Keep me posted!

Have you recently published a paper, a chapter, a book? Been interviewed for radio, television, print or electronic media? Received an award or a grant? Had a great field season? Please let me know so I can let BANDIT blog readers know about it!

Thought leadership

I just stumbled across the blog Morgan on Science as I was searching for some tips on writing the specific aims portion of an NIH grant. Morgan Giddings is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Microbiology & Immunology, Biomedical Engineering, and Computer Science. I bring her to your attention because her mission neatly dovetails with that of BANDIT:

"Scientists go through many years of specialized training to learn how to do great science. But doing “great science” is only one part of having a great science career. The unfortunate thing is that most people receive little to no training in the “other stuff” that it takes to succeed in science. That “other stuff” includes things like marketing, managing money, managing people, and managing time. People like me who have climbed up the science career ladder have had to learn these things, usually by trial-and-error, and sometimes by getting lucky and having a really good mentor. But career success in science shouldn’t be a matter of luck. What is lacking is a systematized approach, e.g. a “blueprint” for success. I created this blog to develop such a blueprint. My goal is to help people figure out the “other stuff” that it takes to succeed in science."

From a recent blog post on women in science careers, Morgan offers this advice, again taking a page from the BANDIT playbook:
"Learn to promote yourself. A lot of us are really bad about this. We can’t promote ourselves, without feeling like we are violating some social taboo. But you won’t get anywhere in science (or life) without effectively promoting yourself. I’m not talking about standing up and saying “look at me, I’m great, I need to be appreciated.” That doesn’t work (I’ve tried, and that was a miserable failure). I’m talking about more subtle aspects of persuasion. Take, for example, my willingness to write on this blog, and take a stand on some issues here. That gets me recognized for some thought leadership. Ask yourself: is doing that an effective promotion of Morgan? If you answered “yes,” then find ways to do things like that... So, become a thought leader in your field. For example, organize a conference… write review articles … start a blog … or whatever."

I am also kind of awesome (a preview)

Since this is my blog, I thought I'd share a fabulous little something about myself. I just got an email today that the book in which I have a chapter will be coming out...in September!! The chapter, Reproductive Cycles in Primates, is co-authored with Wendy Saltzmann and Suzette Tardif, and will appear in Hormones and Reproduction in Vertebrates, Volume 5: Mammals. There are four other volumes: Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Birds. This will be an exciting and impressive collection, and I am kinda geeked out to be part of it. Many thanks to Wendy and Suzette for their kind invitation to participate. I will keep you posted on the actual release date.

Put this in my good news folder!

My paper on waist circumference and C-reactive protein is in print in the pages of the American Journal of Human Biology.

Change in Waist Circumference Over 11 Years and Current Waist
Circumference Independently Predict Elevated CRP in Filipino Women

Self-promotion is not a crime

As you may have gathered, one of the goals of BANDIT is to let others know about the fantastic work we are doing. I will post news stories and article alerts as I find them, but please do not hesitate to let me know about your recent publications or other achievements so I can post them here. This community is a place to celebrate, commiserate, and collaborate.