It’s that time of year again, the quiet before the storm of Fresher’s week and the start of a new academic year.
After our short break, EcoEvo@TCD is back and raring to go. You can expect lots more posts about our research, seminar series, outreach activities, conferences and fieldwork as well as tips and tricks for surviving in academia.
We’ve already kicked off the year with our second annual NERD club AGM. It was a great opportunity to discuss what we covered throughout the year and to make plans for the months ahead. (For the uninitiated, NERD club is our networks in ecology/evolution research discussion group but feel free to think of it in the true sense of the word too).
Here’s our NERD club prize winners for 2013/14
Best session: Paul for his talk on carnivory in plants
Best blog: Adam for “Flatland” and the “Heat and Light of Science Communication”
Best pun (aka the McMahon and Kane memorial punning prize): Adam and Thomas for “Gould Mine”
Contributor of the year: Kevin
Best PI called Andrew: What is Andrew Jackson? (No-one knows!)
We’ve had some excellent sessions about transferable skills, how to navigate the perils of academia and great discussions and collaborations on current research projects. We’ve got lots more interesting topics planned for the year ahead which will definitely make an appearance on EcoEvo@TCD.
It’s also been a very successful year for our blog. We had a winner at the ABSW science writers awards and two semi-finalists in another international blog competition. We’re also on the short list for the best science and technology blog in the Irish blog awards.
So whether you’re packing away your fieldwork gear after another season, dreading the darker evenings or sharpening your pencils for another academic year, rest assured that you can look forward to some more ecology and evolution- related musings from the EcoEvo@TCD team.
Author: Sive Finlay, @SiveFinlay