PlantPeople

PLANT // PEOPLE

Pondering plants and the people who study them.

An open letter to Bill Nye

7/28/2017

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Nate Emery is currently a post-doc in the department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and conducts research in plant ecophysiology, biology education, and faculty professional development. Follow him on Twitter @FoggyIdeas or check out his website for more information.
​[Nate writes...]​ ​

​Dear Bill Nye and company,
 
I’ve wanted to write about your new show “Bill Nye Saves the World” for some time now. I am a huge fan of your old show ("Bill Nye the Science Guy," 1993-1998). It was original, engaging, and inspired scientific curiosity in a whole generation.

​Your new show is obviously targeting a different audience and has a very different tone and approach.

To be honest, upon watching the first few episodes, I was immediately turned off. 

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Science degrees are not just for scientists

5/2/2017

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[Anna writes...] I recently wrote for Michigan State University's W.K. Kellogg Biological Station's "News and Blogs!" Check it out!

It’s a common assumption that a person with a science degree is going to become a science researcher. But I’ve found that this isn’t true—there are many students of science interested in other career paths, and many options available to them.

I’ve loved ecology since I was old enough to say “rainforest.” My childhood coloring pages were of endangered species. Our family vacations were to national parks. Years later, I worked summers as a field assistant to scientists, and fell in love with tallgrass prairies, floodplain forests, and Mojave scrub while I tromped around collecting data. I couldn’t have wished for more perfect adventures. “Ecologist” has always seemed like my clear calling. And sometime in the next year I’ll have my Ph.D. from Michigan State to make it official.
Keep reading at kbs.msu.edu
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Scientists as People

6/21/2016

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[Andy writes...] I recently had the chance to attend the annual Plant and Animal Genome conference in San Diego. This conference gathers a few thousand genetics and genomics scientists from around the world so that they can share their research, learn about new advances in the field, and strengthen the genetics community as a whole. Generally I would expect detailed, cutting edge seminars, and for the most part my expectations were exceeded. However my biggest takeaway from the whole conference came from the opening keynote address by Alison Van Eenennaam regarding communication in science.

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Highlights from the 100th Ecological Society of America meeting

8/19/2015

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There was a lot of talk this year at the 100th anniversary of the Ecological Society of America about getting permission before sharing details of anyone else's research (particularly, tweeting), apparently due to heightened fears about "scooping"-- the phenomenon in science where someone beats you to publishing research such that your work is less relevant/less ground-breaking/less publishable. 

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At the science fair

4/20/2015

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When I was a kid, my school science fair project was about nail polish. If I remember correctly, I had 2 replicates of 5 blue polishes (you know, because of my 10 fingers) to test which brand of polish would last the longest. I didn't win first prize, but this insightful question and experimental design clearly shows I was always destined for a career in science.

I took a mulligan last week at the Laingsburg Middle School Science Fair, where I presented to the 6th-8th graders alongside other volunteers from science groups in the area. 

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