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As I sit here struggling to write my very last blog post, I wonder "What can I leave people that they'll find useful in any way?"  I could provide meaningful insight on what it was like being a graduate student in my lab, but my thesis sucked all the meaning out of my brain and suddenly I can't even manage to put two sentences together that make sense.  So instead, the most useful thing(s) I can leave you all, is (are) my bookmarks!  Those that know me know how incredibly organized (read: obsessive compulsive) I am, so over the last 2.5 years I've collected quite a bit of useful internet knowledge and organized it into various categories on my computer.   So, as my parting gift to you, I leave you these helpful links on everything from job sites, to SAS codes, to data portals, and most importantly, sites for procrastination.  I can't promise these links will stay active forever, but last I checked they worked.  So enjoy! GIS DATA From here . FIU GIS Center ...

Do you see the tiny green film at the bottom of the beaker in the picture above?  This extremely small clump of green stuff is a diatom sample weighing less than 20 milligrams that I need to carefully process and guard with my life for carbon isotope analysis. If I lose any of this sample or ruin a procedure, I will likely have to spend several weeks waiting for a new culture to grow and start over again. Thoughts that have been running through my mind recently include: What if I lose any of my sample while transferring it between beakers? What if it spills? What if a piece of hair lands in it? (note: things like hair and dust can ruin stable isotope samples) Despite how many methods papers I read, I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. What if I dry the sample too long, or add too much acid or completely miss a secret step that isn't described in any journal articles? WHY IS THIS FILTER FALLING APART? WHY? NOOOOO!!!!!  Failure and data loss can happen at all stage...

This guest post was written by Deanna Conners, an environmental scientist and freelance science writer who holds a MS in Environmental Studies and a PhD in Environmental Toxicology. Deanna is a frequent contributor to  EarthSky . You can follow Deanna on  Twitter   and  Google+ . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image courtesy of Dwayne Bent via  Flickr  I’ve heard many people say that they enjoy science blogging. I agree, it’s fun. I’ve been blogging now for almost two years, mostly about topics in Earth science, and the science I write about never ceases to amaze me. I’ve never heard any scientist say that they enjoy writing journal articles. For myself, and I imagine for a few others, the joy associated with writing journal articles comes not from the act of writing per se but from seeing good research get published in good journals. The act of writing for journ...

I'm just going to go ahead and say it: graduate school is great (though  The Simpsons disagree ). We're given 2-9 years (depending on whether you're a masters or doctoral student and the scope of your research) to live in a cozy academic bubble surrounded by like-minded peers doing research on things we think are interesting and important. We teach, we write, we think, we analyze, and we get to explore new places and meet really smart people. We don't have tons of extra responsibilities like kids (usually) and onerous administrative crap, and we're given some room to fail every once in a while (the most important part of the scientific process). Sure graduate school can be frustrating, annoying, and just plain idiotic at times, but that's pretty much a definition for life. Let's not get bogged down in the mundane. But the question I've been asking myself recently is, what's next? What comes after graduate school? I'm planning on graduating with ...

I would like to introduce you to a new rising star in the FCE, Sara Osorio! She has been working with FCE LTER Education and Outreach coordinator, Mr. Nick Oehm, and our lead PI, Dr. Evelyn Gaiser. Her research project is about the diatoms found in the wetland restoration area of the Deering Estate ( Biscayne Coastal Wetlands Project ). Sara Osorio, FCE LTER High School Researcher at the FIU Periphyton Lab Sara is currently a junior in high school. She became involved in FCE research because she was always fond of her science classes, including AP Biology. Through the recommendations of Mr. Oehm, Sara became one of our newest high school researchers. Sara is working with Dr. Gaiser in the Periphyton Lab at FIU as a LTER high school research assistant , where she is receiving personal instruction on all the necessary aspects of a real scientific research study: field sampling, laboratory procedures, diatom identification, and microscopy. Later, there will likely be data analysis, poste...

During my first year as a graduate student, a week didn't go by where someone didn't ask me "So what's your research question?"  I hated that question more than anything.  I had combed the literature, searching for research ideas, only to discover everything I was interested in had already been done a hundred times over.  All of the mysteries of the environment had been answered and there wasn't anything left to be studied.  "Why am I even here and why are any of us doing science," I frequently asked myself.   "Ecology is stupid.  Ecology is hard.  I hate Ecology!" were also common chants I shouted in my office (and by office, I mean the spare lab next door that was used for storage and sleeping quarters for homeless grad students).  Then, one day, it suddenly all made sense.  I realized I was being punished by my adviser, because he was punished by his adviser, and his adviser's adviser punished him, etc. etc.... Then I stopped blamin...

It is complex question, which merits thoughtful engagement with south Florida’s history, familiarity with ecosystem restoration theory and a good dose of visionary thinking. As scholars have demonstrated, ecological restoration is not just a scientific endeavor. Ecological restoration is also a social and political process that poses tough philosophical questions about what people’s proper relationship to nature should be (1). Yet, this question becomes all the more important in the current era of unprecedented environmental change. A historic postcard. Courtesy of Everglades Digital Library. If we take the historical view, Everglades restoration is one of many improvement projects that have reshaped south Florida across history. Indeed, the history of south Florida (and the Everglades) is one of transformation. Since the late 1800s, South Florida’s lands and waters have been remade time and time again in the name of progress and improvement. Different actors, ranging from early l...