Rosetta Stones

Some more posts over at the Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. that I’m particularly happy with:

My thesis research:
• A tale of two lakes…
• More mountain mahogany?
• Exploring South Park

Driving the Gold Belt Byway:
• Dome Rock and the Shelf Road
• Garden Park and Skyline Drive Fossil Sites
• Indian Springs Trace Fossil Site and Phantom Canyon

I’ve been very busy with graduate school between class, two assistantships (in completely different sections), and working on my poster for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual meeting. We’re in the process of getting a loan of some material for my thesis (not a huge loan, but at least it contains macrofossils other than mountain mahogany!), so I’m excited about that. For one of my classes, I’ve actually had to start another blog (yeah, I need that like a hole in my head). Since I probably should have focused on museum/resource management issues here, I’m probably going to focus most of my future blogging there at the The Magic Word. (Hey, “Plagiopodopsis” isn’t any harder to spell than “Pharyngula,” although I’m not half as interesting as PZ Myers.)

I haven’t written much here since last year, for a variety of reasons, the primary ones being that I have been focusing on paid writing work and getting into graduate school (I will be starting the University of Colorado’s Museum and Field Studies M.S. program in about three weeks) and associated science work.

Another factor is that I wasn’t very good at choosing a focus for Rosetta Stones–if I do revisit it in the future, I will probably focus on national park and resource management issues, with a side of paleontology. For now, I’m blogging pretty extensively over at the Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. website, which is certainly teaching me about focus. I hope in the future to involve other park staff and volunteers in the Friends blog, but at the moment it’s mostly me.

This coming week, I’m hoping to post some photos and journals of my recent thesis fieldwork, pending supervisor approval. I will crosspost or at least link here–I’m very excited about this research, although it has significantly changed directions from original plans. In the meantime, here are some posts I’ve made there that I’m particularly fond of:

• Filling a Niche: Linkhart Studies Elusive Owls (July 2)
• Notes From the Field: Volcanic ash research at Florissant (June 27)
• Species Spotlight: Palaeovespa florissantia (June 19)
• Exhibit assembly progress (June 8)
• Seasonal training field trip (June 1)

I’ve been posting a combination of event announcements, park news, photo essays on research/field trips/events, and spotlights on fossil and modern species at the park.

The awesome ladies over at Inky Circus finally launched their online science magazine Inkling last month. So far it looks like a fun, quirky magazine, a bit like Seed crossed with the sense of humor of mental_floss. While Inkling is largely intended to appeal to women, anyone with a sense of humor and a fondness for fun and weird science stories will probably like it.

I especially like Puppetry of the Face, by Tania Rabesandratana. Artnatomy is a fascinating application (available free online or 30 euros for the offline version) originally designed for art students to learn about the muscles behind facial expression. Since then it’s found other uses by neurologists, medical students, and plastic surgeons. I foresee hours of my time being sucked up by this in the future (and hey, when you’re strapped for an art student gift…).

So go read Inkling and make it a success! It’s the only science magazine with Science as a contributor (heh).

Sunset over Champagne Hot Springs, Dominica. The hot springs are underwater in a coral reef area which can be easily snorkeled or dove by the novice. Photo © 2005 Melissa Barton

I wrote (and photographed) this month’s Travels in Geology article for Geotimes, which you can read online:

Dominica: The Caribbean “Nature Island”

While thinking about ideas for my next batch of queries, I realized that my geotraveling has been very volcano-centric for someone whose primary interest is paleontology. Volcanoes are certainly exciting to visit, though.

She’s Such A Geek, an anthology of essays by women on science, is out. I haven’t read it yet, but there’s an excellent blog. The post Subversive Gifts For Girls is especially appropriate to the season.

I’ve noticed that many feminist parents of daughters feel that they should push their daughters towards science–daughters who are passionate about history or art or writing. While I do think it’s important for everyone to be comfortable with basic science and math, I think it’s a fine line to walk when you have daughters who are interested in more “acceptable” areas: encouraging them to take more interest in science while also supporting their other interests. Gifts that combine science and art or science and history are always nice–too many people grow up thinking that disciplines are neatly segregated from each other, without any connections between them.

My favorite gift source kids is actually very focused on crafts and art supplies and traditional toys, although they do have a selection of science toys (not the best source for science toys, in my opinion): Hearthsong. Their products are very gender-neutral and encourage creativity, and there’s something there for almost every kid.