Zoo Crew....

Last month I attended an ethics conference, ANZCCART (Australia and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching), in Queenstown on the South Island. As a student representative to the Animal Ethics Committee at Victoria I've come to find our work, reviewing applications and considering animal welfare issues, incredibly interesting and rewarding. So after begging and pleading I was able to secure funding to attend ANZCCART and in the end had the most fun I've ever had at a conference! One of the speakers was the CEO from our own Wellington Zoo and during one of the breaks I went over and introduced myself. We exchanged cards and she invited me to come to the Zoo for a meeting to talk ethics and welfare. That meeting happened a couple weeks ago and from it I secured a short term internship and will be spending time there each week for the next couple months! I will be observing two pairs of "small cats": caracals and servals (respectively, left to right in the photo). Note: this photo is just to show what they look like - they aren't housed together at the Zoo.

Both feline species are originally from Southern Africa and have come to the Wellington Zoo from elsewhere in the world. For that reason they are currently being held in a "quarantine" area of the zoo to make sure they are completely healthy. This also serves as a temporary home while the construction on their enclosures is finished. My job is to assess their behavior three times each week to gather baseline data. Then at the end of September they will be moved to their permanent enclosure homes. After that I will continue to observe their behavior and compare across the two environments. The Wellington Zoo is very serious about animal welfare and this is one way they can assess and then improve the welfare of these animals. Since I'm interested in this broad type of work I'm taking every opportunity to learn about how animal welfare is actually done. I'm thrilled to be gaining experience in a variety of contexts: the Animal Ethics Committee at Vic, working in Assessment at the SPCA and now at the Zoo. :)

Yesterday I went in for a second meeting. I picked up my "Zoo Crew" pass that gives me access to the zoo anytime it is open for the next year!

I also spent time completing safety inductions, gathering reading/study material to learn about these felines (a ridiculously large pile of books), and talking the with keepers and vet staff to learn how to reliably tell the pairs of cats apart. As you might expect, markings and body shape/size are the easiest ways to determine which critter is which.  And lastly I spent some time observing and collecting data to figure out the logistics of the process. I very quickly realized that the longer you observe them the more you see. Granted that sounds obvious but what is mean is that initially you notice their overall appearance. However, as the minutes pass you start to notice slight changes in body posture, subtle interactions between the two cats, and minute details in their markings. Interestingly, I have the same experience when I view art in a gallery. What I "see" changes drastically the longer I stand there looking. So it should be very interesting what I "see" at the end of this experiment!

Now it's time to flesh out my schedule as I want to go several times a week. This will take dedicated planning to fit it around my other volunteering commitments, work in the lab, writing, and regularly scheduled meetings. All in all I'm looking forward to a completely new learning experience. :)

Book love....

One Summer. Another stunner by Bill Bryson recounting the goings-on in the US during the summer of 1927. Admittedly, I'm no history buff, even when it comes to US history, so I found it very interesting. From Charles Lindbergh to Babe Ruth to Al Capone Bryson deftly ties together an point in history where both television and radio came into their own, work began on Mount Rushmore and the Great Mississippi flood devastated close to 30,000 square miles of land. And that's just the short list. A must-read.

Book Challenge 4 (of 12)

Years.....

Today marks four years. Timmy and I tied the knot four years ago.

Today marks eight years. Timmy and I started dating eight years ago.

I find it hard to believe that we have been together for eight years and wed for four of those. The years have flown by but I can still say with utter certainty that I'm a lucky girl. I never imagined that I would marry. Never. Ever. You should know (if you don't already) that I was a shy and awkward kid who never dated in high school. I spent some time hanging out with a couple of guys throughout different stages of undergrad but it was never really worth pursuing. I managed to find guys that felt the need to rip on me for being serious about my studies. With this said I knew straight away that none of that was going anywhere. By the time I arrived at MSU to pursue a pre-med school prep program I had abandoned the idea that I would meet anyone worthwhile. I said, "Screw it, I'm going to focus on the program and when I start med school I won't have any time anyway". True story.

A few weeks later I arrived at my Chemistry 131 class to take one of the scheduled exams. To ensure that no one was tempted to cheat we took the exam in a large lecture theater around the corner from our regular classroom. I walked down the steps and sat down in a desk in the front row. A few minutes later a red headed guy in t-shirt and jeans sat down in the same row a few seats to my left. Later on Timmy and I were introduced outside of class by a mutual acquaintance. From the beginning we hit it off and talked for hours every time we saw each other. Then we started talking on the phone, always into the wee hours of the morning. Much later on I learned that the desk I had randomly chosen for the exam was "his" desk. Apparently, he always sat there for exams and as a creature of habit was annoyed when he arrived on test day to find a girl with long red hair sitting in his spot.

As you know the rest is history as we started dating and grew closer and closer. So there you have it, life is full of surprises. If someone had told that I would marry an incredible guy (a redhead no less, what are the odds?!), complete a MSc and then move to New Zealand to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience I would've rolled my eyes so hard they'd still be stuck in the back of my head. And yet here we are. Here's to the incredible things in life!!!!!! :)

Hiccup....

A few posts ago I outlined my intended "Book Challenge". For the first three weeks I was tracking beautifully and was even ahead of schedule. Then two things happened. First, with several work related details changing we are unsure of the exact details for our US trip. This has partially zapped my enthusiasm for speed reading as I may or may not be bringing books back with me. The second thing that happened came in the form of a book fair. I know. I know! I said no more books because I wanted to finish the ones I already had on the shelf. BUT with the exorbitant cost of books in NZ I am powerless to pass up visiting the book fairs when they happen. By pure coincidence, last weekend, a gentleman passed me a "book fair" flyer when I was walking down the sidewalk. Within the hour I was lining up and one of the volunteers was asking me, "How many bags do you think you can fill?". I almost laughed out loud, thinking, "Lady, you have no idea!!". I took just one bag and headed inside. Usually my mind becomes a complete blank the second I arrive; for the life of me I can never think any books on my never ending wishlist. I started by perusing the boxes that held the "travel writing" books as I'm a complete sucker for any Bill Bryson. Then something strange happened. Out of the blue clarity descended and my brain snapped to attention: "A Short History of Time". I made a short beeline to the "general science" section and starting looking through the boxes hoping against hope. After several boxes discouragement started to creep in and I propelled myself up on tip-toes to see into the last box in the middle of the table. Then I saw it: teeny, tiny, the silver binding glinting back at me. I swooped down on it as if someone else was about to grab it. In reality, no one else was even close to me. With the little book clutched tight in my hand I almost lifted it high in celebration but my brain overrode that notion and I smiled to myself as I looked at my new found treasure. You have to understand that I always find books that I'm excited about reading at the book fairs but it's usually a surprise finding them. This was the first time that I've ever found a book that I was actively seeking. Yes!!

From there I moved onto "Fiction", "Historical Fiction" and "Classics". I picked up a few other books for consideration as I edged around the long tables covered with a billion bound pages. I had really hoped that I would luck out and find a decent copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. It's been a favorite classic of mine but for some reason I have yet to acquire a copy. Alas, I seemed to find every other classic but this one. Slightly dejected I retired to a patch of the floor to sort my loot. In the end I put back half of the books I had put in my bag and made my way up to the cashier. While I was waiting I realized that I already had one of the books at home in storage! Classic book fiend mistake. So in the end I paid just 8 NZD for 4 books. Success! Walking home I thought about the "Book Challenge" and figured, "having a few more books isn't really a problem, is it?". :)

Book love.....

'Tis. The sequel to Angela's Ashes. Frank McCourt's writing style is an interesting one: sometimes rambling, often heart-wrenchingly honest and vulnerable. I had a hard time putting it down once I started turning pages. In a word: brilliant.

Book Challenge 3 (of 12)

Book love....

The Lost Continent. Bill Bryson's account of his solo road trip around the US. Thoroughly enjoyable as many of the cities/towns in the western and central US are familiar to me from my own road trips. :)

Book Challenge 2 (of 12)

Book Love....

The Great Gatsby. Book Challenge 1 (of 12).

Book Challenge......

It's the beginning of August and Tim and I have been talking at length about a trip that would see us back in the US towards the end of the year. I'll be presenting my research at the largest gathering of neuronerds (35,000+) on the planet in the beginning of November. Neuroscience 2014 will be held in Washington DC; I've never been there so this trip is sure to be a good one. And since I want to spend some time exploring DC with Timmy our trip has started to take shape. With Thanksgiving closely following Neuroscience we decided this would be an opportune time to go home and spend some time with our families. Although the official timeline hasn't been finalized we are expecting to be stateside for November, December and part of January.

You might be wondering what our trip has to do with a book challenge (as the post title posits) and I admit at first glance this seems a bit odd. But considering an opportunity to travel home I'm starting to think about what things we might want to bring home for safe keeping. And that brings me to my books. I've tried to read as many books as I can on our Kindle but I've accrued more than a few "book" books since we arrived in NZ two and a half years ago. It goes without saying that I'm a complete book fiend and our tiny bookshelf, bursting at the seams, is a testament to this fact. I CANNOT help myself. But I have to admit that I haven't read everything on the shelf just yet. So when we started talking about going home for a visit I took a close look at the contents of the shelf. I found, count them, twelve books that I have yet to finish. It was then that a revelation hit me. Enter: the book challenge. I have approximately twelve weeks until we travel back to the northern hemisphere and twelve unfinished books. With a smirk on my face, I said to myself, "I'll take that challenge!!!". Challenge? Maybe I should call it a marathon.

Week 1 and I'm on track with The Great Gatsby. :)

Scientific.....

So Tim and I are pursuing our PhDs; we've just entered the final year of study. This reality brings with it equal measures of excitement and terror. It's thrilling to think that we will both attain this great accolade after an insane amount of work. I mean, sure, you know going in that it will be lots of work but when it piles up and stretches out to what seems like infinity one thought enters your mind. "What was I thinking, signing on for this?". I'm not convinced I, nor any PhD student, can really answer this question. :) Something out there drives, compels, instigates a notion that, sure, another graduate program sounds like a good idea. At least this has been my experience. I don't know if I'm proud or embarrassed to say that this final year of PhD study is, in fact, my NINTH year of formal tertiary education. This makes me think back to my undergraduate self saying, "Yup, four years will be plenty, there's no way that I'm going to do more than that". And yet here I am at year nine. Now I know you might be thinking, "Wow, that's a lot of time in school, she must know so much!". I can't tell you how much I'd love to say that you're right. But alas, despite my many years in school, I'm no expert. Even in my specific fields of study: speech language pathology, psychology, and neuroscience. With that said I've spent all this time studying, investigating and researching questions in the classroom and laboratory; all the while I've felt like an idiot scrambling to grasp each subject and concept. This has been my ongoing experience.

Last week Tim, two other Victoria PhD students, and I spent the better part of the day judging middle school level science projects. We arrived at the school and were escorted up some stairs to the teacher's lounge where we were given instructions and clipboards and pens to take notes on the projects. On the way, we passed several students and the teacher who was leading us said to them, "Hey, do you know who these people are?". Now some of the kids didn't have any idea but a few connected the dots and with eyes wide said, "They're the science fair judges!". This happened multiple times along the way and had us chuckling at their reaction. As a PhD student you're constantly trying to study, read, learn, grasp as much as possible about your topic. And I would guess that my experience of feeling "scientifically" inadequate is not unique to me. So to inspire awe or terror or intimidation in these young students is an entirely foreign experience. I believe it may be the only time in my life when my scientific prowess will impress and intimidate. :) Perspective is an amazing thing. And I've realized something important; I will always feel like I'm just starting to learn about whatever topic and be acutely aware of my inexperience compared to the experience of others. This will continue to happen for two reasons; 1) I never want to stop actively learning and therefore will always have a "student-esque" status, and 2) I've realized that the more I learn the more I realize there is more to learn. Here's to being "in progress"!

Book love....

The Silkworm. The second novel penned under J.K Rowling's pseudonym Robert Galbraith.