Note: ideas expressed in these links do not necessarily reflect the views of Kevin McCluney or his lab, or BGSU. In fact, Dr. McCluney disagrees with some of what is said in some of these links, but has found them to be generally informative and helpful. Note that this page is out of date, but we are keeping these up for now.
Scientific communication
Books on presentation design:
http://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Zen-Design-Principles-Presentations/dp/0321668790
http://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Zen-Simple-Design-Delivery/dp/0321525655
My summary of how to design and deliver presentations: https://blogs.bgsu.edu/mccluneylab/files/2014/02/Designing-and-delivering-good-presentations-handout.pdf
Good presentations tell a story: http://lifehacker.com/5965703/the-science-of-storytelling-why-telling-a-story-is-the-most-powerful-way-to-activate-our-brains?tag=communication
Why a good poster is mostly images, with little text: http://schimelwritingscience.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/ten-thousand-posters-invade-the-moscone-center-most-miss-their-target/
Bad poster bingo: http://betterposters.blogspot.com/2013/10/bad-poster-bingo.html
Creativity in science
Fisher 1997 on creativity and idea generation in stream ecology: http://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/martindoyle/files/2013/01/Fisher-1997-J-NABS-Session-5.pdf
Why you need to take breaks and naps to be creative and productive:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mental-downtime/
Teaching Philosophy and Resources
Prince, M. 2004. Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education 93:223-231
http://www.rlillo.educsalud.cl/Capac_Docente_BecadosAPS/Metodologias/Aprendizaje%20Activo%20Prince_2004.pdf
Lawson, A. E., S. W. Rissing, and S. H. Faeth. 1990. An inquiry approach to nonmajors biology. Journal of College Science Teaching 19: 340-346.
The easy way to teach using active learning
http://smallpondscience.com/2014/09/04/efficient-teaching-doing-active-learning-an-easy-way/
Maintaining mental health
Problems faced by grad students:
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2014_02_04/caredit.a1400031
Imposter syndrome:
https://blogs.nicholas.duke.edu/inphdeep/impostor-syndrome-and-feeling-stupid/
Rampant exaggeration about how much academics work:
https://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/you-do-not-need-to-work-80-hours-a-week-to-succeed-in-academia/
Cognitive distortions:
http://psychcentral.com/lib/15-common-cognitive-distortions/0002153
Getting a job
How to get a job in conservation:
http://www.jamesborrell.com/how-to-get-a-job-in-conservation-and-love-your-work/
Why a liberal arts education could help you get/create a job in the economy of the future:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/get-a-liberal-arts-b-a-not-a-business-b-a-for-the-coming-artisan-economy/
Ecolog list serv:
https://listserv.umd.edu/archives/ecolog-l.html
A list of resources around the web:
http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/useful-links-related-to-tenure-track-job-searches-in-ecology/
The harsh reality of the present academic tenure-track job market:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/the-phd-bust-americas-awful-market-for-young-scientists-in-7-charts/273339/
http://www.ascb.org/ascbpost/index.php/compass-points/item/285-where-will-a-biology-phd-take-you
Common career paths outside academia:
http://www.nature.com/news/there-is-life-after-academia-1.15808
http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/guest-post-on-having-the-courage-to-build-your-own-non-academic-career-path/
http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/advice-finding-a-career-in-non-academic-research-guest-post/
Mentoring, management, and collaborative relationships
Mentor-mentee agreement from Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences
Work-life balance
Ideas for making academia sustainable and workable:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/07/21/the-awesomest-7-year-postdoc-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-tenure-track-faculty-life/
Rampant exaggeration about how much academics work:
https://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/you-do-not-need-to-work-80-hours-a-week-to-succeed-in-academia/
Diversity and bias
Why/how diversity makes us “smarter,” more creative, and more productive:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter/
Gender bias: http://www.the-understory.com/2014/01/23/unsettling-stats-about-women-in-science/
Subtle biases related to expectations: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/01/programmer_privilege_as_an_asian_male_computer_science_major_everyone_gave.html