Tips for conferences and better science communication

I've recently written a series of blogs on Southern Fried Science on communicating science, giving tips on how to (or not) give a better academic presentation, how to write a conference abstract - or create a poster for a presentation - and advice on co-authoring scientific papers.

I also have a couple of articles on conference ettiquette and as the summer conference season is nearly upon us, I thought I would post all of these in one place. I hope these are useful !

Distracted by abstracts: Tips for writing a good abstract for a scientific conference

This is the worst academic presentation in the world … tribute

A poster to remember

To co-author or not to co-author?

Mr Darcy’s Guide to Conference Etiquette – Part 1

Mr Darcy’s Guide to Conference Etiquette – Part 2

Killer whale killers – a review of US court cases on captive orcas

I had several requests for copies of my presentation on the various US court cases related to captive orcas, that I recently gave at the European Cetacean Society conference in Malta. So for everyone who wanted it, here is a copy of the presentation.

If you refer to this presentation, please use the citation: Parsons, E.C.M. 2015. Killer whale killers – a review of US court cases on captive orcas. Presented at 29^thAnnual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, 23-25 March 2015, Malta.

Supplementary material can be found in this peer-reviewed paper.

An article on the science behind the movie Blackfish can be found on the leading marine science blog Southern Fried Science.

Unhappy feet

I've just posted on Southern Fried Science about why we need a year of the penguin - the link to the article is here: http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=18133

But if there was any doubt that penguins are awesome, here's some more photos:

Save the Ocean Bowl !

As I write this, I’m sitting in a room surrounded by a pile of graded question papers for the Chesapeake Bay Bowl, the Washington DC/Virginia/Maryland/Delaware regional competition for the National OceanScience Bowl. For those who don’t know about these competitions, they are ocean science quizzes for high school students. The competition consists of alternating multiple choice buzzer questions and more detailed written question sections. The questions for both are submitted by marine science professionals from all fields of oceanography and marine policy. And boy, are some of these questions tough ! The judges, who are experts from universities and government agencies (such as NOAA, USGS and the Navy) frequently are stumped by the questions, that some of student teams breeze through. These students can be scarily smart. The Ocean Science Bowl competitions are like the Bletchley Park of upcoming marine science students. The events are also great for the volunteers, with expert judges, undergraduate and graduate students, and naval midshipmen asking question, calculating score, running around with question sheets – it’s a great chance for networking and mentoring.

But these great events were almost committed to the trashcan of educational initiatives thanks to US Congressional budgeting.Thankfully some funding was allocated for the events, although the events are running on a shoestring. The current event is largely being sponsored by one of the local universities and run with volunteers. 

Heaven forbid that a continent surrounded by oceans... with many States whose economy depends on the marine environment... with the largest navy in the world... with an enormous amount of ocean-borne trade... should invest in promoting excellence in oceanography and marine science....!

If like me, you are bewildered why this event should get the short funding straw, this article gives some ideas about what you can do to help keep these awesome events going.

You know nothing Jon Snow !

At the end of the the most recent Game of Thrones book (a Dance with Dragons)  there is quite a surprise ending...

I've been pondering what happens to Jon Snow... and here's my hypothesis. If you aren't up to date on the books/ just watching the TV show, don't read on, because.... SPOILERS !!!

So Jon Snow dies..., killed by the Night's Watch ... temporarily. He is brought back from death by the priestess Melisandre as the true King who will save the world. Why is this.... ? Because Jon Snow is in fact the illegitimate son of Lyanna Stark (Ned's sister) and Robert Baratheon. This effectively makes him THE rightful king and Melisandre's magic works upon him. Her visions of destiny were not in fact about Stannis, but Jon Snow.

Jon was adopted by Ned Stark as Robert was due to wed Cersei Lannister, for the good of the Kingdom, and swore himself to secrecy, keeping his vow despite the effect on his marriage. This also means that New was not unfaithful to his wife, which I always thought was out of character anyway because of his heightened sense of honor.

The fact that Jon has jet black hair like all of the Baratheon children (but unlike the Stark children)  possibly promoted him to look into the heritage of Joffrey - the suggestion that Robert's children weren't blonds immediately struck a cord with him.

Because Jon technically dies, this releases him from his vow to the Night's Watch, freeing him to become King of the North and lead armies against the white walkers.

Valar Morghulis ...!

71 Important Questions for the Conservation of Marine Biodiversity

What research needs to urgently be done by marine conservation scientists? Read our new paper in the journal Conservation Biology ... If you are a student wanting to do a worthwhile project, this is a great list of issues that are preventing effective marine conservation.

A Southern Fried Blogging Year

I have been somewhat quiet of late - one of the main reasons is that I've been busy writing articles for the marine science blog site Southern Fried Science (SFS) and have, sadly, rather let blogs for KrakenInTheAquarium go by the wayside.

As the end of the year is nigh, here are my top articles for SFS to share with my regular readers - Happy New Year !

Blackfish: the Science Behind the Movie

The Dark Side of Academia

No you’re not paranoid – there is a bias against publishing marine conservation papers

Distracted by abstracts: Tips for writing a good abstract for a scientific conference

Why we need ACTIVISTS not WHACKTIVISTS !

Don’t diss the dolphins

Wailing about whaling – the 2014 International Whaling Commission meeting

So what might Scottish independence mean for marine conservation ?

Mr Darcy’s Guide to Conference Etiquette – Part 1

Why #DoctorWho needs a science advisor!

Mr Darcy’s Guide to Conference Etiquette – Part 2

Ocean Optimism and Aliens

I bet James Bond never had to put up with this … why are there so many “experts” on biological issues?

Marine Conservation, Inspiration and a Great Big Geek