFX9l/" target="_blank">sciencing</a>, and <a href="https://www.museumoftherockies.org/research/paleontology-team/" target="_blank">starting new jobs</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqxptf_grPo/" target="_blank">getting engaged</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nessielovesjelly/" target="_blank">raising dogs and stuff</a>. But not busy enough to seize the opportunity to sit down with <a href="http://www.eugenia-gold.me/?page_id=11" target="_blank">Dr. Eugenia Gold</a>, one of the authors of the oh-so-amazing <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Found-Fossils-Maria-Eugenia-Leone/dp/1981516549" target="_blank">She Found Fossils</a></i>. (Also, mother of the baby that features heavily in this article - that's not a random baby, but the baby did have a lot to contribute so we figured the baby was part of the interview too) </span><br />
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<span lang="EN">We trapped her at the annual Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting, and made her talk to us, and here is the result!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amy, Eugenia, and Meaghan going full cheesy at SVP</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14.6667px;">Meaghan</b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14.6667px;">: Tell us about your book!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNoisQK_Tqmyt4FfnvBSyWPMTxoVKki4HNMyjy-aoUttgu55cpHs1y4CVX_YE807SjMJXtL4V6lFuVVIJAGWTOKq5N78CBM8Ve22p3Io0jDwGVJut7kOwnSy3oaCOq9nQqmHCH9viUpZA/s1600/914Vl4mn6DL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1593" data-original-width="1600" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNoisQK_Tqmyt4FfnvBSyWPMTxoVKki4HNMyjy-aoUttgu55cpHs1y4CVX_YE807SjMJXtL4V6lFuVVIJAGWTOKq5N78CBM8Ve22p3Io0jDwGVJut7kOwnSy3oaCOq9nQqmHCH9viUpZA/s640/914Vl4mn6DL.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14.6667px;">Eugenia:</b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14.6667px;"> My book written with Abagael West and illustrated by Amy Gardiner. It is called </span><i style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14.6667px;">She Found Fossils</i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14.6667px;">, and it's about women in paleontology through time and across the world in different professions of paleontology. What we wanted to do is provide role models for kids all over the world to see that anyone can be a paleontologist. Where you were born, what color your skin is, or whatever doesn't matter - anyone can do it and that's what we wanted to show.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: And is it written for a particular age group?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: We targeted 8 to 12 year olds. There are some big pictures in there for 8 year olds, and some more text heavy stuff for older kids, too. But really anybody can read it and enjoy it. We hope. That was the goal!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Amy</b>: Was there a strategy for choosing that age group?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Mm, more so that we wanted to hit a broad range that can enjoy the different aspects of the book and grow with them. Not really anything beyond that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our girl Mary Anning is featured! </td></tr>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: Now we are going into more of your actual research so - what does a brain tell you about FLIGHT? And what does that have to do with dinosaurs? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Oh it's very cool! So brains can change their shape based on how much you use different aspects of them. So if you're doing a lot of smelling the portion of your brain that is responsible for interpreting that smell will grow. But if you think about that on evolutionary time, if you are increasing the using different aspects of your brain for new behaviors such as say, flight, then the aspects of your brain that control that behavior are going to increase as you use that behavior more and more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">So what I like to do in my <i>copious </i>research time is look at brain shape changes along theropod dinosaurs, and see if we can see any differences in that brain shape as flight behaviors became more prominent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fig. 3 from Gold & Watanabe (2018) showing end-cranial shape variation using Principal components analyses</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: And what do you see?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: We see that that for brains - the cerebrum will increase, that's the front of the major section of the brain will increase and expand sort of side to side lateral expansion -<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Baby</b>: *many loud sounds*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Yes, it is exciting, you’re right!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: *laughs, continues with admirable focus* The whole brain goes from being very linear to being very S-shaped, and you can see that throughout theropod evolution. Interestingly some of these structures are starting to appear early on - earlier than you would it would expect for flight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Like a precursor?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Amy Balanoff’s research shows that changes in volumes of the brain happened much further down the tree then flight, so raptors have a full avian-like brain in volume but in terms of shape, we see some structures are appearing around when flight might have started becoming a more prominent behavior!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Neat! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Baby</b>: *agrees*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: So Tilly Edinger is famous for her love of horse brains. Was that kinship part of what made you decide to write this book?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Definitely a part of why I included Tilly, yeah. I didn't want to target things that were super close to my research but I definitely wanted a neuro person in there. Because reasons!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tilly Edinger depicted in <i>She Finds Fossils</i> (yes, it comes in Spanish, too!)</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: So when you’re measuring brain volume - I know that Tilly did a lot of endocast stuff. She filled a horse skull, and then she took a look at the brain. I don't feel like you could do a lot of that on birds skulls in the fossil record?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Yes! So she would do it by actually physically filling in the brain case, and looking at the physical endocast. What we do now is CT scan and digitally fill in the skulls to get models of the braincase. And that's pretty true to what the brain shape and volume is in modern birds, it’s that reliable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Until you go back further down the tree, because other structures start to fill in the brain case - fun structures - so you lose that reliability but for the most part through stem birds you have a pretty good representation of what the brain looks like. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: Which is also like painstakingly slow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: It can be, depending on the preservation of the skull. The modern stuff is easy but the fossil stuff... if there's any damage or anything we have to deal with that as we go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Baby</b>: *very excited about endocasts noises*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: She's made some good points</span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Do you have any more books in the works?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: There has been significant interest in a volume two of She Found Fossils. We're trying to figure out if that's feasible right now. There are hundreds of women that are not represented in our first book and I think that's rather unfair, so we would like to do a second volume. But we need to have some support structure in place in order to get that done.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: Okay now we go into that part of the interview that is a little bit more silly. We're going to ask some silly questions and we're going to make you do something really silly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: What is the dinosaur you are most likely to hold an intellectually stimulating conversation with?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Does it have to be an extinct dinosaur.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: No.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Yes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: How about both?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Okay I'm going to say an African grey parrot!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuveH5EEeu-BXyn4FrgX3nXLNry_fszfQ9_GILauxkpAk-d4ahJzr9b9LV3BfoPr_4qVN7wrginB3yC7ALM3D-QH9CFyNNRbLYrc7iiMGripQFrPSZne05vqB5SJ704pkv3jd2y-qcMl4/s1600/African_Grey_Parrot_-_head_and_face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuveH5EEeu-BXyn4FrgX3nXLNry_fszfQ9_GILauxkpAk-d4ahJzr9b9LV3BfoPr_4qVN7wrginB3yC7ALM3D-QH9CFyNNRbLYrc7iiMGripQFrPSZne05vqB5SJ704pkv3jd2y-qcMl4/s320/African_Grey_Parrot_-_head_and_face.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">African Grey Parrot image from WikiCommons</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Yeah I was going to say New Caledonian Crow is would probably be my second pick for modern birds. So... fossils. Like, extinct theropods? Is that what you meant?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: We're mammal people we don't really know what that means.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: Speak for yourself! I work at the <a href="https://www.museumoftherockies.org/research/paleontology-team/amy-atwater/" target="_blank">Museum of the Rockies.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Oh right. Traitor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: I guess this was a chattiest dinosaur question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: I'm going to say Alvarezsaurus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Are they the smartest or the chattiest?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: I'm going to say chattiest!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: *desperately trying to show off her dinosaur skills* They’re one of the more not so well-known dinos right? Pretty fragmentary material is all that is present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: *Pulls up photo.*<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.dinosaurpictures.org/alvarezsaurus_by_esthervanhulsen-d6wlb8y_0f25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://images.dinosaurpictures.org/alvarezsaurus_by_esthervanhulsen-d6wlb8y_0f25.jpg" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="800" height="288" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">somethin' a little like this<br /><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(http://images.dinosaurpictures.org/alvarezsaurus_by_esthervanhulsen-d6wlb8y_0f25.jpg)</span></i></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: OH. Okay. That’s a bird.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>. They don't really have arms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: So they’re not going to be talking with their hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Right. So they I'm assuming they've got a lot to say cuz... that's interesting, not having arms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: We will have to use that photo and give credit to the artist. And speaking of artists: Clearly we saw from your poster you are a paleo artist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paleo Picasso</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Uh.. a very good one?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: Yes. can you depict all of us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: All three of us? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Baby</b>: *is disgruntled*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: All four of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Can I include Abby in there too?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: Yes! All of us holding hands and riding off into the sunset with Mary Anning on… whatever you want us to ride on. Huh that sounds weird. Ready? GO!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Great. Uh…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: I feel like I should be timing now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Yes… this is… A work of art worthy of the Modern Art Gallery in DC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: when we are all famous this is going to be in the Smithsonian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Baby</b>: *is disgruntled still over being left out*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Do you want her to draw you first?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Baby</b>: *contemplates, but decides this will not appease her.*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: She has some really strong artistic opinions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Yeah okay so this is amazing - she’s just hanging out here, this is going to be the reins, so… okay… OK this is a car seat with a little stick figure... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eugenia creating the masterpiece of the century, all while holding her offspring!</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: I love how safe you are even in a drawing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: This picture is so amazing, it’s next level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: I don’t know what you were thinking asking me to draw this after you saw what I had drawn on my poster -<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b>: We saw those magic arms and we needed it to come alive again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Baby</b>: *kicks her mother’s hand*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: I’m trying to draw something! That’s just rude. Sabotage here. OK, everyone’s wearing pants. And the same shirt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>A</b> & <b>M</b>: Yes!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Team spirit!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Ok. It’s going to be worth millions of dollars!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MORE LIKE WORTH TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS!!!!</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: there is one last question. Who would win in a chess battle… if you took a bird brain or a horse brain - any form of horse, any form of bird.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: Bird. For so many reasons. No offense to horses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Yeah. Which one’s most likely to create Skynet?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>E</b>: *thinks* Bird.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>M</b>: Yeah. They seem real devious. And like they might be real mean, if you give them the chance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Thanks so much to Eugenia for tolerating all of our ABSURDLY ridiculous questions, and to her daughter for offering key insights. Check out the book “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Found-Fossils-Maria-Eugenia-Leone/dp/1981516549" target="_blank">She Found Fossils” here</a>, ready for all your gift giving needs! Happy Women in STEM Day!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRw_ASHp_aQihtL9V7DAHgFeHR8aTrjnhJqNVWvp3syoR5sp298pHoYMh3zBEqPi29gnsXldpC0v4iKfiLQE4RXfJix0Mq6Hi3QPF0ItUO729r41MumRZGNAhOzwLbWcdH3OMV3J74jb8/s1600/IMG_2509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1008" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRw_ASHp_aQihtL9V7DAHgFeHR8aTrjnhJqNVWvp3syoR5sp298pHoYMh3zBEqPi29gnsXldpC0v4iKfiLQE4RXfJix0Mq6Hi3QPF0ItUO729r41MumRZGNAhOzwLbWcdH3OMV3J74jb8/s400/IMG_2509.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somehow we became even more awkward</td></tr>
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Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-63428648397342299832018-11-09T11:12:00.000-08:002018-12-05T18:28:00.235-08:00SVP 2018: a review of the most important parts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The title is all the context you get, because explanations are for fools.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQA2mAn0rvcurZTY1LbcV98cHI7OkCLrIb7JHmomRkQWqb4fsgE1_IEXaVkv_F-XUatqslYQa_lZhycrZmKGT_IITdbcWzL8J-F3WOi-yJ-sEtCkZCsnmIng_Vfhi6kEwTe3V9UIN4H9k/s1600/2018-10-17+20.41.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQA2mAn0rvcurZTY1LbcV98cHI7OkCLrIb7JHmomRkQWqb4fsgE1_IEXaVkv_F-XUatqslYQa_lZhycrZmKGT_IITdbcWzL8J-F3WOi-yJ-sEtCkZCsnmIng_Vfhi6kEwTe3V9UIN4H9k/s400/2018-10-17+20.41.53.jpg" width="400"></a></div>
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Special thanks to Keilah, Spencer, and Eric for their patience and excellent modelling skills. A grateful apology to the leprechaun of a museum volunteer who had to lead us around after Meaghan had already consumed half a beer and was thus, basically wasted. And a tip of the hat to the lady who followed us around for much of this - we may not know you, but we appreciated the audience participation. That stalactite DID look like a poop.Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-56952356231022122182018-08-20T18:00:00.000-07:002018-08-20T18:00:03.814-07:00Intro Geology Teaching Successes & Um, Not SuccessesMeaghan has now taught three terms of Introductory Geology as an adjunct, and has a few things she's been sampling with her teaching that went well, and a few that, well, didn't. Since she's no longer working for CWU and won't be teaching this year but instead traveling and looking for a more permanent position (HINT HINT READERS WHO ARE EMPLOYERS), here's a review of what she's learned so that it can benefit anyone else looking to teach an introductory geo class.<br />
<br />
But it's a lot easier to write in first person so we're going to do that in 3...2...1...NOW: For context, the classes I've been teaching are:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Between 30 and 85 students</li>
<li>4 days a week for an hour</li>
<li>Cover only a single quarter (10 weeks, September to December)</li>
<li>Have an accompanying lab, but the lab grade is separate and also optional so not all students are taking the lab</li>
<li>Are stand-alone intro courses: CWU doesn't have an intro geology series, just several variants of one class so students can choose to take whichever intro class that seems most appealing</li>
<li>Meet one of the gen-ed standards, so typically are full of freshman that are undeclared</li>
<li>Have a high failure rate. All the intro science classes do at CWU, though.</li>
<li>Have some form of Canvas (online software) component</li>
<li>And are taught using a mixture of Powerpoint and other activities/discussions</li>
</ol>
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OK! Now onto the teaching techniques!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNOPOHRJiEipdmLMfqm1KRrbBQ2cwTclTy6GOrPCvOpfH59q87XZSN3HDlSjzBSrPsWKXtLMrHjAo25xVYQdce_cOtWMlWFBJzHkaSx_54pTEXp05Plz2o4L10AztVb5EmlsxlxynVync/s1600/GeologyPics-Gl-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="800" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNOPOHRJiEipdmLMfqm1KRrbBQ2cwTclTy6GOrPCvOpfH59q87XZSN3HDlSjzBSrPsWKXtLMrHjAo25xVYQdce_cOtWMlWFBJzHkaSx_54pTEXp05Plz2o4L10AztVb5EmlsxlxynVync/s640/GeologyPics-Gl-04.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by the AMAZING Marli Miller, whose photos are all free for geology class use!<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">http://geologypics.com</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Group Discussion Prompts</b><br />
One of the best successes I had was by including group discussion prompts on my powerpoint slides. I read somewhere that students on average can pay attention to an engaging lecture for about 7 minutes before their attention span drifts, and to be honest, I don't like giving long lectures. So to break it up, even when I didn't have time to do an activity (or was dealing with 85 students in a lecture hall) I would use group discussion questions. I'd say that about 85% of my students whole-heartedly engaged in these discussions, and the others were on their phones - and the grade distribution didn't actually reflect "participated vs didn't" so I just let them be on their phones and some of them did just fine.<br />
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The discussion prompts on the slides themselves were helpful to me, too. I use a lot of animations, and it was a good way of keeping track of where I was in the lecture, and reminding me to engage the students. I'd give them a minute or two to discuss, then ask if someone wanted to answer - and if not, I'd either have them vote on a few choices, provide some prompts, or give them the answer depending on their level of confusion.<br />
<br />
Having these discussion prompts also did a few extra helpful things:<br />
<ul>
<li>It caused people to form study groups and talk to their neighbors. Our freshman at CWU are prone to dropping out, and part of that is lack of community, so giving them a chance to make friends in class was helpful for some of them.</li>
<li>It made class feel more like a give and take. I got far, far more questions during or immediately after these discussion prompts than I did while lecturing - it was like a designed space for talking.</li>
<li>It offered a good way to pull together content as we were going. For example, in the above slide, it touched upon material they were using in lab: how HCl can be useful in geology. Me simply mentioning that wouldn't have made a whole lot of difference, but having them try and puzzle it out on their own was a better synthesis of material.</li>
</ul>
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<b>Doing Things Backwards</b><br />
Yeah, I know that's not a great name for it. However, what I mean is - I would sometimes have students build an activity or write a test question for me.<br />
<br />
My best example was with earthquakes, using seismographs to determine earthquake epicenter. When I had students just complete that exercise, they typically forgot it and everything they'd learned about P and S waves by the time the exam came around. Eventually, I started also making them make me new seismograph images, picking their own cities, and basically making a problem which I would put on the exam. This worked really, really well - it was slow, because students struggled with it, but in the end 100% of them got the epicenter-finding exercise correct on the exam... and all the ones I didn't put on the exam I uploaded to Canvas, and let students use them as study practice.<br />
<br />
I also really liked this because it gave the students some agency and control over the exam content, which seemed to make them more confident when it came to studying. Plus most of them really liked the chance to level Kansas with an earthquake for some reason, even if it was just on paper. Teaching a bunch of Godzillas, clearly.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotlkRtfBs__a-CDwpN0B8mvB5FqRCvcRZih4ssQ1vk6Q1ZdOGAntCAMNUEqci_9SZZRfTP1izHnS-lkk4ne6y35_YYSHAlK9WQuPTwGY7UPHXK_-3QFw_CnSWl9DVQ_k7eqq8YrtcdEI/s1600/Make+an+epicenter.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1133" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotlkRtfBs__a-CDwpN0B8mvB5FqRCvcRZih4ssQ1vk6Q1ZdOGAntCAMNUEqci_9SZZRfTP1izHnS-lkk4ne6y35_YYSHAlK9WQuPTwGY7UPHXK_-3QFw_CnSWl9DVQ_k7eqq8YrtcdEI/s640/Make+an+epicenter.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Make-Your-Own Earthquake Activity</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Rock Storytime</b><br />
This was an activity I tried once or twice. Essentially, I gave them a rock and asked them to write me a story about it, encouraging them to be extra creative for extra points. The particular rock I did this with was a chunk of granite with two different crystal sizes, because I'd broken it into a section that had both the original granite, and a dike of granite with much larger crystal sizes.<br />
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I asked them to tell me about the history of the rock, including where and how it was formed. I gave extra points for extra information beyond "it's igneous." This resulted in a lot of really RIDICULOUS stories, most of which were totally wrong, and many which had long, involved family histories which included the mafia and/or some parental disputes. My Godzillas may have had some unresolved family issues.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMR2w8Olhs_URtis7ObxOL6VIA9VCohsREaez08jaTWbSwXdBxWMrOLGOXlNMjUG0hW1N7qFzVFoaXqJX20y4pY1_DeXOaKPp-OYiNM6UKYSov_XcJA3nvTSRYWbolFnUYfxHBsO4g3ns/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMR2w8Olhs_URtis7ObxOL6VIA9VCohsREaez08jaTWbSwXdBxWMrOLGOXlNMjUG0hW1N7qFzVFoaXqJX20y4pY1_DeXOaKPp-OYiNM6UKYSov_XcJA3nvTSRYWbolFnUYfxHBsO4g3ns/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">itty bitty crystals and big crystals in the same rock - clearly a geologic soap opera in the making</td></tr>
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Initially, I thought this exercise was fun, but not very effective - most of my students described the rock as mafic, or hit on poryphyry as an explanation for the texture. However, during the final exam, I heard a student talking with their group (more on exam styles later) about whether rhyolite was felsic or mafic and heard them specifically reference their story and say "Oh, remember, our rock was in the mafia so it was mafic - but wait! We got that one wrong, didn't we? So it's felsic!"<br />
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So I think this activity was useful in that it stuck out in my student's memories, and since I corrected their work and discussed it in class (in terms of a story myself), it actually ended up being pretty helpful.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0xq5L2AGDF_qfFCslUCg3Q6K84ferGjDm8X8lbEKRMHV0IrIdLWIP2VA5-jlSS2O9tfTlHoDFriWIEM4YSHGx_K2R1M-qI0l-kZRd7W1Z_cDxrGHPdVlSSZ6QO32pL5vqKzGaw5u4IE/s1600/GeologyPics-5D-4816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0xq5L2AGDF_qfFCslUCg3Q6K84ferGjDm8X8lbEKRMHV0IrIdLWIP2VA5-jlSS2O9tfTlHoDFriWIEM4YSHGx_K2R1M-qI0l-kZRd7W1Z_cDxrGHPdVlSSZ6QO32pL5vqKzGaw5u4IE/s400/GeologyPics-5D-4816.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Could also use photos from the fantastic Marli Miller #geologypics.com</td></tr>
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<b>Rock Environment Diagrams</b><br />
After discussing details of different common versions of a rock type (sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic) I would ask the students to work in groups and draw me a diagram of different rock formation environments, and add their rocks to the diagram.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEyBpbS5hGZce-ZVqvSSewLoI4eS9S0EHNH4j32fsx0RHzqfVz9WRfzdIQvenZDaxeyuq1f3wsMvHAent_Pqlm3xD5WlSP5ii_QXjIjJSQwAyugVcaWazu8IsOkaNdNca27CA2Ig8T9xg/s1600/sedimen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEyBpbS5hGZce-ZVqvSSewLoI4eS9S0EHNH4j32fsx0RHzqfVz9WRfzdIQvenZDaxeyuq1f3wsMvHAent_Pqlm3xD5WlSP5ii_QXjIjJSQwAyugVcaWazu8IsOkaNdNca27CA2Ig8T9xg/s640/sedimen.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like this, but add igneous and metamorphic...</td></tr>
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My students initially really struggled with this - initially, the example I gave them was 3D, which was a problem (turns out drawing in 3D is very hard!). They could correctly place a few rocks, particularly on the sedimentary portion, but this exercise definitely revealed they did NOT understand intrusive igneous rocks, nor metamorphic rock environments. I corrected the diagrams and handed them back, but I wish I'd done it again as a follow-up exercise, because in each class my students still consistently struggled with rock environments, and I think more practice would have improved their work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvITViAZCWkYap1apiAV0zj2HOl59kWmyk27qD0QgvR5gYIsHS0udoPZMjkTWOE6tJ1NLayJATVVZ7SxrdP_scXGWfsVqOpRAHGjcHJb73uMWduF_UC0UR4ZAaLN36rhCE-tbpPLlR6ks/s1600/DdVV0ZbUQAABXyp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvITViAZCWkYap1apiAV0zj2HOl59kWmyk27qD0QgvR5gYIsHS0udoPZMjkTWOE6tJ1NLayJATVVZ7SxrdP_scXGWfsVqOpRAHGjcHJb73uMWduF_UC0UR4ZAaLN36rhCE-tbpPLlR6ks/s320/DdVV0ZbUQAABXyp.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">also, because I got bizarre drawings like this which were HILARIOUS. This is a "toilet head" temnospondyl...</td></tr>
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<b>Identify My Metamorphic Nails</b><br />
I know, I know, weirdly specific much? This was the result of a long, boring weekend and was weirdly worthwhile. I showed them my nails under the doc cam after our metamorphic rock unit, and asked them to A) identify which of the rocks was which and B) identify the protolith. I only did this for one class, but they did SO MUCH BETTER on the one test question I had on metamorphism grades that I think it was completely worth it. Also, for the groans and laughs when I showed off my fancy manicure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hzwF2yckHMk3Ca7pg_UGgJJv-OuOhXRyv_OZr5tKHA1BAPO5GZ1oeBka3DwhfTNVnPzwMpwjsJgaPstcf0LxVsH-3MtKAvleWfMAVVXxQAL5PpN7Lf_bw-VNs_hxL4UmuSUr9Oy_ru4/s1600/DbenrlSU8AAA78f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hzwF2yckHMk3Ca7pg_UGgJJv-OuOhXRyv_OZr5tKHA1BAPO5GZ1oeBka3DwhfTNVnPzwMpwjsJgaPstcf0LxVsH-3MtKAvleWfMAVVXxQAL5PpN7Lf_bw-VNs_hxL4UmuSUr9Oy_ru4/s640/DbenrlSU8AAA78f.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geology fierce</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Oreo Plate Tectonics</b><br />
Again, this is very specific, but weirdly stuck out in their brains and I think helped them conceptualize that the mantle wasn't a solid (historically, this has been a bit of an issue). It was a super simple 5 minute review exercise - they had to break an oreo into two pieces, then pick a plate boundary to model and compare with other students - but the slide of the double stuff I think was helpful for visualizing "plastic" mantles. I had someone specifically mention it in my reviews, so I also think just bribing them with cookies was good from a long-term employment perspective.<br />
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<b>Blooms Taxonomy for Exams</b><br />
If you're not familiar with Bloom's taxonomy, it's essentially a hierarchy of understanding and comprehension. Students are initially better at remembering info than they are at, say, applying it to new situations.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaG-dY3F5Qzhx8bZIYYpxuDIqWd7pRTvbahHT8XOoeJS-OnVtrzryrOxwSJ_bNQv3lpWvqXtzQvvWsNLQHwBofoxF2n-FlliuWYwJmYSNjKYtRtZPL_464fAL9GiZub-IxNErLjhQ94L0/s1600/Blooms_Taxonomy_pyramid_cake-style-use-with-permission.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="847" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaG-dY3F5Qzhx8bZIYYpxuDIqWd7pRTvbahHT8XOoeJS-OnVtrzryrOxwSJ_bNQv3lpWvqXtzQvvWsNLQHwBofoxF2n-FlliuWYwJmYSNjKYtRtZPL_464fAL9GiZub-IxNErLjhQ94L0/s640/Blooms_Taxonomy_pyramid_cake-style-use-with-permission.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The way I used this was I tried to structure my exam questions to have a good mix of each level, with more remembering and understanding-style questions than, say, application. This worked... alright. Students definitely still struggled to remember vocabulary or facts. However, using this technique did help me moderate the sorts of questions I was putting on the test - I prefer to write analysis questions, and so reminding myself "don't make them cry girl" and changing a lot of my questions to be simpler was a useful outcome.<br />
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<b>Pyramid Exams</b><br />
If you've never heard of a <a href="https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer2010/cooperative_exams.html" target="_blank">pyramid exam (or cooperative exam)</a>, it's my new favorite. Essentially, there's two portions to the exam: an individual component (multiple choice, scantron for me) and a group component where students answer either the same questions or similar questions, but can work in a group. I really like this style of exam because I think that if you're not learning something from or during an exam, it's kind of a waste of everyone's time. By having a second "section" of the test, I could basically provide automatic feedback: students would approach the same topic, discuss it with their peers, and realize what they'd done wrong and correct it.<br />
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This helped a bit to reduce test anxiety as well, and helped make my classroom a more cohesive environment. Students were allowed to work in as many groups as they wanted during the second part of the exam, some would run around the classroom asking other people what they thought. Sometimes, this backfired and would lead them astray, but mostly it was a good way of getting students on board with the material. It was typically worth between 10-15% of their exam grade, and it made it so I could ask more complex questions and also ask for short answers without totally overwhelming my TAs (a class of 85 students took about 2-3 hours to grade for each written exam).<br />
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<b>Formative Exam 1 & 2</b><br />
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And finally, I allowed students to make up all the points they missed on the first two exams. Yes, all of them. I wanted the exams to serve as a "stop and check" for the students, but it didn't matter to me whether they learned about metamorphic rocks by week 3 or week 11, as long as it clicked eventually. The method for making up points was simple: they had until the end of the term to schedule a 15 minute meeting with me. They came in, told me which questions they'd gotten wrong, and explained why the correct answer was what it was. Then, I asked them a similar question and they had to answer it in person. If they missed it, they could schedule another meeting later on to try again.<br />
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This served a couple of different purposes:<br />
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<ul>
<li>It helped to reduce test anxiety. I would remind students right before they took the exam that they could make up all the points later, and there'd be this collective sigh of relief.</li>
<li>It also made it so they had to come and talk to me in person. Again, we have a problem with freshman dropout - and establishing a connection with students is pretty important in preventing that </li>
<li>It forced them to actually learn the material. I was always amazed at how my students who did badly on the exam would come in and rattle off SO MUCH MORE information than I had expected them to know because they took the time to look up their mistakes and in the process, learned a lot more about geology.</li>
<li>It gave me a chance to ask questions that were more related to their interests. I would frequently try and use office time to get to know them a little bit better, and could then use google maps to find where their home was, and ask them questions about geology that was pertinent to them.</li>
</ul>
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It did, of course, take a hell of a lot of time. I would say probably 20-30% of my students would come in for credit, from all sides of the spectrum - and they'd usually procrastinate until right before the final exam. But since none of them EVER came to my office hours, I figured it was a fair enough trade. I was only teaching up to two classes a quarter, though, so with more courses it might not be feasible.</div>
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<b>Study Selfies</b></div>
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I introduced this in my last class right before the final. Essentially, I would give them some extra credit on the exam if they sent me a selfie of them studying with one or more other people from the class, with a description of what techniques they were using to study. This was helpful for a couple reasons:</div>
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<ul>
<li>I offered more credit for more people, which meant that the low-achieving students who tended to pair up together had more incentive to find other friends to also study with.</li>
<li>It gave me a chance to give feedback on their studying techniques. Most of them, unsurprisingly, had horrible studying techniques.</li>
<li>It made them study a bit in advance, since they had to coordinate people. Next time, I'll offer extra credit if they study earlier in the week.</li>
<li>Again, that whole community thing. A lot of the things I've done have been to try and get people to work together and find friends, because the research I did in our Institutional Research/Effectiveness department last year demonstrated that students with stronger community ties were more likely to be successful. </li>
<li>Also, this was just damned hilarious. The selfies got uploaded to Canvas, and one group took a video of themselves that was really amusing, and I figure anything that also entertains me is a valuable teaching tool.</li>
</ul>
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<b>Free-For-All Group Projects</b><br />
It's an intro geology class, which means it's a lot of vocabulary, which means, well, students aren't always so successful at it. But it's supposed to be a relatively easy class (it is a 100-level class!) and so I tried to incorporate projects of some kind to give students a chance to hopefully make up credit outside of exams and homework assignments.<br />
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I had... some failures in this at first.<br />
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My first term, I dedicated two days to 5 minute student presentations on a geologic hazard of their choice. Some students did great - one group did Lituya bay, and at the end of their talk they took a tupperware full of water and mud and splashed around in it and said "this is what it was like" and watching 3 inches of water in a tub was very much NOT what it was like and that was HILARIOUS to me. And students always get bonus points for making me nearly wet myself.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rtAq_TRoEnnZFdxcnc4OgJE81nN6ccs70c01DU77BcUbtFFkxhVuThNJ_ocZ8kvkRsf3msZVz0PooEL8_qrD-f4LW6Sj8gBsrgw-AL_BEhQmHOLIchj7AJwv9HWJ0MILKv8EzrtQDXI/s1600/tsu1958Lituya6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="406" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rtAq_TRoEnnZFdxcnc4OgJE81nN6ccs70c01DU77BcUbtFFkxhVuThNJ_ocZ8kvkRsf3msZVz0PooEL8_qrD-f4LW6Sj8gBsrgw-AL_BEhQmHOLIchj7AJwv9HWJ0MILKv8EzrtQDXI/s320/tsu1958Lituya6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because this majesty is perfectly replicated by splashing around in a shallow plastic dish</td></tr>
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Other students, however, did very badly. Many of them either prepared the worlds worst presentations (and I had to pay attention to them) or basically did nothing for the assignment. One group chose the Bridge of the Gods landslide on the Oregon-Washington border... but instead covered the actual bridge construction. We watched a minute-long drone video of the bridge. They told us you could bike across it. Obviously, not a great success for a geology class.<br />
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Also: not riveting.<br />
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So last term, I switched it up. I told students that the project was optional (most chose not to do it) and gave them some VERY loose guidelines. I also encouraged them to be very creative, giving them my<a href="http://www.maryanningsrevenge.com/2013/06/paleosol-cupcakes-part-1-of-2.html" target="_blank"> Paleosol Cupcakes blog post</a> as an example of using baking to demonstrate scientific principles.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0zGXkjWcx-SRc-_5OEB_QIvwaUl2SaZ19TTRqw-bLzuLA3c5VLixZsoD2cyz1xCprAnJBvWEcZB1QLIkhRsHiVy9qEoIapcMbPiH6Smg2PhI7McRdXExn80hQPblIZ_Kq5vzNVbGMQM/s1600/Mollisol.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="792" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0zGXkjWcx-SRc-_5OEB_QIvwaUl2SaZ19TTRqw-bLzuLA3c5VLixZsoD2cyz1xCprAnJBvWEcZB1QLIkhRsHiVy9qEoIapcMbPiH6Smg2PhI7McRdXExn80hQPblIZ_Kq5vzNVbGMQM/s640/Mollisol.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it's baking but for science!</td></tr>
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This was actually super awesome. I had a student turn in four (admittedly foul-tasting) cupcakes representing fossilization types (I fed them to the grad students) with a short paper talking about what they'd learned about fossils. I had another student turn in a piano piece they'd written about the Cascadia earthquake, complete with a description of tension building and releasing. I did have one student just turn in a standard paper - but it actually was a pretty good paper, so I think they were just playing to their strengths. There were other projects as well, all of which were well-researched and enthusiastic. All of the students who actually turned in one of these projects got an A, and this is definitely the way I'm going to run all 101 projects from now on... if only to spare me from more drone footage of a bridge.<br />
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<b>Semi-Flipping the Classroom</b><br />
Of all the things I've tried with 101 classes here at Central Washington, flipping the classroom has been the least successful and most infuriating.<br />
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So a flipped classroom is where students do reading or watch online lectures at home, then come into the class and do activities, discussions, etc - anything other than 50 minutes of lecture. I have read a lot of things that say flipping the classroom was the best way to get material across and really wanted to try it, so my first term I made it so students had to read a chapter of the book each week, take a quiz on it, and then in the class we'd do a brief review and then apply what we had learned.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sounds good, right?</td></tr>
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It was a fucking disaster.<br />
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My students did not read the book. They did not take the quizzes that were 20% of their grade. They would show up, and fumble through what we covered for the day, and look completely confused the entire time. My reviews from some students were <i>scalding</i>, including the idea that I simply did not know the material so made them learn it on their own. Yikes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh024v5cyYF_SjGuS7erQIoAL6aRIS2SSoa9yK6mj_NODVqT3Jg0GoqyAv8zTH9Q5XkEJroerPgfi1-DFdKO2zrxQfEDduhXfxsVH4QGBlfMcl_eNMnimUI6JYW2o5JXgBSxDZc6Pxa8RE/s1600/yikes.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="1226" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh024v5cyYF_SjGuS7erQIoAL6aRIS2SSoa9yK6mj_NODVqT3Jg0GoqyAv8zTH9Q5XkEJroerPgfi1-DFdKO2zrxQfEDduhXfxsVH4QGBlfMcl_eNMnimUI6JYW2o5JXgBSxDZc6Pxa8RE/s640/yikes.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All this, AND I didn't get a chili pepper. Bullshit!</td></tr>
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So I dialed it down a lot for the next few classes. "My students want standard lectures? Standard lectures they get!" It may not be the most effective way to teach them, but I'm too early in my career to get scathing teaching reviews and not have it affect A) my self esteem and B) my ability to stay in this career.<br />
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The happiest medium I have found is to have students either read ~5 pages OR give them a YouTube video to watch on some of the topics we want to cover. They still have to take a quiz, to give 'em credit for doing the reading/watching. Then, in class, I cover that material again, and then go deeper into the topic. It really cuts down on the amount of time we can spend doing activities (no stream table days, or walks around town to see soil creep examples) but it's more in line with what students expect, without me feeling like I have to cover material at a break-neck speed. I tried to limit my activities to being 10-15 minutes or less instead of 30-45, and use them more as a way to break up lecture and review material, rather than trying to get students to learn new concepts through the activities themselves.<br />
<br />
It was a little disappointing to make that switch, in part because it's so different from the way I used to teach. I taught outdoor school for years, and doing inquiry-based exercises and spending an entire day testing hypotheses was significantly more fun than lectures and review exercises. I also think it was a better way of teaching science because it forced students to think like scientists, and while discussion questions are great, they don't teach you how to put together and test hypotheses or formulate your own questions.<br />
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In the future, I'd like to find some ways to worm more of that back into place. Part of an introductory science class is to teach students how science is done, and I don't think that memorizing the steps of the scientific method is sufficient. But for now, I'm confident my students learned well and didn't hate me, and if I have to prioritize that second part perhaps more than I'm entirely comfortable with... well, it's one of the many uncomfortable aspects of being a woman early in her academic career. I'll deal.<br />
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So: what are <i>your</i> favorite introductory teaching techniques? Have you dealt with the flipped classroom conundrum? Let us know in the comments!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">And for more content, follow us on our three thousand social media accounts: Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnningsRevenge/" target="_blank">Mary Anning's Revenge</a>, Instagram (@Mary_Annings_Revenge for Amy and science stuff, @nessielovesjelly for a deluge of Meaghan's dog photos), Twitter (@marysrevenge for Meaghan, or @AmyLynnAtwater for Amy) or Snapchat (@thebestmeaghan).</span><br />
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<br />Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-58611891143464546012018-07-02T16:57:00.002-07:002018-07-02T16:57:52.214-07:00Things You Can Cite Meaghan's Newest Article For!Meaghan had a new article come out recently in <a href="https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2018/2202-dental-variation-of-artiodactyl" target="_blank">Palaeo-Electronica</a>. It's great, and you should read it!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the authors are VERY TRUSTWORTHY and super good at SCIENCE</td></tr>
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It's also very long! With many tables! So in lieu of you having to read the whole thing, here are the top take-away points that Meaghan thinks you should probably cite her & Edward for:<br />
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<b>1) Agisoft Photoscan Measurements are Comparable to Digital Calipers!</b><br />
That's right, the 3D software that everyone is using for their measurements is, in fact, good for measurements. Huzzah! The measurements are not significantly different from digital calipers so you can mix techniques, and also throw this citation in the face of the one reviewer who might ask you about it if you use Photoscan. BUT Agisoft isn't as good on small measurements as Digital Calipers are - there's a bit higher uncertainty on Photoscan measurements once you get down into the 1 cm range. So Photoscan is great, but not for tiny measurements (at least, not in its current iteration, and it may relate more to user problems than software issues).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://d2.alternativeto.net/dist/s/775e824d-ea84-e311-84ee-002590a05f5f_2_full.jpg?format=jpg&width=1600&height=1600&mode=min&upscale=false" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="800" height="392" src="https://d2.alternativeto.net/dist/s/775e824d-ea84-e311-84ee-002590a05f5f_2_full.jpg?format=jpg&width=1600&height=1600&mode=min&upscale=false" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This person shouldn't be grumpy, cuz Agisoft is pretty good.</td></tr>
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<b>2) Tooth Variation of Some Artiodactyls Is High</b><br />
Like... really high. Like, elephants-sized high. This could be an important point for a variety of reasons - it means that if you have some big artiodactyls and small artiodactyls, they might be the same species of artiodactyl! It makes species identification in artiodactyls a little harder than we maybe thought it was previously - or at least, harder when using teeth measurements.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0fAAy9pUhFqi0z4u5JJC6MSJmLv-XNFZpGehrjJRRLeJci1xrwHhWSq-kDGwvdUsK_PWJKx-QAT8HWQoXTFyC4UfdTat9o1xoNORmhWNUpFv8BhoAPNLJ5jk0RCK8_suGtjDzN8Cb70/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-07-02+at+11.14.36+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1280" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0fAAy9pUhFqi0z4u5JJC6MSJmLv-XNFZpGehrjJRRLeJci1xrwHhWSq-kDGwvdUsK_PWJKx-QAT8HWQoXTFyC4UfdTat9o1xoNORmhWNUpFv8BhoAPNLJ5jk0RCK8_suGtjDzN8Cb70/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-07-02+at+11.14.36+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Variably high, and invariably uncute.</td></tr>
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<b><br />3) Tooth Variation is Higher in Some Artiodactyls Than Others</b><br />
Camels are crazy variable, and duikers are a lot less so. This probably has something to do with the shapes of their teeth, but it means that if you're looking at using a modern animal to understand your fossil animal's variation, you should probably pick one that is as closely related as possible... and has similar teeth styles. So don't compare peccaries to oreodonts, please - the different types of teeth make them non-identical.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://pixfeeds.com/images/animals/sheep/1280-183248745-herd-of-sheep-walking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://pixfeeds.com/images/animals/sheep/1280-183248745-herd-of-sheep-walking.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WE ARE ALL UNIQUE (well kinda... at least compared to other species)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b> </b><br />
<b>4) Tooth Variation is Higher in Bigger Animals Than Smaller... Even as a Coefficient of Variation</b><br />
So paleontologists have this way of trying to make the variation of big animals be the same as the variation of small animals, so we can compare them. After all, a big mouse and a small mouse have maybe 10 grams of weight difference, but a big elephant versus a small elephant is going to have MANY MORE GRAMS OF WEIGHT DIFFERENCE. To scale that, people use this thing called the coefficient of variation which is basically the variation divided by the size of the measurement. Boom, it's unit-less and now elephants and mice are comparable, right?<br />
<b> </b><br />
Um, no. Our study confirms the findings of some others that CV might not entirely eliminate the effect of size. We think that might be because bigger things are more variable than they should be, but it's also possible that small things are more variable than they should be. It's complicated - but it means that if you want to understand a fossil organism, you need to compare it to something of the same <i>size</i>, too. So cite this paper when you want to talk about picking a comparable modern artiodactyl.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.icr.org/i/wide/mouse_elephant_wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.icr.org/i/wide/mouse_elephant_wide.jpg" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="700" height="226" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we r different too also mouse waaaaay not to scale</td></tr>
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<b>5) Finite Mixture Analysis Doesn't Always Pick Up Sexual Dimorphism or Multiple Species</b><br />
There was a paper that came out a few years on dinosaurs and how Finite Mixture Analysis was the miracle that would identify all sexual dimorphism. We had some sexually dimorphic animals in our sample, and FMA couldn't find it in all of them. It could find it in some, though, so it's not terrible, just not a be-all end-all (duh). Also, it couldn't figure out how many species of duikers there were. But hey, if you've written a paper where FMA didn't say there were two sexes or species, but you're confident there are two sexes or species... cite this paper and say that there could be!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.reference.com/reference-production-images/question/aq/700px-394px/male-sheep-called_bf31c8a611eab175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="700" height="360" src="https://images.reference.com/reference-production-images/question/aq/700px-394px/male-sheep-called_bf31c8a611eab175.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of these things is not like the other, unless you do Finite Mixture Analysis and then, naaah... they're the same.</td></tr>
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<b> </b><br />
<b>6) Discriminant Function Analysis and RandomForest Analysis Don't Always Pick Up Different Species Either</b><br />
So we tried to use the maths to identify different species of duikers using their teeth. It worked sometimes, but not 100% of the time. Also, Discriminant Function Analysis worked better than RandomForest Analysis did. So if you're doing DFA or RFA and want to support DFA over RFA, you can cite this paper!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1920/1*Yd2JS7Jo7W6DHf6VBmGnIg.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="800" height="420" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1920/1*Yd2JS7Jo7W6DHf6VBmGnIg.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a random forest. It is not very good at identifying duikers.</td></tr>
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<b> </b><br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>7) Artiodactyl Teeth Sometimes Change Size Through Wear</b><br />
<b> </b>And this affects both widths AND lengths... in completely opposite manners. Widths get larger through wear (probably there's some hidden eruption in artiodactyls that we didn't pick up), and lengths get shorter. We measured our stuff at the "widest" and "longest" part - which, if you're trying to be consistent, may not be the best way to do it! If you want to avoid wear, try measuring at the base of the tooth always, not the crown - which we know some of you do already, but some of you don't. Cite this paper as a reason for why!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/images/748/figure2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="600" height="329" src="https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/images/748/figure2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cuz it turns out that teeth that are wider at the top and experience wear, get smaller! Weird!</td></tr>
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<b>8) Also, Oreodonts are probably oversplit!</b><br />
Though to be honest, we are far from the first paper to say that. But we ARE the most recent?<br />
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<b> </b> <br />
So go forth and cite this paper for many, many things! You don't EVEN have to read it now, isn't that nice of us?<br />
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<div class="gs_citr" tabindex="0">
Emery-Wetherell, Meaghan M., and
Edward Byrd Davis. "<a href="https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2018/2202-dental-variation-of-artiodactyl" target="_blank">Dental measurements do not diagnose modern artiodactyl species: Implications for the systematics of Merycoidodontoidea.</a>" <i>Palaeontologia Electronica</i> 21.2 (2018): 1-28.</div>
<br />Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-4921895602587222412018-03-13T17:13:00.000-07:002018-03-13T17:13:12.508-07:00Meaghan Rates the Best Snugs<div>
In honor of Meaghan's third paper being accepted (COMING SOON TO A PAYWALL NEAR U), Meaghan is going to do a slug and snail rating post - or, as her old roommate Shannon's mom refers to them, snugs. Why, specifically, slugs and snails? Because that's what Meaghan's paper is on.<br />
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Yes.<br />
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A vertebrate paleontologist had a paper accepted on modern species of snugs, because variety is the spice of science life (and also, she worked for years as a field biologist finding these stupid things, and then the data was never used for anything so she thought... well shit, might as well, right?). This new paper, called "The correlation between topographically-derived relative wetness and terrestrial mollusk presence and abundance," was co-authored with a bunch of reluctant geologists and three awesome undergraduates, and gave Meaghan an excuse to talk about snugs and how cute they are.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0105/0394.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="700" height="281" src="https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0105/0394.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cuz they are really cute you guys! (Photo from <a href="https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0105/0394.jpeg" target="_blank">Cal Photos</a>)</td></tr>
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Meaghan's favorite thing about snugs is the epic names given to them by biologists, like if by naming them like viking warriors you can somehow make them cool to non-malacologists. So in honor of Meaghan getting a paper accepted on snugs, Meaghan will now <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank">rate and discuss</a> her favorite Oregon snug species, a la this <a href="http://www.distractify.com/trending/2017/11/15/ZOXPrR/rate-different-types-of-foxes-twitter?utm_source=socialmob&utm_medium=paid&utm_content=3641&utm_campaign=dfy&umtscde=13arj&umtctd=ZGk2eGhwZG5weDY">most excellent twitter feed about foxes</a> and the great hashtag #rateaspecies.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.onh.eugraph.com/molluscs/wjs/06530208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.onh.eugraph.com/molluscs/wjs/06530208.jpg" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image from: http://www.onh.eugraph.com/molluscs/wjs/06530208.jpg</span></td></tr>
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<b>Warty Jumping Slug</b></div>
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* more like pimples, let's not get too judge-y</div>
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* stagnancy is their only form of motion, jumping is clearly an exaggeration</div>
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* tiny slug on a half shell, tiny slug power</div>
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* 7/10, bonus points to raise your self-esteem (but you'll never grow out of the pimples) </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TVj991ExTwQ/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TVj991ExTwQ?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<b>Dromedary Jumping Slug</b></div>
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* more aggressive body motion, looks like my mom at Jazzercise<br />
* wrinkled nutsack flesh around hump is not appealing<br />
* half shell looks like the eye of Sauron in the right light<br />
* purple hue is the it color of the season<br />
* 10/10, has good energy <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4483812697_d5cbac2736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4483812697_d5cbac2736.jpg" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image from http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4483812697_d5cbac2736.jpg</span></td></tr>
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<b>Robust Lancetooth Snail</b></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
* gently rasps across palm if you let them, little to no lancing</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* have found wedged inside bigger shells after it battles prey to the death</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* pinkish color is deceptive given predatory nature</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* Slo-Mo Lion Snail is preferred alternative</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* 8/10 for being kinda ticklish to hold </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://terrslugs.myspecies.info/sites/terrslugs.myspecies.info/files/carinacauda_stormi_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://terrslugs.myspecies.info/sites/terrslugs.myspecies.info/files/carinacauda_stormi_0.jpg" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="800" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image from: http://terrslugs.myspecies.info/sites/terrslugs.myspecies.info/files/carinacauda_stormi_0.jpg</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Cascade Axetail Slug</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* not a viking warrior</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* deceptively difficult to find</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* smol size good for hiding</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* does live in Cascades, so well named there</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* looks unfortunately much like a mouse turd</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* 5/10, does not live up to the hype</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="No automatic alt text available." height="300" src="https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/182099_10100345672631268_1990374477_n.jpg?oh=d7167a9a968ddeb25675f47de1d6188a&oe=5AF3C60F" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken by Meaghan, staged on her mother's table shhhh don't tell</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Ryan's Lake Slug</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* have never found at a lake</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* does not know Ryan</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* has been confused for snot on Meaghan's glove many times</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* nasty translucent body </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
*8/10, not your fault your name is stupid</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0102/0462.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="800" height="231" src="https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0102/0462.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image from: https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0102/0462.jpeg</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Scarlet Back Taildropper Slug</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* will drop tail in slo-mo if you let it (but don't!)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* back is more shit-brown than scarlet</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* does not participate in any Gone With the Wind re-enactments</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* 7/10, points detracted for drama </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0106/0676.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="732" height="227" src="https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0106/0676.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from: https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0106/0676.jpeg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Crowned Tightcoil Snail</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* too small to be king of snails</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* too small to be much of anything (<4 mm diameter) </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* coils are tight tho</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* too hard to find though so fuck you, 2/10 you arrogant tiny bitch <br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e6/50/81/e65081997b8cd9179eff61f6b68da02e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e6/50/81/e65081997b8cd9179eff61f6b68da02e.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo from: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e6/50/81/e65081997b8cd9179eff61f6b68da02e.jpg</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Banana Slug</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* ready to be mushed into bread, but does not make good bread wtf misleading</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* sometimes sickly green, often spotted, not really yellow at most times</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* too well known. What you're a mascot? Don't get uppity</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* too all about themselves, 3/10 </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/30/43349664_fd27a46e66_z.jpg?zz=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="500" height="213" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/30/43349664_fd27a46e66_z.jpg?zz=1" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image from: https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/30/43349664_fd27a46e66_z.jpg?zz=1</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Pacific Sideband Snail</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* too many different rare subspecies to look for</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>* </b>grazer, the cow of the PNW snug world</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* voted "most likely to be instagrammed by people who can't find a banana slug"</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* I once found an individual right next to a scorpion, just relaxing </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* 6/10 for subspecies confusion, bonus points for scorpion thing</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://osupress.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Cryptomastix%20germana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://osupress.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Cryptomastix%20germana.jpg" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="792" height="210" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image from: http://osupress.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Cryptomastix%20germana.jpg</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Pygmy Oregonian</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* Not actually that small, and pygmy really is a word that should mean something</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>* </b>does live in Oregon, so that's true I guess</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* Should be called cute fuzzball snail, but I guess that was taken</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* fuzz does make it look like it's molding</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* 6/10 for overall demeanor</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="No automatic alt text available." height="266" src="https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/12307433_10101858005199678_5542442965885902288_o.jpg?oh=83b3d0ac386d892d60ae4601f17a0978&oe=5AF81FF7" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken by Meaghan, this time not on her mother's table.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Yellow-Bordered Taildropper Slug</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* yo did you miss the fact this mofo is purple?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* should be called the technicolor purple dream slug</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* 9/10 cuz you're pretty, but not all about yourself<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">Like this blog? Want more slug photos? Follow us on Instagram (</span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mary_annings_revenge/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@Mary_Annings_Reveng</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">e for Amy, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nessielovesgobbles/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@NessieLovesGobbles</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"> for Meaghan's dogs), Twitter (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/MarysRevenge" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@MarysRevenge</a> for Meaghan, or <a href="https://twitter.com/AmyLynnAtwater" target="_blank">@AmyLynnAtwater</a> for Amy's brand new, totally under-used account<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">), or Facebook (</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnningsRevenge/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">Mary Anning's Revenge</a> where we both contribute<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">).</span></i> </div>
</div>
Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-81831828817940714612018-01-20T11:24:00.004-08:002018-01-20T11:24:53.166-08:00The Whale Rap Battle You Didn't Know You NeededAmy and Meaghan were in the same place for several consecutive days, and from the loins of their cohabitation sprung this glory - <i>Basilosaurus</i> vs Killer Whale. Turn on closed captions to see our witty witty lyrics.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i9.ytimg.com/vi/cf95lU-YbXw/default.jpg?sqp=CLyN-9IF&rs=AOn4CLDBvyz3QLtk7RPVMZUwUDEOxd4Mrw" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cf95lU-YbXw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Here are the lyrics, with some links to help translate into non-nerd:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I’m a killer whale, don’t you mess with me</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I eat great <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC8Wxfn5xFw" target="_blank">white sharks</a> and fish and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWsN63PRCW8" target="_blank">seals</a>,</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I’m the scourge of all the seas</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I'll kill <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1340036/Pack-hunt-by-killers-of-the-sea-filmed-for-first-time.html" target="_blank">whales for fun and eat their tongues </a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>so don’t tempt me</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I’m an Eocene Queen, Ruler of the Seas </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>60 feet long, all the world was scared of me</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I’m a <a href="http://www.newanimal.org/zeuglodons.htm" target="_blank">sea serpent</a>, you’re a SeaWorld servant</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Respect me as <a href="https://whyevolutionistrue.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/whale-phylogeny.png" target="_blank">your Grandma</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1386" target="_blank"><b>Representin’ Alabama</b></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>No <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjLtfX3oefYAhVJ92MKHcTHAWYQFggyMAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thoughtco.com%2Fkiller-whale-dorsal-fin-collapse-2291880&usg=AOvVaw1M3IOGPIeF4y5MvW4jHvSa" target="_blank">flaccid-finned</a> <a href="http://animals.mom.me/reasons-orca-dolphin-7310.html" target="_blank">dolphin</a> gonna put me in the slamma</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Yo <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/basal" target="_blank">Basal</a>, I’ll make you into Pesto</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurus" target="_blank">You were confused for lizards and birds</a> but I’m the mammal’s best yo</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I’m the real living deal</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Eat you like a harbor seal</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>You’ve got <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurus#Hind_limbs" target="_blank">limbs not fins</a>, you’re a vestigial fool</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Springing forth from that limited </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Alabama gene pool</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I got itty bitty fins I don’t need that much to swim</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I’m efficient - graceful leviathan</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>You’re a SeaWorld psycho</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Your success is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluke_(tail)" target="_blank">fluke</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Your ocean water’s warming so</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I’m <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilikum_(orca)" target="_blank">Tilikum-ing</a> for you</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
And if you didn't see the dance promo trailer...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hvTYMJBE1R0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hvTYMJBE1R0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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GodDAMN but we are good at everything.<br />
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Check out our other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-RF7SY--oI&list=PLoaRqj4fTVLBvH2iYr0QMGKIyJxOgItPB" target="_blank">Rap Battles</a> on YouTube, and tell us which animals should battle next. KEEP IN MIND OUR EXTREME COSTUME RESTRAINTS - thanks to Danielle Peecher for lending us by far the best costume ever featured on this blog, and to Kelly Thompson for the excellent directing and lyrical assistance (and that cameo of your foot was top notch).<br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">Like this blog? Reward our ego by following us on Instagram (</span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mary_annings_revenge/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@Mary_Annings_Reveng</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">e for Amy, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nessielovesgobbles/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@NessieLovesGobbles</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"> for Meaghan's dogs), Twitter (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/MarysRevenge" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@MarysRevenge</a> for Meaghan, or <a href="https://twitter.com/AmyLynnAtwater" target="_blank">@AmyLynnAtwater</a> for Amy's brand new, totally under-used account<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">), and/or Facebook (</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnningsRevenge/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">Mary Anning's Revenge</a> where we both contribute<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">). Meaghan also has a Snapchat account she regularly forgets about - @TheBestMeaghan.</span></i></div>
Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-10373654464411070682017-12-07T19:55:00.000-08:002017-12-07T19:55:14.182-08:00One Lady, Many Beards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Recently Amy started a new job as the Collections Manager at the Museum of the Rockies, marking the end of her time as a graduate student! Yay for Master Atwater! But now that Amy is a professional, she suddenly has all this FREE TIME during her nights and weekends that she is 100% not used to. Does this mean that Amy is using her newfound freedom for exploring her new state and/or exercising and adventuring, or perhaps promoting the public good?</div>
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NOPE.<br />
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She is embracing her generation and spending most of her time on Snapchat.<br />
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Now, for those of you ancient decrepit fools who are not familiar with Snapchat, it is a form of social media based on video/image messaging with facial recognition, allowing for all sorts of strange filters for your face. Or as Scott Williams at the Museum of the Rockies calls it, "that other thing that Millennials use."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHA3fK3XpM_NhC81c_MZMVKkdVagYQKYzk4GHntmBNnzxAr37UpGw4qWsrgBXnFcdCyyNyxgC_WUnri7mqvhmEujHCus44gw3n1LiOEX427tUbDhOFEW3ujA9In5dTph_xxRB4FKyvz0/s1600/IMG_9759.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="632" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHA3fK3XpM_NhC81c_MZMVKkdVagYQKYzk4GHntmBNnzxAr37UpGw4qWsrgBXnFcdCyyNyxgC_WUnri7mqvhmEujHCus44gw3n1LiOEX427tUbDhOFEW3ujA9In5dTph_xxRB4FKyvz0/s320/IMG_9759.PNG" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How can you not love this?!</td></tr>
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That's right Scott, us Millennials love Snapchat. And to share the Snapchat love, Amy has spent her last week using the Face-Swap function to replace HER face with all sorts of faces, including those of paleontologists, living and dead.<br />
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</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmmLPF5XOvP_zzEKFUmpYkQAhfr2h1j7XHZdKlrpLZb1PWlRBGKJoY-v2f3m2kfnH8Oc5yLXWx8Isc8Tr6lgphfHV3ihNpkFLbRiTglgqJXir5sGKxZX2Tovs-CpVOM9h7De2h3zMbLs/s1600/meaghan2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="566" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmmLPF5XOvP_zzEKFUmpYkQAhfr2h1j7XHZdKlrpLZb1PWlRBGKJoY-v2f3m2kfnH8Oc5yLXWx8Isc8Tr6lgphfHV3ihNpkFLbRiTglgqJXir5sGKxZX2Tovs-CpVOM9h7De2h3zMbLs/s320/meaghan2.JPG" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For example, Amy face swaps with<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdcFbM-kKy-KvAerjooKhyIjKSy7o_b0zzsN_ITb6NjNBr_uf1iRP-G7m4Ofwgwk4ZC7o0BPBmR5fOqZpW096jygjBUYWD5HtVMNfXQxPk7t_G-54ev7snXP9R7-iM67AjB14HmOSaL0/s1600/unnamed.jpg" target="_blank"> Meaghan</a>!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcBnNUxsBSXtqkGQf4BOxMX04dKQerZFRXi-kaT3c__JA80TnNo_JJ2JYa7FxF-v5Lj-sp_b2d2vYmsSyP1Pqg56bv9Imc5t27riodIJFBOnwsb9iqcQYI2NeEpqiaLC48qOrtK9ZKP0/s1600/meaghan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcBnNUxsBSXtqkGQf4BOxMX04dKQerZFRXi-kaT3c__JA80TnNo_JJ2JYa7FxF-v5Lj-sp_b2d2vYmsSyP1Pqg56bv9Imc5t27riodIJFBOnwsb9iqcQYI2NeEpqiaLC48qOrtK9ZKP0/s320/meaghan.JPG" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It doesn't always work out so well....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So here's a fun matching game for you! Can YOU guess that paleontologist?? Our plan is to introduce people to the faces of paleontology but on Amy's face (only one is fictional, several are dead). Consider this a sign that you've made it: people know you are if Amy puts your face on her face - unless you have no hair or glasses or beard, because then you just look... kinda like Amy's face (Sorry Chris Kirk, but that was too weird to share).<br />
<br />
Speaking of: Uh fair warning, some of these are pretty disturbing. Amy really needs to stop sending these to Meaghan late at night because she opens them in the morning and is FUCKING HORRIFIED. Proceed at your on risk.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We'll start with an easy one:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZRbR4CqZNK5_ZKz4psSmD5zmrBX6F5Ev2J0VTQbpfbncAyst0_E87NHIMngacxwUutroiC5aSP-d6f1yLwV7cfKu1dNhnKuVdxUSoeBelDLjZ-EgvofpgW4lRUdTwSkEJc2mCa9bVX0/s1600/Darwin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZRbR4CqZNK5_ZKz4psSmD5zmrBX6F5Ev2J0VTQbpfbncAyst0_E87NHIMngacxwUutroiC5aSP-d6f1yLwV7cfKu1dNhnKuVdxUSoeBelDLjZ-EgvofpgW4lRUdTwSkEJc2mCa9bVX0/s320/Darwin.JPG" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who am I?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
This fine gentleman loves turtles and finches, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and long walks on beaches where he </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
can watch the marine iguanas swim. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He wrote a really important book that </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Undergraduates have loathed reading ever since. </div>
</div>
<br />
It's Charles Darwin, of course!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br />Okay no more give-aways. The rest of the answers are at the bottom of this post. How well did you do?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tKmxHQDoIjcM03cSXcikPZsd1rUjpTtyVc0rXFYnT1NfvBWaO_mFcEC3FITu5_Cx4sLviA6C6RdVWMpUdBPkrzvYlxC5j7JAdOKVGQMltZ73Zx1mgBehz4rkBCTsFFEglqyrxkHxe_U/s1600/bakker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="637" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tKmxHQDoIjcM03cSXcikPZsd1rUjpTtyVc0rXFYnT1NfvBWaO_mFcEC3FITu5_Cx4sLviA6C6RdVWMpUdBPkrzvYlxC5j7JAdOKVGQMltZ73Zx1mgBehz4rkBCTsFFEglqyrxkHxe_U/s320/bakker.JPG" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1. Celebrity Paleontologist.<br />
Gives super epic talks.<br />
Meaghan and Amy have both taken sneaky selfies<br />
with him because of their love of his book.<br />
A real dinosaur renaissance man.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGXjT6R0aliUH-8FKLx8JlhlbcfbhMF_Vdh_IIGLzos9YQ81wLP1nxB5Y0BQpN5HRVO-P5x52W0uyainlFvg7re2vtzGZr1dinDQ77YwUHKBiFVja8ZGBULXPXOAjW23vdK547eX0TeWo/s1600/david+levering.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="635" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGXjT6R0aliUH-8FKLx8JlhlbcfbhMF_Vdh_IIGLzos9YQ81wLP1nxB5Y0BQpN5HRVO-P5x52W0uyainlFvg7re2vtzGZr1dinDQ77YwUHKBiFVja8ZGBULXPXOAjW23vdK547eX0TeWo/s320/david+levering.JPG" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2. (We warned you that it'd be disturbing.)<br />
This individual leads great museum trips you should<br />
send your kids to, <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">makes a mean homebrew but talks too much </span><br />
about it, <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">and studies the way mammals run</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhszQPLC038mIm7pe703HtRp6-q8yQ6JbEJO-8YVRWrcBkP7G357hdOy2XTLOrPL3Fh_pqeNeeOR1UIF5lmtW-jwd8v3087FA5TE3Wk6onuNfMWhrRJIWnWwQg5w9wcZ9dkyCBwx65CurE/s1600/david+polly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhszQPLC038mIm7pe703HtRp6-q8yQ6JbEJO-8YVRWrcBkP7G357hdOy2XTLOrPL3Fh_pqeNeeOR1UIF5lmtW-jwd8v3087FA5TE3Wk6onuNfMWhrRJIWnWwQg5w9wcZ9dkyCBwx65CurE/s320/david+polly.JPG" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3. This paleontologist is super 3D, but a bit of a shrew.<br />
Not really, please don't take that pun too literally,<br />
he's actually super nice... </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9StrSQw55gGGgOZizN0rIYWMTPz402fwt7jdrVwfqzuSOB3rSc8Cc-y_CSr7hMlfpAwBzPPYgcrvKs6Yn-mdsfXHu8e1P8XFIX_nTpYlXtS_B98KGIs1cyWP00Lgl-i01dz4dCE4Ttyg/s1600/phil+gingerich.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="596" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9StrSQw55gGGgOZizN0rIYWMTPz402fwt7jdrVwfqzuSOB3rSc8Cc-y_CSr7hMlfpAwBzPPYgcrvKs6Yn-mdsfXHu8e1P8XFIX_nTpYlXtS_B98KGIs1cyWP00Lgl-i01dz4dCE4Ttyg/s320/phil+gingerich.JPG" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4. Has the face-on-Amy's-face that nightmares are made of.<br />
Monkey & whale man.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4z0XOMRVnTSuI0bfNW6KrO0XW1k3yKxw98_nJvXFqQcUcJNocOylehxd7R6vQ721C0epddM0to0D6wYGDGP3WJcfr5RO3dXrk7HdoD7jpu3xqDic0yuXEShm5fUcc7LMUKbTTlUXfMT4/s1600/mary+anning.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="631" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4z0XOMRVnTSuI0bfNW6KrO0XW1k3yKxw98_nJvXFqQcUcJNocOylehxd7R6vQ721C0epddM0to0D6wYGDGP3WJcfr5RO3dXrk7HdoD7jpu3xqDic0yuXEShm5fUcc7LMUKbTTlUXfMT4/s320/mary+anning.JPG" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5. This one should be obvious, though not through looks<br />
since she looks like a crayon just melted on Amy's face.<br />
Mother of Paleontology.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWltPbFrW5akIRz9zcn591ZBVd2NlYaBjSDOmgxH79r8_wWOcbdWR5suF7blpfAYkn3clnl8OPmz9qLFgVC-URoWLqrk3CZnAEOUUtiFOFtU3UxnpAlYZ1Uo73-54kOnnPheTL7xiWgk/s1600/Jim+Kirkland.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWltPbFrW5akIRz9zcn591ZBVd2NlYaBjSDOmgxH79r8_wWOcbdWR5suF7blpfAYkn3clnl8OPmz9qLFgVC-URoWLqrk3CZnAEOUUtiFOFtU3UxnpAlYZ1Uo73-54kOnnPheTL7xiWgk/s320/Jim+Kirkland.JPG" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6. Dino dude from Utah. Apparently wrote a<br />
Star Trek novel, thanks Wikipedia!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzL_KbmzzdOCcGcQgAEL6HYVde6mcEGh6M9G0LoweKSmHb4AEuhNLUuGCcMFe41Xs7gSukDZZFJWwn-rONWTgUAgI4JgM-z9doeoeVR7ocf_ZRG_CsBtE5KpYPwrIPDySk6Yz9-x1mqE/s1600/pat+holroyd.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="626" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzL_KbmzzdOCcGcQgAEL6HYVde6mcEGh6M9G0LoweKSmHb4AEuhNLUuGCcMFe41Xs7gSukDZZFJWwn-rONWTgUAgI4JgM-z9doeoeVR7ocf_ZRG_CsBtE5KpYPwrIPDySk6Yz9-x1mqE/s320/pat+holroyd.JPG" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7. Badass paleo lady from sunny California,<br />
likes climate and how it kills animals.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGgd_IzegzcnhRDir8hN1K1NZMn-cAOjwApLdF_f_USvnvmY-Q7WnomKtkCHsm0YQ0EvY5mcbC6cTFXmjGX74KxwydGokDYNYhskcJfdE89_9i9V5UwWV1ZMBAuoFUqCW-OUOqrdFijo/s1600/barnum+brown.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGgd_IzegzcnhRDir8hN1K1NZMn-cAOjwApLdF_f_USvnvmY-Q7WnomKtkCHsm0YQ0EvY5mcbC6cTFXmjGX74KxwydGokDYNYhskcJfdE89_9i9V5UwWV1ZMBAuoFUqCW-OUOqrdFijo/s320/barnum+brown.JPG" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8. Mr. Bones. Croc and dino enthusiast,<br />
loooooong dead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ2BCik7Uz8WOgERUhK3rES6EvbniVqZ0UAzob3EzfmIungxtINEEfEdTEjgal2U9sWo5KRzN4ZWsXh_7KgFULzXq0gxywCpESfpzQj5O9-xgEMgVYn1W0VILmwGbJuNsxoSWZl6uXNK8/s1600/jack+horner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="629" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ2BCik7Uz8WOgERUhK3rES6EvbniVqZ0UAzob3EzfmIungxtINEEfEdTEjgal2U9sWo5KRzN4ZWsXh_7KgFULzXq0gxywCpESfpzQj5O9-xgEMgVYn1W0VILmwGbJuNsxoSWZl6uXNK8/s320/jack+horner.JPG" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">9. He sat in a corner, eating his Christmas Pie<br />
Says <i>Torosaurus</i><br />
Is maybe no more-us<br />
Which made all the paleontologists cry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKElkwxQB5DfHyVz53_r7ucrnqvBcziJCa3nOPfNXbmaLYntGnhrP5jFmwu6AcCSc1DlEBDE0OgLmQkonLsdmMz4DaceR4SXaXbVgYD99gpklYMZGcvUH98EA31XHWdk9X_Usb67-UyY/s1600/C.+Janis.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX-W24E2KkDmd1-eKE8-lUclUAX9HWw1kfO8snxSuvsDXZuG0QHNSUj0XyRGac-HrdBsCx-AX6eiCBD0XmcbE73kmJdfl7xbOBDqCW_NeOXMY_ZMGP7RyB5_MCjS_LhhC5WZuLnXg_STU/s1600/alan+grant.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="634" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX-W24E2KkDmd1-eKE8-lUclUAX9HWw1kfO8snxSuvsDXZuG0QHNSUj0XyRGac-HrdBsCx-AX6eiCBD0XmcbE73kmJdfl7xbOBDqCW_NeOXMY_ZMGP7RyB5_MCjS_LhhC5WZuLnXg_STU/s320/alan+grant.JPG" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10. Somehow managed to use ground penetrating radar<br />
to make a perfect image of a <i>Velociraptor</i><br />
<i>T. rex</i> would love to eat him.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKElkwxQB5DfHyVz53_r7ucrnqvBcziJCa3nOPfNXbmaLYntGnhrP5jFmwu6AcCSc1DlEBDE0OgLmQkonLsdmMz4DaceR4SXaXbVgYD99gpklYMZGcvUH98EA31XHWdk9X_Usb67-UyY/s1600/C.+Janis.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKElkwxQB5DfHyVz53_r7ucrnqvBcziJCa3nOPfNXbmaLYntGnhrP5jFmwu6AcCSc1DlEBDE0OgLmQkonLsdmMz4DaceR4SXaXbVgYD99gpklYMZGcvUH98EA31XHWdk9X_Usb67-UyY/s320/C.+Janis.JPG" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11. She loves the pretty ponies<br />
Clippity Clop, Clippity Clop<br />
She studies how their teeth evolved<br />
Clippity Clop, Chippity Chop,<br />
She loves to study their crown height within their lower jaw,<br />
Their co-evolution with grasslands will fill your mind with awe!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg848T0N9afaHeI8-ZYmV13pLQiRkKKK6YAvZ0KXGijIAZeab7IcqnrkIEszI1YvBqQTuYD-1ehN0kD9uXYQ7be2zRl7HPJGLD0XNYulKK9zJPkF-H0oRgwBcAEoCIgjomMAdfcY2wQU/s1600/IMG_1207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg848T0N9afaHeI8-ZYmV13pLQiRkKKK6YAvZ0KXGijIAZeab7IcqnrkIEszI1YvBqQTuYD-1ehN0kD9uXYQ7be2zRl7HPJGLD0XNYulKK9zJPkF-H0oRgwBcAEoCIgjomMAdfcY2wQU/s320/IMG_1207.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12. & 13. Super dead frenemies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7e8rwYgfgYNd0ikowfcshKv4uJ6U8nGrX3ZtDFDhj2di9b6rNdx8zPWEV8wjdCq7icAkfN46Yrpy4UiIODDjp6XV9VW6Y3elSFeMTnXGkg8kpWPiWczpEATpppTYDdWxMBUw4y6817lE/s1600/edward+B+Davis.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="625" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7e8rwYgfgYNd0ikowfcshKv4uJ6U8nGrX3ZtDFDhj2di9b6rNdx8zPWEV8wjdCq7icAkfN46Yrpy4UiIODDjp6XV9VW6Y3elSFeMTnXGkg8kpWPiWczpEATpppTYDdWxMBUw4y6817lE/s320/edward+B+Davis.JPG" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">14. Antlers, horns, and ossicones, oh my!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVUp0BhNzOVC_Fuu7UA8Nm3D9YAINMJ1f-_S6WZ3pfXzRWPoB1HqQniDOKz8gD2TvHHYuS5zyRn1bdV0WXCxHcGtHYvJFJEWXZcruxg_LtSkRT-M9UZR0KRKmblKSKK80Du2SGogDC6M/s1600/Catherine+Badgley.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVUp0BhNzOVC_Fuu7UA8Nm3D9YAINMJ1f-_S6WZ3pfXzRWPoB1HqQniDOKz8gD2TvHHYuS5zyRn1bdV0WXCxHcGtHYvJFJEWXZcruxg_LtSkRT-M9UZR0KRKmblKSKK80Du2SGogDC6M/s320/Catherine+Badgley.JPG" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15. How did climate kill the mammals?<br />
How did mountains kill the mammals?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLK9p8B0gTE9v2LiXXHCsgTl0QBX4LDNXL3ZGpqol4wskTcH38171of5lWB5fkjSZLpz-1ek1WU8whnThK-JOMHkCSZ953r1tJnU5FYbrERniN-LFiyki17gnVOxTdHG6dERfyI4els8/s1600/John+Bloch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLK9p8B0gTE9v2LiXXHCsgTl0QBX4LDNXL3ZGpqol4wskTcH38171of5lWB5fkjSZLpz-1ek1WU8whnThK-JOMHkCSZ953r1tJnU5FYbrERniN-LFiyki17gnVOxTdHG6dERfyI4els8/s320/John+Bloch.JPG" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">16. The hair is a huge hint here.<br />
Likes snakes that are even bigger than his ponytail.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8Nqgv6QHZf4qnivdExhgOglqThoPaEtHnU31YCu9zgBx-WBbBLVnePRR6O87jCKLkFt4Abwy7JIUmM6TMYOJR7CvOSgyDUXcqdVYss56d5bTCVRnjlwiK-TLxIye5-r7tvDUwzQW13o/s1600/greg+retallack.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8Nqgv6QHZf4qnivdExhgOglqThoPaEtHnU31YCu9zgBx-WBbBLVnePRR6O87jCKLkFt4Abwy7JIUmM6TMYOJR7CvOSgyDUXcqdVYss56d5bTCVRnjlwiK-TLxIye5-r7tvDUwzQW13o/s320/greg+retallack.JPG" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">17. Dirt dirt dirt, lichens lichens lichens,<br />
messes with your Ediacaran worldview.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3MhDfnkpEfPrv1rzB9HNMoB63C0XSpXIJFaFV_jYBRgR8MuI4mP4Fs5LJ6ppMHmYcpvzOdxzgQJGDgWE3Me1uouXPf6NA7hfSGlmuhcKtp4dTnQB0PzvOb_k2hH4DDEhpVg8V6mVrR0/s1600/john+scannella.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3MhDfnkpEfPrv1rzB9HNMoB63C0XSpXIJFaFV_jYBRgR8MuI4mP4Fs5LJ6ppMHmYcpvzOdxzgQJGDgWE3Me1uouXPf6NA7hfSGlmuhcKtp4dTnQB0PzvOb_k2hH4DDEhpVg8V6mVrR0/s320/john+scannella.JPG" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">18. OH PLEASE DON'T FIRE AMY<br />
Likes <i>Triceratops</i>, but eff <i>Torosaurus</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0CACzoR0tJb7Zt-BlXl7ISC1pFhp_Q5UY9vq0jXe7UMLbeNLhq6jcjLpYYzXlsn0n5DT-33XsaPU2hR0HONeAy_hLYeTdjOiR-CqWNJpiprHne3FLSF9nWQakQrcOnKNYasZjrbW9Kc/s1600/IMG_1209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0CACzoR0tJb7Zt-BlXl7ISC1pFhp_Q5UY9vq0jXe7UMLbeNLhq6jcjLpYYzXlsn0n5DT-33XsaPU2hR0HONeAy_hLYeTdjOiR-CqWNJpiprHne3FLSF9nWQakQrcOnKNYasZjrbW9Kc/s320/IMG_1209.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">19. & 20. Hint, famous paleoanthro couple. <br />They found the dead monkeys in Africa. <br />You know, THOSE monkeys.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsiVyVicUn0DcGblhSSIGjSyvkOGmSR7fdlR2qwZPdpVmQa14heITILCJ0-gWNuWmTPHsXI8CHkzP0h-kImz0ImnA9ZYf0OcHt6MNBsnFcvaOumoko6gNqA0tkqNkTyXGSx0VMyndAgWo/s1600/nick+famoso.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="634" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsiVyVicUn0DcGblhSSIGjSyvkOGmSR7fdlR2qwZPdpVmQa14heITILCJ0-gWNuWmTPHsXI8CHkzP0h-kImz0ImnA9ZYf0OcHt6MNBsnFcvaOumoko6gNqA0tkqNkTyXGSx0VMyndAgWo/s320/nick+famoso.JPG" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">21. A horse is a horse, of course of course<br />
But he can talk to a horse of course<br />
...or at least a lot about them.<br />
Also volcanoes now.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggSJfl4_ctEgT9g85QMw-01pWcBDDzjdBA0z70eVB1EN-AKZ1sQLBRmvAnOjl2tpE4EUwpd1mFLuZxGDD9wu1tVL44-QyNyOtzc60SCDPwg6Ax8ZsOAWk1uLhGSqFYo2yxEP6zFVIMl8/s1600/scott+williams.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="636" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggSJfl4_ctEgT9g85QMw-01pWcBDDzjdBA0z70eVB1EN-AKZ1sQLBRmvAnOjl2tpE4EUwpd1mFLuZxGDD9wu1tVL44-QyNyOtzc60SCDPwg6Ax8ZsOAWk1uLhGSqFYo2yxEP6zFVIMl8/s320/scott+williams.JPG" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">22. Weird man who likes twitter but not instagram or<br />
other hip millenial things.<br />
Also dinosaurs. He likes those, too. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6WcqOUesddgYROy-qbD0SEfkHlhxObrw067sWXQ9Ho_HONSitdoccEYpaPtad_d5EwI3ApuW0UFbtKKYpc4SX1-ZCmeGc30jTXBy3cxBCSUoprBkRzr3332UE0s65H7UpIUw0ofQA-eQ/s1600/paul+sereno.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="859" data-original-width="637" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6WcqOUesddgYROy-qbD0SEfkHlhxObrw067sWXQ9Ho_HONSitdoccEYpaPtad_d5EwI3ApuW0UFbtKKYpc4SX1-ZCmeGc30jTXBy3cxBCSUoprBkRzr3332UE0s65H7UpIUw0ofQA-eQ/s320/paul+sereno.JPG" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">23. The one earring really works here.<br />
Most beautiful man in the field, according to People. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KgJXQXEVvrUmjB8vzgSPvRqzUNQDHqAPnKiO3LS1xOrWt-doSXU3noI3RiRnGJodS16aTvZ_2QFP7v03D8p8a8GaJZhSucw0TCDcmaHzhPlyMgp6V9-T116-ad67NGm5ebIVhNYWEec/s1600/rebecca+HF.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="636" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KgJXQXEVvrUmjB8vzgSPvRqzUNQDHqAPnKiO3LS1xOrWt-doSXU3noI3RiRnGJodS16aTvZ_2QFP7v03D8p8a8GaJZhSucw0TCDcmaHzhPlyMgp6V9-T116-ad67NGm5ebIVhNYWEec/s320/rebecca+HF.JPG" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">24. Meaghan's #1 Twitter Science crush (and Amy's Instagram).<br />
Has our dream field job.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKReWqjQbFc9bUzNVEZePVajZEEW5g05nKGf62-yEi7cLvtp0I1en17sQRa9ymHXZpIZzQXarLR_ODd40EzLV3ObaYoZdo8bWRQy__sBQGA3WxqlK7EgTxPcMmDXrpuExmyBQtUDDPEMk/s1600/IMG_1208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKReWqjQbFc9bUzNVEZePVajZEEW5g05nKGf62-yEi7cLvtp0I1en17sQRa9ymHXZpIZzQXarLR_ODd40EzLV3ObaYoZdo8bWRQy__sBQGA3WxqlK7EgTxPcMmDXrpuExmyBQtUDDPEMk/s320/IMG_1208.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
A Cruisin' Couple!</div>
<div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
25. Loves fish to a weird degree. Sings about them sometimes,</div>
<div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
draws them even more. </div>
<div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
26. <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">His eyebrows are not as big as they appear here.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
Televised over a mass of snow.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQMoRIV-9HzT-uUYfrcGQoeUUU1RSIjs-71i0-Ksvk5RQbtGTRlEADKeNSDIUCe5Pt8XO3uX2fbcJBQ1woXSq_BZVTwZYHtxzlyChJrJU_uNqeGH1z4V7hfnBSwAp9QRPCkR2wu84nHg/s1600/IMG_1206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="629" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQMoRIV-9HzT-uUYfrcGQoeUUU1RSIjs-71i0-Ksvk5RQbtGTRlEADKeNSDIUCe5Pt8XO3uX2fbcJBQ1woXSq_BZVTwZYHtxzlyChJrJU_uNqeGH1z4V7hfnBSwAp9QRPCkR2wu84nHg/s320/IMG_1206.JPG" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">27. Studies dead mice. <br />Many dead mice. <br />Where did they live? How big did they grow?<br />Some had horns that grew on their head<br />Regardless of their adaptations they're mostly dead<br />They're dead they're dead they're dead they're dead<br />Studies dead mice </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFbwdP6xhLEwqBV2WBKQzrc8kR1CU0MMI6ddeyKO1EiOAXzQE3HpxJpFxwAt5W2UB55FRH60w0Hi6wuU7DOdClnexnwSUlFCUiqzzD8YKUR21dVBs3N0ZU3rOqTqAclW4dRBjG-OGml4/s1600/prothero.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="632" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFbwdP6xhLEwqBV2WBKQzrc8kR1CU0MMI6ddeyKO1EiOAXzQE3HpxJpFxwAt5W2UB55FRH60w0Hi6wuU7DOdClnexnwSUlFCUiqzzD8YKUR21dVBs3N0ZU3rOqTqAclW4dRBjG-OGml4/s320/prothero.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">28. Talks to all the skeptics, and writes many books.<br />
One of the few, the proud, the paleo-mag people. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAXa5pFWyD_03OC47PCdzopkY0aCtZEIatLWqO3qBr-7dW98qirepYxMAby9mEXtVzBlBVNU9ovVJCrB10-XPsCkuldqcFRSdnC1p61nQkxxzxG3PgvGI2tFk77xoYEVQG-kryRSPw_E/s1600/Richard+Owen.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS8MWxHJqkZWMKkPIpR0a8jfeHSwCU6nT2hf1vRh77a9xFT2ptctgnHB-QgOUyGtW3hS6nqFwKy7-Q3UrSgRA3ECdRed7D9IEKYs_FnYEX1ch8eDrYzDTiMA00BBNCoppoyVDA_xXP2SU/s1600/Tilly+Edinger.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="623" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS8MWxHJqkZWMKkPIpR0a8jfeHSwCU6nT2hf1vRh77a9xFT2ptctgnHB-QgOUyGtW3hS6nqFwKy7-Q3UrSgRA3ECdRed7D9IEKYs_FnYEX1ch8eDrYzDTiMA00BBNCoppoyVDA_xXP2SU/s320/Tilly+Edinger.JPG" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">29. Horse brains and Mother of SVP</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bFxsx6Nh3BXFQ6diZwcA81_BIn60R__mxaWc3ohLsv26yE90IPIe2NIM0JIRhvP52gUGsqHnbhi7cZJpAQEsh3-CSTrZcsRqB5v9-wOSEAydjKbV3Imdv5A_10_6d3v4nODA8WnwAJ4/s1600/ted+fremd.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bFxsx6Nh3BXFQ6diZwcA81_BIn60R__mxaWc3ohLsv26yE90IPIe2NIM0JIRhvP52gUGsqHnbhi7cZJpAQEsh3-CSTrZcsRqB5v9-wOSEAydjKbV3Imdv5A_10_6d3v4nODA8WnwAJ4/s320/ted+fremd.JPG" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">30. Writes a mean haiku.<br />
More buddist than you.<br />
Great beauty is in the field. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
ANSWERS!!!<br />
1:
Robert Bakker; 2: David Levering; 3: David Polly; 4: Phil Gingerich; 5:
Mary Anning; 6: James Kirkland; 7: Patricia Holroyd; 8: Barnum Brown;
9: Jack Horner; 10: Alan Grant; 11: Christine Janis; 12: Edward D. Cope;
13: Marsh; 14: Edward Byrd Davis; 15: Catherine Badgley; 16: John
Bloch; 17: Greg Retallack; 18: John Scannella; 19: Louis Leakey; 20:
Mary Leakey; 21: Nick Famoso; 22: Scott Williams; 23: Paul Sereno; 24:
Rebecca Hunt-Foster; 25: Ray Troll; 26: Kirk Johnson; 27: Samantha Hopkins; 28:
Don Prothero; 29: Tilly Edinger; 30: Ted Fremd<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
BONUS ROUND! GUESS THAT FOSSIL HOMININ!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fBh-q9qENPSsH27le1Zi9BdIhtaJakgPpSkIUfib2dv4-kVTuc1z1aLCvyQinfFLkyKxeajv04A3bNsN4OaKcD18g8cLV9ln0g9yEYoL40cVBBkReRS-uGcQFQeAz0cqBhuSg9MZP7o/s1600/Neanderthal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="626" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fBh-q9qENPSsH27le1Zi9BdIhtaJakgPpSkIUfib2dv4-kVTuc1z1aLCvyQinfFLkyKxeajv04A3bNsN4OaKcD18g8cLV9ln0g9yEYoL40cVBBkReRS-uGcQFQeAz0cqBhuSg9MZP7o/s320/Neanderthal.JPG" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">31.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rtU5wXIzkmqmblyLe9FcpEQ2eGTfCX9uBnv8QURWd23OgIhkrjKLmUhwLxAWNKD3tc5B_1DAwBW3R1tBDE-vmDl_mTik44Dx56bDH6oFwgMOszWls5tSAvgzS_Yrjz1U_HOJELah9DM/s1600/H.+erectus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rtU5wXIzkmqmblyLe9FcpEQ2eGTfCX9uBnv8QURWd23OgIhkrjKLmUhwLxAWNKD3tc5B_1DAwBW3R1tBDE-vmDl_mTik44Dx56bDH6oFwgMOszWls5tSAvgzS_Yrjz1U_HOJELah9DM/s320/H.+erectus.JPG" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">32.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidLk9T6bUCDgmIBZKa19jlqOF70b9eGbCGoHRBzx4vwmxF19qblfALjBGuFonnOprIyZ0Bsp0AqLNMPew3TtRUZC1EhOP65IvLhlhBc43x43rx11taslbRTgjeTgQJikVKB6RENR4ZEY/s1600/Lucy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidLk9T6bUCDgmIBZKa19jlqOF70b9eGbCGoHRBzx4vwmxF19qblfALjBGuFonnOprIyZ0Bsp0AqLNMPew3TtRUZC1EhOP65IvLhlhBc43x43rx11taslbRTgjeTgQJikVKB6RENR4ZEY/s320/Lucy.JPG" width="259" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">33.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
Bonus Round!<br />
31: Neanderthal<br />
32: <i>Homo erectus</i>: Dmanisi skull, D2700<br />
33: "Lucy" <i>Australopithecus afarensis</i><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
HOW DID YOU DO????</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
0-10 correct: Uh-oh, are you SURE you're a paleontologist? Go to more conferences and stare at people who intimidate you!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
10-20 correct: You're getting there... stalker!!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
20-30 correct: Paleontology/Paleontologist Expert!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
30+ correct: HOT DAMN YOU HAVE STALKED EVERYBODY! YOU ARE CREEPIER THAN AMY! HATS OFF TO YOU!!!!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
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------------------<br />
<br />
<i></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><b>Thanks
for reading, send us your versions of the face-on-face paleontologist challenge! </b>Also, if you like this blog and want more content in
between posts, you can boost our egos by following us on Instagram (</span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mary_annings_revenge/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@Mary_Annings_Reveng</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">e for Amy, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nessielovesgobbles/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@NessieLovesGobbles</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"> for Meaghan's dogs), Twitter (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/MarysRevenge" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@MarysRevenge</a> for Meaghan, or <a href="https://twitter.com/AmyLynnAtwater" target="_blank">@AmyLynnAtwater</a> for Amy's rants about Teen Mom<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">), or Facebook (</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnningsRevenge/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">Mary Anning's Revenge</a> where we both contribute<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">).</span></i></div>
</div>
Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-19830565143656903302017-11-16T17:24:00.001-08:002017-11-16T17:24:54.966-08:00Do I Even Want To Go To This Grad School?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Congratulations! You are considering going to graduate school in some sort of STEM field*. Ahead of you are a mountain of applications and decisions, and just think - that sensation you have of <i>maybe I'm not worthy</i>? Yeah, get ready for a<a href="http://www.maryanningsrevenge.com/2015/03/teach-your-kids-about-imposter-syndrome.html" target="_blank"> LOT OF THAT</a>. It can be really intimidating to apply for graduate school, and lots of people get too stuck in the mind set of "well what if I'm not good enough" when what they really need to be focused on is whether or not the place they are going is good enough for them. There will be plenty of time for self-doubt once you get into graduate school, but trust us, this absolutely is a key time to be picky.</div>
<br />
But graduate school is a big life choice, and whether you have one school in mind or many different schools you now get to ask yourself the really awkward questions that will help you decide: <b>Do I Even Want to Go to This Graduate School?</b><br />
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<b>WHAT IS THIS? </b></h2>
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<a name='more'></a>Graduate schools programs come in <b> </b>all shapes, and so do students; make sure you're picking a program where you will excel, not one where you will flounder.<br />
<br />
<b>How many classes do I have to take to graduate?</b><br />
Meaghan had to take 16 real-kid credits over the entirety of her Ph.D.; Amy had to take a royal fuck-load just for her Master's (30+ credits). Programs are different, and you should pick one that matches you. Some people hate classes and some absolutely love them - it all depends on how you learn. It is also a good thing to keep in mind given the current tax plan that may or may not cause most graduate programs to collapse because t<a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwju2cDQtsTXAhVJ52MKHRTAAz8QqUMILjAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2017%2F11%2F14%2F563879136%2Fhouse-gop-tax-plan-would-hit-grad-students-with-massive-tax-hike&usg=AOvVaw0DXqsz20ZkbAaOtBaGtLzM" target="_blank">uition waivers will suddenly be taxed</a>... under that program, you're gonna want the fewer credits program for sure.<br />
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<b>What are comprehensive/qualifying exams like?</b><br />
When you're new to a Ph.D. program, you're called a student. Then at some point you take this series of rigorous, Hunger-Game-esque tests called your Qualifying Exams and you're suddenly a Ph.D. Candidate. These tests are totally different between programs but all programs have them. They are all terrifying, but you may find that one sounds radically more terrifying than another. Regardless, it's a good thing to know what you're getting yourself into. Also important to ask is <i>how many people fail? </i>and also, <i>what happens if I fail? </i>In some schools, comprehensive exams are used to weed people out early on and failing can result in expulsion... which may happen very frequently or not very commonly at all. If people regularly fail comprehensive exams and get kicked out of the program, it would be very much in your interest to ask why.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXl0gP9XUrkzArigDc1N0uI5TwhgeTpV-Im8AfI6B-rBYTdA2nivPme_qIxUMG_yfK4JrWZ68f_A0JqcJLJaKhRo26kPfYcvhmQFDDLuSpRSbDk6MEyjMc_AR9hlKY-kEAMxzJTs5UHOw/s1600/the_albino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="384" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXl0gP9XUrkzArigDc1N0uI5TwhgeTpV-Im8AfI6B-rBYTdA2nivPme_qIxUMG_yfK4JrWZ68f_A0JqcJLJaKhRo26kPfYcvhmQFDDLuSpRSbDk6MEyjMc_AR9hlKY-kEAMxzJTs5UHOw/s400/the_albino.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<b>What happens if I drop out?</b><br />
Look it happens. Sometimes people realize they don't want a Ph.D. or a Master's after all, or that they hate their program and need a change. If you come in as a Ph.D. student, how difficult is it to get a Master's? Backup plans are important, because you should never be in the head space of "if this doesn't go the way I wanted my life is over."<br />
<br />
Amy was accepted at UT Austin as a PhD student in physical anthropology, but her program required students to complete a Master's along the way. This worked out SUPER well for Amy, because she realized she was not a good fit for the program, completed the requirements for the Master's degree, and PEACED THE FUCK OUT for a sweet paleontology position at the Museum of the Rockies (yayayayayayay!).<br />
<br />
Things happen, be open to change and different routes. You are not failing if you drop out of graduate school, you are making an insanely hard choice that will benefit your overall happiness. It wasn't an over-night decision for Amy to drop out of UT, more like a slow accumulation of facts that could no longer be ignored. Speaking from experience, making this choice won't be easy in the lead-up, and it won't be easy in the aftermath: Amy definitely still struggles with the worry that people will think she's stupid because she left her program and that she couldn't handle the PhD. However, Meaghan and anyone who's ever spoken to Amy knows the truth: Amy is wicked smart, but Amy + Anthropology = sad face.<br />
<br />
So: when talking to grad schools, don't just prepare for the best outcome - is there a parachute out, or is the only degree the Ph.D.?<br />
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<b>WHO IS THIS?</b></h2>
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Some departments are full of amazing professors who love what they do and where they work, and have really happy and motivated graduate students. Others are full of brilliant people who aren't real strong in the people skills. Both of these can be functional programs, provided you pick the right one for you.<br />
<br />
<b>How happy are the graduate students?</b><br />
Look, if you're going to graduate school it needs to either be with people you like in a place you don't hate to live, or in a place that has a good enough reputation to be worth it in the end. If your coworkers are miserable, ask them why - chances are it's going to affect you too. Some specific questions to help you elicit the answers you need are: How do you get along with your advisor? How do you feel about the program? What are the biggest cons of the program here? If you could change one thing what would it be?<br />
<br />
<b>How happy are the faculty?</b><br />
Are you going to not have three certain people on the same committee because they'll act like hyenas with your thesis playing the freshly killed corpse? Are all of the professors secretly demons?<br />
<br />
<b>Is your advisor an asshole?</b><br />
There are a lot of different ways to mentor someone, and all of them are effective for the right person. Some people need a person to really push them, to be blunt and abrasive to help motivate them to finish. Others need good communication and lots of compliments to stay on task. Some students prefer self-direction, others like to be micro-managed. Figure out what your mentee preference is and see if your advisor can match it. You can outright ask them, for one, but also ask their students. Sometimes people think they mentor one way but actually act the other. <b> </b> <br />
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<b> AND NOW WE COME TO THE SUBJECT OF PAYMENT...</b></h2>
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Americans don't like talking about wages (a fact Meaghan read in a Chinese tour guide book on America 10 years ago) and there can be a tendency to want to avoid discussing the very fundamental fact of money when you're looking at a graduate program. This can be particularly difficult for people fresh from undergrad, where you spent money to get the education you received and it's hard to escape that mind set. But as a graduate student you are bringing education and research <u>to</u> your program and you deserve some form of compensation for that. Here are some sample questions you really need to ask, either of your advisor or of one of their graduate students:<br />
<br />
<b>What sort of payment do I get?</b><br />
Are students primarily research assistants or teaching assistants? How much specifically is the salary, and how many hours per week are you paid for? Most RAs or TAs are salaried, but often universities will quote the full-time salary even though they never pay anyone for more than halftime work, so it's important to clarify where that money is coming from and how much of it people take home.<br />
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Does the salary </b><b>cover the cost of living?</b><br />
2000$ dollars per month in Eugene is amazing, and in New York it is not. Are you going to have to take out more loans to cover your housing and food?<br />
<br />
<b>Is tuition fully waived?</b><br />
You should not be paying for your classes, especially since many programs have you taking "research credits" which would be you paying them so you could work for them, which is dumb. If your tuition is not fully waived, is the offered salary large enough to cover the remainder?<br />
<br />
<b>Are there benefits?</b><br />
Healthcare, dental, and vision packages are all becoming an important part of graduate program packages and are included in quotes as part of your payment. These things are particularly important for Ph.D. students - remember, you're going to get kicked off your parents healthcare at age 26, and trust me, you do NOT want to be paying healthcare bills yourself (this is also relevant for older Master's students).<br />
<br />
<b>What happens during the summers?</b><br />
Some schools don't offer funding during the summers. Do they have direct lines to other sources of income like internship placement?<b> </b><br />
<b> </b> <br />
<b> </b><br />
<b> Is my fellowship guaranteed?</b><br />
Are there more students than there are TAships? If so, what are the chances you'll get kicked off your fellowship in the future? Some fellowships are guaranteed but only after you've passed some sort of bar - maybe passed your candidacy exams or possibly after your first year. Sometimes only Ph.D. students get guaranteed fellowships.<br />
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<b>WHAT HAPPENS TO STUDENTS AFTER THEY GROW UP?</b></h2>
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Finally, you'll want to look into what happens to students that show up here. Not just are they miserable and starving (though VERY IMPORTANT), but where they get employed, and how long it takes them to graduate (and whether they will graduate at all). If students enter a department and get stranded, swimming in circles and never finding their true career path, that might be a department to avoid unless you are very, very self-motivated. If you want to enter the private industry but all the students go into academia, perhaps that department isn't a great fit for you.<br />
<br />
In the end, there are a lot of decisions that go into choosing a graduate school. Don't be afraid to turn down an offer, defer enrollment until later, or transfer if a school doesn't work out. Don't let your ambitions trap you in a place that isn't going to get you where you need to go - <i>especially </i>if it's going to lead you into debt or misery. As two people who have made it out of graduate school we can confirm: grad school is hard, so it'd better be damned well worth your time and energy.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*Like, this could theoretically be applicable to the humanities... but definitely not all. </span><br />
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<i><br /></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">Thanks for reading, and we hope you choose well - but remember, it's okay to change your mind later for whatever reason comes up. We're trying to post more regularly, but if you like this blog and want more content in between posts, you can boost our egos by following us on Instagram (</span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mary_annings_revenge/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@Mary_Annings_Reveng</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">e for Amy, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nessielovesgobbles/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@NessieLovesGobbles</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"> for Meaghan's dogs), Twitter (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/MarysRevenge" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">@MarysRevenge</a> for Meaghan, or <a href="https://twitter.com/AmyLynnAtwater" target="_blank">@AmyLynnAtwater</a> for Amy's brand new, totally under-used account<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">), or Facebook (</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnningsRevenge/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">Mary Anning's Revenge</a> where we both contribute<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">).</span></i>Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-39419756762984681972017-11-05T16:05:00.001-08:002017-11-07T18:23:23.382-08:00Interview with the Premiere Geology Doodle Humorist, Alana McGillis<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana McGillis is an awesome and hilarious paleoartist whose recently published book, “<u>Daring to Dig: Women in American Paleontology</u>” is the best book you’ll read all year. It’s an awesome combination of amazing facts, stories, and gorgeous illustration and it’s available now from the Paleontology Research Institution in Ithaca, New York! Alana is a graduate of Smith College in Massachusetts, where she fell in love with geology and storytelling, and now works in outreach at San Francisco Maritime National Park. Meaghan sat down with her for a Skype interview. Read the below interview for information about Alana, information about the book, and some really, really good cat geology puns - and for more of all three of those things, you can visit her website at </span><a href="https://www.alanamcgillis.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.alanamcgillis.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, or follow her on twitter at </span><a href="https://twitter.com/gillisdoodles" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@GilisDoodles</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>THE BOOK IS SO GOOD YOU GUYS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan was so excited she spontaneously grew extra chins</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">...wait u guys don't do that when ur excited?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell me about working at the Paleontology Research Institution in Ithaca New York! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It was a very cool job, I liked it a lot! I was actually hired initially as an internship at the Museum of the Earth, making comics. The director afterwards offered me a job as an assistant - he said “hey I can't offer you a job making comics, but I can offer you a job as my assistant and we’ll see what happens!” But I was an awful assistant! I should have been fired, I was the worst - I missed emails, I triple booked him, I was awful. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In between my awful assistant-ness I would be asked, “hey can you draw these trilobites” and do other sorts of things like that, and that was really nice. Actually I resigned because I was like, “you need a person that is actually good at this job! I really like it here and I think you should have someone who can be better than this.” Which he was like, “..yeah that seems like a good idea.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So pretty sad because I really loved working there, but then he came back at me a few months later was like “hey you want to illustrate this book on lady scientists?” and I was like “that's basically my dream job, so... YES!” So I got really lucky just to be where I was at the right time ‘cuz women in paleo has been something I really loved since I was in college and it was insane to be able to do my two favorite things, which was to draw and learn about all these great ladies and their science!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I mean who doesn't like those things right? So how did you get to become such a giant geology paleontology cartooning nerd?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I went to Smith college in Western Massachusetts, and I took a geology class and I was suddenly like - What! All these questions that I've had, and there's a whole thing where you can just be in awe everyday and learn the world is crazy? And then I took a history of life course and an invertebrate paleo course and I just kind of got really hooked. I mostly studied foraminifera - </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WHAT? And you got hooked off of foraminfera??</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For context, THESE are the ever exciting foraminfera...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana:</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah! I got hooked on the microscopic stuff, because there's just so much love and dedication poured into these tiny things. People are uncovering the mysteries of the Earth, all using these </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tiny</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> things! And I love to draw really tiny things so it felt nice to be able to do that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then I realized my senior year of college that I wasn't going to be a research scientist. It wasn't that I was bad at it, it's just that I wasn't happy. The only part that I really liked about geology was when I got to tell everybody else about how amazing it was! So I started doodling and I was asking around a little, like, is there a way to be a... geology doodler? Is that a thing? Is that a career path that I could take? </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then also just being in a woman's college there was so much cool history around. There were photographs of geology classes hung from the early 1900’s, late 1800’s where people would be in petticoats and have their rock hammers and horse-drawn carriages, and I would go through Smith's archives and do research. This professor in the in the ‘20s went into the field to study foraminifera! That, and paleoart are things that make Geology exciting for me - not just doing research, but but the history of how we've learned these things! </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*fans self*</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s your favorite thing to draw?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I just love earth science! The feeling that I had in my first earth science class was just like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh my God, I can't believe that there are answers to these questions, and also questions that I haven't been asking!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I get that kind of feeling when I get to draw that sort of stuff, geology stuff. I've got one about the ediacaran fauna that I love. That’s probably my favorite period of time, it's so weird! But I love drawing anything that just makes me feel like, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Geology is nuts, man! Everybody should get in on this!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_321717d37c774f16a62d93b32930a9de~mv2_d_1445_2135_s_2.png/v1/fill/w_386,h_570,al_c,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_321717d37c774f16a62d93b32930a9de~mv2_d_1445_2135_s_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="386" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_321717d37c774f16a62d93b32930a9de~mv2_d_1445_2135_s_2.png/v1/fill/w_386,h_570,al_c,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_321717d37c774f16a62d93b32930a9de~mv2_d_1445_2135_s_2.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You-should-be-Edia</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">carin</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’-about-this...
</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Image by Alana McGillis, Amazing Pun by Meaghan Wetherell)</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Alana: </b>I draw a lot of cephalopods. That’s just kind of what comes out. The book is a crazy project because I've been drawing for a long time but I definitely didn't feel like an illustrator, even when I was doing actual science illustrations in a museum. This is the first time that I'm like, oh no I did a </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thing! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Many of your Doodles and illustrations revolve around cat puns, so let's be honest how many cats do you have?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> None!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> None?!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think a lot of that cat puns come from me wanting a cat. I want to write this book that is called Learning Geology with Cats, and I don't know if anyone would buy that. I just thought it would be fun to compile all of my doodles into something. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_190af87ce4494bd48f05c131e9a58bda~mv2_d_2400_2000_s_2.png/v1/fill/w_653,h_545,al_c,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_190af87ce4494bd48f05c131e9a58bda~mv2_d_2400_2000_s_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="653" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_190af87ce4494bd48f05c131e9a58bda~mv2_d_2400_2000_s_2.png/v1/fill/w_653,h_545,al_c,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_190af87ce4494bd48f05c131e9a58bda~mv2_d_2400_2000_s_2.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cat Geology Doodles FTW</span><br />
(Image by Alana McGillis)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would use it, I would teach with that book for sure!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also thought maybe about just making posters, especially the volcanoes as cat one because that seems pretty popular. I’ve got a divergent plate boundary doodle with pizza, I've got a convergent plate boundary doodle with cats, but I don't have one for transform yet so I've got to think about that one! It's been in the back of my head for forever.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_4897544456f648779655c435bd18d5ea~mv2_d_1336_2048_s_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_372,h_570,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_4897544456f648779655c435bd18d5ea~mv2_d_1336_2048_s_2.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="372" height="400" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_4897544456f648779655c435bd18d5ea~mv2_d_1336_2048_s_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_372,h_570,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_4897544456f648779655c435bd18d5ea~mv2_d_1336_2048_s_2.webp" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">MOAR Cat Geology Doodles FTW</span><br />
(Image by Alana McGillis)</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_462035398"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_462035399"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So how did this project get started?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beth Stricker, who’s the author, who started the whole project - she's just got so much knowledge! When I first started working at the Museum she kind of just accosted me with this humongous book and file of all this stuff, and it was like Christmas! Like, ah, I can't believe you have all this information about all these ladies!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beth and I used to spend nearly every week for about 5 months just Skyping and checking in. She had completed the research pretty much at the beginning of the process, and then it was me working for months and months drawing and then coming back to the museum. I got this email once that was like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana we need you to fix something, the moon snail on the left-hand corner of this page is a juvenile but she did not find a juvenile!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This is a tiny background detail, without even a label, but I love working with scientists who are so accurate!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Were there any surprises along the way, any scientists that you learned about that you hadn’t known about before?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes! Winifred Goldring. She's one of my favorites! I'm a little disappointed that I didn't draw her in pants because she was all about field pants and she would mail them to other geologists like, “you have to try these new things, these are called</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> pants.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” Another person in the book gets a package of pants from her, and so I drew a tiny little package on her desk. I love that there are relationships between these ladies, like Katherine Palmer and Carlotta Maury were both students at Cornell and were best bros, so there's lots of photos of them hanging out together. Esther Applin and her two friends Alva and Hedwig helped her revolutionize the oil industry, so there were just these three 20-something young ladies changing the world! There's just a lot of lady friendships in the book that make me very very happy, and there were some women that didn't make it into the book that were also in this community.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_7f7d00a12a074f678733445a819138a0~mv2_d_4320_1440_s_2.png/v1/fill/w_1560,h_520,al_c,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_7f7d00a12a074f678733445a819138a0~mv2_d_4320_1440_s_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="800" height="212" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_7f7d00a12a074f678733445a819138a0~mv2_d_4320_1440_s_2.png/v1/fill/w_1560,h_520,al_c,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_7f7d00a12a074f678733445a819138a0~mv2_d_4320_1440_s_2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early illustration of "Daring to Dig", see the updated version in the book!<br />
written by Beth Stricker, illustrated by Alana McGillis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who are your favorite people that you encountered while writing this book?</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think my most favorite is Tilly Edinger. She was German and she was Jewish and she started the field of paleoneurology. She was really interested in horse brains. There aren't many natural horse endocasts (brain fossils) so she made her own out of skulls and some rubber! She was mostly interested in horse brain evolution.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But she was Jewish and she was living in Germany when the Nazis were a thing, and she had to hide out and her whole family died. She was able to come to the U.S. because other influential paleontologists were able to convince the government to protect her. She was deaf, too, so she had a lot of things of things to overcome, and she did a crazy amount of work anyway! She was just one of the coolest women to read about.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then Winifred Goldring, who I was just talking about with the pants -</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://trowelblazers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Goldringonarocksmall-580x860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://trowelblazers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Goldringonarocksmall-580x860.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="540" height="640" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Winifred & said pants</span><br />
(Photo From Trowelblazers.com)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: - she's very cool and she is very quirky, she drove around in a motor car with a little side car. There are lots of photos of her in the side car, and in pants, just running around. She wrote this crazy book about crinoids that's like 700 pages long. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihz55E-enCNNPZrtZuoeZw9QYhKn0_8Gzz1BRtFC7CNr7J_M_CARyuY6LXxRIx_9w1TPlTIerC27WLOu5FaIVAesis-UrpzGbnqej9CFkwtAaQVO-o2bkTYGHIkm0XHiXPJdg0NGhyphenhyphenx8/s1600/echinodramata.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihz55E-enCNNPZrtZuoeZw9QYhKn0_8Gzz1BRtFC7CNr7J_M_CARyuY6LXxRIx_9w1TPlTIerC27WLOu5FaIVAesis-UrpzGbnqej9CFkwtAaQVO-o2bkTYGHIkm0XHiXPJdg0NGhyphenhyphenx8/s400/echinodramata.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not actually from that book, but presumably very similar in content.</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Alana: </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's just so many that we couldn’t manage to fit in, which is why it's really cool that they're actually going to <a href="http://www.daringtodig.com/exhibition/" target="_blank">make an exhibit out of it</a>!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Oooooh!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's gonna be this huge beautiful <a href="http://www.daringtodig.com/exhibition/" target="_blank">exhibit</a> and it will go to all these museums across the country, and we'll talk about all these women in more depth and a lot of more modern women as well. We're going to be doing interviews - I don't know how many years we've been doing it for - but at GSA they're going to interview modern female paleontologists and work to preserve their stories. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just hope that girls read it! And boys read it... but also that girls read it. These ladies had some serious adventures... there's just a lot of adventures in the book, and if anyone wants to learn more they should go to <a href="http://daringtodig.com/">DaringToDig.com</a>. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like, there's a page about World War II Japanese balloon bombs and the woman who figured out where they were coming from based on the corals on them. There's a page about two lesbians - well you're not allowed to call them lesbians 'cuz it was before that time, so they were just companions... for 42 years - who explored the wild west and discovered discovered a crazy reptile. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2003/01/images/alexan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2003/01/images/alexan.jpg" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="400" height="323" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Annie Alexander and Louise Kellog, companions for 42 years.</span><br />
(Photo From UC Berkeley News) </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Alana: </b>There's a page about Phoebe Cohen, who's a modern professor at Williams College who studies the origins of complex life and what that might look like on other planets, there's a page about the oil industry... there's just so many crazy crazy things, such a variety! I know a lot of kids like dinosaurs so I'm hoping that they'll get excited about all of this stuff too, and maybe about microfossils too?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That might be a little bit of a stretch! I mean if you got into paleontology because of microfossils I guess somebody else potentially could find them cool… maybe. But I like that you work your own agenda into the story- Wear Pants! Look at Microfossils!</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> There's so many invertebrates! And I really want the kids to be okay with it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_08ec474df59e44a29cdc2c3beb7155ca~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_664,h_495,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_08ec474df59e44a29cdc2c3beb7155ca~mv2.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="664" height="297" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d1831_08ec474df59e44a29cdc2c3beb7155ca~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_664,h_495,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/7d1831_08ec474df59e44a29cdc2c3beb7155ca~mv2.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Invertebrates: let them woo you into science!</span><br />
(Image by Alana McGillis)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So how do people get a copy of this amazing book?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The best way you can get one is through the </span><a href="https://www.priweb.org/publications/bookstore.php" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PRI website</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but you can also order them through <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Dig-Adventures-American-Paleontology/dp/0877105219/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509651398&sr=1-1&keywords=Daring+to+Dig" target="_blank">Amazon</a>! </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Ok, last question. I have something I need your official opinion on! I also like to draw paleontology puns but I am not obsessed with cats, I am obsessed with </span><a href="http://www.maryanningsrevenge.com/2013/03/paleoart-osteostracan-jokes.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">extinct fish</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. So your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to judge the following 4 osteostracan puns. Also you have to accept it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlnW9OjWE8qcWrys0bkAjpRboZui963xMS0uqmCbt8dEPVfVRb3LSRSa-VuLhhCxKzK4DlsT4KHf3ywUG3-5ooeVLWFIDhdOf5MfveZ-JVnvIm4bD-j2ns5kgavV4C4nDaKVHixYqlok/s1600/osteostracorn.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="1358" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlnW9OjWE8qcWrys0bkAjpRboZui963xMS0uqmCbt8dEPVfVRb3LSRSa-VuLhhCxKzK4DlsT4KHf3ywUG3-5ooeVLWFIDhdOf5MfveZ-JVnvIm4bD-j2ns5kgavV4C4nDaKVHixYqlok/s1600/osteostracorn.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Osteostracorn.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes it’s so cute!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHv5CsJ4q4Awen3f4LeVXdyMXcrMqApg82UYUF7fpJ5NGJ1jAIo3HwL-kxn2QG01Zes2Vhah2btLvbMJA2zebyJu3rUM8R8eGUFYbG4Xy8g52Je5Ai-k1qOVvh4vBa0UKJEnv4IgXIu0/s400/osteostrincorn.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="305" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHv5CsJ4q4Awen3f4LeVXdyMXcrMqApg82UYUF7fpJ5NGJ1jAIo3HwL-kxn2QG01Zes2Vhah2btLvbMJA2zebyJu3rUM8R8eGUFYbG4Xy8g52Je5Ai-k1qOVvh4vBa0UKJEnv4IgXIu0/s400/osteostrincorn.png" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Osteostracorn.</span></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No! I don’t support that one!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzW8XWHFVMcNY6RFI0PLCYnoZyxqimnxNo2nSk9FYioJDx5ug4WkUCYHrjQdiDF9B0qj6t_6vX52l28pFXSUwg0UixGaMsQ2tyaR499wemGNn_DZUde_TRU2i5A5FXRHsKtK9gcKAFmU/s400/osteostrackan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="400" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzW8XWHFVMcNY6RFI0PLCYnoZyxqimnxNo2nSk9FYioJDx5ug4WkUCYHrjQdiDF9B0qj6t_6vX52l28pFXSUwg0UixGaMsQ2tyaR499wemGNn_DZUde_TRU2i5A5FXRHsKtK9gcKAFmU/s400/osteostrackan.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Osteostrackan</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*incoherent giggles*</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Uz6ZUFoZcKeEDwFmT-8Dadkefy5gW58eBwAxuQQd_fzwAz-JYyGb-TGb-zFESKIOvNm9WY8m7lcNSsqdfYNaunFssDJfZyzsSsGZ4XmHv4sejMINpIgOmqr9P_FBNjyjO2tuHbxAFlA/s1600/osteostracant.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1177" data-original-width="1501" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Uz6ZUFoZcKeEDwFmT-8Dadkefy5gW58eBwAxuQQd_fzwAz-JYyGb-TGb-zFESKIOvNm9WY8m7lcNSsqdfYNaunFssDJfZyzsSsGZ4XmHv4sejMINpIgOmqr9P_FBNjyjO2tuHbxAFlA/s1600/osteostracant.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Osteostracan’t</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I feel like this one should just be offered as a reaction gif.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeah, I feel like I should be incorporating it into daily conversation, like oh, I osteostracan’t do that.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alana: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It should probably be a T-Shirt. But yeah, I think with puns, the ones that make you the most mad are the ones that are the best, and the one that made me the most angry was the corn one. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaghan:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Well thank you for judging my osteostracan puns! I am so, so excited about this book - it combines my favorite elements of those old Highlights magazines that would focus on like, elephant evolution, but for ladies! Thank you so much for speaking with me, and everyone should get your </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.priweb.org/publications/bookstore.php" style="text-decoration: none;">awesome book via the Paleontology Research Institut</a>ion</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! Or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Dig-Adventures-American-Paleontology/dp/0877105219/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509651398&sr=1-1&keywords=Daring+to+Dig" target="_blank">Amazon</a>! Or they should just donate to <a href="http://www.daringtodig.com/give/" target="_blank">Daring to Dig</a> so we can see more awesome paleontology, and the rest of these awesome lady scientists and lady friendships!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;">Hey! Do you like reading this blog? Interested in more content? Reward our desperate burning need to know people like us by following us on Instagram (</span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mary_annings_revenge/" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;" target="_blank">@Mary_Annings_Reveng</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;">e for Amy, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nessielovesgobbles/" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;" target="_blank">@NessieLovesGobbles</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"> for Meaghan's dogs), Twitter (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/MarysRevenge" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;" target="_blank">@MarysRevenge</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;">), or Facebook (</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnningsRevenge/" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;" target="_blank">Mary Anning's Revenge</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;">).</span></i></span></div>
Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-15051212250482195812017-10-16T17:18:00.000-07:002017-10-16T17:20:46.791-07:00Social scientists are super hard coreSo Meaghan is currently working in Institutional Effectiveness (also called Institutional Research). There's a whole other blog post lurking behind that particular job, but most importantly for this (brief) article is the fact that as a member of IE she has now gone to two harrowing humanities/education-research-themed conferences, and has brought some very important information gleaned via rigorous social science cross training. Chiefly that social scientists are fucking HARD CORE.<br />
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Yes Rly. Let's face it: social science is the science geologists make fun of to make themselves feel better. It's part of why it gets the glommed on reputation of being "soft science," aka not particularly rigorous or thoroughly examined. Having sat through many, many social science talks, Meaghan can now very definitively say that is bullshit. Sure, there were some shitty talks that focused on anecdotal evidence with little to no sample size - but we've seen that in Paleontology too (<i>this specimen looks a little different - NEW SPECIES! #CopeAndMarsh #SchultzAndFalkenbach)</i>. On the whole, the talks she saw were empirically designed, fantastically implemented, and had some really interesting implications for the way we teach.<br />
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But that wasn't what was so hardcore.<br />
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Dear reader, have you ever heard about a little nightmare called a "Paper Presentation"?<br />
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It sounds so simple - you just present what your paper is on, full stop right? HAHAHA No. These crazy-ass gluttons for punishment actually put together panels of similar papers, present their shit, and then a demon they placed in the audience on purpose comes to the front, takes the microphone and <i>TEARS THEIR PAPERS APART IN FRONT OF EVERYONE THEY RESPECT AND LIKE.</i><br />
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Unlike when this happens in paleontology (where an angry audience member decided to give the presenter a piece of their - usually very old and poorly functioning- mind), this invited peer reviewer doesn't have 30 seconds to blurt out their rage... they have 20 minutes. If you, like both Meaghan and Amy, have ever slowed down your talking at the end of a presentation to run the clock on the time to ask questions, can you even <i>imagine </i>the pain of doing that for 20 full minutes?<br />
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The craziest thing is that the presenters actually signed up for that!<br />
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They said, "yes please, put me in a position where Reviewer 2 can tell me I suck to my face and also the faces of my committee and colleagues and potential future employers."<br />
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They said, "I'd like to sit at a banquet table in front of a room of 50 and be told that my study of diversity lacks perspective because my team of researchers isn't as diverse as our study group."<br />
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They said, "I'd like to turn progressively more red as I and the 4 other session presenters are berated for our lack of sample size and our delusions of statistical grandeur."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ripa5Ux4qFwGDi3iA1C1jbrAiIZQmCtnSmp4guh5e0VaZ7Dk7gAzrAD-2U7lBVi3NIxOUpaIsAsqMigm5ExtR-B7BJQQf7KMIbJq2Jy6sFSLib0BfU6HVQr0D2ZmUlYmDp6xt_bx4GE/s1600/owladmirer.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ripa5Ux4qFwGDi3iA1C1jbrAiIZQmCtnSmp4guh5e0VaZ7Dk7gAzrAD-2U7lBVi3NIxOUpaIsAsqMigm5ExtR-B7BJQQf7KMIbJq2Jy6sFSLib0BfU6HVQr0D2ZmUlYmDp6xt_bx4GE/s640/owladmirer.png" width="638" /></a></div>
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So the next time you encounter a social scientist, we want you to look that reputation of "softness" and kick it in the goddamned teeth. There ain't nothing soft about it - those folks got 20 lb balls, and diamond-hard ovaries. Their genitals are steel, their souls are pure, and we will never ever complain about getting cornered at a poster session ever again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZjPTruFmfhzKuLQopvNu9q097wrDCAW107ls8352EELsfUHwGRgd-baH3ZJtdb74JtUE5R9y_x6Y1xulZPi2ObOrokYUk19oas8gDFHzsR_WLwXDQFhgYqNMkM-7AWZoTHILU4bnY3I/s1600/thesemothafuckas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZjPTruFmfhzKuLQopvNu9q097wrDCAW107ls8352EELsfUHwGRgd-baH3ZJtdb74JtUE5R9y_x6Y1xulZPi2ObOrokYUk19oas8gDFHzsR_WLwXDQFhgYqNMkM-7AWZoTHILU4bnY3I/s640/thesemothafuckas.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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So here's to you, you crazy sons of bitches! The next time somebody UmActually's us, we'll think of you for strength. If you can suffer through your field's fires, we can handle a little bit of spluttered uninvited feedback.<br />
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Hey! Do you like reading this blog? Interested in more content? Reward our desperate burning need to know people like us by following us on Instagram (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mary_annings_revenge/" target="_blank">@Mary_Annings_Reveng</a>e for Amy, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nessielovesgobbles/" target="_blank">@NessieLovesGobbles</a> for Meaghan's dogs), Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/MarysRevenge" target="_blank">@MarysRevenge</a>), or Facebook (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnningsRevenge/" target="_blank">Mary Anning's Revenge</a>)<br />
<br />Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-54560392518800355982017-09-20T18:51:00.000-07:002017-09-20T18:51:07.637-07:00A Singularly Stupid Deluge of Dinosaur SelfiesThe town of Drumheller, Alberta is famous for being the home of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, a huge paleontology museum dedicated to the fossils of Canada (and beyond). There are lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of extinct chickens (aka dinosaurs) in Canada, so there are lots of dinos at the Royal Tyrrell, SO THERE ARE LOTS OF (really weird) DINOSAUR STATUES IN DRUMHELLER AND WE TOOK SELFIES WITH THEM ALL*!!!!!<br />
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Enjoy the photo montage of ridiculousness that ensues when two mammal paleontologists are vacationing in Canada. Or skip this post and come back in like 2-6 months when we finally write something new and/or meaningful again.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL4T595qf7_lb3BlnSjUyQs7rBFYlABRUAo7MaFgnKFNpCcvQ5eATAtjz36-4Ldnia3fHjXfik3jFHAR4irLQik3yHVaQzJJFfSuh2Nxt5uP5MQjVRk7J-DiPAOBHz08dVOT3E48lFL8c/s1600/IMG_1550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL4T595qf7_lb3BlnSjUyQs7rBFYlABRUAo7MaFgnKFNpCcvQ5eATAtjz36-4Ldnia3fHjXfik3jFHAR4irLQik3yHVaQzJJFfSuh2Nxt5uP5MQjVRk7J-DiPAOBHz08dVOT3E48lFL8c/s640/IMG_1550.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You know you want to see the rest of this dumbfuckery.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Diapsid Devotion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKuft7ION9EJSdg3IkZvbsdxYRwskXfB1-bMXW9K6ozvde1_kNDT-b5nIPt1ITnY1RSYfDQj3ILgAU3wwXhMZITJDANfpxhpEmuWFiKBbbMMDFhvq82hCzuq8ZwsG36YU_7RAKpG63XN0/s1600/IMG_6941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="640" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKuft7ION9EJSdg3IkZvbsdxYRwskXfB1-bMXW9K6ozvde1_kNDT-b5nIPt1ITnY1RSYfDQj3ILgAU3wwXhMZITJDANfpxhpEmuWFiKBbbMMDFhvq82hCzuq8ZwsG36YU_7RAKpG63XN0/s640/IMG_6941.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OH FUUUUUUCK</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLxAUhrb6znrXc6QRf_HT1mejkSP9Ahft63AbIOV37fefthT3OaDHskZvk0RwOaw9BkD0qpytVhPCrxnft_xoLYNhTKL5itIcm0BZTdqmbOLO0RzlA3OzKe6tULqNFEXXfLev9-Od_w1w/s1600/IMG_1492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLxAUhrb6znrXc6QRf_HT1mejkSP9Ahft63AbIOV37fefthT3OaDHskZvk0RwOaw9BkD0qpytVhPCrxnft_xoLYNhTKL5itIcm0BZTdqmbOLO0RzlA3OzKe6tULqNFEXXfLev9-Od_w1w/s640/IMG_1492.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sparkle fingers dinos</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2qLFhx0iUlvsKi6h55mJakGrcOXwmu-pqqDQcatCI3JGzqRu0XeNXmsNg44S96MCjJRf16bk6CNpm-bG4ppvfcOrfTmbluLwU-IqqBCFxqwoJpvQ0T8nL58u9nptXs1_KVnttPIgtjI/s1600/IMG_1494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2qLFhx0iUlvsKi6h55mJakGrcOXwmu-pqqDQcatCI3JGzqRu0XeNXmsNg44S96MCjJRf16bk6CNpm-bG4ppvfcOrfTmbluLwU-IqqBCFxqwoJpvQ0T8nL58u9nptXs1_KVnttPIgtjI/s640/IMG_1494.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FOR CANADA</td></tr>
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It was hard to capture the majesty and sheer size of this one, so we took a couple of different shots of it.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLRkYjdcfIL0bsgxWQUZoPZC8JrK6LPKt1lK0PD1LbPwgKhKzMfjXP0KVxK7CnwL_KTpz1Y1zv8UXGkqs5MLbx9ukflRwy9jBl-jvpHJiKAmygAphOialqLzotpWw-QFWYaybc1f9qt8/s1600/IMG_1497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1203" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLRkYjdcfIL0bsgxWQUZoPZC8JrK6LPKt1lK0PD1LbPwgKhKzMfjXP0KVxK7CnwL_KTpz1Y1zv8UXGkqs5MLbx9ukflRwy9jBl-jvpHJiKAmygAphOialqLzotpWw-QFWYaybc1f9qt8/s640/IMG_1497.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probably this didn't capture much majesty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwiSFeZUqPVFlcR1nwZomRsSGNzDMHGCAj5suAuGsfkgG-QMjPdcY7MYexcr-uLZkglBDz8dzP8eeauR6wVJ_PfqnbK8SDYp9QahJHmpqJYzan4AutgQGgTL8Rh8W9pIqlUQMZSyufet8/s1600/IMG_1502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwiSFeZUqPVFlcR1nwZomRsSGNzDMHGCAj5suAuGsfkgG-QMjPdcY7MYexcr-uLZkglBDz8dzP8eeauR6wVJ_PfqnbK8SDYp9QahJHmpqJYzan4AutgQGgTL8Rh8W9pIqlUQMZSyufet8/s640/IMG_1502.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toe Plank</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTtwvT5IdLcczfo0dEvfpdkDetR-MdN5FusiIf5nxKfAAqfpQBHyuqVeVD8sqdaXtJ7yb4UghWD9KKXK3X6YDp300BClcENtAfDqKgfdGnPRu4OmCdQK2qY9pDzEnLqL_0AIuxAb1xcRE/s1600/IMG_1509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTtwvT5IdLcczfo0dEvfpdkDetR-MdN5FusiIf5nxKfAAqfpQBHyuqVeVD8sqdaXtJ7yb4UghWD9KKXK3X6YDp300BClcENtAfDqKgfdGnPRu4OmCdQK2qY9pDzEnLqL_0AIuxAb1xcRE/s640/IMG_1509.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toe Flop</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxLVnbMUKLUL-VjecZ1k83W1ViJR7UZeGiNd17oFk-5PViPHvlNvz72n_U6f-kCKAkxUY_5D8JLX_vtn3mUSPyRdPehDzmw-PGUf46n4H2KbiKINhyphenhyphenQlmAJ34DyX9b4zzW9hFcExW-FU/s1600/IMG_1514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxLVnbMUKLUL-VjecZ1k83W1ViJR7UZeGiNd17oFk-5PViPHvlNvz72n_U6f-kCKAkxUY_5D8JLX_vtn3mUSPyRdPehDzmw-PGUf46n4H2KbiKINhyphenhyphenQlmAJ34DyX9b4zzW9hFcExW-FU/s640/IMG_1514.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See? It was big! REALLY big.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMqjTp5nRDoVmrlHs9oeBv7LOPCCzxdef3wtQvrseJvMeJLBLJz-PHQKjhAbMkgelFMHLwfT1s3PsTdLMmW19R_xXVFQswgb4qk-gG7sMBO1bMAHiqVkgFmbQxNs82OavrS28w-7uihg/s1600/IMG_1523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMqjTp5nRDoVmrlHs9oeBv7LOPCCzxdef3wtQvrseJvMeJLBLJz-PHQKjhAbMkgelFMHLwfT1s3PsTdLMmW19R_xXVFQswgb4qk-gG7sMBO1bMAHiqVkgFmbQxNs82OavrS28w-7uihg/s640/IMG_1523.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flossing would be really easy for this guy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-Eq2iwF3LYnpaS0lAAuO3ATuEVs05jNMufhHTDhRzfXn6tFN3dzrHfSOZ-rlTY_OKvb-frO9G8gcRyXRM4dJoaxcgW3jwcB4cYwaVqabSMo1rn_yXS8LpEMbEVghFMciVrU1F5oVzR8/s1600/IMG_1511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1203" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-Eq2iwF3LYnpaS0lAAuO3ATuEVs05jNMufhHTDhRzfXn6tFN3dzrHfSOZ-rlTY_OKvb-frO9G8gcRyXRM4dJoaxcgW3jwcB4cYwaVqabSMo1rn_yXS8LpEMbEVghFMciVrU1F5oVzR8/s640/IMG_1511.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Missed a key finger posing opportunity here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9OijD7CdlSWN60WueQBDURxebN6OAGnPzcrud_1dKEeWn7GK-qn2ILMfMKDvBDd-iof0SMFsYV1MQcioaC9YVLeoksQMYvfSvlg79iYVRZWiYRXvx8YhFX0fHGpMhD3KCzg7tTUjZDQ/s1600/IMG_1528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9OijD7CdlSWN60WueQBDURxebN6OAGnPzcrud_1dKEeWn7GK-qn2ILMfMKDvBDd-iof0SMFsYV1MQcioaC9YVLeoksQMYvfSvlg79iYVRZWiYRXvx8YhFX0fHGpMhD3KCzg7tTUjZDQ/s640/IMG_1528.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DEMONIC ADULT CERATOPSIAN (Amy is trying to flip her hair up into a frill but it didn't work so she looks ridiculus)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWr-IKDLiYmP0hBi9WsD_btBJR9VvgZB27f6IJH-0ShOBGxn0p7a_hDdEHna4kJUJgojWZOi5HQul9uw_ia6zBl9slLVnUISIoJ3HXZBDdeAF072WY_wihnD3dHXXzZs7270bOO4CdghQ/s1600/IMG_1534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWr-IKDLiYmP0hBi9WsD_btBJR9VvgZB27f6IJH-0ShOBGxn0p7a_hDdEHna4kJUJgojWZOi5HQul9uw_ia6zBl9slLVnUISIoJ3HXZBDdeAF072WY_wihnD3dHXXzZs7270bOO4CdghQ/s640/IMG_1534.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DISGRUNTLED BABY CERATOPSIAN</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQAyCN-WwcraxTVygTG-QgFxF9Sfs0mNS2IUDrVWUcSQ7DWKG9dBExbpjrBYEv7yw-xHPulNvoqLEUZglpysrzH0q-MCG5ZHzMSckooqp8F4RNmeIAnKQ6lVF26a9UrR1OneTg09Ud5o/s1600/IMG_1540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQAyCN-WwcraxTVygTG-QgFxF9Sfs0mNS2IUDrVWUcSQ7DWKG9dBExbpjrBYEv7yw-xHPulNvoqLEUZglpysrzH0q-MCG5ZHzMSckooqp8F4RNmeIAnKQ6lVF26a9UrR1OneTg09Ud5o/s640/IMG_1540.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DRIPPING BLOOD DINOSAUR</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjtMblUwWyQEph04VIU-FZmz1MwgIWAW_3_DXVIW0OHrGJySG6pwHYgDvhEqAoHcLTtCdZWPlitD6LdWxaxOAt6zYSW80wA_GN_V1AdF813v6oSmwhOL4mS2GlNveZ_m3-4UNe65P6is/s1600/IMG_1541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjtMblUwWyQEph04VIU-FZmz1MwgIWAW_3_DXVIW0OHrGJySG6pwHYgDvhEqAoHcLTtCdZWPlitD6LdWxaxOAt6zYSW80wA_GN_V1AdF813v6oSmwhOL4mS2GlNveZ_m3-4UNe65P6is/s640/IMG_1541.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fact that we didn't take a deliberate horn-as-boner photo will haunt us to our grave </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0wUmeOhouuWDmAc3tHzd1GZ6fF-HKgg3AoALp7zN_kLj2P0UTqLrdjDijeHumCdYTz2Bl_W9ZEitvCTDNLmKiFvZxa03ToVl8lw2m15BxshguzdEjQk4SEH04Aw5Xv3cWcFH7EjoWEs/s1600/IMG_1546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0wUmeOhouuWDmAc3tHzd1GZ6fF-HKgg3AoALp7zN_kLj2P0UTqLrdjDijeHumCdYTz2Bl_W9ZEitvCTDNLmKiFvZxa03ToVl8lw2m15BxshguzdEjQk4SEH04Aw5Xv3cWcFH7EjoWEs/s640/IMG_1546.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to go get the gold or something... coal? probably coal.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pj9y_sBz0vawr4fbxfEsw7oUDN9oFTDwwai0rxHU29y2t9njsSyckRmWSy7Ik8mLaQJOQ6O_sEDmv2tqsT4fL6p_X2ZgbUes12K1GG_JDCKJgYFuRfCCmgW6PMf5v-fB9hjGdCSBMPc/s1600/IMG_1547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1203" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pj9y_sBz0vawr4fbxfEsw7oUDN9oFTDwwai0rxHU29y2t9njsSyckRmWSy7Ik8mLaQJOQ6O_sEDmv2tqsT4fL6p_X2ZgbUes12K1GG_JDCKJgYFuRfCCmgW6PMf5v-fB9hjGdCSBMPc/s640/IMG_1547.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMcsl8lLk_wZtRmCY45FamQ0nGqT-3cJsyD0jFQ8YCNdxDfrE3IT7XpcGhdsX-6Kvgq3dOYu2sUpKcYyyIgnkomdomTq85qvS6wYZgV5WW98kFLonx6TxzM_N6p7R8tpTr85PTcKNqoQ/s1600/IMG_1552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMcsl8lLk_wZtRmCY45FamQ0nGqT-3cJsyD0jFQ8YCNdxDfrE3IT7XpcGhdsX-6Kvgq3dOYu2sUpKcYyyIgnkomdomTq85qvS6wYZgV5WW98kFLonx6TxzM_N6p7R8tpTr85PTcKNqoQ/s640/IMG_1552.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THE CANARY IS SCREAMING WHAT DOES THAT MEAN</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbm2iA3uscwFHa0_24F1YBimnZ1IONA4KuXt3uRSmLpuHfMVVxx5k1j20J1Ri7BnQFCXVUILpL5Kjji6aJ0kVo40NXygPoxQzg8mbqVUgo0pSRMiF9VIwz8tEKIw4jtEdMP5cMaC2j0t8/s1600/IMG_1554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbm2iA3uscwFHa0_24F1YBimnZ1IONA4KuXt3uRSmLpuHfMVVxx5k1j20J1Ri7BnQFCXVUILpL5Kjji6aJ0kVo40NXygPoxQzg8mbqVUgo0pSRMiF9VIwz8tEKIw4jtEdMP5cMaC2j0t8/s640/IMG_1554.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meaghan still had shit in her teeth but none of the dinosaurs said ANYTHING #falsefriends</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTlNNhb1-XFQmLHiaEeFk91XN0efVRRNtl0nNDLkotnrdFzQNYnDIDsZq57Xi_q48lu_cGFM4lB876lGNmn1bWQZrdNnbH2O_dig8XhWpxOy9srjRa4Me1QFSSrWY8KdBFL28Ixvf8EqM/s1600/IMG_1557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTlNNhb1-XFQmLHiaEeFk91XN0efVRRNtl0nNDLkotnrdFzQNYnDIDsZq57Xi_q48lu_cGFM4lB876lGNmn1bWQZrdNnbH2O_dig8XhWpxOy9srjRa4Me1QFSSrWY8KdBFL28Ixvf8EqM/s640/IMG_1557.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">she's got her hands on the haaaannnds</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0zi4mYP79mShRDABsHAxPVGc5zIjwCYGhOwKWxVYM2PBWfob-PQFK23CsCuY9LsrJRjcOs5bVRdQaue2B_xzPIVeJeTvsTTwFcW31KEO99AlkLokmRtzgWrrRcnlGpEVA9ts5zQwnD4/s1600/IMG_1561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0zi4mYP79mShRDABsHAxPVGc5zIjwCYGhOwKWxVYM2PBWfob-PQFK23CsCuY9LsrJRjcOs5bVRdQaue2B_xzPIVeJeTvsTTwFcW31KEO99AlkLokmRtzgWrrRcnlGpEVA9ts5zQwnD4/s640/IMG_1561.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most unfortunate of the statues</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvfi4F_N2OmLABJcgXhdAbnJLenvee1rIl1qc7Knz0VDKzBBEmrSBFVuLQ-MGhFwPx7WGayxy-89L3L3ixAUfO7UNpFBSrsjnYV-yKO_6Uk8sRgjYgBUQrwUMy7U1GG0Un6V_HgNNw7A/s1600/IMG_1570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvfi4F_N2OmLABJcgXhdAbnJLenvee1rIl1qc7Knz0VDKzBBEmrSBFVuLQ-MGhFwPx7WGayxy-89L3L3ixAUfO7UNpFBSrsjnYV-yKO_6Uk8sRgjYgBUQrwUMy7U1GG0Un6V_HgNNw7A/s640/IMG_1570.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unfortunate statue, zoomed out version</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3hiGfEbYVikdFNsCACKcXU0SqUmP_DfQSjNEElh6zDmbk7PWMVIbxT46Mw7VZ5tgGPAvgx-avI1bRPZBvsUH-4V9Hx5SgfDYY2DHWWCR77ZF41E2qWXi-HWRapnHN4hyphenhyphenMuelCHUOfPjU/s1600/IMG_1574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3hiGfEbYVikdFNsCACKcXU0SqUmP_DfQSjNEElh6zDmbk7PWMVIbxT46Mw7VZ5tgGPAvgx-avI1bRPZBvsUH-4V9Hx5SgfDYY2DHWWCR77ZF41E2qWXi-HWRapnHN4hyphenhyphenMuelCHUOfPjU/s640/IMG_1574.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">None of them made this face, so we did.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__rZONmAzX26b8eV4_aN80vz4h7m1TCQtpjbIIXzy65T9XnhFIdpl2TQ2QwWlvorST_VMif_XtZVTcfDnsFsllrwVfnSZvekIPnPVZd1xhIl7Amr-iZ7721YMaKmL7DQi-73WRjx6l_U/s1600/IMG_1576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__rZONmAzX26b8eV4_aN80vz4h7m1TCQtpjbIIXzy65T9XnhFIdpl2TQ2QwWlvorST_VMif_XtZVTcfDnsFsllrwVfnSZvekIPnPVZd1xhIl7Amr-iZ7721YMaKmL7DQi-73WRjx6l_U/s640/IMG_1576.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't do drugs. Do dinosaurs.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PD8Z_X9dNWl_z22-ZE9ckcSwj7bfwrmZt_piJ03ofwucpywVAxLhV_rD6TG-RB6OPscZlcZSYqa_mCaIom2fhoRNtZe-VQbMZM0CsUWVaMSUbDV4oE00xmOVRzh8_qdb1lbxA-STlJY/s1600/IMG_1577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PD8Z_X9dNWl_z22-ZE9ckcSwj7bfwrmZt_piJ03ofwucpywVAxLhV_rD6TG-RB6OPscZlcZSYqa_mCaIom2fhoRNtZe-VQbMZM0CsUWVaMSUbDV4oE00xmOVRzh8_qdb1lbxA-STlJY/s640/IMG_1577.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghU7NaBveqldNMXnDA06S4ceR1s3QoEGCm3eH3ncmLqKod-1XBJpMfj2lVu4N4yXBH8ZVAiq_yoZi3T3JGD_nHdZZEy425Y0nOhAFduB7FlI3bLtFJasO8IqERqrSgOaCIeublRKBtwVs/s1600/IMG_1583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghU7NaBveqldNMXnDA06S4ceR1s3QoEGCm3eH3ncmLqKod-1XBJpMfj2lVu4N4yXBH8ZVAiq_yoZi3T3JGD_nHdZZEy425Y0nOhAFduB7FlI3bLtFJasO8IqERqrSgOaCIeublRKBtwVs/s640/IMG_1583.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meaghan's looks like a bitchslap, dino's looks friendlier</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGAr4DWKlmbB86sSvdOAeasGI9gAWC-G7DpT-eAyUhyyHzCILax03rUlxHhppZCKBhzCoLV5EhVknc_Ye7I52luL-Il7i68714JKmMiJ6KxnLXFRJiG6l6L8x963-b9GyBiUq5_NJQYI/s1600/IMG_1587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1203" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGAr4DWKlmbB86sSvdOAeasGI9gAWC-G7DpT-eAyUhyyHzCILax03rUlxHhppZCKBhzCoLV5EhVknc_Ye7I52luL-Il7i68714JKmMiJ6KxnLXFRJiG6l6L8x963-b9GyBiUq5_NJQYI/s640/IMG_1587.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hug to make up for my aggression</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-X6fWmearhCjLUNL1VQXhj-RAB0BzF33H_wQ503wuEgl4soRrFCZZLyEcXD6h1Y4Z92a1jYko8ea4bZwwvNuDuojtjAehu4ohYF4CtdYhQSzT9W1YJYZh5YWInZZ2oDWkuE-3ts5a3Yc/s1600/IMG_1588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-X6fWmearhCjLUNL1VQXhj-RAB0BzF33H_wQ503wuEgl4soRrFCZZLyEcXD6h1Y4Z92a1jYko8ea4bZwwvNuDuojtjAehu4ohYF4CtdYhQSzT9W1YJYZh5YWInZZ2oDWkuE-3ts5a3Yc/s640/IMG_1588.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meaghan is doing rude things, but the perspective just doesn't work</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMTSqMvos9N-oDN0uSJWH0pKjKN-2Y7earlA6S2aHQ1FyOBcLlSGEhtd3tFK-3jxwBAa_O9oDZ-wld6cGGP3S_r0pftCXWXvibIwXi4loQrip4OD9QPELObkm7knbWkdQzJMnonMlckk/s1600/IMG_1591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMTSqMvos9N-oDN0uSJWH0pKjKN-2Y7earlA6S2aHQ1FyOBcLlSGEhtd3tFK-3jxwBAa_O9oDZ-wld6cGGP3S_r0pftCXWXvibIwXi4loQrip4OD9QPELObkm7knbWkdQzJMnonMlckk/s640/IMG_1591.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahh, there we go</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwphq5EWllMPdpURMoqPrXfUOxQ1VmE6WhZZ9iFXnNb0gZSfXJ_eaXNyCQy0hmwds90BEFgBpwLTDh0ewV2m6s6M4jwgJc7BvsL5BnpyjqF9qVW0Qqlte3j-6CD-Bjn8i74JLAfrU3L0/s1600/IMG_1594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1203" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwphq5EWllMPdpURMoqPrXfUOxQ1VmE6WhZZ9iFXnNb0gZSfXJ_eaXNyCQy0hmwds90BEFgBpwLTDh0ewV2m6s6M4jwgJc7BvsL5BnpyjqF9qVW0Qqlte3j-6CD-Bjn8i74JLAfrU3L0/s640/IMG_1594.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the damned grocery store </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRQTYnmqxet6xwHQqR4hTYA3k12_ApII1WW_kbJveVXB6r2FZrVpzGdVKExx0_d4aM71OBO5pw8ovEgf-zURg1jqzndZGSsxLCMou-9dXTnwRsImx9YoP56XgvO1ZohbqMuTGjt-Adq4/s1600/IMG_1609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRQTYnmqxet6xwHQqR4hTYA3k12_ApII1WW_kbJveVXB6r2FZrVpzGdVKExx0_d4aM71OBO5pw8ovEgf-zURg1jqzndZGSsxLCMou-9dXTnwRsImx9YoP56XgvO1ZohbqMuTGjt-Adq4/s640/IMG_1609.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlH9nkut1voDK-av0GZgjPYockC9Gev_5Qi-1le6kGMdZ2_2tzlC61bc-0T3DqeOr2UCdbZhcXSXgbA23qrMUNUt5jKcQv5v5sc9cG0h647-UXKPjRZrLlDO85AyB17OdKZqJyrPDd3o0/s1600/IMG_1614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlH9nkut1voDK-av0GZgjPYockC9Gev_5Qi-1le6kGMdZ2_2tzlC61bc-0T3DqeOr2UCdbZhcXSXgbA23qrMUNUt5jKcQv5v5sc9cG0h647-UXKPjRZrLlDO85AyB17OdKZqJyrPDd3o0/s640/IMG_1614.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And of course, end with the one mammal.</td></tr>
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*Not actually all of them, we only dedicated an hour of driving around for this, not a week. Dear GOD there are a lot of statues there.Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0Drumheller, AB, Canada51.4651847 -112.7105341999999851.306699200000004 -113.03325769999998 51.6236702 -112.38781069999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-80042097545277927862017-08-29T09:32:00.003-07:002017-08-29T09:33:01.846-07:00Meaghan Wrote a Paper on the PleistoceneThe glory of working with oreodonts, other than that they're super cute and really freakin' abundant, is that there's also not that much published literature on them. Being a person who'd rather pluck out her own eyeballs then read a paper that takes too long to get to the point, this is a boon for Meaghan. Unfortunately, Meaghan once had a bright idea that she should write a paper about the ice age, and so has spent her time wading through the swamp of too many goddamn papers as a result.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjby0YlY-tsm3Kwe1-N7_Rn620hkY7O8mb_JWDLEWPYCb0lhyphenhyphende9sYf78fD7SvGk7Ep3Ewfs6L_pBS17lAMXVHtk4YnxN6gC0jSKWEoglU61-Y97f-zuxLhy4tNRR6s0kWDDRByxzdiKdk/s1600/papers+vs+geologic+time.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="442" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjby0YlY-tsm3Kwe1-N7_Rn620hkY7O8mb_JWDLEWPYCb0lhyphenhyphende9sYf78fD7SvGk7Ep3Ewfs6L_pBS17lAMXVHtk4YnxN6gC0jSKWEoglU61-Y97f-zuxLhy4tNRR6s0kWDDRByxzdiKdk/s400/papers+vs+geologic+time.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
That paper is<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/spatially-explicit-analysis-sheds-new-light-on-the-pleistocene-megafaunal-extinction-in-north-america/A3EBE9B5067CFFB821F4EDC81962421D" target="_blank"> finally out now</a>, and since it is out that means it went through many levels of peer review, and since it has gone through review that means that Meaghan now despises this paper with every fiber of her being, and if the mammoths came back she'd hunt them to extinction HERSELF.<br />
<br />
Not the ground sloths though, for obvious reasons.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/635RAOnQ1b8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/635RAOnQ1b8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Fuck yeah sloths.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
Anyway, the point is, Meaghan's got a new paper out: <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/spatially-explicit-analysis-sheds-new-light-on-the-pleistocene-megafaunal-extinction-in-north-america/A3EBE9B5067CFFB821F4EDC81962421D" target="_blank">Spatially explicit analysis sheds new light on the Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in North America</a>. Despite her current loathing for it, it's actually pretty cool. And for the next three weeks, it is open access! So you should go check it out. Brief non-science-speak highlights include:<br />
<br />
<b>Introduction/Methods:</b><br />
* Back in the Pleistocene, aka the ice age, the globe experienced a big old extinction event where lots of animals, especially the large ones, got wiped out<br />
* The ice age megafauna extinction in North America is hard to figure out cuz humans showed up on the continent at the same time that the climate was changing<br />
* Other people have tried to look at this, but geography + temporal data can be hard to mix <br />
<br />
* Meaghan & Co-Authors figured there was a way to make a heatmap (<span class="st" data-hveid="79" data-ved="0ahUKEwjDsoHl7vzVAhXEzVQKHeijA-wQ4EUITzAD">graphical representation of data where individual values are represented as colors)</span> of the extinction, and of the first arrival of humans, and that would get around the geography/temporal issue<br />
* There was, it's called interpolation. We used kriging, a subtype of interpolation.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Results:</b><br />
* Our crazy cool maps say it wasn't all humans<br />
* Our crazy cool maps also say it probably wasn't all directly climate, either<br />
* In some spots, humans and megafauna were high-fiving for millenia (or coexisting, whatever)<br />
* In others, megafauna went extinct before folks showed up<br />
* Like basically, what our crazy cool maps say is "super highly regional"<br />
* and also, for some reason our data didn't support humans having come down from Beringia, but that's probably because the ocean rise swallowed our data<br />
* and finally, please stop spending so much time and resources on mammoths and mastodons, we know enough about them, let's get some more camels and sloths k thanks<br />
* and maybe figure out why it took so long for megafauna to die out in the Great Lakes or in the Mexico/Texas region, because as we've said, Meaghan doesn't want to read more ice age papers+<br />
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So yeah, get out there and read it now while it's hot! (haha get it cuz it talks about climate change?) <br />
Link: <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">+and yet she's already doing this for South America so goddamn it she's going to have to anyway</span> <br />
<br />Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-24588125491119354872017-07-25T17:56:00.000-07:002017-07-26T17:51:34.376-07:00Stop Telling Women Scientists To Try HardWhat do Ivanka Trump and Microsoft have in common?<br />
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They're two groups that claim to want more women in STEM but are not being very damn helpful about it.<br />
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Let's start with Ivanka. She's made her dad sign the <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/trump-women-in-stem-tech-laws/" target="_blank">Inspire Act</a> and the <a href="https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_149350770253612&key=ce074976249105acf14d8c9cf69bdcd1&libId=j23vo2o501003n6p000DLbjm3fpj6&loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnet.com%2Fnews%2Ftrump-women-in-stem-tech-laws%2F&v=1&out=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.congress.gov%2Fbill%2F115th-congress%2Fhouse-bill%2F255%2Ftext&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&title=Trump%20signs%20laws%20to%20promote%20women%20in%20STEM%20-%20CNET&txt=Promoting%20Women%20in%20Entrepreneurship%20Act" target="_blank">Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act</a>, laws that dictate NSF and NASA need to work to get women and girls interested in science (assuming that they somehow aren't already). Simultaneously, she stood by as her father <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf" target="_blank">cut the budget</a> for education in general, <a href="http://www.teenvogue.com/story/donald-trump-stem-young-women-girls-ivanka" target="_blank">scrapped funding </a>for the biggest science-funding organizations in the nation (aka our federal government), and froze national hiring of federal science positions, ensuring that this year's crop of graduates are even more screwed in their career search than normal. Personally, we don't see the damned point in getting women into STEM, if you then ensure they can't get jobs afterwards.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All internships and no job makes Amy a dull girl</td></tr>
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Yet on top of cheering for ladies in STEM while her father works to eliminate their career paths, Ivanka has shown little to no understanding of how equity barriers work.<br />
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Here are two of the fun things she's said in public:</div>
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1) <a href="http://motto.time.com/4724912/ivanka-trump-women-stem-pay-gap/" target="_blank">Just Getting More Women in STEM Will Close the Gender Wage Gap</a><br />
Haha, that's cute Ivanka, but no. This is a common application of the myth that the gender gap is caused by women choosing lower-paid positions: if we just get women to choose STEM careers, they'll make more money. In reality, men and women in STEM are <a href="http://www.aauw.org/2015/04/14/women-shortchanged-in-stem/" target="_blank">offered different starting amounts</a>. Salary <a href="https://www.hispanicoutlook.com/mary-ann-cooper/2015/8/5/salary-inequity-in-higher-ed-pay-gap-persists-for-women" target="_blank">in faculty positions is inequitable</a>, and it has nothing to do with their degree, or the choices a woman has made that doom her earnings potential: it's called structural barriers and discrimination.<br />
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2) <u>Getting More Women into STEM Is a Problem of Low Female Resilience</u><br />
Please excuse us while we throw up a little bit. Encouraging women to "<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/326177-ivanka-trump-devos-urge-female-students-to-pursue-stem-careers" target="_blank">beat those statistics and advance the role of women in STEM fields</a>" is putting the burden and the blame of gender inequity on women. It suggests that women aren't a larger component of STEM fields because they have chosen to give in, have displayed minimal backbone. Women can't hire themselves - they can apply, and apply, and apply, and no matter how much gumption they have, everyone's career still depends on someone else hiring them, someone else promoting them, and someone else paying them. The lack of women in STEM is not because of a lack of women trying hard, but people in power not trying hard enough.<br />
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Also, we're going to segway hard right into a brief rant about WHAT THE FUCK MICROSOFT<br />
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It's relevant, because this is the same fucking argument of Ivanka's: it's not us, it's you! It's you dropping out, it's you not making the cut, it's you letting serial sexual harassment, bias, and assault chase you away from this career! It's you not being strong enough to follow your dream, it's you it's you it's all on you #STAYINSTEM.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If he'd been a lady, maybe the name would be VaginasUndervalued.</td></tr>
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Stop ignoring systematic bias. Stop directing women to work harder, while leaving the system the same. If you want more women in STEM, address sources of wide-spread bias. Train your hiring committees on unconscious bias - <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4310758/" target="_blank">it helps</a> (well, <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11218-014-9259-5" target="_blank">sorta sometimes</a>)! Tell both girls <i><u><span style="font-size: small;"><b>AND BOYS</b></span></u></i> that anyone can be a scientist, and give both of them excellent female role models to prove it. Hire a female Bill Nye/Neil DeGrasse Tyson (HI WE ARE GREAT WITH EXPLAINING SCIENCE TO STRANGERS BTW SO PUT US ON TV RIGHT NOW PLZ). Pound male scientists in the skull until they stop showing a <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/43/13201.short" target="_blank">biased response to studies on gender bias</a>. If you're in charge of paying a scientist, make sure you're <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16474.short" target="_blank">paying them equally</a> for equal work. If you're a peer reviewer,<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751157707000363" target="_blank"> don't be biased against female authors</a>. If you're <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0957926503014002277" target="_blank">writing a letter of recommendation</a>, <a href="http://www.csw.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/csw_2015-10-20_lorbias_pdf_0.pdf" target="_blank">pretend you're doing it for a man</a>. If you're in charge of promoting a woman, remember that their <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08832323.2017.1313189" target="_blank">teaching evaluations are biased against them too</a>. Try not to sexually assault women or sexually harass women,<a href="http://www.nature.com/news/many-women-scientists-sexually-harassed-during-fieldwork-1.15571" target="_blank"> in the field</a> or otherwise.<br />
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Don't tell women that they're the problem for not putting up with this shit. Change the system, not the women; change the problem, not the victim.Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-78823707939161766562017-04-12T19:37:00.000-07:002017-04-12T19:37:12.664-07:00Men in PaleontologyLook. We love doing science. We love being ladies. But we're beginning to be a little sick of being called women in science. Why? Sometimes it feels like "women in science" sounds a lot like oil in water: two things that do not mix.<br />
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Yeah, that seems a bit unnatural, doesn't it? Gender has little natural sway over anyone's love of science, or their ability to perform it. Yet somehow you never hear people call male scientists "men in paleontology" or "boys in STEM" - you only get the extra adjectives if you're a woman, or a person of any color other than "blanched turnip". Sometimes that title feels less like an acknowledgement of our uniqueness, and more like a sentencing of otherness.<br />
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Don't get us wrong - we are still women, we are still paleontologists, and we still think paleontology has a lot to catch up on when it comes to diversity. We're just annoyed that the emphasis is so frequently on our personal diversity, not our science. To make our point, enjoy a series of memes that are by no means politically correct or non-offensive but sure as shit point out how dumb it is to preface everything with "women in" paleontology.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait from the <a href="http://thebeardedladyproject.com/" target="_blank">Bearded Lady Project </a></td></tr>
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<br />Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-46758355471402696852017-03-05T20:07:00.000-08:002017-03-05T20:07:39.688-08:00We Talked About Some Science Stuff!This week, instead of WRITING about science stuff, we're going to show a video of us TALKING about science stuff. Specifically, Amy gave a great 15 minute talk on her<a href="http://www.maryanningsrevenge.com/2017/02/paleontology-of-big-bend-national-park.html" target="_blank"> Big Bend Summer internship </a>that we belatedly blogged about like 5 minutes ago, and Meaghan gave a 45 minute talk about the poor sad oreodonts and how they spent their lives mutilating one another for fun or sex or something.<br />
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<b>AMY'S TALK ABOUT MONKEYS* AND PARKS</b><br />
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<b>MEAGHAN'S TALK ABOUT THE SAD SAD FACE BITES</b><br />
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Hope you enjoyed this brief diversion from our writing style to our talking style! Also, we love the sounds of our own voices so please invite us to talk more at your conferences, seminar series, house party, or nearby retirement home - trust us, we'll say yes.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*primates. Whatever.</span>Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-32418732052150993402017-02-15T17:15:00.000-08:002017-02-15T17:22:14.960-08:00Alternate Careers for Young Scientists in Trump's AmericaAre you a young scientist about to graduate into a world where EPA scientists can't discuss their findings, climate change "isn't real", federal hiring is frozen, and NSF funding has been called into question a number of times and is undoubtedly going to be decapitated?<br />
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Why, you must be a bit worried about your career prospects, huh?<br />
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Don't worry, young graduates. We have some career pathways for you that we'd like to call "Alternative Service Post-Docs" that we think you'd be perfectly cut out for. Someone with your background in logic, reasoning, and (probably) statistics skills will be perfect for these jobs. They offer benefits, flexible hours, and are offered in all 50 states so you can mostly live where you want to - fantastic, huh? There's a bit of paperwork involved, but not as much as you'd think (and from what we've seen, some people in these positions get away without much reading at all). Without further ado, here's our list of top 10 jobs for upcoming science graduates!<br />
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<b>Senator</b> - So - do you like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/02/26/jim-inhofes-snowball-has-disproven-climate-change-once-and-for-all/" target="_blank">throwing snowballs</a>? What about claiming that legislation is<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/11/rand-paul-accuses-feds-of-waging-war-on-doughnuts/" target="_blank"> intended to specifically hurt doughnut manufacturers</a>? That's great, because as far as we can tell, the general job of a state senator is to act like a buffoon in front of cameras! As a senator, you'll be able to use all sorts of nonsensical evidence to support your bills and ideas, and you'll get paid about 170k a year for it! This Alternative Service Post-Doc just requires that you're 30 years old and have lived here for 9 years, which you will definitely be and have after being trapped in graduate school your whole goddamned life for nothing. Hell, you don't even have to publish a single paper to be eligible - sounds a lot better than Academia, doesn't it? Also, in case you ever want to return, you'll have the right to <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/04/national_science_foundation_and_tom_coburn_the_republican_effort_to_cut.html" target="_blank">demand NSF proposals to pour through</a>, so you'll definitely get an edge on the competition when your soul has healed and you've decided to apply for funding again.<br />
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<a href="https://yoder.house.gov/sites/yoder.house.gov/files/Seal_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for house of representative icon" border="0" height="200" src="https://yoder.house.gov/sites/yoder.house.gov/files/Seal_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives.png" width="200" /></a><b>Representative</b> - similar to State Senator, your primary job will be to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/19/todd-akin-abortion-legitimate-rape_n_1807381.html" target="_blank">make unsubstantiated claims that prove you know nothing of human anatomy</a>. Also, feel free to worry that reacting to climate change will <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/rep-shimkus-capping-co2-emissions-will-take-away-too-much-plant-food-from-the-atmosphere-282da9d8166c#.l46j4hngs" target="_blank">starve plants</a>, and that there <a href="http://grist.org/article/2009-04-20-house-republicans-bring/" target="_blank">might not be enough wind</a> if we keep building windmills. That's right, 174k a year to waste everyone's time and<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013" target="_blank"> shut down the government </a>because you can't agree on funding. Basic requirements of this Alternative Service Post-Doc include a high school education and three years of progressive experience in - just kidding, you just have to be 25 and have lived in the state for 7 years - that's basically where you were at the end of your Masters, right? Perfect.<br />
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<a href="http://www.freeiconspng.com/uploads/education-png-17.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for federal education icon" border="0" src="http://www.freeiconspng.com/uploads/education-png-17.png" height="187" width="200" /></a><b>Secretary of Education</b> - So while a secretary just generally needs a high school diploma, a secretary of education needs...<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/12/08/a-sobering-look-at-what-betsy-devos-did-to-education-in-michigan-and-what-she-might-do-as-secretary-of-education/?utm_term=.65d9d04b6fee" target="_blank"> nothing, apparently</a>. Cool. Having spent your entire life learning and crying over journal articles, you're basically a shoe-in for the job. You'll be in charge of federal financial aid and standards, without ever having had to receive the former or met the latter! To be fair, the federal position's just been filled, but look forward to running for your state position in the near future and make a cool 160k and pay off parts of your student loan debt while being part of the system that's causing that debt in the first place!<br />
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<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5203c2ebe4b06e753f80cebc/52051b18e4b004c7f36b40aa/52051b1ee4b0b43f796c5415/1376066343008/orange+block+bigfoot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for bigfoot icon" border="0" height="200" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5203c2ebe4b06e753f80cebc/52051b18e4b004c7f36b40aa/52051b1ee4b0b43f796c5415/1376066343008/orange+block+bigfoot.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<b>County Commissioner</b> - How would you like to make 100-180 thousand dollars a year to make local ordinances like "<a href="http://www.dumblaws.com/law/1917" target="_blank">It's illegal to harass Bigfoot</a>"? Sounds pretty fun, right? You might eligible for this job if you: are eligible to vote in that county. That's all! Think of the power you could have - you could make it illegal to study anything other than your favorite animal in biology classes, for example! Think of the potential!<br />
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<a href="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/voicenews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/d1/2d1791ee-f468-5cd1-9369-31a9404daac3/588bb6ae6c84c.image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for secretary of state icon" border="0" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/voicenews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/d1/2d1791ee-f468-5cd1-9369-31a9404daac3/588bb6ae6c84c.image.jpg" height="199" width="200" /></a><b>Secretary of State (of States) </b>- Do you like power? How about safeguarding records (come on, all you natural curators!)? Then being the Secretary of State for a State might be just the Alternative Service PostDoc position for you! Your job is to help keep elections fair, collect historical records, and put seals on things. Most of these Alternative Service Post-Docs last 4 years and, if the Governor dies, you get to be in charge! Best of all, you'll be making more than double the salary of a normal post-doc - salaries vary from state to state, but you can expect to make between 80k to 120k a year. As for qualifications, forget it - they don't even require a bachelor's degree! You've got this one in the bag, young grad student. Now go out there and salvage some records!<br />
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<b>Comptroller</b>: Here's the downside - nobody knows what this position does. Something with money, or maybe traffic lights? Whatever. The upside - you will have literally no competition for this position. Meaghan has personally seen ballots with county or city comptroller and either no names, or only one name, listed next to it. You don't have to fill out an application, send in a CV, or have any real skills or talent - fantastic for the fresh graduate with Imposter Sydrome and no ability to identify or describe their own gifts!<br />
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So if you're interested in running for any of these or similar Alternative Service Post-Docs, please contact <a href="http://www.314action.org/" target="_blank">314Action,</a> a group dedicated to funding science advocacy and getting more scientists into political positions. This blog post may have been riddled with sarcasm, but we promise that we are deadly serious - if you are unsatisfied with your job prospects as a scientist (and you should be), consider running for office and fixing the problem from the inside. Use reason and logic to dictate laws and bills. Explain basic statistics and reasoning to your fellow employees, and smack the snowballs out of climate-deniers hands. Go to <a href="http://www.runforoffice.org/">www.runforoffice.org</a> to find openings you're eligible for. It might not be the job you trained for, or where you thought you would end up, but it's the job we need more scientists to do, or this shit is never going to get better.<br />
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<br />Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-29239813630555141722017-02-06T20:02:00.000-08:002017-02-06T20:02:09.197-08:00Paleontology of Big Bend National Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKY42mwfn0AU1qOq8RJWtSBEZ4kRd-XVgl5-L2TRjp_JX8r7YN4PblDKXOqQk4KRNjzx6L27m8zYTh6fRCZFcp9ySpKY7L8xobD7RRtH9DSfpw01ZK_I8NdGBfTr5sKCrEjTZH3OVXkcw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-06+at+11.50.20+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKY42mwfn0AU1qOq8RJWtSBEZ4kRd-XVgl5-L2TRjp_JX8r7YN4PblDKXOqQk4KRNjzx6L27m8zYTh6fRCZFcp9ySpKY7L8xobD7RRtH9DSfpw01ZK_I8NdGBfTr5sKCrEjTZH3OVXkcw/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-02-06+at+11.50.20+AM.png" width="272" /></a></div>
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Last summer was a busy one for the Vengeance Team. Meaghan completed her PhD, got married, and got the most adorable puppy on the planet. Amy crafted the shit out of Meaghan's wedding, mostly didn't cry, finally appreciated sheep (kinda) and then spent the rest of her summer working as the paleontology intern for Big Bend National Park in west Texas. Since we're paleontologists time as we mortals experience has no meaning, so we have decided to talk about Amy's Awesome Summer now, in the dead of winter, several months later (it's not procrastination on blog-writing if you can make up a reason for it!)<br />
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We've talked a little bit about our adventures in west Texas before on the blog when discussing <a href="http://www.maryanningsrevenge.com/2016/03/road-trip-sum-up.html" target="_blank">field work</a>, so this probably sounds familiar. But for those of you just joining us, here's the Big Scoop on Big Bend.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YrH6erSTnLiDtcYaCIyDuoO5aqgl3BxUhhyr3mTLQIrAjXhERrAEaB6DwO9frdnxMyOYMh9w6fnhIys54pUFms7wHR62bTVrbMHuv5UcUJ20ezAjdBqrCr5aaQJjtgpjtsTF1YKMxXI/s1600/big+bend+elbow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YrH6erSTnLiDtcYaCIyDuoO5aqgl3BxUhhyr3mTLQIrAjXhERrAEaB6DwO9frdnxMyOYMh9w6fnhIys54pUFms7wHR62bTVrbMHuv5UcUJ20ezAjdBqrCr5aaQJjtgpjtsTF1YKMxXI/s320/big+bend+elbow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5D6mpyvoUoJr6FNZAXkxpJ_6PxbPQyyTuUxzTCCgq67OmZZX07SRPrGbQ6ViGgHBkg2ahIA7Jnw0vYnOz0p03nNKT0IYV2Z__A9YkkXlWAzV_9ozY6sBc7izv3M6X1iv9YP-IC3zfw00/s1600/DSC_0409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5D6mpyvoUoJr6FNZAXkxpJ_6PxbPQyyTuUxzTCCgq67OmZZX07SRPrGbQ6ViGgHBkg2ahIA7Jnw0vYnOz0p03nNKT0IYV2Z__A9YkkXlWAzV_9ozY6sBc7izv3M6X1iv9YP-IC3zfw00/s320/DSC_0409.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqf4lvYzddbpxktM1ZlPc8UqGYWo8Jujb9DqtKMnoHZuCafM4Svik02HiNC2jgJ8opcE97ViZiL0AsL9o7XK7nlqONLxHjgh9AeGSUTpfXgjFFK3Wj-yMdCDhWdq-Dygj4qhCWLjVSSWU/s1600/13735822_10153586741136428_9183383115183543079_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqf4lvYzddbpxktM1ZlPc8UqGYWo8Jujb9DqtKMnoHZuCafM4Svik02HiNC2jgJ8opcE97ViZiL0AsL9o7XK7nlqONLxHjgh9AeGSUTpfXgjFFK3Wj-yMdCDhWdq-Dygj4qhCWLjVSSWU/s200/13735822_10153586741136428_9183383115183543079_o.jpg" width="150" /></a>Big Bend is the region of Texas carved out by the Rio Grande river, which also serves as the border between the United States and Mexico. It's rather ironic that our current pres wants to build an insane wall where nature and millions of years worth of limestone have already accomplished the task, but in a gorgeous and gonna-kick-your-ass sorta way. The park covers more than 800,000 acres, including the Chisos Mountains as well as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan desert. The park geology is absolutely amazing with textbook examples of faulting, volcanism, and mountain building. Amy was lured to Big Bend by the beautiful landscapes, but she decided she wanted to stick around after hearing about the Big Bend fossil record. </div>
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The Big Bend fossil record spans more the 130 million years from the Cretaceous when west Texas was under the Western Interior Seaway until the Ice Ages when mammoths and saber tooth cats prowled the modern landscape. Obviously the part with the mammals is way cooler than that old shit, but for whatever reason the park still loves to talk about the Cretaceous. YAWN. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7i6goBAtMmCrSlSrbyVSSDhzbOFTtpmZWKLEPxA4Deb804SIhlx5WdjicqjNmsnNblIoDlsi-dQtGHLxzzdvVh7FRhAnFNLqC8WlPf4vMKFVYvD2IXpiPgF4UvIb7YcfsT6stQaPAs4/s1600/Photo+on+12-5-16+at+11.00+AM+%25232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7i6goBAtMmCrSlSrbyVSSDhzbOFTtpmZWKLEPxA4Deb804SIhlx5WdjicqjNmsnNblIoDlsi-dQtGHLxzzdvVh7FRhAnFNLqC8WlPf4vMKFVYvD2IXpiPgF4UvIb7YcfsT6stQaPAs4/s320/Photo+on+12-5-16+at+11.00+AM+%25232.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By exploring she means staring at the Chisos Mtns from park housing</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Hz2scRYSPVmHzPJmILU-bdXqPZuOX37IQgNJQkOdhFE3C0UWndUh5do5UziOy8HzYZGpRFCuhpdntujnM23DR4Jrb8eshGcaxXPBLi1LSaJcvB02gL2U1xFNXkJSw1l4XOvUOJeJvfw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-06+at+11.43.08+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Hz2scRYSPVmHzPJmILU-bdXqPZuOX37IQgNJQkOdhFE3C0UWndUh5do5UziOy8HzYZGpRFCuhpdntujnM23DR4Jrb8eshGcaxXPBLi1LSaJcvB02gL2U1xFNXkJSw1l4XOvUOJeJvfw/s200/Screen+Shot+2017-02-06+at+11.43.08+AM.png" width="200" /></a>The Vengeance Team LOVES fossil mammals. Sometimes we are downright obnoxious about it. But here's a little secret: Amy really loves all paleontology, especially National Park paleontology. As Amy was already familiar with the Eocene aspect of Big Bend paleontology, she spent most of her time exploring the older Cretaceous rocks, finding ammonites, shark teeth, and crocodile osteoderms. That's one of the things that makes Big Bend so special: it encompasses 130 million years of geologic time, including a vast diversity of environments from shallow marine to volcanic highlands all rich with fossils.<br />
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West Texas is a unique spot - geologically, but also in pretty much <a href="http://gracefulspoon.com/blog/2010/02/24/giant/" target="_blank">every way you slice it</a>. Let's just focus on the geology/paleo for now (we don't wear Prada, even Marfa Prada). 130 million years ago during the Cretaceous, Big Bend and pretty much everything to the north, was under water. This was the Western Interior Seaway, a broad shallow sea formed from subsidence as the Sevier orogeny took place to the west. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ah. Zee Western Interior Seaway. Thank you for the ammonites. R. Blakey Image</td></tr>
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Big Bend's seaway inhabitants included mosasaurs, sea turtles, giant fish like <i>Xiphactinus</i>, ammonites and belemnites, snails, and more shallow marine organisms (all they care about are looks). This environment persisted in the Big Bend region from 130 until 83 million years ago, and is now recorded in the vast limestone outcrops around the park. The Boquillas Limestone, one of the last deposits of the seaway in Late Cretaceous times, is Amy's favorite formation to prospect for fossils from this marine ecosystem. Ammonite and belemnite fossils filled in with calcite crystals are common and gorgeous.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boquillas Limestone ammonite and belemnite</td></tr>
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Wanna see this environment and cool fossils on a hike in the park? A beautiful huge ammonite fossil can also be seen in the rock of the Hot Springs Canyon trail along the Rio Grande. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ammonite in the Hot Springs Canyon Trail</td></tr>
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The rest of the Cretaceous record of Big Bend belongs to the dinosaurs and other freakishly large ancient reptiles. By about 80 million years ago the Rocky Mountains had started their uplift to the northwest and the Western Interior Seaway began to shrink. Big Bend went through stages as a coastal floodplain, then an inland floodplain, until the seaway disappeared completely. During the wetter, coastal times the Aguja Formation was deposited, along with the bones and teeth of the giant alligator <i>Deinosuchus, </i>originally discovered in the park by Barnum Brown and R.T. Bird. When we say giant, we mean <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjqrYDyzt3QAhXLqVQKHSaxAIUQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Farchosaurmusings.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F03%2F01%2Fdeinosuchus-on-display%2F&bvm=bv.139782543,d.cGw&psig=AFQjCNGKCEz7vIQsyo0GEoNF1fmC1khtsw&ust=1481046640538253" target="_blank">flipping giant</a>. Sharks, turtles, snails, and dinosaurs such as hadrosaurs and the horned <i>Agujaceratops</i> also lived during the Aguja times. The Aguja Formation outcrops along the western portion of the Chimneys trail, keep your eyes pealed for chunks of bone! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From top left: dinosaur vert, tiny shark tooth, croc scute, croc tooth</td></tr>
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At the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years ago, the Javelina Formation preserves the fossils of the huge long necked sauropod <i>Alamosaurus</i>, the jaw of a Tyrannosaur, and the humerus of the largest flying creature ever discovered, the pterosaur <i>Quetzalcoatylus</i>. While the exact iridium layer indicating the K-Pg boundary has not been discovered yet, the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene fossils indicate that the famous dinosaur extinction event is recorded within the rocks of the park. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">A fearsome Tyrannosaur surprises <i>Quetzalcoatylus </i>Artwork by J. Csotonyi</td></tr>
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Then the dinosaurs finally died so FUCK ALL THAT CRETACEOUS BULLSHIT cuz it's MAMMAL TIME! After the Cretaceous a cleared plate is now present in Big Bend for mammals to dominate, and baby, do they. The next 65 million years of Big Bend fossil record is full of mammals. The early mammals of Big Bend lived during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) when temperatures were high and semi-tropical rainforest covered much of North America. Big ole' <i>Coryphodon</i>, an "ungulate-like" mammal with no extant modern relatives likely chilled in the lakes and swamps. Early horse fossils have been found from this time, along with turtles and crocodiles, and pleisadapiforms (wannabe primates, still cute!). The true primates that Amy is obsessed with appeared a little later, during the middle Eocene. Most of the Eocene rocks in the park can be seen in the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiqhIX42t3QAhVIllQKHdGVCScQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fvapocrunch%2F9304896530&psig=AFQjCNHRTfwJOvfF1ZxW63QTRd31t-hb6Q&ust=1481049888984711" target="_blank">colorful hoodoos and spires of the Tornillo Basin</a>, the Fossil Discovery Exhibit is actually on the first recognized Eocene fossil locality in the park! This is the time period Amy & Meaghan study and where they've done fieldwork in the past. Amy & her boyfriend Kelly presented this awesome research on the paleoenvironmental reconstructions from this time at the GSA meeting in Denver this past September. </div>
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Mammals continue to thrive in Big Bend throughout the Cenozoic, though the climate cools and becomes increasingly arid over time. Grasslands spread and rhinos live with Meaghan's muse the oreodonts. Saber-tooth carnivores and, yay, even more turtles are around at this time! Mammoth fossils have also been found in the youngest Pleistocene deposits of the park.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These guys didn't really live together use your artistic imagination! </td></tr>
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Now we know you are all thinking, "OHEMGEE, this sounds like the dopest park ever!" And you are correct. The Vengeance Team encourages everyone to get out to Big Bend, or another cool park closer to you, and to learn more about the paleontological history of Big Bend and get info on the upcoming <a href="http://fossildiscoveryexhibit.com/" target="_blank">Fossil Discovery Exhibit, check out the website</a> Amy spent her summer obsessing over! If you follow us on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mary_annings_revenge/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, we bet you'll recognize some of the photos.</div>
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The Fossil Discovery Exhibit consists of 5 exhibit rooms filled with murals and fossil casts that walk visitors through time from the marine environment to the volcanic highlands when mammals ruled. The mural artwork is done by none other than amazing paleoartists Julius Cstonyi (<a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiin-3q2N3QAhXmqFQKHU8zCFkQFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maryanningsrevenge.com%2F2014%2F05%2Fdouble-fields-double-fun-with-julius.html&usg=AFQjCNFJmAAxZBLso3ZEF4Es31JgeqRlBQ&sig2=t5sNE6VlGAZ2yV8QqloEkQ&bvm=bv.139782543,d.cGw" target="_blank">who you might remember reading about in one of our earlier interviews</a>) & Alexandra Lefort . Two huge bronze skulls of the mega-gator <i>Deinosuchus</i> and <i>T. rex</i> are designed to be touched and enjoyed by people of all ages. There's even a rad kid's* area with a walk-through dinosaur ribcage and boulders to climb full of fossils. The exhibit is located 8 miles north of Panther Junction on HWY 385 and is a self-guided experience, open from dawn until dusk. FYI: no water is available at the exhibit.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">*by "kids" we hope they mean everyone cuz this shit sounds fun </td></tr>
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Go check it out! Tell us what you think! Show us your hilarious <i>Deinosuchus</i> selfies! And more importantly, please do your part to protect our parks! Please? Maybe tell Donald J Trump to unfreeze federal hiring also - we hear he responds best to tweets.</div>
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Amy would like to thank the Big Bend Conservancy, the Houston Geological Society, and the NPS for making this paleontology internship possible. It was INCREDIBLE! </div>
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Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-54246230545868765852017-01-30T19:05:00.002-08:002017-01-30T20:20:56.888-08:00A Post on Science Camps<br />
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<a href="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/14976831_10211368065341593_6871224459105905000_o.jpg?oh=b5eabdaf9e99dbeb9279e74309984fa4&oe=59479A03" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, indoor" aria-busy="false" border="0" class="spotlight" height="180" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/14976831_10211368065341593_6871224459105905000_o.jpg?oh=b5eabdaf9e99dbeb9279e74309984fa4&oe=59479A03" width="320" /></a>To this day, most of Amy and Meaghan's longest term friends (including each other), come from outdoor science camps. Science camps, if you've never had the pleasure of attending one, are where fledgling nerds develop their inquisitive wings, and also finally find a group of friends that appreciate their "um actually" sense of humor. But in Oregon and a handful of other states, that science camp experience isn't limited to the nerds, but is given to almost all 6th grade students. In fact, Oregon <a href="http://www.outdoorschoolforall.org/" target="_blank">just passed a measure supporting outdoor school</a> funding for students because the experience is so important and formative for both young scientists AND students who've never looked at science as an interest before. Good job Oregon!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trees, children, SCIENCE! This one's for Ty, since he never did make it in the OMSI catalog<br />
Photo by David Levering</td></tr>
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What is outdoor school, asks the unlucky reader who did not grow up in Oregon? It's essentially a science and nature immersion program. You, and your whole sixth grade class pack up and head out to the wilderness for up to a week of hiking, experimenting, bug-catching, and star-gazing. For urban kids, it may be their first chance to experience and study the wilderness that's outside their city limits. Outdoor school and nature-based school programs<a href="http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:551522/FULLTEXT01.pdf" target="_blank"> improve student motivation, participation, and collaboration</a>, regardless of student career goals. The sudden transportation into a different learning environment is good for student <a href="http://search.proquest.com/openview/5a4b2ffb39ece4a9c0b6e0f8e3bd81dd/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=29628" target="_blank">social development</a>, too. Their work in <a href="http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A551531&dswid=-5473" target="_blank">biology and mathematics improves </a>when those subjects are taught outside. It increases a student's <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00958960009598649" target="_blank">empathy for nature</a>, making them more likely to work to preserve it in the future. Students thought to be "<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09575146.2013.771152" target="_blank">underachieving" in the classroom are completely different in the outdoor environment</a>, and this change can stick with them once they go back to school. And it's not just good for students: teachers who take their classes to outdoor school work on ways to pull nature into their classrooms and<a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ849715.pdf" target="_blank"> feel more confident</a> about their teaching skills.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxvYLR0IRCPWNyZEoWTRFMdVyxu5zXSQFXyzQrt6UTQS5ZDOmjvIVorZb87sHBEgA8wbF8AL_yCMI7azCQkPi6mQs76JDV4mZuLusSeQhU-6io0IktDBpm4v_CkXQ37PVkPSyNSX-ZiY/s1600/13418670_10102562391104596_1954291098023521920_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxvYLR0IRCPWNyZEoWTRFMdVyxu5zXSQFXyzQrt6UTQS5ZDOmjvIVorZb87sHBEgA8wbF8AL_yCMI7azCQkPi6mQs76JDV4mZuLusSeQhU-6io0IktDBpm4v_CkXQ37PVkPSyNSX-ZiY/s320/13418670_10102562391104596_1954291098023521920_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by David Levering</td></tr>
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Oregon isn't the only place that has outdoor schools. But if you look at<a href="https://www.outdoored.com/schools" target="_blank"> lists of service areas </a>for outdoor education for K-12, you'll notice there's a pretty big gap in the middle of the country. Our friend and outdoor school colleague David Levering is working to change that. He's started an entirely new outdoor school program at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas, and is trying to expand the program by <a href="http://sternberg.fhsu.edu/2016/12/06/2017-science-camps/" target="_blank">getting new students</a> and <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nature-connect-field-science-to-classrooms-education#/" target="_blank">building up scholarships.</a> Things in Kansas are starting to change - three years ago they implemented new standards that emphasize <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/13/kansas-science-standards-evolution-climate-change_n_3437257.html" target="_blank">Evolution and Climate Change</a>, very different from their policies before.<br />
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We couldn't find a study on how many students who go to outdoor school pursue STEM careers. Judging by our friend group, it seems to be a lot. Instead, here's some anecdotal evidence: stories from a few of our friends on how outdoor school influenced their lives.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image may contain: outdoor and nature" aria-busy="false" class="spotlight" height="423" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1625773_101965182793_3344285_n.jpg?oh=04466c0e7d5a81606f07fd9c98a1d51e&oe=5910621E" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fossil Leaf Segway</td></tr>
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<span class="_5yl5">"I always knew that I loved learning, but it wasn't until I started attending outdoor science camp as a pre-teen that I discovered my love for science. Learning about astronomy, paleontology, and ecology in real life instead of out of textbooks pushed me to pursue advanced science and math classes in high school, a science degree in college, and eventually a career as a physician."<b> - Morgan Schiller, Student at Saint Louis University School of Medicine</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morgan, Meaghan, and Ceri as young'uns at HFS</td></tr>
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<span class="_5yl5"></span><br />
<span class="_5yl5">"Being a camper emphasized my love of science, but also made me realize how important the people who worked there were. I tried academic science and now am an instructor for the Oregon of Museum and Science and Industry because I realized that one of the most important things I can do in this world is to help people learn how to approach their world through inquiry and make well informed decisions. It helps that they get to do cool things in awesome places. </span>Also, being a counselor and then an instructor has made me a better person because I get to interact with people of so many different world views and learning styles." <b>- Alison Einolf, Outdoor Educator at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXomsVDsRFkLnIQzYllOTqs_8swTWFbImsKtXuw0QyQkR97ynzxAnMfwLJkiNs1dm3EJukUy6fiuh0taHOnPesaJpHKaYIV7ACsL2QYzM0NAeV10K4psQVrN8rmkuEPfyrNyl7KyeUz2U/s1600/16358738_10155117767607189_628815496_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXomsVDsRFkLnIQzYllOTqs_8swTWFbImsKtXuw0QyQkR97ynzxAnMfwLJkiNs1dm3EJukUy6fiuh0taHOnPesaJpHKaYIV7ACsL2QYzM0NAeV10K4psQVrN8rmkuEPfyrNyl7KyeUz2U/s400/16358738_10155117767607189_628815496_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Allison showing how cool Mollusks are</td></tr>
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"I went to field paleo camps in Montana and Alberta, where I got a ton of field experience that helped me later as an employee. Those experiences helped me build a resume going in to college. I kept building up more field work experience, which helped me land a position at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument for three summers during grad school. Working as an instructor for outdoor science camp is also where I started thinking that running outdoor youth education programs would be a career path I should pursue. Which I did!" - <b>David Levering, Education Director at Sternberg Museum of Natural History</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David's in the middle, not contributing.</td></tr>
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<span class="_3oh- _58nk"></span><br />
<span class="_3oh- _58nk">"I was an inquisitive, independent 7 year old and my parents wanted to send to me to a summer camp that would encourage my interest in science. The local science museum offered week-long residential camps on Paleontology, Field Ecology, Wilderness Survival, or Archaeology and my parents were like cool great let's sign her up and off I went.
And I. Loved. It. I *insisted* upon returning every single summer. I fell in love with field science and the outdoors. I remember opening a rock and observing the outlines of a leaf that hadn't been seen in millions of year and learned that every person can make discoveries. I learned about evolution and the origins of species as I held those real fossils in my hands. I learned to be an independent person and learner, engaging with my instructors and friends on the bus, in our cabins and tents, or while on hikes. I made lifelong friends and mentors (shout out to Amy, David, Meaghan, Ellen, Phoebe, Brian, Mo, Erin, Anne, this list will go on for another 20 people). It's no surprise that at the first opportunity to work for those science camps, I took that on as well and I can thank science camp for also inspiring my interest to teach and pursue a graduate degree in the science that I loved." - <b>Ceri Weber, Ph.D. Candidate in Developmental Biology, Duke University</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ceri, age 8, ready for camp round 2.</td></tr>
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<span class="_3oh- _58nk"></span><br />
"When I was in 4th grade I took a job placement test that told me I should be a shoe maker (no joke). The fact that I immediately retook it twice in order to manipulate the answers so I would get told to be the job I wanted at that time (Flight Attendant) was pretty good evidence that maybe my inquisitiveness and stubbornness would best serve me elsewhere. When I went to outdoor school in 6th grade, my life totally changed. I got to hold fossils, play with lizards, watch the sun set and wonder about the stars, and nobody's been able to kick me out of science since. I left outdoor school wanting to be a paleontologist/geologist/herpetologist... and I have successfully been all three of those things and more." - <b>Meaghan Wetherell</b>, <b>Associate Director of Research, Central Washington University</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtnKovv8k-dHZJWe6eCKv0S0F22fvMKx7MtA2fJuRzDHbk0jDl-sbobYdJPUjy30ymkN0zzjYV4lwiZZfItgKmT_eQfR7GRNru-B45T3JxqYriT9goR4O_ye_3nQ-T8YgruE_1ujGvQ4/s1600/16295756_10156435773613644_1555793034_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtnKovv8k-dHZJWe6eCKv0S0F22fvMKx7MtA2fJuRzDHbk0jDl-sbobYdJPUjy30ymkN0zzjYV4lwiZZfItgKmT_eQfR7GRNru-B45T3JxqYriT9goR4O_ye_3nQ-T8YgruE_1ujGvQ4/s640/16295756_10156435773613644_1555793034_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meaghan adding caboose services on a survival camp backpacking camp</td></tr>
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"I always loved animals. As a kid, I wanted to go into a field with LOTS left to discover, so I decided I was going to be a marine biologist. That is, until I went to science camp and had the chance to go snorkeling in Monterey Bay, CA. I discovered, very quickly, that I am deathly afraid of kelp. So, on I went to join the Paleontology Research Team, where all the slimy creatures are turned to rock, and you get to hike around outside all the time. I was sold. Still studying & researching paleontology to this day. Science camps (and my very generous parents to whom I am forever grateful) provided the space, resources, and time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, and allowed me to do so in a very creative manner. My oldest and closest friends to this day are from my time attending science camp. I had no idea how amazingly supportive and long-lasting the affects of science camp are. Science camps were fun at the time, and I am still benefiting from them to this day." - <b>Amy Atwater, NSF Graduate Research Fellow at University of Texas at Austin </b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David (red) & Amy (holding a chunk of petrified wood named Walter) and the Paleo Research Team!</td></tr>
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Enough with the testimonies, let's get get to the nitty-gritty:<br />
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The current administration has already proven itself not science friendly, and it's only the first month. Now, more than ever, we need to invest in our students science education so the next generation is better informed than the current one. Help David bring Kansas students into the outdoors and the outdoors into Kansas classrooms - share his<a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nature-connect-field-science-to-classrooms-education#/" target="_blank"> crowdfunding project </a>and information about his program, or consider donating a couple of bucks his way. We donated 40, and have a bunch of cool stickers coming our way. Do you like stickers? Like science? Then help fund David's project, and make sure that midwest nerds get the same opportunities and experiences that pacific northwest nerd children do.<br />
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And if you know a nerd kid, tell them about David's camp. We've known David since we were teenagers, and we promise that other than ourselves, he's the coolest nerd we know.<br />
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- Meaghan & AmyMary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-61162813298663540772016-11-20T10:51:00.001-08:002016-11-20T10:51:51.797-08:00Photogrammetry, a Don't Do This guide to 3D modellingPhotogrammetry is a technique that stitches together pictures into a 3D surface, which is quick and useful for paleontologists, and also really impressive to their parents (<i>OMG IS THAT 3D? YOU WORK IN THE FUTURE AND THE PAST ALL AT ONCE YOU MAKE US SO PROUD</i>).<br />
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One of the big advantages of photogrammetry over 3D scanners and microscribes is speed and information quantity: it takes Meaghan only 15-20 minutes to photograph a specimen at a museum, which makes her visits much shorter and saves her money. This has sped up her collection time so that she now has a dataset of hundreds of oreodonts and modern animals with which to do her dissertation - too much data, if you asked the rapidly-panicking grad student who saw all this work looming on the horizon last year.<br />
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One thing that Meaghan is chronically bad at is following any sort of verbal or written directions (worst navigator of all time), preferring instead to stumble blindly through making hundreds of her own mistakes. So since Meaghan is now an expert in "how to mess up Photogrammetry" we thought it was time to lay some of that knowledge onto you, dear readers.<br />
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Have you ever struggled to use the program Agisoft Photoscan to make 3D models of skulls? If so, you're part of a very niche group of nerds we here at the blog would like to address in a short segment we call "Dear Photoscan Princess," which is code for "Dear blogger who spent too much time in the basement at University of Oregon screaming at her computer," and also code for "Dear Meaghan." To save us time and effort, let's just stick with the last variant and answer a few questions that Meaghan made up for herself as a writing tool so she could write a blog post on how to suck less at using this program.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: medium;">Dear Photoscan Princess, what is your ideal set up for taking photos?</span></b><br />
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Part 1: Get a Table<br />
I've heard some people have a lot of luck with turn-tables, but I haven't tried those. Usually I go low-tech and use items already at the museum. In that case it's important to get a small table that you can walk all the way or at least most of the way around. Otherwise you're going to be laying across that table to get pictures from behind, and while it is funny to play Austin Powers the fossils don't really respond to your "ooh baby yeah" comments and you look like a serious dumbass if anyone walks in. Trust me. Also, cropping yourself out of your own photos is weird.</div>
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Part 2: Remove Distractions<br />
The ideal room for photogrammetry is boring and small, with plain walls that aren't the same color as whatever you're photographing. Most of Meaghan's images have plenty of stuff in the background: other skulls, overhead lights, ladders, her arms, or labmate Win McLaughlin, for example. The trouble is that if these things are replicated in many many photos, the program will helpfully model them for you. This is a waste of energy and time, and will also remove resolution from the part you're trying to look at.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The program, wasting its time.</td></tr>
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In particular areas of reflection on the floor or bright overhead lights will be problematic because while the computer WANTS to reconstruct them, it does not understand the concept. This leads to a couple of problems - in some cases, glare on your specimen will cause the model to just... not be there. In other cases, blending of glare with background lights will occur and you'll get fun floaty cloud structures. There are ways to edit these out, but if you can avoid photographing lights that contact the outline of the specimen, you should do that.</div>
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Part 3: Table Cloth<br />
That said, you do want something interesting for the specimen to sit on. Black cloths are very common, and these can be nice for publishable photos, but in general a textured background gives the program something else to use as additional reference points. Don't use something shiny (most of my Field Museum camels have a shiny binder reflected up onto their jaws, which looks ridiculous). Also, use scale bars - but ideally, use ones that aren't shiny! Make sure to get some of those in focus too, or your scale bars won't be particularly useful<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...nice and fuzzy scalebar, great.</td></tr>
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<b>Dear Photoscan Princess, what sort of camera should I have? How many pictures should I take?</b><br />
Meaghan initially thought it would be a really great idea to go into photogrammetry with a really nice museum-quality camera. It wasn't. This camera took forever to focus, and had to be perfectly still to maintain any depth of field, which wasn't good when Meaghan found herself lunging behind specimens into awkward positions to get the right angle on the specimen.<br />
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It's better to instead use a digital camera that takes decent photos but has a good automatic setting, particularly one that has an internal stabilizer that compensates for the shakiness of your caffeinated, jet-lagged-and-fumbling fingers. You want to take lots of photos, and you want to take them quickly: 50-60 photos per side is Meaghan's shot-for standard, so she can delete blurry ones and have good coverage overall. Take them from as many angles as you can creatively discover in the moment. Try to get a few good shots of the scale bar, too, so that doesn't turn out blurry. For a mental picture of your coverage, Meaghan has helpfully provided an image:<br />
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<b>Dear Photoscan Princess, what's your Princess-Approved Editing Process like?</b><br />
Painful. Slow. Caffinated.<br />
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<b>Dear Photoscan Princess, my specimens are all pixellated! What happened?</b><br />
You forgot to change your bounding box. Meaghan didn't discover this trick until she'd already made 50% of her models - don't fall prey to this same trap. Change the red bounding box so it is a tighter fit around the specimen, and brings the specimen into better focus.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpaNzA2QnU9qfkgRI9Bm2BcViCjo568AA8AoUznHcZCGFnKgqpQxQRdCZHUSiR34SVXrm5j-g1UYRnMKYPAkMtjuQNO_V2QXsaVIerzB0vRG59k_03oQd6DF3nx65uyCfXTs3fHM1q5WY/s1600/oviscloudy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpaNzA2QnU9qfkgRI9Bm2BcViCjo568AA8AoUznHcZCGFnKgqpQxQRdCZHUSiR34SVXrm5j-g1UYRnMKYPAkMtjuQNO_V2QXsaVIerzB0vRG59k_03oQd6DF3nx65uyCfXTs3fHM1q5WY/s640/oviscloudy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Notice the thin red box. It's too far away from the specimen, bring it in closer for a better resolution model.</td></tr>
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<b>Dear </b><b>Photoscan Princess</b><b>, my specimens are really slow to load, I can't really do anything with them. WTF?</b><br />
That's code for "my specimens are toooo big." You had a lot of pictures and chose a high model resolution, didn't you? Try decimating your mesh to something a little more reasonable, then build your texture again. You'll find this version a lot easier to work with.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Dear </b><b>Photoscan Princess</b><b>, I can't zoom in! How am I supposed to see features when my specimens blink out?</b><br />
I don't know why this happens, but I DO know how to fix it! Right click on the specimen, and click "center view." This will automatically zoom in a bit, as well as centering whatever you looked at. Go ahead and zoom in more. If it blinks out again, right click and center again. It's a weird bug with a weird fix. I dunno, I don't computers, and maybe they've fixed it by now.<br />
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<b>Dear Photoscan Princess, I seem to have developed ghostly jaws! What happened?</b><br />
I have a lot of ghost-jaws: that is, specimens where the jaw fell over slightly, I didn't notice, and so technically the photos incorporate two different positions of the same specimen and the computer created a siamese-twin effect. Most of mine came from poor propping, but if you bump something that can happen too. Find the offending photos if you can.<br />
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GOOD LUCK PHOTOGRAMMETERS! May all your specimens turn out complete, and none of your scale bars be blurry. </div>
Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291036464703815220.post-51660355047147765772016-10-31T08:11:00.002-07:002016-10-31T08:11:18.096-07:00Meaghan's Tips for Taking Your Comprehensive or Qualifying ExamsIn Meaghan's department, they're called comprehensive exams, or comps - in many others they're called qualifying exams or quals. These are mid-Ph.D. exams, and they are by far the most difficult and terrifying part of a Ph.D (except for trying to get a job after you're finished hahaha aaaaaaaaaaaaaah). Each department in each school does them differently, but essentially the gist is this: are you good enough to learn what you need to learn so that the department will ever feel confident in giving you a doctorate?<br />
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<a name='more'></a>That might seem like a really arbitrary definition of what an exam is trying to measure, and it is - which is why each examinee is asked unique questions in a different style by their department. It's also what makes comps so absolutely, bloodcurdlingly terrifying for many graduate students: there isn't a clear rubric for success. There's no real guidelines for what your committee is going to ask, and there isn't a tried-and-true method for studying. The whole point of a Ph.D. is to make you an expert in a topic, guided on your path by other experts in similar topics, and your comps are when you have to somehow impress your committee members enough that they won't kick you out of your program.<br />
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I (Meaghan) passed my comps in February of 2014. The 5 months leading up to it were the worst of my life. I have never been so tired, so anxious, so full of self-doubt, and so convinced of my own failure. I studied hard, and tried to ask myself questions about what I was reading - how it fit into my own research, or how I could explain it to others. If I failed to immediately comprehend what I was reading (which I did, frequently) I took it incredibly poorly, convincing myself it was a sign I should just drop out and save myself the heart attack. November was for some reason the worst: I cried daily, sometimes for 2 or more hours, mostly because I was miserable but also I think it just became a weirdly convenient way of procrastinating tasks I was uninterested in doing.<br />
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I'd say tip #1 is not to worry about it that much... but frankly, if you're predisposed to that sort of all-encompassing panic, you're probably going to do that no matter what I say, so here's my real first tip:</div>
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<b>Tip #1: Get a Therapist.</b></div>
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My therapist is a lovely woman who got her Ph.D. in Psychology and underwent comprehensive exams herself. She didn't know anything about the things I was studying, but she understood the stress, the requirements, and the goals for my test. I would complain that I knew nothing, and she would point out all my progress, and all the steps I had completed. She would steadily point out where my thinking was flawed, and where I was right to be concerned about my progress.<br />
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<b>Tip #2: Get a Ton of Exercise.</b></div>
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It helps you sleep, it helps you focus, and when you just can't read another goddamned paper it helps you feel like you're still being productive because you're helping your body, even if you didn't finish your reading.</div>
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<b>Tip #3: Don't Be Afraid to Skim.</b></div>
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You're going to read more papers than you ever thought possible. Many of them will be helpful, most of them won't. Do yourself a favor: Read the abstract, the intro, and the conclusion. If at any point during those three you think "oops, this is not the paper I was looking for," get rid of it. You already have enough to do, you're going to be furious if you wasted your time on something unnecessary.</div>
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<b>Tip #4: Find Your Papers, All Your Papers</b></div>
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Here are some stupid and not so stupid paper-finding tips for getting past paywalls that I stumbled across during comps.</div>
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<u>a. VPN client</u></div>
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If you are not on campus and would like to get past paywalls, download your university's VPN client via their software page. It's basically a program that magic-tricks the internet into believing you're on campus and have access to articles - a tour guide through scholarly articles.</div>
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<u>b. Google Scholar Links</u></div>
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First off, live and love that citation button. It's great for creating proposals or papers. Second off, if you're logged into your VPN client Google Scholar has more than one way of accessing each article - there's the original header, yes, but on the right it will help you find the article through different PDF options, and also in your local university's library. If the original link takes you to an unpenetrable paywall, go back to scholar and check those links on the right.</div>
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<u>c. Interlibrary Loan</u></div>
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Somewhere hidden in your library's online system is a way to access the Interlibrary loan. Give them all the specific details of the article you need, and some magic minion will photocopy it for you in a very short period of time and send you a PDF, hurray!</div>
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<u>d. <a href="http://biodiversitylibrary.org/">Biodiversity Heritage Library</a></u></div>
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This is typically only helpful if you are looking for older articles but DAMN is it helpful. The website will also create custom PDFs for you of select pages in case you don't want the whole 600 page Geological Bulletin from 1890.</div>
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<u>e<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Scholar">. r/scholar</a></u></div>
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Still can't find it? Your facebook friends don't have access? <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Scholar">Reddit can</a>! Put in a request, and someone will help you.</div>
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<b>Tip #5: Stay Organized With Citation Software</b><br />
You're going to be reading a LOT, no matter what your topic, so you'll need to keep track of your shit to cite it later. I learned later about free software like Zotero, which can read citations directly from google scholar searches and save them for later, can retain notes pertinent to each citation, and can format citations for placement in each document. It can also interface directly with Microsoft word, so you can edit a citation in Zotero, hit refresh in Microsoft Word, and the in-line and reference section will update accordingly. Invaluable for any writing project.<br />
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<b>Tip #6: Remember that this, too, shall pass</b><br />
Regardless of what happens in your comprehensive exams, they will eventually be over. You will either be free, or you will be free - really, comprehensive exams are a win-win situation. If you fail, you get a regular life back. If you pass, then you get to become increasingly bitter about the psychological torture that your program put you through with no real discernible benefit. Congratulations?<br />
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But in all seriousness: when you pass, you will realize the utter stupidity of what you just went through. I did not feel better, or more worthy or intelligent for having passed. I felt exhausted, and frankly, pissed. I threw a marker at my advisor during my exams, and I was only 40% joking about it. It took me months to pick up the pieces of my life, and to resume normal working habits and life. I would have anxiety attacks, certain I was supposed to be doing something, studying something. Comprehensive exams are the gold standard of everything that is elitist, pretentious, and traumatic about graduate school. It is state-sanctioned psychological torture of its brightest and best. It has been over two years, and I am still furious - and I know that other departments have a much worse, much less useful systems than mine did. That does not stop me from being bitter. I have only recently stopped having an all-powerful avoidance reaction to reading scientific papers, since over the course of my comprehensive exams I convinced myself that my inability to concentrate on these papers for more than 5 minutes at a time was a result of my own stupidity, rather than the enormous strain and stress I was under.<br />
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Maybe I'm just mad because I see how much easier it could have been. If there were no comprehensive exams, I would have learned all that material more readily and it would have stuck more firmly. That's what happens now, and it's not because I primed my brain somehow through the hazing ritual of comps. It's because I'm not worried. I'm not pressured. I say this, knowing that I am also sort of insane - after all, I just got my Ph.D. in 4 years while planning my wedding, working as Vice President of Equity and Inclusion for my union and also serving on the Search Committee for one of the deans of our school (all while also working as a teaching assistant). That's a lot to balance - and I still made better progress in my program because it wasn't futile and purposeless anymore.<br />
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In conclusion: fuck comprehensive exams. They don't benefit anyone, they deliberately exclude people with mental illness whose psyche can't handle the experience, and they're a fucking dinosaur relic of the past when every PhD had to be a wealthy white man. Comprehensive exams are bullshit.<br />
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So my real advice to you is this: you are better than this bullshit system. You are smarter, stronger, and more talented than any test could ever prove. This is a stupid, time-consuming, brain-dissolving hoop you have to jump through so you can get your Ph.D. and change the system. Battle the dragon, and if you are stressed or feel like you're going insane remember that is exactly how you are supposed to feel. That's the real point, stupid as it is. Good luck, and remember that when you graduate you have a chance to get an academic job and eradicate this stupidity once and for all.<br />
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xoxo<br />
Meaghan<br />
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P.S. rumor is that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_examination" target="_blank">comps are a North American torture system</a> that aren't present in most other countries. So if this post scared you off a Ph.D., maybe just consider going to a different continent for your degree.</div>
Mary Anning's Revengehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04838804932170304451noreply@blogger.com0