Interview meme
Trevor asked me some very interesting questions, which I answered below. If you'd like me to interview you, leave a comment to that effect and I'll ask you some questions.
1. What's the most striking difference in Boulder today compared to when you were in high school?
The development out on North Broadway makes me do a little mental double-take every time I see it. Possibly this has something to do with the fact that I rarely go to that part of town. In general Boulder has gotten more upscale and less funky, but I don't think I experience this (or other differences between then and now) as "striking," in the same way, I suppose, that you don't notice kids growing when you see them a lot.
2. Share a non-scholastic facet of graduate school that seems interesting, unusual, or frustrating.
Amber once said that she tells people that graduate school (in science) is like being an apprentice scientist. I think this is a good description. I try to be patient, but sometimes it's frustrating when people don't get that doing research is my job, and I don't get summer and winter break off. Officially I get campus-closed holidays off, but I'm not entitled to vacation days at all. (Unofficially, my advisor allows 2-3 weeks of vacation per year, so it works out to be pretty similar to most people's vacation.)
3. How does having a large garden (for a back yard) affect your life?
It affects things a lot. What we eat in the summer and fall is determined to a large extent by what is in season. Then in the winter and early spring we cook things that we've missed while we've been busy trying to eat the vegetables before they go bad. At certain times of the year, gardening becomes our main hobby, then in the winter we do other things. So our hobbies are pretty seasonal, too. On an emotional level, it feels good and useful to be able to do something so concrete as growing healthy and delicious food, and connects me to the earth more than anything else I do. I love being able to walk around out there and eat whatever I find.
4. If you could pick one scientific concept and have it clearly explained to everyone in America, what would you choose? Would you pick something different if the audience was limited to all America's politicians?
This is a really tough question. I probably wouldn't pick a different topic if the audience was all politicians, since I think that the same things that make people good citizens also make them good politicians. I don't think there's any particular scientific fact that I would want to convey, but rather I would want to choose something that shows how scientists think, and at the same time would inspire a sense of wonder at the natural world. My goal would be to get them to think and ask questions after I was done talking. To me, the story of the periodic table is one of the most amazing in all of science, so maybe I'd choose that, even though it's pretty abstract. Or maybe I'd just make them all watch Cosmos.
Come to think of it, one of my heroes, Al Bartlett, did choose something he wanted everyone to know, and he's been talking about it to anyone who will listen for the last several decades. He chose exponential growth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY
5. What's something you love to do, but rarely get around to?
Camping. I haven't slept outside for more than a year, which makes me sad.
1. What's the most striking difference in Boulder today compared to when you were in high school?
The development out on North Broadway makes me do a little mental double-take every time I see it. Possibly this has something to do with the fact that I rarely go to that part of town. In general Boulder has gotten more upscale and less funky, but I don't think I experience this (or other differences between then and now) as "striking," in the same way, I suppose, that you don't notice kids growing when you see them a lot.
2. Share a non-scholastic facet of graduate school that seems interesting, unusual, or frustrating.
Amber once said that she tells people that graduate school (in science) is like being an apprentice scientist. I think this is a good description. I try to be patient, but sometimes it's frustrating when people don't get that doing research is my job, and I don't get summer and winter break off. Officially I get campus-closed holidays off, but I'm not entitled to vacation days at all. (Unofficially, my advisor allows 2-3 weeks of vacation per year, so it works out to be pretty similar to most people's vacation.)
3. How does having a large garden (for a back yard) affect your life?
It affects things a lot. What we eat in the summer and fall is determined to a large extent by what is in season. Then in the winter and early spring we cook things that we've missed while we've been busy trying to eat the vegetables before they go bad. At certain times of the year, gardening becomes our main hobby, then in the winter we do other things. So our hobbies are pretty seasonal, too. On an emotional level, it feels good and useful to be able to do something so concrete as growing healthy and delicious food, and connects me to the earth more than anything else I do. I love being able to walk around out there and eat whatever I find.
4. If you could pick one scientific concept and have it clearly explained to everyone in America, what would you choose? Would you pick something different if the audience was limited to all America's politicians?
This is a really tough question. I probably wouldn't pick a different topic if the audience was all politicians, since I think that the same things that make people good citizens also make them good politicians. I don't think there's any particular scientific fact that I would want to convey, but rather I would want to choose something that shows how scientists think, and at the same time would inspire a sense of wonder at the natural world. My goal would be to get them to think and ask questions after I was done talking. To me, the story of the periodic table is one of the most amazing in all of science, so maybe I'd choose that, even though it's pretty abstract. Or maybe I'd just make them all watch Cosmos.
Come to think of it, one of my heroes, Al Bartlett, did choose something he wanted everyone to know, and he's been talking about it to anyone who will listen for the last several decades. He chose exponential growth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY
5. What's something you love to do, but rarely get around to?
Camping. I haven't slept outside for more than a year, which makes me sad.