Tree die-off in western North America

In a Science paper published in 2009, van Mantgem et al. discussed widespread tree mortality in the US, and linked it to both drought stress and increased air temperatures. In the past decade we’ve seen catastrophic death of piñon pine, sudden aspen decline, decimation of large swaths of various pine species, and death of yellow…

The grass is always greener: Cdn vs. US research environments

Other blogs (here and here) have discussed the loss of science capacity in Canada as total funding declines, funding success rates take a nosedive, and researchers leave for greener pastures. But is there more to this decline than just loss of funding, and what can we do about it? Having spent the past few weeks working at a US university,…

Bury Your Troubles

In the mystery novel ‘Bury Your Dead’, Canadian author Louise Penny follows two Quebecois police officers who were involved in a serious shootout/bombing incident and are now on leave while they recover. Both their peers and the public know about the events and understand that they need time to heal, both physically and mentally –…

Less is more III

3. Publication Record I sometimes feel I’m one of a shrinking group who think that less can be so much more in terms of publications. But more often than not quantity is prized over quality – perhaps because quantity is so much easier to add up. Granting agencies, tenure committees –  even your prospective in-laws…

Less is more part II

2. Paper writing The scientific process involves scientists who test hypotheses. This leads to developing theories. Eventually, with enough testing, theories can be proven as fact. But this process needs inputs from us: things like our experimental design (including how we collected and analyzed data) so that others can repeat the same study and try…