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What is one of the most beautiful things you have ever discovered at the end of a lengthy research process?
In science, observing is an integral part of the research process. When we look closely at anything, we often notice qualities or characteristics that we had overlooked or just never paid attention to. A few years ago when I taught Field Botany each spring, I would take students out to different sites throughout the Columbia Basin to collect native plants. On these Friday field trips, we tried to be good stewards of the native habitats that we visited. Students would collect plants that were plentiful in each habitat as they were instructed. On Monday the students would bring a sample of each plant they collected to the lab.
This is when the real observations began. Sometimes the flowers of the plants contained very tiny parts so we would use dissecting scopes to magnify the flowers to see and count all of the little details. Sometimes the leaves were a funny shape or the stems of the plant had fine hairs that pointed in a certain way. In the process of looking at each collected plant, we would determine its name and its plant family. Students would study those plant and family names so that when they saw the plants on another field trip, they would know them. On field trip after field trip, the students continued to collect new and different plants. By the end of the seven field trips, each student had usually collected over 80 different native plants.
Every spring, students would tell me that they no longer looked at the lands around the Columbia Basin in the same way. Now as they looked over the sagebrush landscape, they saw all of the beautiful blooming shrubs and wildflowers that they had previously overlooked. It is not that the sagebrush lands had changed, but the change was fashioned in the eye and the mind of the observer. So, at the end of a lengthy research process, one of the most beautiful things that we can discover is something new about ourselves – what we have learned, how we have grown, what we would do differently the next time.
What journals, conferences, periodicals, podcasts, or other sources do you read/follow to keep up with your work?
For 23 years I taught science at Big Bend Community College (BBCC). During those years I would read science magazines like The Scientist and Scientific American. I would watch nature and science-themed shows on TV like NOVA and listen to PBS Science Fridays on the Radio. I would attend NWBIO, a conference of my peers – Northwest biology teachers, and we would share ideas. I would use one of the Library’s search engines, ProQuest, to find journal articles on science topics of interest.
Making the job change from faculty to dean after so many years was a big leap for me. Now I read different books – books about leadership skills that I need to develop. Currently, I am reading Brene Brown’s books – Daring Greatly, Dare to Lead, and The Gifts of Imperfection. I have a stack of related books that gets taller and taller, my future reading. I have a goal to start listening to podcasts and have a list of those I want to follow, but I am not quite there yet.
Another resource I use to keep up with my work is talking to my colleagues and peers. When I was a faculty member, I would talk with other faculty members about their teaching. This started for me when I was a new part-time faculty member, and a group of faculty were meeting on selected Fridays to discuss active-learning strategies. Jim Hamm invited me to participate in that group. Over the years I shared office space with Brinn Harberts, one of our past Math faculty, and shared lunch times with Rie Palkovic. In the process of sharing our teaching practices, I gleaned great ideas that enhanced my teaching, and I gained dear friends that I still keep in touch with. Now as a dean, I have another set of peers and colleagues that are great resources for me; the other deans at BBCC as well as transfer program deans at other community colleges across the state can provide insights to me and answer questions that may come up.
What practice in Botany informs your way of looking at information?
When I was doing research for my Master’s thesis, I performed experiment after experiment, and then I would go back again and repeat the same experiment. In order for experimental data to be valid, it needs to be reproducible. This establishes accuracy in the data and allows scientists to possibly draw conclusions from the data. When I read something, I want to know about the source of that information. I love it when someone writing an article cites their sources clearly so that I have the option of reading those sources.
I have a second answer to this question. When we think of the human body, we all have a general idea of how human bodies work. We use our lungs to breathe in fresh air for oxygen and breathe out air laden with carbon dioxide. Our heart pumps blood throughout our bodies to carry that oxygen to our cells and to pick up and carry away the carbon dioxide that eventually gets expelled with each exhale. Plants move air in and out of their plant bodies, but they don’t have lungs. Plants move water and dissolved sugars throughout the plant, but they don’t have a heart to pump it around. Plants can do many of the same things that our human bodies can do for us, but they do it in a completely different way. When I am researching a solution to a problem, I may have found one solution, but there may be more than one valid approach, just like plants and humans. I often need to keep an open mind to other possible and perhaps better solutions.
Tell us about one of your most important presentations. How did you research for it?
When I did the research for a literature review for my master’s thesis, this was a long time ago – before the days of the personal computer and the smart phone. I had to pay my college library $50 and give them five or six keywords to feed into their big room-size computer so the computer would search the periodical indexes for me. Hopefully, the computer would provide me with enough relevant articles to look up and use for my literature review.
Now we just get on ProQuest and enter our own words; then we sift through the list of article sources that ProQuest or another search engine generates. The ease with which we can search the Internet and the vast amount of information at our fingertips can be a different type of challenge. What do you do when you have too much information? You will need to figure out a way to narrow your search or to efficiently sift through the excess information.
That was the situation I found myself in back in the spring of 2017 when I was preparing for a presentation as a candidate for the dean’s position I now hold. When a dean is hired, candidates are brought to campus for an interview and a forum. During the forum, the candidate sits at a table upfront in a big room and anyone from the college can ask the candidate any question they wish. There are two forums scheduled on a particular day and each forum lasts about an hour, so that adds up to two hours of questions. How does a person prepare for that experience? I went back to all of the resources I had – my job application, my cover letter, my resume, and the original job posting. I studied those resources and then started making notes about my experiences at the college over the previous 23 years. I made lists about what experiences I thought that I would want to share if I were asked. I could have rationalized that there was no way to prepare and resigned myself to just wing it. This forum, though, was too important so I prepared the best that I could. The research process was really no different than research for a term paper, but this time I was digging into the memories of my work at BBCC to prepare to answer those questions.
Interview with Lindsay Groce, Chemistry Instructor at Big Bend Community College.
What is your mental space when it comes to research? Do you have a plan? Are you random? Is it a research rabbit hole or a carefully planned expedition?
I did a presentation one time that was an attempt at inspirational and I talked about how most people think of success as linear.You learn the things, you earn the piece of paper, you get the job, etc.My trajectory has always been a little on the non-linear side…in life, so too with research.Well, it might be linear, but on some sort of wacky 2-dimensional surface – I am picturing, like, a Möbius strip, or an M.C. Escher drawing.I try to approach research with the same curiosity that draws me to science.I like to put myself in the mindset of a scientist, which I think in our heart of hearts, is really the mindset of a child, wondering at the world around us.“I wonder why…” is an expression that never ceases to excite me.From there, you springboard into resources – What all can I learn about this?What background info do I need to better understand the mechanisms for why this happens?This leads to some answers, but usually more questions and then you just go from there.I can be more disciplined in my approach, but I usually choose not to.I am a big fan of the research rabbit hole – there is joy in the journey.
To keep up with your profession, what are your go-to books, blogs, journals, social media follows, and/or people?
I have been a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) since I was an undergrad.I keep up-to-date on chemistry stuff there – Journal of Chemical Education is one I have spent time wading around in lately.I follow a lot of the pop-science Instagram and Facebook pages – IFLS, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Crash Course, Scientific American, Popular Science, and of course ALL of the science memes.I participated in the March for Science a few years ago in Seattle, so there is a group of scientists from a variety of disciplines that have an active Facebook page I like to follow (March for Science – Seattle).In terms of authors and personalities, I will forever love me some Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Carl Sagan, Hank Green, Bill Bryson, Michio Kaku, Sam Kean – I tend toward the scientists that also take seriously their role of public educator…they also tend to be the best storytellers!I love books about the history of science, in general; chemistry, specifically; and the periodic table – The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean, I just read The Pluto Files by Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Elements by Theordore Grey (which is visually stunning along with interesting facts).Part of my teaching style involves telling stories about the personalities, embedding discoveries in their historical contexts, and trying to put real faces and circumstances to the science.
What's the best presentation or workshop you have ever pulled together in the name of science excellence?
It took me 5 years to do what is traditionally a 2-year Masters program because I was working on it part-time while I was working full-time.In the summer before my last year, I went into my advisor’s office and said, “I know that you will be invited to speak at an international conference next year [he always got international invites – he is kind of a big deal].I want you to pick one and take me with you.”That was how I got to go to Japan.My research was in its final stages, but the story the data were telling was not coming together the way we hoped.I had to put together a poster with the data we had and our best ideas as to what it all meant.I gave the poster presentation on my research during my allotted session and was selected for one of three Outstanding Student Poster awards that were given based on votes and feedback from the conference attendees.It was a huge honor.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
I think that people might be surprised to know that I was not originally interested in teaching.It is so much a part of who I am now; it is sometimes hard for even me to believe that.My plan when I graduated was to work in a lab somewhere and be a scientist.I was not picturing having the opportunity to train future scientists.I feel very fortunate that Big Bend took a chance on me so that I could try it out and experience the elation of watching light bulb moments, being present for important milestones for the students, and help guide them towards whatever all comes next academically and life-wise.
How do you approach the finding sound answers in what seems like a whirlpool of pseudoscience?
First of all, I love this question.It is so timely and important.When I start any class at the beginning of a quarter, we go back and talk about the scientific method.All of the students can go through the rote, monotone recitation of the scientific method, but I try to get them to really start using it - to start thinking like scientists.This involves being skeptical, asking questions, and being curious.We can apply this to finding sound answers in the wonderful and terrible thing that is the internet.We find a claim, whether it is something about the utility of masks for preventing the spread of COVID-19, or the current record high temperatures in Siberia and then it is the 5 W’s.
Who: Who is telling the story and what do they have to benefit from telling it that way?Do I trust the source that the information is coming from (and we could get into what all would go into earning that trust – peer review, scientific track record, qualifications, who paid for the study?, etc.)?
What: What are the data telling me?Go straight to the graphs.Analyze the axes.Look at the scope and scale of the collection of the data – Is it a big sample size?Does it represent the population it claims to?How was it collected?Is there a valid trend?
Where: What is the source of this information/claim?Who is the intended audience?Where is the information published?Why is it coming from this source in particular?
When: Why is this being presented at this way at this time?Is the storytelling political?Is it urgent?Is it even current?Check the date.
Why: The why part is encompassed in some of the other W’s, but ultimately, why is this claim being made?
So, really, there are a couple of pieces to this.First, you have to do some critical thinking about the claims that you see.Second, you have to understand that science is a process.Science is a method by which we know things about the world.As such, when you are in the middle of an experiment, or an experience that is being studied, the models created to explain the various phenomena are subject to change.
It is hard to make valid conclusions in the middle of collecting data.As scientists, it is our role to interpret and report findings to the best of our ability with the data that are available.That does not mean that things will not change in the next week or the next year or the next decade.That is the beauty of science, its fluidity.The value of the scientific method is in the way we can change our minds and models as new information becomes available.When we are researching claims made on the internet, or even just reading headlines on the internet, we have to be scientists.
Everyone could use a little more science these days.
"Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection is an essential full-text database for psychologists, counselors, researchers and students. It provides hundreds of full-text psychology journals, including many indexed in PsycINFO. It offers particularly strong coverage in child and adolescent psychology and counseling.
-Nearly 480 full-text journals
-More than 290 full-text journals with citations in PsycINFO
-Anthropology
-Emotional and behavioral characteristics
-Mental processes
-Observational and experimental methods
-Psychiatry and psychology
Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection provides access to hundreds of full-text journals and offers particularly strong coverage in child and adolescent psychology and various areas of counseling." - From EBSCO
Covering more than 500 years of the African-American experience, African-American History offers a fresh way to explore the full spectrum of African-American history and culture. Includes articles, sharable slideshows, videos, primary sources, and more—that provides a study guide for a particular subject or era. -- From Infobase
Subjects covered include:
Abolitionist Movement
Underground Railroad
Emancipation Proclamation
Great Black Migrations
Harlem Renaissance
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Eras covered include:
Africa, Colonization, and the Slave Trade: Beginnings–1819
Compromise and Conflict over Slavery: 1820–1860
The Civil War and Reconstruction: 1861–1876
Segregation, Migration and the Beginnings of Protest: 1877–1928
The Great Depression and the New Deal: 1929–1940
World War II and the Start of Desegregation: 1941–1954
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Exclusive features, including Topic Finder,and a mobile-optimized interface, support and enhance the search experience." - From Publisher
"A must-have for social science, history and liberal arts coursework, the Gale OneFile: Diversity Studies explores cultural differences, contributions and influences in the global community. This collection includes more than 2.7 million articles from 150 journals, updated daily. Exclusive features, including Topic Finder,and a mobile-optimized interface, support and enhance the search experience." - From Publisher
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"Offers fast access to more than 15,000 years of culture and history, covering more than 600 Native American groups, through tablet/mobile-friendly videos and slideshows, images, biographies of key people, event and topic entries, primary sources, maps and graphs, and timelines. With a user-friendly interface, this award-winning database allows for an interactive, multifaceted look at the indigenous peoples of the Americas. An important feature is full cross-searchability across all the Infobase history databases for an even more comprehensive view of history." From Publisher
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Use this to request articles you cannot find in full text. "The ArticleFirst® database describes items listed on the table of contents pages of individual issues of over 12,000 journals, describing one article, news story, letter, or other item from a journal." From Publisher.
"Gale In Context: Biography is an engaging experience for those seeking contextual information on the world's most influential people. Organized into a user-friendly portal experience, it merges Gale's authoritative reference content, including Lives & Perspectives, with periodicals and multimedia. Users can browse to find people based on occupation, role, or historical period, or search based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender, as well as by keyword and full text." -From Publisher
"Online Encyclopedia. Explore the fact-checked online encyclopedia from Encyclopaedia Britannica with hundreds of thousands of objective articles, biographies, videos, and images." From Publisher
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"eHRAF Archaeology focuses on in-depth descriptive documents of archaeological traditions from around the world. eHRAF is unique in having subject indexing at the paragraph level. This allows detailed and precise searching for concepts not easily found with keywords." From Publisher
"Containing resources that present multiple sides of an issue, this database provides rich content that can help students assess and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills."--From Publisher
"Poetry & Short Story Reference Center is a rich full-text database of hundreds of thousands of classic and contemporary poems, plus thousands of short stories, biographies, essays, lesson plans and learning guides. It also includes high-quality videos and audio recordings from the Academy of American Poets and other sources."- From Publisher
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Our link in Databases A-Z sets you up for a full-text search. Look for BigBendCC Full Text in the right margin. "Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts, and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other web sites."- From Publisher
"Biomedical Research Database is designed for doctors, research scientists, students and clinical specialists, Biomedical Reference Collection: Basic Edition provides full-text, indexing and abstracts for top biomedical journals. It covers a range of subjects, including medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pre-clinical sciences.:-from Publisher
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"Containing bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library, AGRICOLA provides millions of citations relating to the field of agriculture. Citations are comprised of journal articles, book chapters, theses, patents, software, audiovisual materials and technical reports to support agricultural research." From Publisher. To find full text that's available in this extensive records, select Linked Full Text on the left.
"With bibliographic records covering family dynamics topics, Family Studies Abstracts is an excellent source for family studies researchers. Scholars can access unique content and highly regarded works. Subjects include: Divorce , Family therapy. Marriage, and Family dynamics." - From Publisher. To find full text, use LINKED FULL TEXT to the left of search results.
We only have a trial on this until June 30.! "EBSCO Faculty Select empowers academic libraries to directly support textbook affordability efforts. Through a single interface, faculty can search and access quality open textbooks, Open Educational Resources (OER), and request access to unrestricted library e-books from top academic publishers. By leveraging free open materials and low-cost library-licensed resources, faculty can transform their courses and reduce the cost burden for students. " By Publisher
"The New York Times (sometimes abbreviated as the NYT and NYTimes) is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership.[6][7][8] Founded in 1851, the paper has won 130 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper.[9][10] The Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation and 3rd in the U.S.[11] Nicknamed "The Gray Lady",[12] the Times has long been regarded within the industry as a national "newspaper of record".[13] The paper's motto, "All the News That's Fit to Print", appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page." From Wikipedia
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