Introduction

Name:  Patrick

Occupation:  student, aspiring biologist?

Interests:  science, biology, everything

Favourite organism:  water bear

I'm currently working toward a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology. My thesis research is on the evolution of senescence (the increase in mortality rate and decrease in reproductive output that accompany increasing chronological age). Srsly, why has selection not taken care of that? (I'll tell you in a future post!)

WHY BLOG?

Science outreach:

I’ve become interested in science outreach and education over the past few years, largely through work I have done with Let’s Talk Science. I feel as though science education can sometimes be too focused on the content of science, and that this overemphasis might come at the expense of understanding the process of science. To me, knowing that earth revolves around the sun is far less important than knowing how a person could test this hypothesis, or what type of data could shed light on such a question (honestly, I don’t have a clue… I should probably dedicate a future post to the evidence for heliocentrism). As such, I hope to use this blog to discuss the process of science, and give a behind-the-scenes tour of scientific research for those not familiar with the goings-on in academia.

Learning through writing:

I have a terrible memory. Information passing through my jumble of neurons is quickly lost to me if not immediately transferred to a more reliable and permanent media format (e.g. paper, stone tablets, Google’s servers, etc). Aside from creating a more permanent record of the information once known to me, the process of writing also seems to help solidify ideas and concepts in my mind.

Open access:

Scientific research is largely funded through the public purse, yet most citizens do not have access to the results of the research that they are funding. As an aspiring researcher, I feel responsible for the dissemination of my own research to any and all interested parties.