Introduction

Welcome to Scientist Rising. I am NJS, a graduate student working on a Master's degree in Earth science at a large research university in the United States. My research is in its childhood yet, but is growing quickly. I still plan to finish the Master's by the end of next summer. That may be a bit of a dream, but it's a nice dream to have.

In my free time, or what's left of it, I enjoy playing string instruments, reading myriad novels and non-fiction, and watching movies. I am addicted to stories of all sorts. Perhaps I'll more seriously try my hand at writing for (non-scientific) publication sometime. My local family consists of an orange tabby, a black tabby-siamese mix, a step-turtle, and my boyfriend. The rest of my family resides several hours away by car.

I plan to become a professor after at least four more years of grad school. Somewhere in the middle of all that I also plan to integrate children and a spouse. How does that balance work? I don't rightly know yet. I suppose I'll make it up as I go along. I hope that between some blogs I read and discussions on this blog, I'll have a few good tips with which to begin.

As my description says, I intend to blog primarily about science, education, and their interactions with a semi-normal life. After all, who in academia has a normal life? There are many issues in science and education that do not get the breadth or depth of discussion they deserve (at least in my experience). This is one of my partial solutions to that.

Regarding discussion on this blog, I am moderating the comments to avoid blog trolls I've heard so much about. If my experience is good, perhaps I'll remove moderation. In either case, I expect civil discussions--that means no antagonizing someone else's views, no matter how off-the-wall they seem, and no yelling at each other (to the extent that is possible in writing). I will, of course, allow tactful disagreement and opinions. Anyone who chooses to not observe these rules risks not making it through moderation. (Rules subject to change.)

Now that all that's covered, I hope you enjoy reading Scientist Rising!