This is my third post relating to a project that looked at climate change denial as it was being taught in a Canadian university (see here for background, and here for response to some criticism). We were expecting the skeptical community to pick it up, and the report was written mostly for that audience. What we were not expecting was international media coverage and a few dozen blog posts. Here, I will briefly reflect on what the media contact was like.
Category: Education
Climate change denial: a response to some criticism
This is my second post on the climate change project (see my earlier piece on the background to the story). In this post I’ll talk briefly about some of the negative response that was raised to the project, primarily by the researcher who developed the course, Tim Patterson. It is worth noting that the course is being taught again in January 2013. I’ll follow this up with posts on (i) experiences with the media, and (ii) advice for skeptical campaigns in general.
Climate change denial: my part in its downfall
In March 2012 I was involved with a project that sought to make public some poor science that was being taught at a Canadian university. I have been busy with other things since then (like getting a job…) but now I find myself with a few minutes to reflect on the experience. I have a tendency to write long posts which I’m sure nobody ever reads, so I’m going to write three short posts on this topic. In this post I’ll talk briefly about some of the negative response that was raised to the project, primarily by the researcher who developed the course, Tim Patterson. It is worth noting that the course is being taught again in January 2013. I’ll follow this up with posts on (i) a response to some criticisms, (ii) experiences with the media, and (iii) advice for skeptical campaigns in general.
PhD opportunities for UK/EU/International students at the University of Leeds
There are a couple of PhD opportunities coming up in my department at the University of Leeds for UK/EU/international students. Anyone who is interested, or knows someone who might be, get in touch. Areas of interest are around (i) insect ecology/evolution, (ii) biological responses to climate change, or (iii) aquatic ecology. The competition is fierce, but you have to be in it to win it! Get in touch if you are interested in applying and we can discuss ideas.Read More »
Why I love Creative Commons and the Open Source movement (and my attempt to give something back)
It struck me recently that I have been making use of a lot of practically-free services provided by a variety of communities, but that I have not necessarily been giving anything back in return.Read More »
From the Dojo to the Classroom: teaching in martial arts
EDIT: While I was writing this I couldn’t remember the name of the instructor who led the roundtable: Dr Solveiga Armosakaite. I should have included her name as a credit and I apologise for not doing so earlier!
I’ve been taking martial arts classes for a couple of years now (Shorinji Kan Jiu Jitsu, for those of you who are interested, more details here) and I’ve reached the stage where I have started taking on small teaching roles within the dojo. At the same time, I also started teaching undergraduate classes at a university. As a result, I was interested when the Educational Development Centre at Carleton University put on a “round table” event with an instructor who incorporated her knowledge of martial arts into her university teaching. I took fairly extensive notes which I have reproduced below.
Best. Email. Ever.
It’s just gone midnight and I’m still in the office, frantically trying to catch up on course preparation for an undergraduate course that I am teaching (single-handedly) at the moment (the reasons I’m playing catch-up are quite exciting, but we’re embargoed right now so I’ll write more in a few weeks…). I’m busy writing Lecture 6 (to be given Monday morning) which is going to cover the role that evolution plays in conservation, but I also have to finish prepping the three hour, assessed conservation genetics computer lab for tomorrow, write up all the feedback for the last bunch of assignments and set up the second assignment through the online learning management system so that students can actually submit the assignment… I’m tired and hungry and I would really rather be home, so I dreaded an email that I just received.
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Carleton University is being too honest on its Wikipedia page
It was recently brought to my attention that there has been some (subversive?) editing on the Carleton University Wikipedia page (click to enlarge):
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Katatrepsis 