For all the course work and lab work that is part of my program, I was just playing a part as a scientist today, not the real deal. One of my thesis supervisors e-mailed me suggesting we should meet leading up to my presentation on Thursday, so I went in for that this afternoon, and realized how out of touch I really was with my own project.
"Why are we even doing this project, how is it relevant?" Uhhh.
"How is your project expanding on the studies already done at the site?" Uhhh.
I felt like I was having teeth pulled, which is ironic, given that my thesis is focused on the natural production of what is commonly known as laughing gas. With a few minutes of discussion I was more in step with where I should be, although probably still not quite as far along as I should be. Over the Christmas break I get to give myself a refresher on isotope enrichment, as it relates to nitrification/denitrification. Sound like a laugh riot?
The supervisor I'm in contact with a majority of the time has been pretty laid back about things though (typical of our Department), and understands that I plan on focusing more on the thesis next term when the course load is lightened. The other supervisor is a much more old-school, field-oriented worker, and is seldom to be found on campus, except when teaching the 4th year basic field work principles course in hydrogeology. Handwritten notes, handdrawn maps and plots, in the field, likely with hands numb from the cold and damp, this is how my second supervisor gets the job done. And while its a pain in the ass for anyone working from the data later, I think its a practice to get in to as it forces one to really look at and interpret data as its obtained, rather than compiling it all later.
Alright, done geeking out on you all now, back to making contour plots I go.
No comments:
Post a Comment