Tips for Success in College

It's the first week of the semester. A fresh start for students, new classes, new instructors,  new chances to start off the semester on the right, or wrong foot.  I have two tips for how to start out the semester to improve your odds of success.

1)  choose where you sit in the classroom very carefully. After years of teaching I can predict students final course grades based on where they sit. Students in the front couple of rows and on the side of the classroom closest to the podium get As and Bs.  Students in the middle get the Cs.  Students in the back and closest to the door tend to do the worst.

There are exceptions - in my larger classes there is always at least one students who sits in the back and makes an A and at least one student who sits in the front and struggles all semester.

Which is the cause and which is the effect?  I'm not completely sure.  Perhaps the students who choose seats in the front are the type who also put in a lot of effort outside of class (I think that's true for most of them).  I do know that the ones who sit near the back don't pay as much attention during lecture and I often spot signs of texting or working on assignments for other classes. It's much harder to be distracted when you're right up near the instructor.

So, just want to pass?  Sit wherever you want, but if you want an A or if you know you're likely to daydream and miss important material, sit up front and make friends with the other front of the classroom students and form study groups.

2)  Read the syllabus. I know, I know, most of the material in there is boring boilerplate. But the stuff that's in there is in there for a reason and that reason is that some student before you messed up and did poorly in the class as a result. And I would really, really like every student to succeed.  Really.  So copy the dates of quizzes and exams into your calendar so you don't miss them, make sure you know all the ways you can earn (or loose) points and pay attention to the study suggestions.

If every student in my class earned an A I'd be thrilled. But I'd settle for students learning basic business etiquette.  You know, arriving on time, staying the full length of class, not causing disruptions for the other students and writing complete sentences in emails.  That's stuff that will help anyone be more successful in their careers, whether they remember any biology or not.

Let me finish with a cat picture.  Because this is the internet and it is ruled by cats.

Weekend Reading January 24, 2014

Like Monarch butterflies?  Eat less corn.

http://www.myrmecos.net/2014/01/20/the-midwestern-dead-zone/?utm_content=buffer0c4a7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Don't [want] to believe in Global Climate Change?  Born after 1976?  "Then you’ve never experienced an average year: 2013 isthe 37th year in a row with temperatures above the 20th century average."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/01/22/global_warming_2013_ties_for_fourth_hottest_year_on_record.html

Looking for a good topic to do your biology presentation?  Here are a couple of websites that consistently feature interesting animals.

http://wtfevolution.tumblr.com/  and http://www.realmonstrosities.com/ and http://thesmallermajority.com/

The idea of race is a difficult one to discuss in a Biology class because, biologically speaking, it doesn't exist. It's a social construct, but in the Real World race does matter - it affects how people respond to a person.  Here's an exceptional discussion of race and why the concept of race should be left out of science (especially medical science).

http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/post/74248541745/race-a-scientific-idea-ready-for-retirement

Peacock Mantis Shrimp are one of the coolest animals on the planet!  Not only can they punch with the force of a 22 caliber rifle, not only do their arms move so fast that the water around them literally boils, but instead of a measly three color receptors (like us) they have 12 - 16 different color receptors! (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp)  Can you image WHAT they can see?

Wait, what's that?  Someone actually tested their vision and it's not what anyone expected?  Huh.

Still, the speed and power of a 22 caliber rifle in the arms of an animal that gets to be AT MOST 12 inches long is wicked cool!

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/23/the-mantis-shrimp-sees-like-a-satellite/

State of Fisheries

As a biology professor I'm used to being asked all kinds of questions.

"I saw a yellow bird on a purple plant - what was it?"  

[a goldfinch on a thistle plant]

"Here's a weird bug, will it hurt me?" 

[most bugs won't, even the ones that sting or bite would rather run from you]

"My doctor told me I had the galloping dandruff, what is it and what should I do about it?" 

[normally I'd say listen to your doctor but in this case I think you need to change doctors.  I suspect Galloping Dandruff is a made up disease]

So when I was in Florida over break and The Husband asked me "why don't any of the restaurants have local catch of the day fish on their menus?" I was surprised to not know the answer as fact, but I have an educated guess. 

Fisheries collapse.

As the human population grows we are using more and more of our natural resources, including fish. Add to that the increasing understanding that eating (certain) fish is good for us and improved transportation from coastal areas to restaurants and groceries stores inland and what you get in a lot of pressure on the wild fish populations.

Fisheries (industries based on harvesting a particular species of wild fish) are collapsing at an increasingly rapid pace. Most species of edible fish are in rapid decline. Our oceans are becoming less the source of bounty our ancestors knew and more wet deserts, with life scattered widely and less of that life in the form of tasty fish.

So what are we to do? 

As always in the Real World - it's complicated.

Biologically speaking, in an ideal world we would quit harvesting wild fish from our oceans for several years to allow the populations to rebound, and then we would place strict limits on the number of fish that could be taken.

Cod, photo by Hans-Petter Fjeld (CC-BY-SA)

BUT that would put people who rely on fishing for income out of jobs. 

Fishing is a hard, difficult job with low profit margins. You need specific skills to do that job; skills that are not easily transferred to other careers; skills that are honed over a lifetime on the sea. So what is a fisherman to do? More and more fishermen who learned the craft from their fathers are struggling to answer this question.

Then there's the Big Money issue. The love of money corrupts. While fishermen may not be making a lot of profit, there are lots of people who do make Big Money from fish and they will fight tooth and nail to limit government "interference" with their profits (even at the expense of future profits). These are not the people on the boats, these are the people who own chain restaurants, who manufacture and sell "fish oil supplements," and whoever owns the brand name fish frozen fish sticks.

Can fisheries be managed so that we can all eat fish and fishermen can make a living? Yes, but it will take compromise to make sure that our children can continue to eat fish or make a living on the sea.  And it will take a lot of people leaving the fishing industry and a lot of people cutting back on their fish consumption.

 In the meantime; if you're in the fishing industry start making plans to change careers. Fishing for a living may not be an option in another decade or two.

Image from USAID Bangladesh (public domain)

Weekend Reading January 17. 2014

The cool science just keeps on coming - whether class is in session or not!

Check out the Pink Fairy Armadillo.  Yes, that's right, a PINK FAIRY ARMADILLO.   A creature so rarely spotted that scientists don't even have a clue how common or rare they are!

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/01/absurd-creature-of-the-week-pink-fairy-armadillo-crawls-out-of-the-desert-and-into-our-hearts/?viewall=true

Carnivorous pitcher plants lure insects into their pitchers and then digest them as a source of nitrogen.  Our limited range of vision that doesn't allow us to see in the ultraviolet range hid one of their secrets from us until recently - they use ultraviolet light to lure insects to their deaths!

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/these-carnivorous-plants-glow-under-ultraviolet-light-to-attract-prey-180948058/

Humans have driven many species to extinction but only once before has this been done deliberately.  In the early 1970s the virus that causes Smallpox was deliberately destroyed.  Now it looks like another disease causing organism is on its way to deliberate extinction - the Guinea Worm.  The only place this disease still occurs is in South Sudan.  Let's home the warring factions there don't get in the way of destroying this painful, debilitating disease.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/24/the-guinea-worm-a-fond-obituary/

Baby, it's cold outside.  But the Snow Flea doesn't care!  This nearly microscopic invertebrate is quite active even when there is snow and ice on the ground.  How does it do it?  Hint:  it's not magic, it's AMAZING.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/01/snow-fleas/

Curious about your genes?  Here's a look at the ethics of personal genome sequencing.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/15/my-risk-benefit-ratio-for-personal-genetics/

Weekend Reading Jan. 10, 2014

I took a little time off and missed several good news stories (like - that so called "piranha attack" which wasn't and the "shark" in the wave that wasn't).  But I'm back now and I'm starting off with CLIMATE CHANGE.

Let's start the year off with a bang! Or maybe a shiver. What If answers that burning question:  how many humans would a T. rex need to eat in a day?

http://what-if.xkcd.com/78/

This article tries to explain why global climate change (also known as global warming) is causing record cold temperatures across the US.  Remember Climate is not the same as Weather.

http://news.yahoo.com/global-warming-freezing-104500272--politics.html

It's called Global Warming because the average temperature of the entire planet is increasing; this means that when it comes to weather there is greater instability and more likely to be extreme events.  Go set a pot of water on the stove to boil.  See how, as you raise the temperature, things get a bit crazy?  That's what's happening to our planet.  Some places will have bubbles (heat), or steam (rain) others won't.

Think you know at least one fact about fish - that they live in water? Biology just doesn't read the textbook.  The leaping blenny is a fish that lives on land!

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/2013/12/31/wonderful-things-leaping-fish-spends-entire-life-on-land/

How do "cold blooded" animals survive a Polar Vortex?  Here's a look at The Fly Who Came In From The Cold

http://www.biodiversityinfocus.com/blog/2014/01/07/the-fly-who-came-in-from-the-cold/

Snowy Owl Irruption

OK.  So you probably understand the Owl part of the title and may even know what a snowy owl looks like but that other word - irruption - what could that mean?

In the birding world an irruption is when a population of birds moves into an area where they aren't seen every year.  These happen every few years but are hard to predict.  They occur when a species has a particularly good breeding season or when food is scarce in their normal wintering grounds.

Most winters there are a few snowy owls in New England, some winters there are none, but this is an irruption year and they are EVERYWHERE.  

The Snowy Owl is a large bird, around 2 feet high, that nests high in the Arctic and they are spectacular!

Image thanks to David Syzdek via Wikimedia commons

The best places to see a Snowy Owl?  Anyplace that reminds them of their Arctic home - in other words wide open spaces with few trees.  Like the beach and airports.

Snowy Owls do cause a lot of problems at airports during irruption years.  A plane hitting a 2 foot tall bird is not good for the plane, the people on the plane, or the owl.  Some airports hire people to chase off the owls, or catch and relocate them, other airports kill them.

If you want to find one near you check your local Rare Bird Alert (Google that phrase and your state to find yours).  If you're in Massachusetts you can check on massbird.org or just go to the beach.  They've been see on Cape Cod, Lynn beach, and at Plum Island (a great place to see them most years that they're around).

Please respect the birds, though, and watch from a distance. If the bird responds to you by turning to look at you, you're close enough.  These birds are going to have a tough winter and don't need to be scared in to flying unnecessarily by inconsiderate humans.

If you're at a good location the best way to narrow down your search is to ask a birder.  See someone standing by the side of the road with binoculars?  Stop and look to see what they're looking at, then, if it's not your target bird, ask if they've spotted one today.  It may seem weird (especially to native New Englanders) but it's a normal part of bird watching culture.  Most birders will be happy to give you advice on where to look, some might even be willing to share a view through their spotting scope (looks like a small telescope) if you ask nicely.

Good birding!

End of the Semester

Well, it's the end of the semester once again and all of my students are busy with end of the semester assignments and studying (and so am I!) so instead of posting weekend readings this week I thought I'd offer up some advice.

Read.

OK, maybe I should elaborate.

Read anything other than Facebook, Twitter and those magazines that are sold by the check stand at the grocery store.

Like Harry Potter?  Good.  "Trashy" Romance novels?  Fine.  Mystery, Science Fiction?  Great.  

Here's a secret.  Reading ANYTHING will help you in life and career.  Sounds amazing, right?  It's true.

One of the big complaints employers are expressing about the fresh out of college crowd is that they don't know how to write well.  They use text-speak in memos, they don't know when to capitalize words and they use punctuation inappropriately.  Were they taught how to write in school?  Probably.  But then they forgot it all because who needs that stuff about references and dangling participles and all that, right?

If you work for a living and ever have to write anything, even an email to your boss, YOU need to remember that.  Your boss won't fire you for a dangling participle but they also won't think highly of you at promotion time if you sent them an email like this...

im two sic to come to werk 2day... i think i 8 sumthin bad...LOL

So read.  You will pick up basic writing skills without even trying.  You will expand your vocabulary without studying.  And then you will write in a style your boss appreciates.

And who knows, you might discover that you enjoy it more than you expect.