Jeannette Whitton

What course did you take, and would you recommend it?

Great list! Many of these pieces are already in the syllabus, but I think the project management framework is missing.

We can then undertake a guided, collaborative development of core research conduct principles for the course.

These principles can then centre the treatment of components like project development, collaboration, data management, analysis, writing, literature review, citation, and presentation.

I agree. Communicating with integrity means reviewing the evidence that supports our statements, and crediting those who produced that evidence.

Maybe a first step could be a workshop to collectively consider the what, why, and how of responsible conduct in various components of research.

I'd appreciate that - thanks!

...and how it manifests at different scales and stages?

I think misconduct is probably perceived to be egregious falsification or misrepresentation. For new researchers, I want them to consider poor note-keeping, error-prone approaches to labelling, using information without attribution...

One topic I know I want students to grapple with is collective and individual responsibility in research. Maybe this could be called Research Ethics, but the slant to 'responsibility' might help emphasize the day-to-day standards we uphold, rather than a (potentially abstract) set of principles.

I'm co-teaching a 4th-year biology course for students doing honours research. The aim is to develop the skills for successful honours completion. We have a syllabus and materials from previous years, but I'm keen to take a fresh look.

I'd love to hear your suggestions about what we should cover.

See you soon, #CSEE2025!

I’m teaching two workshops and giving a talk in SWEEET.

Get in touch if you want to chat about conservation science, what it’s like to work at an ENGO, research partnerships with @ncccnc.bsky.social, etc.

Thank you my friend!

That’s very kind, Katherine. Thank you!

Thanks, Megan, including for helping me decide to go forward with applying.

Thanks for your kind words, Justine 😊

Thanks, Judith! Looking forward to catching up (though not necessarily to the end of sabbatical).

Thanks, Darren! I appreciate your support and friendship.

Typos like "I was got" may have delayed my promotion 😜

For those in positions to lift or exclude others, remember that you did not succeed in a vacuum. Think about who and what made your path possible and/ or easier. Consider your path without these privileges. Membership indeed has its privileges; use yours for good.

If you doubt your value, I urge you to work on your inner voice. Outer voices are whimsical, often ill-informed, and impossible to control. Believe in diverse paths and measures of success. Whenever possible, emphasize what you value, and help broaden what we value collectively.

I am also grateful for affordable higher education; generous and kind mentors; ridiculous good luck; excellent public healthcare; reliable childcare, secure and safe housing; the very best students, friends and colleagues; the devotion of good dogs; and the boundless support of human loved ones.

I’m not great at some things that are expected for progress through the ranks. This is not humility; you can check ‘my numbers’. I am grateful that those who supported and evaluated my case found value in what I do.

I set aside self-doubts, so easily seeded by offhand comments, ever-amplified by my deafening inner critic. I finally decided I would be strong enough to handle the possibility of rejection. [Insert lots of personal growth, and the stable, unflagging support of loved ones here.]

I finally decided to apply for promotion last year. I looked at UBC’s collective agreement and judged that I met the criteria, despite my meandering journey through academia while single parenting, encountering mental health challenges, and rescuing one too many figurative and/ or literal kittens.

Happy Canada Day!
28 years ago today, I started my faculty position at UBC. How can that be?
20 years ago, I was got tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor.
Today, I get to update my title to Professor.
I’m pretty excited, and also have a few thoughts.

drawing a popgen blank. anyone know where I can find math for the allele frequency spectrum of a population (not a sample from the population) given a demography model (piecewise constant or whatever)?

#conservationjobs #sustainabilityjobs | Aerin Jacob [April 29, 2025] Compilation of #ConservationJobs and #SustainabilityJobs in Canada. All shared job ads include salary ranges. I'm not involved in these positions. 1) Six jobs at Nature Conservan...

Compilation of #ConservationJobs in 🇨🇦. All job ads include salary range.

www.linkedin.com/posts/aerinj...

Please share! Conservation needs everyone.

(I’m not involved in these jobs and can’t answer questions about them.)

U.S. citizen interested in grad studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (Canada)?

Grad programs are re-opening applications of US programs for one week. With expedited decisions.

U.S. Applicant Week:

www.grad.ubc.ca/us-applicant...

#AcademicChatter #Canada #GradSchool

This week's invited speaker in the Conservation, Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour seminar series is Prof. Megan Bontrager (eeb.utoronto.ca/profile/bont...) from the University of Toronto.

For an example, I've always liked this paper:
Schemske & Bierzychudek (2007) Spatial differentiation for flower color in the desert annual Linanthus parryae: was Wright right? Evolution. 61:2528–43.
Clearly written, string paragraphs, simple methods, clear results (but not the best figs).

CEGEP was a critical stepping stone for me. I could afford it, I had amazing, passionate instructors who also taught me how to study. I also took the coolest PE courses (outdoor ed, rock climbing,...) designed to overcome barriers and develop interests. Also eased my switch to English schooling.

I am stopping in to say that my sister, Fiona, is an amazing photographer, including of auroras, for example, including these gems from southern Alberta: www.instagram.com/p/DA4txTUvqD...