Category Archives: Science

Day Three Wrap-Up #2013SVP – Peer Pressure for A Good Cause

Another day of the 73rd annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology is in the record books. As with every Friday night of the annual meeting, we held the annual auction.

We have a live and a silent auction and sell donated items. The proceeds benefit various SVP programs, most often in support of student research.Continue reading “Day Three Wrap-Up #2013SVP – Peer Pressure for A Good Cause”

Day One Wrap-Up #2013SVP – New Projects

The first day of the 2013 annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology is in the record books. Well, for me anyway. Others are still whooping it up elsewhere, no doubt. Alas, my east-coast internal clock couldn’t take it any more. I need to sleep.

But before I pass out, I felt that I needed to share with you some highlights of my day, and in doing so, illustrate why meetings like this are so important.Continue reading “Day One Wrap-Up #2013SVP – New Projects”

One Simple Trick to Pronouncing Those Impossible Scientific Names

I might get myself banned from paleontology for this, but I’m going to share a secret.

I know how to pronounce all those crazy scientific names, even ones I’ve never seen before. And I’m going to tell you how to do it too.Continue reading “One Simple Trick to Pronouncing Those Impossible Scientific Names”

A Modest Research Proposal: The Sounds of Paleontology at #2013SVP

I have a research proposal for the attendees of the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP). I need your help.

You see, I know when I’m at an SVP meeting based upon the sound of conversations whether in bars or in poster sessions or anywhere.  Do you know what I’m talking about?Continue reading “A Modest Research Proposal: The Sounds of Paleontology at #2013SVP”

So, You Want to be a Paleontologist?

With any luck, when this post goes live, I’ll be on my way to Los Angeles for the 73rd annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

I’m a paleontologist. If there was a special ‘I really am a paleontologist’ card, I’d be a card-carrying paleontologist. (We need to make cards. I’ll get on that.)  I have all the credentials – the Ph.D., the publications, the global field experience – that people expect that all paleontologists would have. I even teach paleontology courses at a university

So, naturally, one of the most common questions I get is, ‘How do I become a paleontologist?’ Continue reading “So, You Want to be a Paleontologist?”

Why I hate being called Mrs. Higgins (by my students)

This is a rant. Though it is a rant that I suspect many women in the sciences can relate to.

I teach at a university. I have a Ph.D. My title, then, is properly “Dr. Higgins.” I am not a professor, not adjunct, not tenure-track, so technically I shouldn’t be called “Professor Higgins,” but it happens and I let it go.Continue reading “Why I hate being called Mrs. Higgins (by my students)”