Week 12: Plague, Bats, REU, and More!!

-

Greetings and Happy May!

Wow, did this semester fly by for you all, too? It has been by far the busiest, most challenging semester. I think I am taking 16-17 credits, have been working part-time, applying for scholarships, getting set-up at ASU, trying to collect bat data, and get everything in place for my REU in Flagstaff this summer. Also, I have almost finished a full-year helping/partly teaching Mia's first year at Kindergarten, which has likely been the hardest thing, thus far. 

That being said, it is Teacher's Appreciation Week. Thank you so much Dr. Chapman, Josh, and Matt for all of your guidance and support! I really value all of the knowledge and advice you've given me. 

I'm so excited for this REU. My mentor will be Dr. Hofstetter, who I actually read about in one of my biology classes long before I saw he picked me to work under him this summer. We are going to be working with bark beetles, climate change, wildfire impact, etc. I've been buffing up on the bark beetle and doing a little reading so I have a little background knowledge under my belt. 

Picture credit: USDA Forest Service https://www.fs.fed.us/r3/resources/health/field-guide/bb/index.shtml

I'm not sure what to do about my Plague project. Is there a way to say the data in inconclusive or there's no direction relevance between my variables? 

My bat project, however, is a great one. I narrowed it down to one really specific variable. It doesn't explain the entire concept but, it could be the start to a possibly life-long study. 

Good Luck with finals, everyone!!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connecting with a Mentor + NCUIRE

-
 Networking....is awkward and uncomfortable.  BUT, like aquiring any skill, it becomes easy and natural with practice.  I dreaded reaching out to a mentor on LinkedIn. However, my message was really well-received, and I got some extremely helpful insight into a potential career path and research opportunities.  When I was sending the message, I felt like I was bothering this professional, and she would be annoyed with my questions. I had quite the opposite reaction, and she was ecstatic to tell me all about what she is working on. Now, I've established my name with someone who could help me connect with professors in graduate programs.  The NCUIRE Symposium was equally awkward. There's a bunch of people standing around staring at you and waiting for you to approach them. However, I wanted to be supportive and network, so I would walk up to someone and ask questions about their poster. I had NO IDEA how many cool research projects were happening at ASU West. Some of the particip
Read more

Trying to Learn Statistics

-
Image
It is almost turkey times, friends! I cannot wait for some stuffing (it's my favorite). First, I'd like to say I am having issues commenting on my own blog. I have seen your comments and appreciate the support, encouragement, and advice. Hopefully, I will have these technical issues resolved soon so that I can respond and send my warm regards.  I have done a little statistics in some of my science classes, but have not taken the class, yet. I believe it's on my schedule for one of the upcoming semesters. Therefore, I don't fully know about the types of statistical comparisons.  My week has been organizing my data into neat little tables that make sense. Also, I have had to collect some more climate data for one of my regions. I need to have a meeting with a mentor to help me understand statistically and graphically. I love math, but my least favorite part is making the graphs. Well, just complicated ones are challenging. Really my goal is to have the data really clearly
Read more

It's Paper Time

-
Image
 Hello again, friends! I'd like to start by saying welcome to all the new people who have joined. I'm fairly new myself, but am starting to feel really comfortable and more confident in my work. The blogs I've seen so far are really interesting and I can't wait to see all the different research. STEM is really amazing and can reach so many different facets and learners.  The rough draft of the paper is due next week. My sentiments about that include anxious deep breaths. In all seriousness, my goal is for it to be very clear, logical, and worthy of the topic.  I am removing population density of humans and rodents from my variable table. The data is more inconsistent in rodents and the mammals vary so much in species, reproduction styles and rates, and community distance proximity. The pursuit was not fruitless and I learned a lot about flea carriers and disease spread in the process. However, I think the prospect of population density data was short-sighted and not wel
Read more