We're a little crazy, about science!

Latest

The things I carried

In the face of time, even rocks wear away to nothing. How many things will you love that just pop in and out of existence over the course of your life? I don’t mean people; I mean literal things. Photographs, stuffed animals, or mementos of things long past. Things with sentimental value rather than actual value. If I were to take an inventory of the things I own, most would have come into my possession in the last 10 years or so. The oldest would be a photo album from when I was born, and the second oldest would be a scattering of my Marine Corps-issued gear. There’s a large gap of time between those two things, but for good… and bad reasons.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  January 5, 2024 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Into the uncharted

It seems only fitting to close the 365 days of academia project with one more post. It’s admittedly a bit overdue, but the transition from graduate school is a bit more rocky than I had anticipated. Isn’t that how all journeys are, though? I guess not really knowing what comes next has its appeal. After all, as a student, your trajectory is pretty much handed to you. But not every path is the same, and that’s the topic for the day, in a somewhat roundabout introduction. Because I wrote a book chapter, having a physical copy of something you wrote, even if it’s just a short chapter, feels pretty good, if you ask me.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 1, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Disability | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

So you want a PhD: A how-to guide

Observe as the new student enters the PhD maze…

You get a PhD, and you get a PhD; you ALL get a PhD!!!! Okay, it’s not quite that easy, and while the journey is tough (speaking from experience), it doesn’t have to be as overwhelming as it sometimes is for people. So how do you get a PhD, you may ask? Well, there’s no set path, and frankly, my advice is mostly tailored to the sciences in the US because that’s my area of expertise. Still, I genuinely think a bit of guidance can save people a ton of headaches. I was very lucky because I accidentally did a lot of things right, but I had no guide. If you’re here, then hopefully my little bits of wisdom will make your journey a smooth(er) one. So let’s do this!

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  September 23, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The end of academia

Once upon a time there was a student. I don’t know where I’m going with this, I just really wanted to start out with once upon a time, because that’s how all good fairy tales begin and when you get to the end, they all lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, this isn’t the end of the story, just the end of the chapter really. To celebrate the end, let’s go back to the beginning. Or rather I figure today would be a good time to do the victory lap and recap the journey. It wasn’t a linear progression, but adventures never really are.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  August 27, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The doctor is in, or AHHHHHH!!!!

Well, it’s official. I mean it’s TECHNICALLY been official for alike two weeks now, but I made it! So why the delay in making this post? I can explain, it’s been a rush… what else is new? But I almost didn’t make it, almost. So now I’m done and I’ve got to figure out what to do next. There’s a lot of “what ifs” going on right now, so there’s a lot to talk about and I already have half a dozen or so post topics I need (want) to cover, which meant that today I really needed to write. Well now that we’re getting all over the place, let’s take this a little more systematically, shall we?

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  August 20, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The result

Actual photo of me finishing….

Well we did it. Go team! I was semi-officially awarded my PhD (I need some signatures to make it official, official). But it’s not the end, not quite. There’s still some work to be done and I want to make sure I hit all the boxes. In the Marines we always ended hard training with a strong finish, I’m hoping to channel some of that into the end of this journey. So a brief update, then I’m going to sleep for a few … years.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  July 29, 2023 | Categories: Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Defense day

Five years. Five long, sometimes very painful years. The last six weeks (probably a bit more) have felt like a mad sprint for my life, but if you’re reading this then we’ve reached the final challenge, the defense. I was taught early on that a defense isn’t really an exam exactly, it’s a celebration of your accomplishments to get to this stage, I will tell you now it does NOT feel that way going into it. It feels a bit like going in for a routine surgery, you know statistically everything will be fine, but…

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  July 27, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The final countdown…

What a week, long experiments, surprise experiments, way too much writing, but we’ve done it! Done what you ask, well let’s get right into where things are at the moment and some of the final things that need to happen. Because there’s a list, there’s always a list and when you’re getting ready to defend the list feels incredibly long and never ending! A quick recap for the week and what’s left to come.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  July 22, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The end of the rope

How does the saying go? Give a person just enough rope to hang themselves? Well I definitely feel hanged. It’s been a stressful week and that’s saying something given the level of stress generally floating around here these days. Frankly, if it weren’t for the fact that I’m barely updating my blog as it is, I probably wouldn’t be spending this time writing, but I figure there are a lot of people out there who are waiting to hear how the progress is coming. So that said, let’s give a bit of a progress update and then it’s back to work for me.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  July 16, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

There was trouble, because we didn’t make it double

If you want horrible and possibly dated Pokémon puns, I don’t have any. What I do have is a set of skills, skills that make me a nightmare for … well myself frankly and even more horrible possibly dated other puns that have been… taken? The time to graduation is coming, three weeks left, less than three weeks frankly, three weeks last Friday, so like 2.5 weeks-ish. Well have I got a story to tell! I wish it were good news, and in some ways it is, but in other ways, not so much. Don’t worry I’ll break it down a bit so we can get the weekly window view of what’s been happening behind the scenes during my (mostly) radio silent era.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  July 11, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Four weeks and counting!

Well okay to be honest not exactly four, less than four. Oh no, my defense is less than four weeks away. This feels a bit odd… but here we are I guess. It seems like I’m never going to finish, but there has been progress! Setbacks too for sure, but progress nevertheless! Since it’s so close and I’m in a huge panic ALL THE TIME! I guess (reluctantly…) we can discuss the progress that has been made and what’s left for us as I approach the first of the next major deadlines, the format check. Which is just a week away if my calendar is correct (if not, well than oops…).

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  July 4, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The final countdown

Well graduation is (hopefully) coming. There’s a long road between now and the big defense day, but the end is nigh! It feels weird getting to this point, but it’s also stressful because there’s still so much to get done I’m not sure it will happen. I have a feeling that others have felt the same way while they were wrapping up. So in the spirit of trying to update on a semi-regular schedule I figure at least once a week I can update everyone. That said let’s dive into what’s left, what’s next, and why I don’t think I will get a break anytime soon.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  June 25, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When DARPA calls… again?!

Once in a blue moon, once in a lifetime, a golden opportunity. sometimes it’s hard to put into words just how lucky you can truly be. Sometimes things just align right and looking back you can see all the little waves you made that, over time, built into something amazing. It’s been what feels like a lifetime since I started my education and for awhile it felt like I was going to go by unnoticed, average. No one wants to be average, but by definition so many of us are. For me, I just feel like I need to be more. But no matter how hard I worked, the ripples just didn’t amount to much… until they did and now, well maybe we should start at the beginning.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  June 18, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work, My Research | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Uncharted – A book chapter update

Well, this is it! The last update in the years long updates regarding my book chapter (here, here, here, and here), you know just to name a few of the previous times I’ve talked about it. Okay, I cannot promise this will be the last time I talk about it, but it is one of the reasons I was reminded that I should update the blog more often, at least every once and awhile. I mean, I’ve got like 5 posts this year in, so it’s safe to say I’m behind. So let’s talk about the chapter.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  May 17, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Mental health | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The missing months

Well, there goes the project. Okay not really, progress doesn’t reset, it’s not all or nothing. So there’s a gap, I stepped away for a minute and boom it’s been a few months since I last wrote anything. It’s odd because it doesn’t feel that long. I almost got into the habit of telling myself that I would write about something as soon as I had something to write about. Well I’ve never been at a loss for topics, so it was more of an excuse than a reason to not blog. To be fair the time away has helped, but it also made me miss doing this. So let’s talk about the missing months, shall we?

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  May 16, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Universe 25 – A paradise lost

John Calhoun crouches within Universe 25
John Calhoun crouches within Universe 25

Utopia, depending on who you ask you almost certainly will get a different answer on what the perfect world would look like. No, not what the world COULD be, but what the perfect world would look like. If you could snap a finger and alter the very fabric of reality to create the perfect world, it would almost certainly look very different than the world someone else would create. Maybe that’s why paradise is best left to novelists. Still, what would happen if we could create a general paradise? This is a story of mice and men.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  February 19, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Thoughts from the Lab | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Charting the uncharted

Sure, I’m not completely sure when I’ll graduate, it’s still a bit of a mystery to be honest, but I’m hopeful and regardless of when I THINK it will happen, I need to plan for what comes next. So far there’s more options than I would’ve first thought and because of that, there’s a whole lot of stuff that needs to happen between now and when the big day comes. Which also means making choices about where I want to go. Thankfully, I got some news that makes me excited about the future, but there’s still a bit of a hang up, okay lot’s of hang ups, nevertheless, you don’t know if you don’t try.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  February 8, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The first aim (of three)

There’s a lot going on and I have so many updates it was hard to pick just one. While the work stuff is super interesting and things are going at a breakneck pace, I have some good news on the school front and since this journey is primarily school related (after all it’s 365 days of academia, not 365 days of hospital research), I think it’s about time to talk about where I am now and why, despite my best efforts, I still somehow feel so very, very behind schedule. Which isn’t to say I won’t graduate, just that I’m not confident I will.Enough of the lead in though, let’s just get to it.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  February 7, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Return of the long experiment

It’s been awhile! Things have been busy so I’ve had to prioritize what I wanted to get done to avoid the crash I had after the DARPA event at the end of last year. So there’s a lot of updates coming, obviously. I still want to blog and I hope to get back into the daily routine soon enough, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t happen this week, because this week it’s the return of the long experiment. So let’s break it down a bit and talk about why this round will be different than the previous versions. Well as much as I can talk about anything I’ve been doing anyway.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  February 6, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The year ahead

It seems only fitting that with the last post a look back, we take a look forward too. For those of you who know me, it won’t be a big surprise. I do it so often, looking forward is probably a hobby. I like to plan for the future and have clear goals to work toward. Maybe that’s just how I’m wired? In any case, it’s what’s kept me going for this long and I don’t think changing strategies this late in the game is a good idea, so we’re sticking with it. It’s going to be an interesting year for me, even if only half the stuff I want to do gets done it should be pretty memorable. But enough with the fluff, let’s dive right in!

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  January 4, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Thoughts from the Lab | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

2022 in review

Well I’ve been absent a bit, but I’m still around I promise! I’m trying to get back into the groove. It’s a bit hard with all the stuff piling up, but this blog and the 365 days of academia project are important to me. I’ve got at least a few topics floating around in my head for posts, so it’s not a shortage of things to write, just a shortage of time to write them. Since 2022 is now officially dead and gone, it’s probably not a bad idea to discuss all the progress made towards the finish line, because graduation is coming, sooner or later!! While there are a lot of sad parts to 2022, including the pandemic, for my education and career personally it was overall a good year.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  January 2, 2023 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Thoughts from the Lab | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Happy holidays!

It’s been a busy time. Work, school, weather, you name it. But, I wanted to make my yearly holiday wish. For those who don’t know, I’m a non-religious Christmas type. It’s just a fun holiday and I like to celebrate in my own ways. To all my friends, found via my blog or otherwise I hope you have a great day and a good new year. The holidays are a time to remind us that we’re all stuck on this tiny speck of dirt. Of course, we don’t need a special day to tell others how much they mean to us. Life is too short for us to need a reason, just a thought as we head into the new year every life has an end date and unfortunately we’re never sure when that will be. To sum it up, be kind, to others, but also to yourself. We’re all exactly where we need to be right now, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Happy holidays!

Posted by  |  December 25, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The uncharted paths

Change, it’s basically a constant. Unfortunately, for what feels like forever, I felt stuck. Progress felt non-existent, papers weren’t being published, data processing wasn’t happening, and that may have just been my personal feelings, but everything I was doing felt wrong. Days turned to weeks turned to months and after a year or so of this things started moving forward. It was a night and day change, now it feels like things are moving so fast that it’s hard to keep up with it day to day, which is probably why I keep writing about all the changes. Now I’m at a point where I have too many options to count.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  December 12, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Limitations and the consequences

Well hello there. It’s been a hot minute as the kids say (they say that, right?), but I’m feeling somewhat better these days. I’ve written several “first” posts now or at least parts to them and I’m hoping that this will be the one I finally commit to and hit the publish button on. If you’re reading this and are not me, then it’s a good indication I made it that far, how about that? So let’s get the obvious out of the way and catch up on the past few weeks because there’s a lot to catch up on and I’m not abandoning the 365 days of academia project, so no worries on that front! I mean after starting year four, I might as well see it to the end!

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  December 9, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The road forward

Well, it’s been a journey. As I keep mentioning, it’s not over yet, but I can’t help but look back at some of the first few years of posts where I felt lost and/or hopeless. Things have a tendency to work out and I knew it then just like I know it now, but I won’t lie and say it’s been easy. Between now and graduation there is still significant work to be done, but now that I’ve crossed the last week off my list it feels slightly more manageable. I still feel a bit like I lost something, even after gaining a whole lot, but I think that comes with any long-term accomplishment and I should probably brace myself for the feeling to hit again when I finally get my degree. Hopefully, it still feels like something that may not happen for whatever reason.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 22, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

When tomorrow’s dream became yesterday

Fifteen years, you chase a dream for so long it becomes a part of you. You wake up, check the boxes you need to the best you can, and do it all again tomorrow. Then you do it again. And you do it again. And you keep taking the steps to get where you want to be, because you’ve already been doing it for so long you figure it would be a shame to throw in the towel now. You’ve bled for the dream, sacrificed for the dream, it’s in you now. After a few years maybe you even start to think it will never happen, because if it was going to happen, it would’ve already. Right? Until one day you wake up, you cross that finish line and the dream you spent so much of your life working towards becomes history. What happens when your dream of tomorrow becomes the history of yesterday?

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 19, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, My Research | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Once in a lifetime

We often call opportunities that are huge and potentially life changing, once in a lifetime. While I agree with the spirit I’m hopeful that events like that occur at least a handful of times in a lifetime. That’s mostly because in hindsight we can always have done “better” whatever that looks like. I know I always have the nagging feeling that I could’ve done better no matter how well I do or how perfect things turn out, there’s always a flaw when you look close enough. Maybe I should just be kinder to myself, hell I think that advice applies to most/all of us. But at the end of the day, do we ever really go into these things giving it less than our all? Tomorrow is my once in a lifetime, but it may not be the last one.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 14, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, My Research | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Dear past me…

Not too long ago I wrote about something I thought was an interesting idea. We can’t go back in time, but we can go forward. So while you can’t talk to your past self, you can send your future self all the letters and notes you want. It’s not as dramatic as going back with the knowledge you possess, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. I’ve written a few letters to myself now including via blog (here). I’m not sentimental, but I figured if I was going to send a message forward, I might as well let past me know how things are going. While writing letters to your past self is more common, I didn’t think about doing it until I read some of the public letters that people wrote to their future selves then responded to those letters. So yeah, here goes nothing.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 13, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Mental health | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

You don’t know me, but…

Have you ever had someone change your life? I mean really made a difference. Maybe it’s as simple as a musician who put to words what you’re feeling, or maybe something more dramatic like saving you from a burning building. I can’t say I’ve been pulled from a burning building or had anything nearly that dramatic happen to me, but I have had my fair share of life changing events occur. The thing is, if you’re not physically being saved then it doesn’t always feel like the person did anything meaningful. I’m sure there exists more than one musician who put just the right words together for a person to feel seen and completely altered the course of their live because of it.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 12, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, My Research | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Together we served

Sure…

This is probably not the post you think it is. It’s Veteran’s day, which if you don’t know me or haven’t seen my previous posts on the matter, I’m not a huge fan of it. Sure, celebrations, free food, blah, blah, blah, all great. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to come off as the person who doesn’t like a party, or worse someone who wants to berate people for having fun. No, I just don’t particularly care about the day. But since it’s here, I will give my semi-regular reminder that Veteran’s day isn’t about the Veterans at all. It’s about feeling good about war and giving politicians an excuse to, “out appreciate” each other. I mean what gives me the right to complain about how Veterans are being treated when I get a free* meal once a year at Applebees?

*restrictions and exclusions apply, food may be stepped on, offer not valid if still living, see store trash can for details,

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 11, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Politics | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The second conference prep

It’s conference season. When I say season I mean season, how many conferences can be crammed into the span of two months? I’m not sure, but I do know that just for my field specifically there are three going on in the next seven days and while I do wish I could attend all three, for the sake of my sanity, health, and the safety of the time-space continuum I’m limiting the number of things I am doing. Conference season, on one hand I missed it. For the past two years COVID has basically eliminated all the major conferences in my field. Unfortunately for me, COVID is still a thing, sooooo we’re playing it safe with the good ol’ N95. That said, let’s dive into what the next week will look like and the prep I’m doing for conference number two.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 10, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fabric conference posters!

It’s here!!!!! My poster is finally here and let me just say it looks great! I’m thrilled with how it came out and the last post on the topic (here) discussed why using a fabric company over a school based company was a great idea, mostly because of the level of expected quality so I won’t be talking about that today. Instead I think I’ll cover why I’m so thrilled, but also how I managed to get it printed, because that’s a story. Although, the linked how-to guide in the previous post on the matter does a great job, I figured I could pass along some other advice. Namely, what to do now that I need to cut it to size…!!!

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 9, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Thoughts from the Lab | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

For the future

Well it appears we’re talking about future me again I guess with all the stuff going on it’s hard not to. There’s a whole lot of things changing and like it or not, you can’t just jump into the future without plan. Okay, you can, but speaking from experience, I don’t advise it. Sure it may end well, but why risk it? So instead I need to figure out what the next few years looks like. I tend to do this every so often, but with graduation (hopefully) coming, I want to make sure that I make the best choices I can. Basically I need future me not to be pissed off at past me… present me? It’s confusing, but whatever let’s not think about it too much.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 8, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The final week

It’s officially prep time, well it’s always prep time, but in this case I have two conferences back to back next week, so there’s some work to be done. I’ve got a lot of work to do, but what else is new? While everyone is different, since there’s so much going on, I thought it would be great to take the time to discuss how exactly I am getting ready for these events and talk a bit about the stuff that will come afterwards. The next week will be a major one for me, in my opinion anyway, so I want to give myself the best chance at a good outcome.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 7, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, My Research | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dear future me…

What I wouldn’t give for a time machine. I think we all agree there’s at least a few things we wish we could go back and change. Wrongs that need to be righted and all that, or maybe it’s just to stop yourself from doing something you’ll regret, you know what I’m talking about *wink, wink* because we all have regrets. I think it’s one thing we can agree on and despite the trend of people suggesting they are living without regret, I’m sure there would be one thing they wish they could change. Hindsight is 20/20 afterall, even if it’s just to have a chance to say a missed goodbye to a loved one who’s no longer with us. I think a time machine is one thing we can universally agree we would use consequences be damned. But alas the past is closed to us for now, but the future is always open.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 6, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Mental health | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

So you want to print a conference poster

Well with the DARPA conference coming, I need to print the poster. Easier said than done unfortunately. Sure, with the advent of giant printers, you can get it done in minutes, but there’s a line involved and because it’s conference season and because I want to try something fancy, the line is fairly long. Weeks long, but the conference is in less than two weeks and I only recently finished my poster. Now I SHOULD have taken care of this at the beginning of the week, but again we have an oops because I did not. Moral of the story, if you want to stop reading, don’t be me. Now, since I’m doing something fancy, let’s talk about why and how!

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 4, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Postdoc interviews

Well oru lab is hiring! I wanted to start like that so no one got excited thinking I was doing a postdoc interview, I have a postdoc lined up thankfully. But because it’s hiring, we’ve been interviewing potential postdocs to fill the role. Our lab does things slightly differently (from what I’ve seen anyway) and we interview the candidate as a group, separately, and we get the chance to share a meal with them and hear about them in a not super stressful environment. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun. I’m exhausted and I wasn’t even the one being interviewed! So if you haven’t been a postdoc before (and why would you, you’d have to be crazy to get a PhD… oh right), there’s a process to it.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 3, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Forgotten inventions, or a patent update

Way back in June (here) I wrote about my first patent and said that I would probably post an update on my current patent progress in a few weeks. Well, I didn’t lie, it’s been a few weeks… a lot of a few weeks! So why the post now? Well, because it’s official as of October 18th the USPTO issued my second patent. One that I’m actually in a semi-good spot to do something with myself, since as the post I wrote previously detailed the seemingly toxic previous patent. It’s been a long journey, so let’s talk about the patent and why I’m glad I didn’t just give up on it, like I was seriously debating about doing.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 2, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Thoughts from the Lab | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Digging out

Ever feel buried under your work? Like you’ll never see the light of day? It’s odd to think that there are other countries who do it differently, but here in the states, we tend to do that a lot. Or at least that’s what I’m told, I try not to overload myself, but lately it seems there’s no way to avoid it. The problem stems from me, not the stuff around me though. I didn’t have to do so much and I certainly didn’t have to want to do it so quickly, but I have the strong sense that I need to in some ways, because I feel like I’m just plain late. I know it’s just a me thing, but I’m behind some cosmic deadline, or at least that’s the way it feels. And for the past few weeks there was an avalanche of work that I didn’t see coming, then again you never do.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  November 1, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

They visit at night

Well it’s been a while, and I’m not sure I can post regularly yet. But I wanted to make some time today because it’s that time of year again. The one where I take a stab at writing a horrible horror story. Normally I would just dive in and let you, my dear readers, figure out that it’s fiction. However, my traditional policy of, “let the reader figure it out” ended up causing some concerns last year. So while I like to pull from realistic situations and/or life events (particularly for this story) and twist them into the terrible, I would like to point out that this is 140% made up, not real, totally fiction, and won’t harm anyone for reading… or will it!? BWAHAHAHA. Now, on with the scares!

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 29, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

AHHH!! Real zombies!

It’s my favorite post of the year!!! Every year I update and post my favorite Halloween Lunatic Labs tradition! Ironically with everything going on this year I almost forgot to post it, which seems to have been the case last year as well (see the theme?!)! In any case, today we bring you the science fact behind the undead. Zombies, those brain loving little things are everywhere. Sure, we are all familiar with the classic  zombie, but did you know that we aren’t the only zombie lovers out there? It turns out that nature has its own special types of zombies, but this isn’t a science fiction movie, this is zombie science fact! And sometimes fact can be scarier than fiction. Now, let’s talk zombies!

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 25, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Science Fun | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The second crunch

It’s that time again, crunch time! I think it may be easier to just blog about days that aren’t crunch time honestly, because at this point you could call me captain crunch (legally obligated to ask you not to do that). Grad school can be painful, but we’re close to the end and that may be the biggest problem. There’s just too much to do in the timeframe I want to do it all in. A lot of this cannot be automated, so late nights and long days are abundant. But tomorrow is the second finish line and depending on what I can get done today, we will at least cross it with a modicum of grace. Well except for the surprise demo that is.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 20, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The second deadline

Well we’re roughly 36 hours away from the second deadline of the month. There’s still two more deadlines I need to hit to survive the month, but so far we’re on a shaky, but manageable track to make it to deadline number two. Four deadlines in one month! It’s a lot, but I guess it is the spooky season. I just didn’t realize I would be dealing with man-made horrors beyond my comprehension. Seriously though with the second deadline so close, I am just a bit stressed at the moment.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 19, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The taboo of failure

We celebrate a lot of exciting things. You get into your dream school? Let’s party! Getting married? Time to celebrate! Win the big game? Well you get the point. As a culture, here in the US anyway, we celebrate victories and make fun of people who try to include the people who lose. If you’ve never seen the “participation trophy” discourse then it’s probably better to live in ignorance, trust me on that. In short, we celebrate the winners because they accomplished something and if you failed then clearly you did not.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 18, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Finding answers

Okay, today is basically the final day I have to get the answers I want. While I’ll have time to work on this during the week (with a little luck that is) I don’t want to rely on that. Instead today I’m going to make the push to find out if my “super secret technique” (SST) actually works. I have the data, I have most of the code written, and I have some new equipment to help me out (after putting that mechanical engineering degree to good use and reinforcing my desk a bit). So the rest is me and how much I can do.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 16, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The dissertation foundation work

Everything needs to have a good foundation, from homes to education, if the foundation is awful, it’s all going to collapse on itself. Science is no different. Especially when we’re working with data that you can’t make sense of at a glance. Without the proper checks, you can rapidly set yourself up for failure. So today is all about building that foundation. And with DARPA and my next presentation coming up, we need to at least get the foundation done.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 15, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Time for an upgrade

Okay, it’s not the best of times, but it’s not the worst of times either. Wait, I didn’t do that intentionally, but it works. Maybe I should’ve titled the post a tale of two monitors! It’s back to crunch time though meaning late nights from here to the end of the month, well at least until the end of the DARPA deadline. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’ve got a new toy to help me make it through. Well a new monitor to be exact. Sometimes you just have to buy yourself something nice.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 14, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The dissertation update

It’s been a busy few days, but progress has been made and that’s all that matters right now. I knew what I was getting myself into when I started this whole thing and it’s only going to be for a little bit longer (if all goes well) so I don’t mind it so much. Right now it’s more about the timing of everything. With DARPA deadlines fast approaching I want to be certain that I can get at least something done to show at the conference, as usual, even if it’s that what I’m proposing doesn’t work.

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 13, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dissertation late nights

It’s another long day, but progress is progress. I want to graduate on time and I’m going to give it my best shot in making it happen. My dissertation is complicated and my proposal was a lot of work, more work than I wanted, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do in order to graduate. Since collecting all the data for aim 1 is finished, the rest, at this stage anyway, is up to me. It’s another late night, but the end is so very, very close!

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 11, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Forward progress

I don’t want to say I’ve learned a lot in the last few years, but I have to say, I’ve learned a lot in the last few years. Sometimes you don’t realize the progress you make until you find yourself in a situation that would’ve been overwhelming or even impossible before and you are (not so) suddenly able to handle it without too much of a problem. Take for instance my dissertation work. When we last discussed (yesterday) I wanted to process ALL THE DATA!!!! But realistically I thought I would get a handful of datasets done, 3 to 5 maximum. Well…

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  October 10, 2022 | Categories: 365 Days of Academia - Year four, Dissertation Work | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment