Margaret Kosmala

Author's details

Date registered: October 2, 2015
URL: http://margaretkosmala.com

Latest posts

First steps — February 16, 2017
A missing voice — February 8, 2017
On requesting letters of recommendation — January 11, 2017
First year retrospective — January 4, 2017
How NOT to get a postdoc position — December 14, 2016

Author's posts listings

Fancy Footnotes for the Fearless

April 20, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

April 20, 2016

Back in February, I implored you to stop using unlinked footnotes in your blog posts. The intrepid Stephen Heard [1] of Scientist Sees Squirrel fame, not the 18th century governor of Georgia pointed out that that linking is a little kludgy. The return anchor can only be at the beginning of a paragraph, so it’s …

5 comments

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/04/20/fancy-footnotes-for-the-fearless/

The hidden financial costs and risks of graduate and postdoctoral fellowships and grants in the U.S.

April 14, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

April 14, 2016

Congratulations! Your proposal was successful! You’ve been awarded a fellowship or grant! These are great words to read, and overall it’s a good thing to get a fellowship or grant as an early career researcher. But there are hidden costs to these awards, both in terms of your immediate finances and the risks you take …

2 comments

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/04/14/the-hidden-financial-costs-and-risks-of-graduate-and-postdoctoral-fellowships-and-grants-in-the-u-s/

Increasing the number of women in computer science requires real cultural change, not just recruitment

April 6, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

April 6, 2016

Not too long ago, NPR’s Planet Money had a segment on what’s happened to women in computer science. It really struck a chord. To summarize, women were a mainstay of computer science from its earliest years up until 1984. Then, the number of women in computer science at universities started plummeting, while the number of …

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/04/06/increasing-the-number-of-women-in-computer-science-requires-real-cultural-change-not-just-recruitment/

Reddit science AMAs for ecologists

April 4, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

April 4, 2016

Last week, I ran a Reddit Science AMA with collaborators Koen Hufkens and Josh Gray on climate change, phenology, and citizen science. In the morning, a general post went up describing our research. By the time we started replying to questions at 1 pm, there were more than 100 questions waiting for us! I skimmed …

1 comment

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/04/04/reddit-science-amas-for-ecologists/

Reddit for science communication (UPDATE: now with a link!)

March 30, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

March 30, 2016

If you’ve dabbled in science communication you’ve likely come across the difference between communicating AT people and communicating WITH people. Or maybe you haven’t. After all, science has historically largely subscribed to the deficit model of teaching: the “general public” is a bunch of people who are empty vessels into which we should pour in …

2 comments

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/03/30/reddit-for-science-communication/

I am unwilling to relocate again (and it will probably cost me my academic “career”)

March 23, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

March 23, 2016

Multiple moves are the norm in academia and it’s a major structural problem that gets in the way of diversity (and other) initiatives. Long gone are the days when the academic was (only) a hetero white male who was either single (and a highly eligible bachelor with his PhD in hand) or had a family …

78 comments

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/03/23/i-am-unwilling-to-relocate-again-and-it-will-probably-cost-me-my-academic-career/

Feline fighter fury #2016MMM #catscandal

March 21, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

March 21, 2016

Note: This post is about March Mammal Madness. Check out this year’s tournament if you’re unfamiliar with it. It started: alright alright alright! Welcome to Mammal March Madness 2016! #2016MMM https://t.co/Ub2DuVZlbD #AlrightAlright pic.twitter.com/Aw9CFHcrWH — Prof. Katie Hinde (@Mammals_Suck) March 8, 2016 But is it really alright? Investigators have discovered a disturbing trend in March Mammal …

8 comments

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/03/21/feline-fighter-fury-2016mmm-catscandal/

Observation as an essential ecology skill

March 16, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

March 16, 2016

In the past few weeks, there have been several posts on ecology blogs about what is ecology — and science more generally. What makes us scientists? What is valued within our profession? I often think about these questions in the context of citizen science. What makes us ‘professionals’? What are we able to do that …

13 comments

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/03/16/observation-as-an-essential-ecology-skill/

Archetype solutions

March 9, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

March 9, 2016

Here are my answers to the Archetype puzzle I presented last week. If you haven’t seen it yet, go read that first. This entire post is a spoiler. Oh, and feel free to quibble with my answers in the comments. 1. Red and blue balls in an urn Probability, combinatorics 2. Galapagos finches Evolution, allopatric …

4 comments

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/03/09/archetype-solutions/

Fun and games: Archetype

March 2, 2016

by Margaret Kosmala

March 2, 2016

Today, a bit of fun for the academically inclined. In every discipline, there are archetypal examples that showcase important concepts. These examples are so ubiquitous that if you open most textbooks on the subject, you’ll find the same examples used for the same concepts. Sometimes these archetypes derive from the first time something was described, …

1 comment

Permanent link to this article: https://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/03/02/fun-and-games-archetype/