Category Archives: Potpourri

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What is loss?

I’m not sure I have much comprehension or real understanding of loss. I’m healthy and happy, as are my kids, as is my wife. I’ve lived a life that has so far been full of joy, love, opportunity, laughs and I have been surrounded by family and friends. I live in an amazing community – I work in an amazing place with good people. My parents are still alive. In short, I’ve not suffered any tremendous personal loss.

But loss can be small and I have surely felt it at times. Loss can be a kind of disappointment or inconvenience. Loss can be in sports, a broken leg or dislocated shoulder; it can be an inability to get that paper published, or a graduate student deciding to leave the laboratory, or some form of rejection. Small losses can sting for a little while. They are not insignificant when viewed at small scales, but they are small.

Loss can be significant. Life throws curve balls, gives some pretty sharp kicks and pays no attention to ‘good timing’. There are big losses that take up larger chunks of emotion, and affect us physically and mentally.  Kids get sick (…how many of us have stayed awake all night, laying next to our child who may have laboured breathing and suffering high fever?).  I’ve lost grandparents, I’ve had friends who have passed away, and I’ve had pets who have died. I’ve also been near to people who have suffered tremendous loss, especially recently. If it stings and hurts for me, it must be unbearable for them. I think I’m dreadfully scared of large-scale loss and I don’t know how people get through it.

From a broader perspective, this has me reflecting on what is constant about our lives. Are there any constants? Perhaps only that life is both fragile and unpredictable – that’s a difficult combination.  When things are good, at their most basic level (health, food, roof), things are really, really good. That is an important thing to remember. When things go south, life makes little sense, it seems unfair and we despair.  This is a confirmation of the fragile and the unpredictable.

When facing significant loss, why should we not despair and call it unfair?

Here’s why: the people I have seen go through significant loss, and who have been in dark places, do emerge from those places. The continue, they fight, they move on. They don’t forget, they don’t get over grief, they don’t get over the loss, but they do carry on. These are my heroes.  Of course, this is my view, from the outside, and I certainly don’t pretend to understand. But I do take inspiration from people who move on and eventually laugh and smile again, after what must be the unbearable context of tremendous loss.

I’ve talked and written before about the importance of ‘slowing down‘. I believe this more strongly now than ever before. Be mindful, be caring. Curve balls are coming. None of us will be be spared those sharp kicks.

To end, a few lyrics from Tom Petty – I heard these while driving in to work, after just learning of a friend who suffered tremendous loss.

Well I know what’s right, I got just one life

In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around

But I’ll stand my ground and I won’t back down

 

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Landing an tenure track job in entomology: perfecting the practice of academic kung fu

This is re-posted from the Entomological Society of Canada’s blog, and is written by Chris Buddle (McGill University) and Dezene Huber (University of Northern British Columbia)

Last autumn there was quite an interesting discussion on twitter among some entomologists in Canada about the ‘job search’ – more specifically focused on the process of seeking tenure-track academic appointments.  Many of us shared our sob stories, and although the time, place and characters varied, the common element was REJECTION.  Those of us who currently are lucky enough to hold faculty appointments remember the rejection to success ratio, and some of us still have stacks of rejection letters.  While most of us really enjoyed the academic freedom that came with working as a postdoc, the job-search process was more often than not discouraging and deflating, and a really difficult time in our lives.

Towards the end of the PhD program, most of us are riding high – our papers are getting published, we are truly ‘experts’ in our fields of study, we are being congratulated, buoyed by our peers and mentors, and we are ready to take on the world.   We found ways to get a post-doc and perhaps traveled to a different country for additional experience, with a sense of hope, optimism, and enthusiasm for the next stage of our careers.

Then, like the world supply of helium, our hopes were quickly diminished.

“I will easily get a job interview at THAT University”.

Nope.  Not even an interview.

“Perfect – that job advertisement was MADE for me – they will hire me.  It’s a perfect fit”.

Nope. A mass e-mail rejection letter instead.

“I’m the GREATEST in my field of study.  Universities will be asking me to apply”

Nope.  That never happens.

”I’m sure that I’ll be seriously considered for this position”

Nope. The rejection letter came back saying that there were more than 400 applicants for the position.

“Even if I don’t get the job, I’ll be able to get feedback from someone on the committee.”

Nope. It’s highly unlikely that, among the 400 applicants, anyone on the committee even remembers you.

There are really two ways to look at this.  It is possible to get discouraged and frustrated, and give up hope OR it’s possible to see that persistence can pay off and eventually the right job will come along, and you will be competitive.  Sure, the opportunities have to be there, but that kind of timing and ‘luck’ isn’t something you can control.

Here are a few pointers that will hopefully help you think about that tenure-track job search, and give you a sense of optimism:

  • It will take a huge dose of patience and persistence, but there ARE tenure-track jobs out there for people with Entomological interests, even in Canada. Recently, Manitoba hired an entomologist, and University of Ottawa just hired an assistant professor on the evolution of plant-pollinator interactions.
  • University professors do eventually retire! (…Although it needs to be noted that the reality in the current economy is that their positions are not always replaced)
  • You don’t have to restrict your options to only University positions.  We know of faculty members who worked in private companies, or in government, and made a lateral transfer, eventually, to academia.  Your holy grail may be a tenure-track job, but other opportunities are equally rewarding and could eventually get you a tenure-track job. Or you may find that life “beyond the ivory tower” is much to your liking anyhow. In fact, you may be interested in the advice column at Chronicle.com by that very name.
  • Be creative with your CV.  There are relatively few jobs for entomologists, sensu stricto, but there are jobs for evolutionary biologists, ecologists, or other more ‘general’ disciplines (Look: you can apply for a term position in biology at St Mary’s!)  Re-work your cover letters and CV to reflect your potential in these jobs, and that you use insects as ‘model organisms’. And always tailor your cover letter and CV to any job for which you apply. Don’t just send in the same material to every search committee. Search committees are looking for that elusive thing that we call “fit.”
  • Keep your eye on the ball:  to get that coveted university position, the peer-reviewed publication remains the MOST IMPORTANT item on your CV.  Publish, publish, publish. During this stage of your career, keep the focus on that part of the research process. In particular, enjoy the fact that, as a postdoc, you are relatively free to conduct research and publish without many of the other responsibilities (e.g., teaching, administration) that will come with a tenure-track post.
  • Be realistic. If a job ad states that the committee is looking for an acarologist specializing in the mites of toucans, and you are an acarologist who studies toucan mites, then you have a good chance of landing an interview. If the job ad asks for a “terrestrial ecologist working at any scale from microbial to landscape” and you fit somewhere in there, chances are so do a few hundred other recent graduates.
  • When you see something that looks potentially appropriate for you, apply. Rejection is painful but costs nothing; not applying to something that might have worked out is doubly painful.  People who have agreed to write you letters of recommendation will be patient with you (if they are not, perhaps they are not the right people to give you a letter…?)
  • Have another postdoc or your mentor read through your application material. Chances are your mentor has been on a few search committees and can give you useful tips.
  • Every time you apply for a job, consider it a chance to improve your application material.
  • When you do land an interview, prepare for it like there’s no tomorrow. You are a researcher, do your best to figure out everything that you possibly can about the department to which you are applying and, even more, the personalities that make up that department.  Once you get an interview, this means your CV is strong enough, and the job interview is about the ‘fit’.
  • Landing an academic position is not always going to be in the cards for everyone. It is best to have alternate plans so that you don’t get stuck in the so-called postdoctoral holding pattern for years and years. At least one of us (DH) committed to himself to start to explore alternate options at the five year mark after walking the convocation stage. Have a plan B. Your Plan B might actually turn out better than your Plan A in the end.
  • Rejection in terms of tenure-track jobs is really just a warm-up to the continual sense of rejection you will feel if you do end up working as a Professor.  You might as well get used to it.  This is not a statement to bring on doom and gloom: it’s the reality.  You must develop broad shoulders.

Rejection is a fundamental and core part of the academic life: The publication process is becoming so difficult that you can pretty much assume that your paper will get rejected the first few times around (check out this paper about rejection rates…).  Funding agencies are cash-strapped, and it’s getting harder and harder to find ways to fund research projects.  High caliber graduate students will ‘shop around’ for the best graduate program, and will often reject your laboratory. Be a practitioner of academic kung fu – use the weight of rejection against rejection itself by learning from it and applying it to your next attempt.

Depressed yet?

Don’t be.  A tenure track has so many advantages, and these far outweigh the annoying stream of rejections. And the other options available to a bright, young researcher are often as appealing (and usually pay more) than being on the tenure track anyhow.  ..but that’s a topic for another post.

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Expiscor (29 April 2013)

As you may have noticed, the ‘weekly’ Expiscor missed last week! This is because I have opted to change to Mondays for this blog feature.  The start of the week just works better, for a whole suite of reasons that I won’t bore you with!  So, you can now look forward to starting your week with some odd discoveries, from arthropods to general biology and other geekery.

  • Most (many?) Arachnologists know of Emerton’s classic “The Common Spiders of the United States” written in 1902 – that book is now available on-line! Big WIN for spider enthusiasts.
  • Be still my heart.  Here’s a video showing the heartbeat of a spider after being captured and placed in a mud-dauber (wasp) nest.  Wasp finds spider. Paralyzes it. Returns it to its nest. Spider is still alive. A tasty feast for later on…. (thanks to Spider Joe for this video!)
  • Adrian Thysse always impresses me with his amazing photographs.  This one depicts one of the most lovely spiders in North America, Habronattus americanus.  Yes, it’s one of my most favourite spiders, here’s why:
Habronattus americanus - photography by A. Thysse (reproduced here, with permission)

Habronattus americanus - photography by A. Thysse (reproduced here, with permission)

  • If you don’t buy stuff on ETSY, you should – amazing on-line resource. Also, some lovely insects finds on ETSY, including this from GollyBard (thanks Cameron Webb for pointing me to this)
One of GollyBard's paintings - listing here. (reproduced here with permission)

One of GollyBard’s paintings – listing here. (reproduced here with permission)

  • Peeping peepers: I live on the outskirts of Montreal and over the past week, the spring peepers have been making some noise! (spring –> it’s here!)
  • Milk Cartons & Guitars: Two musical bits to wrap up.  First, I’m especially fond of bluegrass, old-time, trad., folk, indie…. My colleague and friend Elena Bennett pointed me to the “Milk Carton Kids” – what a talented duo.
  • And, to finish… talk about GEEKY!  Here’s the “Arthropod song“

“Baby you’re and arthropod. Shake that segmented bod”

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Expiscor (19 April 2013)

Here’s  Expiscor -some discoveries I stumbled upon this week… (past versions can be found here)

  • World’s Biggest Butterfly Collection.  This video explores the amazing collection at London’s Natural History Museum.
  • Spiders, spiders, lovely spiders.  How about this image of a spitting spider by Chris Ruijter – STUNNING (thanks Alex Wild for directing me to Chris’ photos…)
A spitting spider, photo by Chris Ruijter (reproduced here, with permission)

A spitting spider, photo by Chris Ruijter (reproduced here, with permission)

  • The trees are speaking… this story describes how scientists listen to ultrasonic noise made by bubbles forming inside water-stressed trees (thanks Carly Ziter for that link)
  • More on the links between Art and Science.  The debate about “E.O. Wilson versus Math” inspired a discussion in my ecology class, but coincidentally, a friend of mine also pointed me to this truly lovely writing about Mathematics and the Arts (starts on page 55), written by Marston Morse in1959. Here is a quote from that piece:

            “…mathematics is the sister as well as the servant of the arts and is touched by the same madness and genius. This must be known.”

  • A passion for beetles: a retired researcher from Germany’s Federal Center for Meat Research in Bavaria has a lovely collection of Coleoptera, 6,000 species at over 30,000 individuals. Now that’s a hobby! (thanks Bug Girl for the tweet about that story)
  • To finish, glad to see that Entomologists are out there correcting bad taxonomy.  Here, Ainsley Seago (aka @AmericanBeetles) does some fine work (and it was given a stamp of approval by Taxonomy Hulk – yes, we do need him, too!)

Screen Shot 2013-04-18 at 8.21.19 AM

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Slow Down

I have written previously about how IMPOSSIBLE it is for a Professor to ‘relax’: the work-life balance is  tricky and it’s very difficult to find time to take a deep breath, go for a walk, or have a calm and long discussion with a colleague.   Well, something happened that is causing me to reconsider my stance.

In mid-March, I was invited to travel to Cape Breton University to give a couple of talks to their professors about the ‘publication game’ in Academia, and about the use of social media in Universities. It was a wonderful trip, and I managed to get a little birding done, too.  However, I must be honest in saying that I was in rush to get the talks completed on the weekend before leaving, there was grading to finish up, reviews to complete, and I have two MSc students wrapping up their projects and was trying to get thesis drafts edited  – I was being pulled in many directions and was rush-rush-rushing around, as usual.   So, when finally getting back to the Montreal airport late on a Tuesday night (and after a rather impressive snowstorm in Montreal that day), instead of slowly and calming walking to my car, I ‘jogged’ to the car, slipped on a snowy curb, and dislocated my shoulder.  Yeah, it hurt.  A lot. It’s an on old injury that was re-injured that night.

After the emergency room visit, I stayed home for a couple of days and couldn’t do much other than sit on the couch.  It was nice. It also gave me a bit of time to reflect on how I live my life, and how I always rush around doing too many things.  My wife, who is my rock, a no-nonsense person, and a clear thinker, said to me: “Chris, you need to slow down“.  She was right:  If I had gone a little slower, I wouldn’t have injured my arm.  I’m not exactly sure why I rush everywhere (partly a personality trait…?).  Going quickly does not lead to a more productive or happy life.  Going quickly makes you miss things and do jobs poorly.  Rushing around makes me spend too little time on the important parts of life and instead I work to check-off to-do lists.  As a friend of mine said on a drive home the other day, I don’t want a gravestone to read “Chris Buddle, he got 308 things done today!”.  I need to take time to take things slower, stop and listen to my students, my friends, and most importantly, my family.  A dislocated shoulder is a very small injury – something much worse could happen because of my behaviour of dashing around from one thing to another.

So, I am proposing that I will try to “slow down“.  Perhaps by writing this (personal) post, it will cause others to take a deep breath, and go through their own lives as a more measured pace.  I will still have too many things to do, and will be overworked, but I am going to try to change my overall philosophy and move through my life one step at a time.  I want to start to see the world as a saunter through a forest instead of a mad dash across a busy street.  Maybe every now and then I will go for a walk at lunch (with binoculars) and try to pay a little more attention to my surroundings.

I hope this will stick, but those of you that know me realize that this will not be an easy task. Here’s how I have decided to remind myself of this new motto:  I have printed out little ‘slow down’ signs and have proceeded to tape them up all over the place.

Slow Down! An eye-level sign, as you leave my office.

Slow Down! An eye-level sign, as you leave my office.

This process started last week, and it is helping.  These continual reminders are useful, and causing me to consider whether I should walk slowly and calmly to the next meeting.  Or whether it really matters if I’m 2 minutes late getting home, or whether it really matters if I finish that e-mail NOW instead of later.  I am enjoying this slower approach to life.  Let’s hope I can maintain this philosophy -  heck, maybe it really is possible to insert a little more ‘relaxation’ into every day.

Do you go slowly through this world? Should you?

What strategies can you recommend?

Slow Down! ...a reminder taped to the corner of my computer monitor.

Slow Down! …a reminder taped to the corner of my computer monitor.

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Ten tips when asking for a letter of recommendation

Academics get asked to write a lot of letters of recommendations, and we are pleased to do this!  Letters of recommendations can be really, really important when students are applying to grad school, or applying for scholarships.  Strong letters can make a big difference, and that means it’s essential that students approach this with seriousness, maturity and professionalism.

When asking for a letter of recommendation, here are ten things to do, more or less in chronological order:

1) Plan ahead: Ask for letters well ahead of the deadline!  Never, never assume your Professor will have the time or inclination to write a strong letter if the deadline is two days away.  Give lots of advance warning (at least several weeks).

2) Ask nicely.  Approach your Professor (in person, if possible; with a telephone call, or over email), explain what you are applying for (and why), and ask whether s/he might be willing to write you a letter of support.

3) Ask what kind of letter you might get!  You need to know whether it’ll be a strong letter, or one that is perhaps less in-depth.   In many cases, if I’ve only met a student in one class, and only have a grade to base a letter on, then I won’t be able to write a strong letter.  You deserve to know this, and it may affect whether or not you should ask someone else.  Don’t worry – most Academics are able to be honest (and nice) about what kind of letter they might be able to write.  You must find out, early on, so that your chances of success are as high as possible.

4) rite gud.  In all correspondence with the person who is writing a letter for you, ensure there are no grammatical or spelling errors.  Be professional, respect credentials (e.g., don’t start with  Hey prof Dude….), and make sure what you write is readable.  Avoid common writing mistakes.  This makes a big difference.  Sloppy writing, poor grammar and spelling mistakes make me think less of a candidate and will affect the strength of a letter.

5) Include ALL the relevant details, in one well-composed e-mail:

a) What you are applying for (in appropriate detail – don’t just say “I’m applying to do a Master’s in Biology”)

b) When you don’t know your Prof. all that well, remind them who you are: it is helpful to state what course(s) you might have taken with the Professor, in what context, how you did in the class, and anything else to help those old minds recall who you are!.  You may think that your instructors remember you well, but this is not always the case (we see hundreds of students each year, and we are all getting older…),

c) Provide a ‘statement of interest’ to give some context to why you are applying for a particular position or scholarship,

d) Provide an informal transcript, or at least your GPA so your Prof doesn’t have to ask for this later, and possibly your CV.

e) Provide the deadline for the letter! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to email  a student to ask them what the deadline is.  It’s annoying having to deal with email overload, especially when it is avoidable.

f) If there are PDF fillable forms, or web-links for the reference, make sure to include these!

g) if the Professor is going to get an e-mail from an Institution to which you are applying, make it clear that they should expect this.

 6) Follow-up! If you haven’t heard anything within a week of when you sent your one e-mail, stop by the Prof.’s office, or give a phone call, to make sure that s/he received the details.

 7) Make it easy: Always make the process of writing a letter of recommendation as easy as possible.  In many cases PDF fillable forms have parts that are to be filled out the by candidate ahead of time – do this!  For hard copies, make sure to fill in parts that you are supposed to, and always include a stamped envelope with the address written out.  It’s YOUR job to ensure the letter gets sent by the Professor, and you don’t want their Department to have to pay for postage!  If you are required to pick up the letter and send it in as an entire application package, provide two envelopes – one for their confidential letter, and another that they can slip the official envelope into – arrange a system by which you can pick up the letter.

8) Send a reminder... A few days before the deadline, send ONE reminder e-mail – politely remind your Professor that the deadline is approaching.  For me, this is absolutely critical!  I am usually aware of the need to write a letter for a student (it’ll be in my ‘to-do’ list), but that little reminder will stir me into action.

9) Say ‘Thank you’ – It is classy and professional to say thanks to whoever writes letters of recommendation for you.  If your application ends up being successful, or you get that scholarship, you can even send a post-card, or a short thank-you letter (yes, in the mail!) – that leaves a very positive and lasting impression (and you never know when you will need another letter…). As a minimum, send a short ‘thank you’ email.

 10) um, sorry, I don’t actually have a tenth tip.  Except, perhaps, be sure to follow the nine that are written above! (maybe you have a tenth?)

…I hope this helps!

Students: you will get a better letter if you follow the tips. 

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The greatness of pseudoscorpions

As you know, I’m quite passionate about Arachnology, from spiders, to harvestmen and Pseudoscorpions.  These are all some of the creatures that fall into the category of the ‘obscure and amazing‘.  On the topic of pseudoscorpions, a few very fun and interesting things have happened recently, and enough to warrant a short blog post.  I also promised that I would post a few more videos related to some research activities on the hunt for pseudoscorpions in the Yukon.

1. Just look at this SEM of a pseudoscorpion!

A little while ago, my Arachnid friends and colleagues from Alberta, Heather Proctor and Dave Walter, forwarded me a stunning image of a pseudoscorpion taken with a scanning electron microscope (SEM).  Dave was kind enough to give me permission to share it here:

SEM of a pseudoscorpion (Chernetidae) - copyright D. Walter (reproduced here with permission)

SEM of a pseudoscorpion (Chernetidae) – copyright D. Walter (reproduced here with permission)

There really is something lovely about getting up close and personal with these little Arachnids. I don’t know this species, but it’s definitely in the family Chernetidae – a relatively diverse family, quite common across Canada.  My favourite Yukon species, Wyochernes asiaticus, is also a Chernetid.   Dave Walter really does some magic with his SEM images, and you are encouraged to check out is macromite blog (his home bug garden blog is also worth a peek!).

2.  Just look at these videos about collecting pseudoscropions in the wild! 

Speaking of my favourite Yukon species, I took a lot of videos of field work in the Yukon last summer and I wanted to share a few with you, here.  Although our larger purpose for the trip was to complete some follow-up field work for the Northern Biodiversity Program, I also wanted to collect additional specimens of a wonderful pseudoscorpion species.  The first video provides some context to the work, and gives you a bit of a flavour of the landscape up near the Yukon – Northwest Territory border in Canada:

Typically, pseudoscorpions are not that commonly encountered.  In my experience, when they are encountered, you tend to see one or two.  What is truly amazing is the sheer abundance of this species found under rocks in creek/river beds in the Yukon.  Furthermore, you can see and collect multiple life stages, including females with eggs.  This short video gives a taste for this abundance.

The third and final video is a big goofy, and highlight the ‘collecting gear’ and appropriate field attire for becoming a “pseudoscorpion hunter“.  I am continually on a crusade to help generate enthusiasm for Arachnids, whether it is dispelling myths, or trying to inspire others to become Arachnologists (you know, we do need Arachnologists in Canada!).

One important caveat:  you may NOT simply run to the Yukon and flip rocks to collect pseudoscorpions – many parts of the world, including the Yukon, have strict guidelines about what you can collect.  Permits are required, and be sure to check into this before you plan on becoming an Arachnologist!

3.  Just look at this pseudoscorpion necklace!

To further illustrate my rather quirky obsession, I managed to find a wonderful person on Etsy who was able to make me a pendant with a pseudoscorpion design:

The pseudoscorpion necklace. You want one.

The pseudoscorpion necklace. You want one.

Not only that, this design is actually from a photography I took a few years ago, and is an accurate depiction of the cosmopoliton species Chelifer cancroides.

Chelifer cancroides - my photo which was used to design the pendant

Chelifer cancroides – my photo which was used to design the pendant

I KNOW you want to get yourself one of these… start a conversation with Lynn.  Get yourself one of these necklaces and stand proud with other pseudoscorpionologists!

In sum, I do hope you find this post interesting, hopefully fun, and has whetted your appetite from more information about curious critters.

Stay tuned… I will continue to post more about Arachnids…

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Careful what you say in lecture: a tale of tweets, ice-storms in Quebec, and population ecology

While discussing age pyramids in my ecology class last week, I mentioned that there was a mini baby-boom in Quebec following the 1998 ice storm. In other words, after an extended period of time without electricity, more babies were conceived.  This is one of those ‘urban myth‘ stories for which I had no data to actually discuss whether this was fact or fiction, but it was mildly amusing, and certainly related to the discussion we were having about population ecology and the effect of the baby-boom generation on Canadian demographics.

I expected this story to stop there, but a savvy student in my lecture tweeted what I had said (yes, there are definitely pros and cons of being an active participant in social media, including twitter).  I was being called out, publicly, about my casual comment in lecture.  This forced me to look to the data and test my hypothesis that the birth rate in Quebec may have been higher after the ice storm of 1998.

Screen shot 2013-02-08 at 9.26.15 AM

Data required?  Yearly population estimates of areas affected by the ice storm (i.e., numbers of females), and number of births in these regions.

Thankfully, these data were readily available.  However, not all data were tabulated in the same way by geographic region in the Province.  This meant that I had to narrow down the region to just the island of Montreal (thankfully one of the more populated parts of the province).    I took the number of births, divided by the number of females to get a per-capita rate of births per female per year in Montreal, and I looked at the years from 1997 through to 2000.

I predicted that if my hypothesis was true, birth rates would be higher in late 1998, therefore if data were collected properly, the ‘boom’ in births would likely be in that year (…or possibly in 1999).

Here are the results:

1997: 0.012 (babies born / female)

1998: 0.012 (babies born / female)

1999: 0.011 (babies born / female)

2000: 0.011 (babies born / female)

So, the data do not support the hypothesis that the ice storm resulted in a higher rate of births in Montreal.

Caveats?  There are a lot.  I have made quite a few assumptions, and my methods are partially flawed… I do expect students in my class to think about this…

Two other points to mention:

First, while searching for information about population-level effects of the ice storm, I came across a McGill press release about how babies born during the ice storm may be stressed later in life – Interesting!  And also somewhat counterintuitive to what I originally proposed in lecture.

Second, (and less related), we must be wary of these myths – they pop up all over the place (e.g. increase in births after the publication of Fifty Shades of Grey?), but without a more detailed look at the data, we must be careful what we say.  Thankfully the urban myth about mini-baby booms and power outages are debunked with some regularity.

In sum, I learned an important lesson. Careful what you say in lecture.

…and thank you to my student who forced me to look more carefully into the story of the ‘ice storm babies’

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Why Professors can’t relax (even if it will make us more productive)

This past weekend, as I was struggling to get some work done on a Sunday morning, I read Tony Schwartz’s opinion piece in the New York Times, titled “Relax! You’ll be more productive“.

I read it with curiosity and amusement.  I also discussed it with my wife, had a few discussions with people over twitter, and the more I thought about it, the more I decided it warranted a bit of a rant, and required placing Schwartz’s piece in the context of Academia.

Schwartz points out that “Human beings aren’t designed to expend energy continuously“, and we can be more productive (i.e., in the sense of doing work well) if we were able to find time to chill-out, relax, and maybe taking a nap would be a good idea.  This does make sense!  Being overtired can lead to mistakes, causes our the fuses to be short, and certainly can cause us to take longer at doing our jobs – even simple tasks can become difficult in the face of a life filled with too much of the ‘go go go’.    Why don’t Professors take mid-afternoon naps?  Heck, can’t tenured Professors relax and ‘do less’ whenever they want?

A nap?  Really?  BWAHAHAHA! This is priceless.  How abut a dose of reality.

I am a Professor, and this job is absolutely wonderful, but it does require (yes, REQUIRE) a busy schedule and a lot of time.   Time management is a big part of my job, and the days are full of teaching responsibilities, grant-writing, meetings with students, administrative responsibilities and writing manuscripts.  Contrary to what Forbes might lead you to believe, the life of an Academic is not stress-free and is not all tweed-jackets, and hobnobbing at the Faculty club.  A lot of the stress is positive stress, but there is stress, and finding time to relax during the workday is an impossibility given the current context of University.

I fully appreciate some of the ideas behind Schwartz’s piece: taking a mid-day stroll outside (like Darwin did each day!) , or a quick nap in the afternoon, would be good for me, and would probably help with productivity but the reality is that there is no time.  And I just can’t make the time appear.  It’s the ultimate limiting resource.  When I do have time that is freed up during the work day, it gets filled with tasks that are deemed important but not urgent.

How about the the #worklifebalance.  Many people with jobs also have families and commitments at home that compete with the resources of time and energy.

Is this familiar to you?

Time to get the kids to dance class and Music lessons.  Homework hell around the kitchen table?  Phew.  Dinner’s done. How about kitchen clean-up?  Who will fold the laundry?  ….finally, it’s time to fall exhausted on the couch at the end of the day.  Ahhhh sleep…glorious sleep.  6 AM!  Up we get, let’s get lunches ready!  Where’s that permission form?  The bus is coming, you’re late!  Shoot – I’m late too.  Gotta run… have a great day!

My wife pointed out that Schwartz’s argument really doesn’t apply to jobs in which it takes X amount of time to do a task, and if you are in a business that is dependent on consumers buying your product, if you sell Y more units of your product, it will take X x Y amount of time to get the product out the door.  There is not really a choice – you can’t relax and do less,  If you did less, you won’t have a sustainable business.  As some of the reader’s comments in Schwartz’s piece state: ‘relaxing’ is simply a luxury that most people can’t afford.

I like this quote from Schwartz’s piece: Paradoxically, the best way to get more done may be to spend more time doing less

YES!  I do agree.  I buy into the ‘why‘ but I can’t see the ‘how‘: if less time is spent on one task, this frees up a bit of time, and it will get filled right away. (and never mind the fact that GUILT will come into play – I really would feel rather guilty if I shut my office door for a 20 minute shut-eye each afternoon…even if that chair is in the corner of my office is really, really comfortable).

A nice place for a nap.

A nice place for a nap.

Academic Institutions could be model systems for re-thinking the workplace and how to consider ways to help employees  find time to ‘relax’ on the job, and that will surely have many benefits.  This will, however, require a paradigm shift, and require a complete re-thinking of the ways the tenure-track system works, and the level of expectations put on Academics.  This could be a great discussion to have, and let’s have it.  But let’s not start this discussion with a goal that is untenable. I am quite sure that my colleagues would have a good chuckle if they were encouraged to ‘relax’ and have a little downtime during the workday.

Let’s start with some things that are a bit smaller and more realistic.

Let’s work our timetables so that lunch time can be free of classes; let’s find ways to encourage people to eat in a common area instead of in front of their computer.  Let’s make sure offices, labs and coffee machines are suitably arranged so that people move around, communicate, and find a bit of time to sit with colleagues and students over a cup of tea.  Let’s be sure that Chairs and Deans give tenure-track staff the right kind of mentorship so they can be productive on the right kind of tasks, and the flexibility and support so they can find the right balance between the various duties of academia.  Let’s recognize, up front, that negative stress, overwork, e-mail hell, and pressures on time are real problems that require real solutions.  If Academic institutions want to be places of higher learning, there must be support and a recognition that ‘down time’ to ponder, discuss and be curious is time well spent.

Well, with that, I’m going to go out for a walk – actually a run – a run to the lecture hall because I’m running late.

Postscripts:

First, I sincerely hope this post does not come off as sounding like I’m whining or complaining. I’m not complaining – I love my job and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

Second, you might ask how I found time to write this blog post.  That is more difficult to address – sometimes the really fun things to do can be done quickly, and it seems relatively easy to find a few minutes to write something I am passionate about.  I also seem to get some very positive energy from this exercise.  Hmmm … maybe writing a blog post is my way to relax?

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Where are all the Arachnologists? (and why you should care)

Canada is a big country, with an amazing diversity of habitats, from the temperate rainforests of Vancouver Island, to the polar deserts on Ellesmere Island.  We are a country that harbours thousands of Arachnid species (yes, our eight-legged friends!).  Some examples: the Yukon Territory hosts over 300 spider species and over 150 species of Oribatid mites; Quebec is home to well over 600 spider species.  The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute has documented over 200 species of Sarcoptiformes mites from a relatively few number of sites in Alberta, and their work is far from complete.  The Canadian National Collection of Insects and Arachnids in Ottawa has one of the best spider and mite collections, world-wide.

A beautiful jumping spider. Photo by C. Ernst, reproduced here with permission.

A beautiful jumping spider. Photo by C. Ernst, reproduced here with permission.

The general public is fascinating by Arachnids: my post titled ‘Spiders do Not Bite‘ continues to get hundreds of hits every week.  We link comic-books and superheroes to Arachnids (even if the anatomy of spiderman is all wrong…).  Spider silk is used to make dresses, violin strings, and has potential in pest control.  There are invasive spider species that go unnoticed, yet may affect native species – as Bednarski, et al (2010) have documented in Maine.  Spiders continually show up in grocery stores and cause alarm and fear (although mostly not warranted..).  People are often picking ticks off their pets, or hearing about lyme disease.

Everyone has a story to share about Arachnids.

Recently, the Class Arachnida was a lunchtime topic of discussion in the lab. This discussion was in part prompted by an email I received from Leslie Brunetta. She asked the question about how we can promote Arachnology in University education.  One way to do this would be for Arachnologists to agree to deliver guest lectures in organismal biology classes, and this got us into a discussion about how many people get paid to work on Arachnology in Canada.

I tried to estimate the number of people in Canada who spend a significant portion of their time getting paid to do things with Arachnids – and I consulted a lot of colleagues to get this done.  This would include academics with a research focus on Arachnids (from behavioural ecology to biodiversity science), and government scientists working on Arachnids (from systematics through to the use of mites as biological control agents).  This does not include graduate students, nor does it include people working on short-term contracts.  I estimate that fewer than 20 people are paid to work on Arachnids in this country. This is truly astounding and astonishing.  Arachnids include two Orders that are among the most diverse on the planet: combining the Acari (mites & ticks) and Araneae (spiders) gives you estimates of well over 85,000 described species, globally.  There are only a handful of Insect Orders that are higher.

Let’s revisit why EVERYONE should care about Arachnids and why Canada ought to have more Arachnologists: 

Spiders are key predators in agroecosystems (the classic paper by Riechert & Lockley 1984 is quite relevant!). Spiders eat mosquitoes, including those that can be vectors for malaria (Nelson & Jackson 2006) .  Spiders are key prey for highly valued vertebrates (Gunnarsson 2007).  Spiders can be medically important – their venom has remarkable potential for drug development (Rates et al. 2011).

Mites are everywhere – they play critical roles in decomposition of organic matter (Kampichler & Bruckner 2009). Plant-feeding mites are economically important for dozens of crops.  Follicle mites are in our heads (Elston 2010).

Ticks can transmit diseases that are very important for human health and well being (Sperling & Sperling 2012). Ticks can hurt our beloved pets (Blagburn & Dryden 2009).  Ticks can be harmful for wildlife populations (Addison et al. 1994).

Need more convincing?

Arachnids are stunningly beautiful; they are among the ‘small and obscure’ creatures most worthy of study. In addition to mites, ticks and spiders, we can’t forget about Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones, Scorpiones and other Orders… Arachnids should adored as much as Pandas, or the Mona Lisa.

8 Oribatid mites scaled to a 12 pt Times Roman period (0.5 mm dia.). Photo by D. Walter, reproduced here, with permission. You should visit his blog.

8 Oribatid mites scaled to a 12 pt Times Roman period (0.5 mm dia.). Photo by D. Walter, reproduced here, with permission. You should visit his blog.

CANADA: THIS IS A CRISIS!  We must find a way to ensure Arachnologists get paid to do Arachnology in Canada.  The most obvious place to point is the CNC.  It is unacceptable that a spider taxonomists has yet to be hired to maintain that spider collection.  We should be embarrassed.  Taxonomists are needed in Canada, especially for dominant arthropod groups.  The Canadian Council of Academics makes this point quite clearly in their report on Canadian Taxonomy:

     Job openings in taxonomy have virtually ceased and research funding is stagnant.  Canada’s international contribution to new species descriptions has fallen from 6th in the 1980s to 14th in the 2000s. 

Oh Canada. Where are your Arachnologists?

Oh Canada. Where are your Arachnologists?

I realize that many other taxonomic groups remain understudied – However, I am discussing an entire Class of animals!  Could you imagine if I were discussing Mammalia, or Reptilia, or Insecta?  There would be an uproar.

Let us work to fix this.  Let’s train excellent Arachnology graduate students, let’s lobby Departmental Chair, Deans, Bureaucrats in Government, members of Parliament, and whoever else will listen.  MUST Listen.

Our eight-legged friends need our help.

References

Addison, E., McLaughlin, R., & Broadfoot, J. (1994). Growth of moose calves infested and uninfested with winter ticks Canadian Journal of Zoology, 72 (8), 1469-1476 DOI: 10.1139/z94-194

Blagburn BL, & Dryden MW (2009). Biology, treatment, and control of flea and tick infestations. The Veterinary clinics of North America. Small animal practice, 39 (6) PMID: 19932369

Danks VH and JA Downes. 1997. Insects of the Yukon. Biological Survey of Canada.

Gunnarsson, B. (2007). Bird Predation On Spiders: Ecological Mechanisms And Evolutionary Consequences Journal of Arachnology, 35 (3), 509-529 DOI: 10.1636/RT07-64.1

Elston, D. (2010). Demodex mites: Facts and controversies Clinics in Dermatology, 28 (5), 502-504 DOI: 10.1016/j.clindermatol.2010.03.006

Kampichler, C., & Bruckner, A. (2009). The role of microarthropods in terrestrial decomposition: a meta-analysis of 40 years of litterbag studies Biological Reviews, 84 (3), 375-389 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00078.x

Nelson, X., & Jackson, R. (2006). A Predator from East Africa that Chooses Malaria Vectors as Preferred Prey PLoS ONE, 1 (1) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000132

Rates B, Verano-Braga T, Santos DM, Nunes KP, Pimenta AM, & De Lima ME (2011). From the stretcher to the pharmacy’s shelf: drug leads from medically important brazilian venomous arachnid species. Inflammation & allergy drug targets, 10 (5), 411-9 PMID: 21824079

Paquin, P.  &  N. Dupérré 2006. The spiders of Québec: update, additions and corrections. Zootaxa 1133: 1-37.

Riechert, S., & Lockley, T. (1984). Spiders as Biological Control Agents Annual Review of Entomology, 29 (1), 299-320 DOI: 10.1146/annurev.en.29.010184.001503

Sperling, J., & Sperling, F. (2012). Lyme borreliosis in Canada: biological diversity and diagnostic complexity from an entomological perspective The Canadian Entomologist, 141 (06), 521-549 DOI: 10.4039/n08-CPA04

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