In 2017, I began my academic journey majoring in Political Science and International Affairs at Florida State University. Throughout this time, I learned how ingrained politics is in every aspect of our society and how important it is to get involved in civic duties such as voting and researching legislation on major social and fiscal issues. A significant part of politics involves the country’s history as well, which was required curriculum taught by several courses including American History, Protests in America, European History, and International Affairs. These courses taught critical material about the oppression and discrimination that has shaped the legislation still in existence today targeting all minority groups living in the U.S. These courses helped to dismantle unconscious biases and stereotypes that help us become more educated voters in the future. My courses also focused on the processes of the U.S. government system, as well as how the U.S. interacts with other countries and global entities. This is especially important when it comes to global issues where it is crucial for all states, countries, and territories to work together. In this day and age, one of the most pressing and time-sensitive issues of all is climate change.
In Zion National Park.
In 2021, I decided to take my political science background and apply it to a master’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy at the University of South Florida. Above all, I realized that my passion has always been to protect and conserve the planet’s biodiversity and natural ecosystems. I knew how much policy determined either the protection or destruction of the environment, and I made it my goal to use my background to be on the side of preservation and restoration. Since then, I have begun my third semester of graduate school and have learned about environmental policy, conservation in urban environments, geology, remote sensing, and environmental ethics and philosophy.
This summer, I also had the opportunity to spend two months working with the Student Conservation Association in Yellowstone National Park. During my time there, I volunteered alongside a National Park Service conservation crew replacing a bridge with sustainable materials. The purpose of this is to ensure that people can appreciate nature in a safe way for both themselves and the wildlife and minimize impacts to areas outside of the trails. I plan to continue pursuing these opportunities that expand my knowledge on best practices for environmental policy and learning first-hand from the most experienced people in the field. These experiences have only augmented my appreciation for this field, and I hope to build a career in conservation in Florida upon graduation next May.
Post-Ordovician Trilobite Diversity and Evolutionary Faunas
Bault, V., Balseiro, D., Monnet, C., and Crônier, C.
Summarized by Alexa Milcetic, a senior at the University of South Florida studying geology, with minors in astronomy and geographic information systems (GIS). She plans on furthering her education by obtaining a master’s degree in planetary geology. After she earns her degree, she plans to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). When she isn’t studying geology, she loves to listen to music, watch movies, and read.
What was the hypothesis being tested? The hypothesis being tested required an investigation of the evolutionary history of trilobites, marine fossils, after the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction (LOME). Scientists wanted to evaluate the amount of diversity of trilobites after the LOME and understand the shifts in the broad groupings of diversity, called ‘evolutionary faunas’. Researchers asked what kind of environment did these different groups of trilobites live in? How did their differing regions they were acclimated to help or harm them during extinction events that happened after the LOME.
What data were used? Trilobite data was downloaded from the Paleobiology Database which spanned 23 families. Where they were found, specifically the rock they were found in (lithology), can be used to estimate where they lived and where in the ocean they were found. For this,the Paleobiology Database was primarily used. This database was used to determine the post-Ordovician biodiversity of trilobites. Essentially, researchers put the data into the database, and these scientists then downloaded the information. This was then represented through the creation of a plotted graph (Figure 1), showing the diversity of trilobites throughout this range in geologic time. Using this same database, habitat conditions and the location of where these organisms lived was also collected. The lithology (the geology of their habitat) data became separated into the categories of carbonate, siliciclastic, or mixed. The preference for sediment that these trilobites had changed throughout time, and scientists wanted to see if there was any correlation with this preference and how certain groups became extinct. Bathymetrical data also became separated into categories of shallower or deeper, showing if a certain group preferred living in a certain region of the water where another group would not be able to survive. The latitude locations of their habitats also became separated into categories of low latitude, middle latitude (equatorial), and high latitude.
Methods: These trilobites within this period of the Post-Ordovician were in four distinct groups according to their similar characteristics, environments, and time they lived in. These were then used as variables to evaluate the evolutionary faunas. What the fauna was made of was determined by the latitude, lithology, and overall environment of the habitat they lived in. They looked at who was present, and the features of their environments, to better understand if things like lithology, etc. might explain more of their survival. They took all the data and ran tests to determine if there were patterns driving the biodiversity in these trilobites and tested the results to see if they were statistically significant.
Results: Four groupings of trilobites showed up in four different chunks of time from the Silurian until the Permian–Triassic extinction (444 to 252 million years ago), where trilobites ultimately went extinct. Throughout the Silurian period, trilobites were highly diverse (i.e., many genera were present; more genera means more diversity). These are called the Silurian fauna. During this same period, these trilobites still maintained a high diversity even at higher latitudes and in richer siliciclastic (i.e., more sand and mud instead of limestone) environments, especially when compared to the more recent faunas. Next, there is the Devonian fauna, where especially in the Early Devonian there was the highest post-Ordovician diversity found within this study. In the Middle Devonian, there was a large reduction in trilobite diversity. This was likely due to the decrease in the amount of atmospheric oxygen, as well as with changes in sea level. The evolutionary fauna that developed here, within the Devonian, occurred during environmental changes, like an increased greenhouse environment, more carbonate environments, and high sea levels, indicating a warmer climate. In the Late Devonian, diversity within trilobites was still low and the fauna is called the Kellerwasser Fauna.This was still due to the abrupt environmental changes that occurred during the Middle Devonian, that decimated previous evolutionary faunas. After this, there was the Hangenberg Event, known as the end-Devonian Extinction, which affected all existing trilobite groups. The survivors of this are called the Late Paleozoic Fauna (Figure 2). Since there was a decrease in diversity during the Mississippian (Early Carboniferous), there were only a select few faunas able to survive until the Permo-Triassic extinction.
Figure 1: Evolutionary history of the different types of trilobites, from the Cambrian where they are first found in the geologic record, to the Permian-Triassic extinction where all trilobites became extinct. The Y-Axis is time in a Logarithmic scale.
Why is this study important? In the trilobites, the diversity ranged vastly across different geologic times, which allowed them to make it through multiple extinction events. With this, we can begin to study who survived and who didn’t, and the common characteristics they shared or did not share with each other, such as: what made them more likely to live, and what characteristics made it more likely for them to die.This study is important because trilobites were an extremely common part of the early Paleozoic and why they went extinct in the pattern that they did (across multiple mass extinctions) isn’t well understood. The variables that likely controlled this include climate change and the environment each of these distinct trilobite groups lived in. While they never recovered from the Late Ordovician mass extinction, there were slight increases in diversity in the Early Devonian, possibly caused by warmer climates and large inland seas.
Broader Implications beyond this study: These trilobites left us a blueprint. Since something with so much diversity has died out, it is important to find out what could have caused this. Their extinction was heavily affected by high greenhouse gasses. It is important to use this information in the past to decide how to best mitigate and protect the organisms we have today, as human activity is releasing high greenhouse gasses today. Understanding how trilobites responded to these mass extinctions can help us understand how other animals did too. We can use this information to see how current and future trends in climate will affect organisms today.
Citation: Bault, V., Balseiro, D., Monnet, C., & Crônier, C. (2022). Post-Ordovician trilobite diversity and evolutionary faunas. Earth-Science Reviews, 230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104035
Faith Frings, Ohav Harris, and Kaleb Smallwood *Authors listed alphabetically; all contributed equally to this piece
The teaching of evolution has always been a polemical topic. People often consider evolution and religion to be in direct opposition to one another, when in actuality the two are concerned with separate realms of reality. Many teachers, and even college professors, often feel nervous about bringing up the topic because they worry about how not only students will respond, but also, in the case of K-12 educators, how their parents might react. In fact, a survey conducted in 2007 and published in 2010 concluded that roughly 532,000 students in Florida were taught by teachers who either felt uncomfortable teaching the subject or refrained from teaching evolution entirely (Fowler and Meisels, 2010). This discomfort with discussing evolution has been present since before Darwin published his theory in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. Darwin himself feared how religious and scientific authorities would respond, as scientists such as Georges Cuvier, a lauded naturalist of the time, decried the belief that the extant species had changed much since they first came into being. This caused him to delay his publication after his return to England in 1836 (Pew Research Center, 2009). The controversy surrounding the teaching of evolution reached a head in the United States in 1925, during the Scopes trial.
The Scopes Trial of 1925 (also called the Monkey Trial) is one very infamous example of the aggravation evolution can bring about in the classroom. John Thomas Scopes, a Tennessee high school science teacher, was accused of teaching evolution, which was against Tennessee law at the time due to the Butler Act, which outlawed any philosophy that opposed creationism and taught that mankind descended from animals (Arnold-Forster, 2022). Scopes did so intentionally, as he was working with the ACLU to defy this law as the defendant. Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan aided the prosecution. Citizens acted as chimps to mock the defense. Unfortunately, since Scopes himself was on trial and not the law he acted against, the defense was not allowed to call scientists in to provide testimony and Scopes was found guilty of breaking the law and fined $100. The verdict was overturned in 1927, but this was only on a technicality. This means that for two years, it was illegal to teach evolution in schools in Tennessee. Two years may not be much in hindsight, but ideas can become entrenched in a person’s mind in that amount of time. Numerous people would have been ignorant of evolution or told that it was a lie in some cases, breeding a lack of scientific literacy that would have made it more difficult for people to accept evolution or science in general in the future. Worse still, laws of this nature persisted in places such as Mississippi and Arkansas (Arnold-Forster, 2022).
While the thoughts and feelings that led to events like the Scopes Trial may seem like a thing of the past now, such vehement sentiments against evolution have flared up more recently than one might think, leading to yet another court case regarding the teaching of evolution in 2005, this time in Pennsylvania. Kitzmiller et al. v Dover Area School District et al. differed from the Scopes Trial in two crucial ways. First, the issue was not a law banning the teaching of evolution, but the school district teaching evolution alongside intelligent design, a philosophy often used as an alternative to creationism. Second, the defense was allowed to call expert scientists as witnesses, turning the trial into something of an educational seminar for those in attendance, showing them that there is plenty of evidence in favor of evolution and that a scientific theory differs from a theory in the colloquial sense (Humes, 2008). Rather than a denial of science in favor of religion, this trial showed not only that evolution is valid, but also that it can be accepted while holding religious beliefs. Many opponents to the teaching of evolution, due to religious beliefs, came to understand the evidence for evolution over the course of the trial and came to accept it without sacrificing their religious values. While the significance of this trial and its subsequent ruling cannot be understated as they allowed the legal teaching of evolution to continue, the most important note to take from this trial is the masterful teaching put on display. Rather than chide the crowd and opposing litigants for their lack of comprehension of science, the scientists brought on by the defense were considerate, respectful, and humorous. There are important lessons to be learned from this trial by those who aspire to teach evolution or subjects such as paleontology or biology where evolution is integral to a comprehension of the subject.
For example, one important point established by the defense in the Kitzmiller case is the fact that science and religion are not mutually exclusive, but they deal in different areas of reality. Religious explanations of phenomena and other things observable in the world often tend to be supernatural, going outside of the confines of what science can and should be used to explain. Science deals strictly with the natural, observable world. Science uses what evidence exists in the natural world to come to conclusions best supported by that evidence. As such, scientific explanations of processes observable in the world do not rule out the existence of a god or other greater power. Science cannot broach the subject at all. Consequently, acceptance of evolution does not require a rejection of one’s faith, nor are the two in conflict at all. It may be helpful to point out this fact for those in a class who feel strongly about their religious affiliations to ease their worries in that regard. Additionally, this trial shows the significance of preparing thoughtful and clear answers for any questions raised by students in class. One outlandish argument brought up during the trial was that of irreducible complexity. It was argued that cars and planes are made using similar parts, but neither a car nor plane came from the other. Additionally, if one vital part of a car or plane was removed, the object would cease to function. It was argued that the same went for organisms. Ken Miller’s response was complete and used the relevant example of the multipurpose proteins in bacterial flagellum, which was something discussed ad nauseum in the trial, to show that organisms are not irreducibly complex (Humes, 2008). The proteins that make up the flagellum can also be used for various other functions, so it is not accurate to say that the system is irreducibly complex. In another setting, those proteins can be seen performing completely different functions. Being ready to address questions and detractors is crucial to getting an audience to listen to and respect you. Doing so while respecting people’s lack of knowledge or their skepticism is equally crucial. Through proper teaching, evolution can transition from the controversial topic it is sometimes seen as into being well-accepted as the scientific theory that it is by the public, similar to the theory of gravity or cell theory. Calmly explaining to students that we did not come from monkeys, assuaging their worries regarding religion, and encouraging scientific thinking are all important steps along this road. Evolution is just as important a scientific subject to understand as any other to allow people to understand the natural world around them and how it functions.
Works Cited
Arnold-Forster, Tom. “Rethinking the Scopes Trial: Cultural Conflict, Media Spectacle, and Circus Politics.” Journal of American Studies, vol. 56, no. 1, 2022, pp. 142–166., doi:10.1017/S0021875821000529.
Humes, Edward. Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America’s Soul. Harper Perennial, 2008.
Alyssa Anderson, Aaron Avery, and Stephen Hill *All authors contributed equally
As humanity embarks into the twenty-first century, the importance of understanding the theory of evolution has never been greater. This importance is not rested solely in understanding human existence, but on the natural world as a whole. If humanity hopes to tackle such issues as curing cancer, fighting antibiotic resistant bacteria, and finding crops better adapted to global climate change, then we must impart a broad understanding of the theory of evolution to the next generation. Misconceptions in the understanding of evolution are a common occurrence and can be difficult to approach in the classroom, but because of the importance of this issue the scientists and educators of today should be well versed in how to teach evolution in both a confident and equitable manner that does not foster resentment from their students. This article seeks to address some of the more common misconceptions and supply responses to them, for educators and for evolution learners
1) Evolution is a theory, not a law
This misconception stems from a mix-up between casual and scientific use of the word theory. In everyday language, theory is often used to mean a hunch with little evidential support. Scientific theories, on the other hand, are broad explanations for a wide range of phenomena. In order to be accepted by the scientific community, a theory must be strongly supported by many different lines of evidence. Evolution is a well-supported and broadly accepted scientific theory; it is not ‘just’ a hunch. Evolution is a theory and it is also a fact- meaning that it is extremely well supported in scientific studies.
2) Evolution goes against religious beliefs
Accepting religion does not discredit evolution and science, and vice versa. Many may believe that science is inherently atheist or agnostic, or that science requires one to forgo their faith entirely. Not true! Evolution is a means to explain an unknown phenomenon in the world by using what we can test in the world around us; in this case, evidence that shows organisms changing over time. It’s the same way people use science to understand nature today, such as answering why the sky is blue instead of only wondering. Religion seeks to explain phenomena outside of nature. But understanding how nature works does not discredit faith! The goal of scientific theory and explanation is not to prove something wrong, it simply seeks to understand by testing naturally occurring phenomena around us.
3) Evolution doesn’t explain the origin of life
Evolutionary theory discusses ideas and evidence surrounding the idea of the origin of life, but this is not central to what evolutionary studies aim to learn. Evolution describes the processes involved in life changing over time, not how it started. Evolution considers factors such as adaptation, mutation, and natural selection as mechanisms for driving biotic change throughout Earth’s history. Random (mutation) and non-random (selection) processes contribute to evolutionary change. The idea that the study of evolution seeks to understand how life changed after it started gives us an advantage when teaching science to students who may have differing opinions on how life appeared on this planet. Science and religion are not at odds as they each seek to answer fundamentally different questions in fundamentally different ways. Science and religion in this way do not have to be diametrically opposed, and therefore we are able to discuss the principles of evolution without engaging in dialogue refuting any particular belief system on creation.
4) Evolution is Slow and Gradual
Evolution occurs at many different rates. Yes, it is a gradual process that is constantly taking place over millennia. However, it can also be a rapid process, geologically speaking. One thing to remember that is always hard to fathom, is just the sheer massive scale of time being discussed whenever talking about evolution on geologic time scales. When we see “rapid” evolutionary change, it is often rapid relative to longer time scale phenomena. However, rapid geologically often means hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. We find evidence for this in the fossil record. The Cambrian Explosion is one such example. This was a time period of exceptional adaptive radiation that resulted in a figurative “explosion” in the number and type of organisms we find in the geologic record. This “explosion” should be considered relative to what we see in the fossil record during other time periods. This never indicates a sudden rise of a brand new species from an existing one, as if a chicken laid an egg that hatched an eagle.
However, we do observe instances of rapid evolution going on around us all of the time. The most prescient example of this would be microbes, like bacteria, developing resistances to antibiotics in very short time frames. There have also been experiments conducted watching bacterial colonies respond to toxins that show they are able to adapt to deal with an environment that includes the toxins in only a few bacterial generations! Additionally, most of us can simply look into our backyards to find some species (even squirrels) that have developed adaptations to climate change over only a few decades. One example would be that red squirrels have been observed to have changed their breeding habits to adapt to warmer temperatures earlier in the year as the climate has warmed progressively.
5) Organisms aren’t always optimally adapted
Good enough is fine! Organisms do not need to achieve perfection, and it is not a race to climb up the ladder. They just need to be ‘fit’ enough to survive and reproduce (in fact, fitness truly refers to the number of offspring one has: the more offspring, the higher fitness). Also, ‘fitness’ depends on the environment. When the environment changes, a fit organism’s adaptation may become less successful (thus, the organism may no longer be adapted to the environment).
6) The goal of evolution is always to improve organisms
Evolution never “seeks” a specific goal. Evolution doesn’t have conscious thought; no matter how wonderfully complex nature may seem, it can’t force progress and can’t make decisions. Natural selection works on a scale of “more likely”—when random processes such as mutation and genetic drift occur, it can make organisms more likely to survive, but it’s not a guarantee. Most genetic shifts are minor or benign anyways, and don’t even result in what we may perceive as progress within single generations. Evolution is not a race, and there’s certainly no finish line to create the perfect organism! Evolution (much like a jedi) simply doesn’t deal in absolutes.
It is important to remember that when a student or individual brings up a misconception about evolution, it is not okay to alienate or ridicule them. It is often the case that this could be a person’s first time encountering this concept and their background or upbringing could make this a difficult subject to approach. By embarrassing or making someone feel alienated, a person will often not want to learn more on the subject. Above all, be respectful and help people learn about the amazing world around us!
Hiking at Salt Springs State Park in PA this past summer with Binghamton’s Geology Club.
Hi! My name is Charlotte and I am currently a graduate student from Long Island, NY pursuing an accelerated masters degree in biology at Binghamton University in NY. I am also a recent graduate and earned my bachelors in biology in May of 2022 at Binghamton. I love exercising and being active and some of my favorite activities are taking spin classes, practicing yoga, and I recently got into hiking over the summer. When I’m not in the lab I also enjoy going to museums, listening to music, spending time with my friends and family, and going to the beach and swimming in the ocean.
What kind of scientist are you, and what do you do?
The research that I am currently doing as a graduate student for my master’s thesis project is to reconstruct future climate warming scenarios using past climates. I use stable isotopic data from two species of thermocline-dwelling planktic foraminifera found in deep ocean sediments that date back to ~3-3.35 million years ago during the Pliocene era. More specifically I am trying to reconstruct ocean behavior in the Kuroshio Current Extension (KCE) off of the coast of Japan during the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (mPWP) which is often regarded as an analogue to future climate warming scenarios. The calcium carbonate shells of foraminifera can be used as a proxy to reconstruct past climates because they collect the chemical signature of the water around them through isotopes of carbon and oxygen. From this data I am able to understand ocean characteristics such as salinity, temperature, and water productivity from over millions of years ago. Climate change is an incredibly important topic that I am extremely passionate about and using the past as a tool to understand the future can be one method to understand how to solve the problem.
This is what my lab bench looks like! The foraminifera are super small and I’ve spent countless hours at my microscope identifying and picking them to be processed for stable isotopic analyses.
What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science?
I honestly came into my first year of undergrad as an undeclared major. In high school I never excelled in science or math and never thought I could make it through undergrad majoring in science because of this. This however, changed when I felt more confident in myself as a scientist after joining Binghamton’s First Year Research Immersion program in the biogeochemistry research stream where I worked in a group on a geology based project reconstructing the environmental conditions of the oldest known forest located in Cairo, NY. I was so lucky to be supported by an incredible mentor and a great group of peers that made me feel more comfortable about majoring in science. My first few years of undergrad were tough but I was able to get through it and get exactly where I needed to be. From that experience I was able to meet my current mentor and current research advisor Dr. Adriane Lam who I’ve been so grateful to be working with since 2020. My current research interests include paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, and anything related to foraminifera. After my masters graduation next May I hope to enter the industry working on corporate sustainability projects. Last summer I interned at Pfizer with the Global Environmental Health and Safety Group and I worked on some projects regulating the company’s environmental impacts. My research background has made me more passionate about climate change and I really want to make a difference in the corporate industry one day. My favorite part about being a scientist is definitely working with other amazing and bright scientists and I have met so many inspiring mentors, labmates, classmates, and lifelong friends.
Presenting my research at Syracuse University’s 2022 Central New York Earth Science Student Symposium.
What advice do you have for up and coming scientists?
There are so many things I wish I knew but my biggest piece of advice is to not get discouraged. Being a scientist can be extremely difficult but it is also extremely rewarding at the same time. Try not to compare yourself to others because everyone is on a different path and do not give in to imposter syndrome. Nobody truly ever has it figured out but if you work hard and do your best you will end up exactly where you need to be. I also think it is important to take every opportunity as an opportunity to grow and never to be afraid to ask others for help and advice.
Small bird and mammal tracks from a mid-Cenozoic volcanic province in Southern Colorado: implications for paleobiology
Lockley, M. G., Goodell, Z., Evaskovich, J., Krall, A., Schumacher, B. A., and Romilio, A.
Summarized by Brysen Pierce, a geology major, working on Geographic Information Systems and Technology, as well as environmental science and policy minors. Currently, he is a senior who has not decided what to do for his career path. When he is not studying geology, he enjoys watching movies and hiking.
What was the hypothesis being tested? Several fossilized animal tracks have been discovered in Rio Grande National Park (Colorado, USA). After locating samples containing tracks near the first site, the authors hypothesized that since there was already one set of tracks located, there could be others nearby in a similar geologic setting. The purpose of this study was to define the tracks and identify what kind of creatures may have made them.
What data were used? Samples were collected from the field and analyzed. The source of the data was in southwestern Colorado in the San Juan Volcanic Field and from a smaller site in New Mexico. At the first site, there were two tracks that indicated two different birds and another unfinished track, which contained small prints that did not follow a distinct trail or were not able to be identified. The second site had four completed tracks that were left by birds and mammal traces that formed another track and there were some more traces that did not complete tracks.
Methods: The tracks were found close to fifty meters apart from each other in two different locations. The tracks were preserved in a piece of a volcanic block, which had since been moved from its original position; once the rock had been moved, it became exposed. A volcanic block is a piece of a solidified fragment that has been ejected thrown from a volcano by an eruption and is measured to be larger than sixty-four millimeters in diameter. Since these trace fossils were the first of their kind that have been recorded in this type of volcanic environment, researchers wanted to expand on this topic. From here, the scientists were able to collect samples and take casts so that they could do measurements of the prints and better analyze the trace fossils and define what they could have been from.
Results: Three total samples were collected or casted and brought to museums to study. Three species were identified in this study: two of them were bird species and the last was a species of mammal related to modern day rodents. The birds were some of the smallest found in the fossil record and have relations to creatures like the sandpiper whose habitat is shorelines. Some tracks were not easily identifiable because they are incomplete. The bird tracks in this area were identified Avipeda circumontis named after the region it was found in and the mammal tracks are Musvesigium minutus whose name means small mouse footprints. Both species share similarities between other closely related species that are found in the western United States, which makes identification of the species difficult.
These images show the first site where the bird tracks can be located. a) is the image of the bird tracks in the block which it was found inside of. b) shows a drawn replication of the bird tracks but flipped it. c) a 3d model of the bird tracks on the block in situ. This is telling us that fossil tracks are visibly seen on this site and shows in varying amounts of detail.
Why is this study important? This study is important because it shows us that trace fossils can be found in a volcanic setting, which has previously been unreported. The study shows us what kind of species lived in this area during the mid-Cenozoic and could provide additional information about an environment that has not been preserved in the past with fossils. New types of trace fossils were identified in a setting that previously had produced no fossils. We learned that not only small birds, but also small mammals, once lived in the volcanic province of south Colorado.
Broader Implications beyond this study: Since this is the first study that has described animal tracks found preserved in volcaniclastic setting, this could lead to other discoveries within similar environments in the geologic record . There is a lot to learn from sites like this because the species that the footprints were left by were previously undiscovered. The bird and mammal fossil tracks found here could be unique to this setting, but this means that tracks are able to be preserved in this type of environment and that the animals were, in fact, leaving evidence behind.
Citation: Lockley, M. G., Goodell, Z., Evaskovich, J., Krall, A., Schumacher, B. A., & Romilio, A. (2022). Small bird and mammal tracks from a mid-Cenozoic volcanic province in Southern Colorado: implications for palaeobiology. Historical Biology, 34, 130-140.
As an undergrad wrapping up my first year of college this past spring, I remember sitting in my dorm room with a thermos of hot tea, scanning website after website, asking myself what I was going to do with my summer. At the time, I was about halfway through my first-ever geology class, which had sent me on an earth and climate science kick that inspired most of my searches. Eventually, my professor sent me a link to the TimeScavengers website and internship information page. It seemed like a perfect opportunity – something that would allow me to geek out about science from the comfort of my own home, where I could still spend time with my friends and family. I decided to apply.
Naively, I assumed the internship would be a breeze. Looking back, I’m ashamed of how smug I felt about it – I had grown up hearing people telling me that I was a good writer, and that I was a good scientist, so I imagined that it wouldn’t be that hard to combine the two. Within the first week, I quickly found out I was mistaken. It turned out that there’s likely a reason most scientists aren’t writers, and vice versa: because it is hard.
For me, the biggest challenge was the time and effort it took to dissect each article to a level where I could rewrite it for others. I remember multiple occasions when I put my highlighter away, thinking I fully understood an article, only to sit in front of an empty Google Doc and realize I had to go back and reread an entire section. I discovered there was a huge difference between understanding something in my brain and putting it in words. (This, of course, was shortly followed by the realization that the understanding locked in my brain was probably not all that complete to begin with). Point being, there’s another layer of insight that comes with trying to explain science, and, as painful as that layer might be to reach, it will definitely be beneficial in the long run.
While nothing about the internship proved impossible, it certainly challenged me in ways I didn’t expect. However, I was also struck by how much easier these processes became over time. In one of my first articles, I remember essentially skipping over a methods section that had too many big, scientific-looking words. The task of sorting through all of them, looking them up, rereading and rewriting seemed too daunting, and my mentors, Sam and Alex, had to explain the whole thing to me. On a more recent article, however, I was able to plow through an equally challenging methods section on my own. I sprawled out at a table at a library nearby, a printed out and highlighted article in front of me, with a notebook on one side and my laptop to look up words with on the other side. It still took quite a while, but it was satisfying in the end to see the improvements I had made over the course of the internship.
In the end, I don’t think my time with TimeScavengers has changed the path I hope to take as a scientist. If anything, the hours reading articles made me realize how much I itched to be out in the field doing my own research, rather than pouring over someone else’s. However, this internship definitely changed my perspective on science communication going forward. It seems to me that anyone who seeks the fancy title of “scientist” should also seek the title of “science communicator.” After all, earth-shattering research is worth nothing if only the researcher themself knows about it – they must be able to convey their findings to everyone else in order for it to make an impact. I also hope to make accessibility a priority in any research that I do in the future, so that aspiring scientists feel encouraged, rather than intimidated, when reading my findings.
A bilface lithic I uncovered while wet screening at the 2022 UVic Archaeology Field School in Barkley Sound, British Columbia.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Hello! My name is Eleanor Shippen (she/her). I’m a fourth-year student from Nashville, Tennessee studying anthropology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. My interests include public history, ecology, and applied anthropology. I am a huge history buff and an avid fan of state and national parks. When I’m not hiking or reading every single interpretive sign at these parks, I am adding another cancellation stamp to my national park passport; so far, I have over sixty! In my free time, I enjoy volunteering in the Victoria community, visiting my local library, collaging, and getting cozy at home with a good cup of tea.
What kind of scientist are you and what do you do? Throughout the duration of my degree, I’ve had several incredible opportunities to engage in various scientific fields. These include archaeology, archival preservation, marine ecology, and ecosystem restoration. As an anthropology student, I have taken classes in biological anthropology, environmental history, biology, archaeology, artifact curation, and medical anthropology. These have introduced me to a wide range of scientific focuses and applications. I am fascinated by the close relationship history and science have and all of these experiences have highlighted how interconnected those fields can be. In the last year of my undergraduate degree, I am hoping to examine how historical knowledge can be utilized in educating the public on natural landscapes through my coursework and volunteering. While my goal to earn an M.A. degree in Public History situates my career more within the history field, I aim to continue my involvement in ecological and environmental studies in my work. I would love to see how community science and public history could be further incorporated together in education.
What is your favorite part about being a scientist, and how did you get interested in science? My parents encouraged me and my sister to be curious and explore the world around us from a young age. Their support on family camping trips, during our visits to science centers, and when I entered my middle school magnetometry project into my state science fair gave me the confidence to take A.P Environmental Science in high school and continue exploring science into my undergraduate. I would recommend every college student take at least one science class in their first year – it helped me contextualize the required classes for my degree. I have a love for learning and getting outdoors that has led me to a variety of amazing, hands-on experiences in science. The part I love the most about being involved with science is the joy that comes with engaging holistically with the natural world and sharing your knowledge with others. Experiential learning in nature has changed how I think about the relationship between humans and the world, but it’s also shown me how enjoyable getting involved can be. For myself, this looks like volunteering at a local nature sanctuary, taking hikes with my friends and family, and practicing shinrin-yoku (forest bathing), the Japanese concept of immersing oneself in nature to relax.
Myself at Roan Mountain State Park while participating in the 2018 Governor’s School for the Scientific Exploration of Tennessee Heritage.
Do you engage in community science? How does your work contribute to the betterment of society? As a student, I would categorize the majority of the scientific work I have participated in as community science. My contributions have allowed scientists to continue their research and have helped ecosystems thrive. It has also shown me I have the ability to help make tangible change. In an ideal world, science benefits both the academic community and the world. I have been privileged enough to have participated in projects that have worked to accomplish that goal.
This summer I participated in the UVic Archaeology Field School in Barkley Sound, a collaborative project between the University of Victoria, the Tseshaht First Nation, Parks Canada, and Bamfield Marine Science Centre. While archaeology was the project’s focus, our professors and Tseshaht representatives brought Tseshaht history, a respect for the lands and ecosystems we excavated within, and considerations of colonialism’s impact to the forefront of our work. This intentional contextualization of our archaeological efforts changed how I approached my goals for the field school. I realized I was one part of a larger, impactful, and uniquely collaborative five-year project. During the six weeks of the field school, my peers and I endeavored to help Tseshaht First Nation community members expand their knowledge of their history and land while also assisting archaeologists studying the Barkley Sound region and the Pacific Northwest as a whole. The report I wrote summarizing my excavation unit throughout the project’s duration will be kept by the Bamfield Marine Science Centre for use by future researchers. This incredible experience inspired me to learn more about the natural history of Vancouver Island, which led me to volunteer at the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary in Victoria, B.C. Each week I remove invasive plants and restore ecosystems in the sanctuary while discussing conservation and wildlife science with fellow volunteers. I wouldn’t consider my involvement in scientific fields to be the cause of any substantial betterment of society. I do, however, believe significant change is made possible by individuals coming together and doing the best they can the most they can to help, and I try to do just that every day.
What advice do you have for up and coming scientists? My go-to piece of advice about college is that it is what you make of it – I would say the exact same about science. During the completion of my degree, I’ve learned a multitude of life lessons that will help me in my future career and the rest of my life. Here are a few: get involved and stay involved, continue to ask questions, and you should always give intention and critical thought to whatever you are doing. Remind yourself what inspired/interested/got your heart pumping about science and hold onto that! It will help guide you through wherever you are in your life.
Science communication has been a part of my life for longer than I could name the concept. I grew up in a family of science lovers, so reading, watching, and listening to science-based publications and entertainment has been something I have enjoyed since early childhood. Interning at Time Scavengers for the summer of 2022 was my first time creating science content in a professional capacity. It was a challenging and rewarding experience to be on the other side of the words. I learned a lot about myself and what science communication meant to me, namely:
There are many ways to be a science communicator, from creating short-form content on social media to writing policy. All of those levels are important, and more people than ever are needed on all platforms producing and distributing clear, accurate information. There are endless avenues to explore with science communication, one only needs to be inspired to pursue them.
As necessary as it is, summarizing research articles and studies in an easily consumable way is not a simple task! At times it felt like I was translating from a language I wasn’t entirely fluent in. It was constantly necessary for me to remind myself of what my intention was with every piece I wrote: to make the information interesting, relatable, and concise. That helped me to focus on the core of the information and organize it in a way that did justice to the source material while still being accessible to those who may not be experts in the subject matter.
Not all science news and articles have to be shocking and dazzling. As wonderful as new discoveries are, there can be just as much impact in reinforcing simple, close-to-home ideas. Proof that a hot desert is slowly but surely getting hotter is not what most people would consider exciting news, but it’s the job of a science communicator to express why information like that is just as if not more significant as the discovery of a new exoplanet.
Communication is lost without consideration. While there is a time for jargon and complicated graphics, as certain ideas can only be expressed in a technical manner, care should be taken when trying to reach the masses that everyone has different levels of ability, understanding, and education. Choosing to communicate science means choosing to share information that affects everyone. Part of the job is ensuring that everyone gains as much as possible from what is being shared. Accessibility and diversity are as important to the dissemination of science communication as clarity and precision are to writing it. It is worth the extra time and words to make sure that a key term is explained thoroughly, or the alternative text of a graph gives accurate values.
Writing for Time Scavengers gave me skills and insight that I will use throughout my education and career. I had a great time, am thrilled to have been a part of it, and can’t wait to use what I learned to make the world a more informed place.
This post is written by an anonymous guest blogger
Starting a new job is one of the biggest challenges we face, no matter what stage of our careers.
When we enter a new workspace – whether within academia, adjacent, or outside – we most likely will need a navigator to help us find our way. This can be an individual (or a group of individuals) who guides our way and helps us to understand exactly where we are and what we need to do to thrive and succeed. Supervisors, line managers and/or experienced colleagues all play the role of a mentor. Mentors don’t have to be formal and acquired through a scheme, they can be informal too – those we meet by accident, on social media, through colleagues, or at an event. Having multiple mentors who fulfil different needs can be really helpful, and ensures that we get support in different areas of our professional life.
New workspace environments bring new people, new protocols and processes, new cultures, new team dynamics and new spaces to figure out. If you feel different to those in your team, the start of a new role can feel even more isolating, especially if you’re the newbie joining a well established team. Starting remotely makes things even harder, because you can’t work things out just by watching folks around you and listening to what’s happening. You have snippets of your environment broken down into multiple short video calls. Constant video calls are tiring. It’s stressful not knowing if new colleagues will respect your time or working hours, or their reactions if you make a mistake. However, remote working has had many benefits for many, particularly those from historically excluded groups and caregivers and this should not be forgotten as a lesson of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It has revolutionalised the way we work and the way we view life – and in this sense it has been a positive development and hopefully organisations will adapt and keep this new way of working. But settling into a role – remote or in-person – can only work well if the current staff make an effort to describe and demystify their environment, offer tips, communicate regularly, check in on new team members, and introduce them to other colleagues. Hidden curricula exist everywhere within all environments. Office politics aren’t obvious. Not everyone enjoys answering questions – some even go as far as sounding annoyed when you ask “why? or reprimand newbies for taking up their time due to asking questions. Promotion criteria aren’t always transparent. Opportunities to get folks into higher positions aren’t always allocated equitably. Stretch work isn’t always highlighted or offered. Senior mentors in particular play a role in highlighting these types of things.
Mentors are essential and imperative for everybody – at all career stages. They are particularly critical for those who are from historically excluded groups who are at higher risk from not being allocated progression opportunities. Effective mentors demystify the hidden curricula which permeate professional environments, make sure opportunities are equitably distributed and advise on where to find opportunities if they themselves can’t offer them. If you have the ability to be a mentor, you are in a position of seniority, and/or see someone in need – please be that person who lights their way. Remember what you had to know to get to where you are now, and tailor your approach to ensure your mentee thrives (mentoring approaches are not a one-size-fits-all). You could change someone’s life in a positive way and help them reach their full potential by providing advice and opportunities. Only once you start being a brave and transformative leader and mentor have you reached a point of being successful in your career. There is no point generating knowledge if you can’t pass it on, and share the excitement you feel in your environment and work with others.
