Insect diversity @ McGill
Stories about our collection of three million unique little volumes of biodiversity, the people who build and use it, and the research we do. And the odd rumination upon the nature of science and scientists.
All content copyright Terry A. Wheeler 2011-2013, unless otherwise noted.
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- Arthropod ecology at McGill
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- flyobsession
- Northern Biodiversity Program
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- The Bug Geek
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Tag Archives: science culture
Pixels versus pages
After 17 years in the same office I was moved just before Christmas into a new office one floor up in my building. My initial annoyance at having to deal with moving soon gave way to the realization that I … Continue reading
Summarizing your research, with a catch
It’s important for scientists to be able to explain what we do to a broad audience, not just other scientists. After all, depending on the research we do and how we do it, those non-scientists are the people who pay … Continue reading
Posted in Research News
Tagged arctic, biodiversity, Diptera, science culture, thinking
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Shifting gears: in praise of slow science
At the end of every teaching term I find myself in exactly the same place: burned out from rushing around, tired from marking, annoyed that I haven’t gotten more research done, even more annoyed that I haven’t taken more days … Continue reading
Taxonomy: sexy and we know it
Here in the lab we do both taxonomy and ecology. The balance between the two shifts back and forth depending on projects and time of year and the like; in the last couple of weeks, things have definitely swung towards … Continue reading
Posted in Science Culture
Tagged Diptera, new species, publications, science culture, taxonomy
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Conferences are expensive and time-consuming . . .
I’ve spent most of the past two weeks waiting in airports in a total of five cities, breathing dry and recycled hotel air, eating unpredictable restaurant food, sitting in dark rooms listening to people talk, drinking overpriced coffee, navigating slippery … Continue reading
On passion
Why do we do what we do? Why do I look at flies? Why do I spend what should be my vacation time doing exactly what I do the rest of the summer — playing with insects? Why do I … Continue reading
Ready to launch . . .
We have come to associate particular “getting ready” sequences with “big event” sequences in movies. Every boxing movie has that scene in the locker room where the underdog silently and sloowwwwly tapes up his hands. Every rodeo scene has that … Continue reading
The joy of not knowing
One of the great pleasures of working in an area like the Biodiversity of Small Flies, is that “what we know” is a vastly smaller box than “what we don’t know”. I think some people find a lack of knowledge … Continue reading
What is natural history anyway?
Scientists like clarity. We like to have our definitions nicely lined up. We like to label things. But that’s not always easy. I’m a taxonomist. I’m an ecologist. I’m a naturalist. I know what all those labels mean, to me, … Continue reading
I like the Tombstone Mountains
The Dempster Highway is a 750 kilometer, gravel, narrow, bumpy, dusty, muddy, rutted washboarded road with one gas station at the beginning, one in the middle and a couple near the end. It runs from near the Klondike gold fields … Continue reading
Posted in Lab and Field News
Tagged arctic, Northern Biodiversity Program, science culture
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