Not the best photo, but as usual I only have my iPhone with me; nonetheless, I finally found a coral hairstreak this evening at Spring Green. We may have also found a dun skipper perched briefly in the path, but the look was fleeting.

Today was the big day, and I’m happy to say everything went well! My committee requested some revisions… test for spatial auto-correlation Ch. 2 & 3 include best subsets Ch. 3 make climate projection discussion more precise  

All the nerves for the exit seminar and defense, and yet all the confidence that this is what I’ve been building to for years. It’s a weird balance. I think I’m “practiced out,” though something deep down wants me to keep running through it until it’s memorized. I know that’s unfeasible. At this point, I’m […]

I’m relieved that (for me) I didn’t have the added stress of having to have this together for lab lunch, but it wasn’t until the meeting that I realized it was just for my advisers. That would have taken even more pressure off. I’m glad to get it together and practice it, and get feedback. […]

Tomorrow, I give a practice exit seminar. The anxiety is ramping up.

I’m lucky that I already gave 2 chapter’s worth of this talk for my interview, and that I have the added confidence of getting a job out of it! That really helps to feel like the content and organization is good, and also like I’ve run through this before in a high-pressure setting. It was […]

I met with Volker and got lots of comments on my 3rd chapter, too many to incorporate today (and he acknowledged that). Then, a landmark, sort of: I sent my dissertation to my committee in anticipation of my defense! Unless I get any replies ahead of time, I won’t look at again until I get revisions […]

Now it’s the last push: I’ll get my dissertation to my committee no later than tomorrow.

Now it’s getting real: I have the pieces in the right places, referenced table of contents, etc.! Wow, this is finally getting close. It finally is feeling like a cohesive work. I still have yet to write Acknowledgments but I’ll do that last probably.

A former member of our lab generously made a template for dissertations, but my lack of prowess with Word and refusal to learn is catching up with me. I could launch into a whole commentary about open source and why it’s better, but I’ll refrain for now. I need outside help on this one, probably! […]