And the countdown begins
This Friday, July 11, I’ll be defending my dissertation. A little over a week ago, I hit the “send” button that submitted my dissertation to my committee members. At 124 pages, it falls smack-dab in the middle of most EEB (Ecology, Evolution & Behavior) dissertations (as my friend Marcus describes in this cool (albeit nerdy) post here). The defense itself consists of an hour-long presentation (open to the public – so karibu Borlaug 365*, July 11, 1pm) followed by 2 hours of medieval torture – whoops, I mean questioning – by my committee.
The last few days and weeks have been hectic. Since submitting my dissertation, I’ve been focused exclusively on preparing this seminar. An hour is a long time — but still somehow not long enough to talk about everything I’ve been doing for the past 6 years. Hell, I could talk for an hour about Snapshot Serengeti alone! And that’s just a part of my broader dissertation!
I’m excited and nervous and eager to be done with it all at the same time. Summer defenses are always a bit sad, as so many students and faculty are away in the field. Although I’m excited to finish my dissertation, I’m by no means done with Snapshot Serengeti. Not only am I preparing several Snapshot papers for publication, but…drumroll…I’ll also be joining the Zooniverse team in Oxford in the fall. As you probably know, Zooniverse received a Google Global Impact Award to build a generalizable tool so that science teams can build their own citizen science websites. I’ll be joining them on this adventure as their “resident ecologist” — to help make sure that such a tool makes sense for science teams asking questions about the natural world.
So! Exciting times. And hectic times. I will try to keep posting over the next few weeks as I defend (*fingers crossed*), then head to Brazil to crew for my partner in the World Hot-Air Balloon Championships, then pack up the last six years of my life and head across the Atlantic. Lots to come — just have to survive July 11 first…Wish me luck!
* location has changed to Borlaug 365, not 335!
Snapshot Serengeti 
Best of luck Ms. Swanson! Just show them the highlight reel from the Serengeti, that’s all the convincing your committee will need.
-Marcus
You’re one busy lady! I’ll be thinking of you on the 11th, tho I’m sure you’ll awe them. And congrats on going to Oxford, that should be interesting. I can’t even comment on ballooning in Brazil. That is just too far beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. Best of luck with that, too.