Capstone: An ESRM Coda
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Capstone: An ESRM Coda
Resources, tips, and tools for conducting, presenting, and communicating Environmental Science and Resource Management research. Topped off with a smattering of career development advice for the soon-to-be graduate.
Curated by PIRatE Lab
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February 2, 2014 4:56 AM
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Liberal Arts and Humanities Education: Who Is Right—Bill Gates, or the Late Steve Jobs?

Liberal Arts and Humanities Education: Who Is Right—Bill Gates, or the Late Steve Jobs? | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
When students asked me what subjects they should major in to become a tech entrepreneur, I would say engineering, mathematics, and science. I used to believe that education in these fields was a
PIRatE Lab's insight:

This is somewhat of a moot point for your ESRM majors.  We have designed your major to be interdisciplinary and so you have a healthy smattering of humanities throughtout your undergraduate tenure.  But it is still interesting to note the importance of haveing non-technical ("humanities") training for your subsequent work.

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February 2, 2014 4:50 AM
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50 Job Interview Questions You Should Be Prepared to Answer | Delhi Informer

50 Job Interview Questions You Should Be Prepared to Answer | Delhi Informer | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
While having the necessary skills is key to landing a new job, so is acing the interview.
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Many of these are good questions you should think about having an answer for before you head in for your interview.

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February 2, 2014 3:54 AM
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This is Your Brain on College

In 2005, Psychology Today published an article entitled “The Perils of Higher Ed.” The statement beneath the title reads, “College life can be downright detrimental. Sleep deprivation, a bad diet, and binge drinking can lead you to memory loss, alcoholism, and even Alzheimer’s.” 

PIRatE Lab's insight:

While your capstone research should be your number one priority, it shouldn't push you to sleepless nights or other truly unhealthy behaviors.

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February 2, 2014 3:39 AM
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7 Brutally Honest Job Rejection Letters

7 Brutally Honest Job Rejection Letters | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
Other People's Rejection Letters / Random House Other People's Rejection Letters / Random House Author Gertrude Stein was probably fuming when she got this letter from publisher Arthur C. Fifield mocking her manuscript of "Three Lives."
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Rejection is part of the process.

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February 1, 2014 11:55 PM
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A Graphic Designer Took The Leaked PRISM Slides And Made Them Look Much Better

A Graphic Designer Took The Leaked PRISM Slides And Made Them Look Much Better | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
"Dear NSA, You can do whatever you want with my data. But not with my eyes."
PIRatE Lab's insight:

A great example of how well designed slides can be a massive improvement in clarity.

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February 1, 2014 11:47 PM
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Google admits challenging questions don’t improve hiring

Google admits challenging questions don’t improve hiring | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it

How many times a day does a clock's hands overlap?

If you face that question in a job interview and know the answer is 22, then good for you. But a Google executive says these questions don't help companies find better applicants.

 
PIRatE Lab's insight:

An example of some of the crazy interview questions some employers ask their employees.  

 

You should always be ready for possible questions such as these in an interview.  Rather than being interested in your answering them per se, employers often use such questions as something of a character litmus test.  They generally want to see how you will respond in an unusual situation and the specific answer isn't really the point of the question.

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February 1, 2014 11:39 PM
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BioScience: An Edit Too Far

BioScience: An Edit Too Far | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it

The article on the overlooked terrestrial impacts of mountaintop mining that appears on p. 335 of this issue provides a valuable overview of research on this destructive and polluting practice. The authors, James Wickham of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Exposure Research Laboratory, Petra Bohall Wood of the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) West Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and eight others, draw attention to the dearth of research on terrestrial—as distinct from aquatic—effects of this mining technique. But readers of the article should know that, after it went through peer review, revision, approval by a BioScience editorial board member, formal acceptance, editing byBioScience staff, and approval of the edits by the authors, Wickham and Wood wrote BioScience to say that the USGS required a change before the article could be published.

PIRatE Lab's insight:

When politics interferes with peer review and basic science.

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February 1, 2014 11:13 PM
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Practicum in Environmental Science,  UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Practicum in Environmental Science,  UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it

UCLA's version of an ESRM capstone.

PIRatE Lab's insight:

This is a great program at UCLA.  Yours is more challenging in that you create your own projects and work individually or in much smaller teams than the UCLA students.  And you need to seek your own funding.  Doing your ESRM capstones is a harder stuggle, but that means you will come out of this better prepared with fewer things handed to you.

 

A list of their past class projects can be found here: http://www.environment.ucla.edu/academics/article.asp?parentID=2666

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February 1, 2014 11:05 PM
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Excel problems - Fix date formats

Excel problems - Fix date formats | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
One of the most frustrating problems in Excel is having a spreadsheet which dates are in a funny format that isn’t recognised by Excel. This hub explains how to fix this problem and put these troublesome dates into a format that Excel will recognise.
PIRatE Lab's insight:

This is a common problem we have encountered with excel, particulalry when switching from very old data files to a new version of Excel or from Mac to PC (and vice versa).

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February 1, 2014 10:22 PM
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How NOT to go about optimizing presentations (for Twitter or anyone else)

How NOT to go about optimizing presentations (for Twitter or anyone else) | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
Presentations and slideshows have been historically one of the most boring and standard corporate media currently available to employees and management. They are meant to purely educational or purely for selling -- they are very rarely anything but a pitch or a corporate update. But with the rise of Slideshare as a platform for sharing a new kind of presentation, a lean, value-adding, and stand-alone type of presentation, and its proof as a viable option for driving traffic, the “corporate presentation” can be leveraged for more than its functional purpose and optimized to spread the company or personal message via social media. Continue reading →
PIRatE Lab's insight:

This post should be retitled: how NOT to optimize a presentation.

 

While there is much to be said for being short and to the point, there is also such a thing as "no attention span" and a presentation designed for second graders.  We are professionals and you should expect your audience to be interested in getting technical details, not a tweet.

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February 1, 2014 4:34 PM
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Take screenshots and screencasts for free, with Jing

Take screenshots and screencasts for free, with Jing | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
Jing captures anything you see on your computer screen and lets you share it instantly. Sign up for your free account!
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Jing might be a useful tool for any specific challenge you may have while working on analyses, etc.  You can use this to record your screen and show me what is not working/what your are doing that is not working properly.

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February 1, 2014 1:08 PM
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Presentation Slide Design - Stop Animations Spoiling Your Presentation

Presentation Slide Design - Stop Animations Spoiling Your Presentation | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it

PowerPoint, Keynote, and Skyrocket can create some great visual aids.  Sadly, many presenters have never been taught the principles of presentation slide design.


Via Baiba Svenca
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Generally, the best answer is NO ANIMATIONS.  And almost never any of the sound effects.  More on this on Monday...

Malachy Scullion's curator insight, February 1, 2014 7:13 AM

Death by powerpoint!!!

Ali Anani's curator insight, February 2, 2014 12:12 AM

The pyramid of designing slides for presentations

Don Karp's curator insight, February 10, 2014 11:52 PM

Useful tips on animation plus a link for "how to" with PowerPoint.

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January 31, 2014 8:18 PM
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How to Read a (Good) Map

How to Read a (Good) Map | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it

"Just as you shouldn’t trust everything you read or see on television, you should never blindly trust information just because it is on a map. All maps posit arguments. Maps present information about how something is. All maps posit arguments. Maps present information about how something is. Just as there are no unbiased arguments, there are no unbiased maps."


Via dilaycock, John Purificati
John Slifko's curator insight, November 23, 2013 5:09 PM

Map skills are vital in the study of democratic place and space. 

Ignacio Garrido's curator insight, November 26, 2013 1:09 AM

Exercise 14 :

 

Read the news and answer the questions:

 

a.What is the news talking about ?

b. There are two maps.Maps that is down has these questions ( Answer them ) :

Who made the map?What is the purpose of the map? That is, what is the map attempting to communicate?Who is the intended audience? (It is important to remember that the map may not have been designed for you, but a more specialized audience.)Does the map effectively achieve its communication goals? Does it present an interesting story or argument?

c.Sum up the news ( five sentences in english )

d.Choose another map ( of Internert  if you want ) and answer the questions 1,2,3 i 4. Add the map.

 

Send by moodle.Good luck¡

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February 2, 2014 4:53 AM
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What you wear to work matters

What you wear to work matters | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
While the marketplace encourages creativity, the workplace is not the setting to showcase your fashion sense; rather, it is a place to represent your employer using good taste. If you want to be se...
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Always dress professionally for an interview or professional meeting.  When in doubt dress more formally.  Most of us work out in the field and therefore your potential employer understands you are capable of dressing down.  You want to also show that your are capable of dressing in a professional manner and are capable of doing professional work.

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February 2, 2014 4:27 AM
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Welcome Capstoners!

Welcome Capstoners! | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it

Welcome to our curation site for materials related to all aspects of a young researcher’s budding career.


     Here you will find an array of stories, tools, and examples (both good and bad) to inspire and help your scholarship.  Additional posts relate to tips and ideas for post-university job hunting and career advice.  This page is created for and by undergraduate Environmental Studies and Resource Management majors, but likely relevant to a wide array of young scientists from many fields.

 

     In particular, you will find postings often related to:

 

Study Design

  • experimental design

  • example projects (good AND bad)

  • topics/issues/locations which may prove fodder for your project

 

Quantitative Analyses

  • graphing tools

  • statistical and analytical tools

  • data management tips and tools (excel, database & file management)

  • GIS (primarily ArcGIS and Google Earth)

 

Technical Communication

  • public speaking

  • slideware (PowerPoint, Prezi, Keynote, etc.)

  • large format posters

  • photo and video documentation

  • multimedia presentations

 

Career Skills

           

 

Note: individual job/internship/grad school/funding postings will not be posted here.  Please see the ESRM Jobs group on LinkedIn for these postings:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4541530&trk=my_groups-b-grp-v

 

Relevant podcasts can be found on iTunesU: https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/esrm-capstone/id499823175?mt=10

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February 2, 2014 3:49 AM
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Information Is Beautiful

Information Is Beautiful | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
Dedicated to distilling the world’s data, information and knowledge into beautiful, interesting and, above all, useful visualizations, infographics and diagrams.
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Some great examples of elegant presentations of quantitative data.

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February 2, 2014 3:33 AM
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Lewis Carroll’s 8 Still-Relevant Rules For Letter-Writing

Lewis Carroll’s 8 Still-Relevant Rules For Letter-Writing | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
My graduate school supervisor taught me all I know about professional email etiquette. Vague language? Poor form. Typos? Nothing worse. Run-on paragraphs? A big no-no. Spelling your recipient’s name wrong?
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February 1, 2014 11:51 PM
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College Salary Report 2012-13 - PayScale

College Salary Report 2012-13 - PayScale | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
Before you pick your college or major, check PayScale's College Salary Report to learn how that choice can affect what you earn after graduation.
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Curious as to what the average starting salaries for your friends' from different majors might be?  How do they compare with ESRM?

 

Find out here.

 

Just remember, these are national averages.

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February 1, 2014 11:42 PM
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Designing conference posters

Designing conference posters | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
Free templates and instructions for how to make a large-format poster for class projects and annual meetings with poster sessions.
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Many of the suggestions Colin sugegsts here are identical to my own.  I particularly like many of his "dos and don'ts."

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February 1, 2014 11:28 PM
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Study Finds 97% Consensus on Human-Caused Global Warming in the Peer-Reviewed Literature

Study Finds 97% Consensus on Human-Caused Global Warming in the Peer-Reviewed Literature | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
By Dana Nuccitelli and John Cook via Skeptical Science. A new survey of over 12,000 peer-reviewed climate science papers by our citizen science team at
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Good example of graphics aimed primarily at a non-technical audience, but which argue technical points.

 

This is an example of the kind of scholarship you can do that builds upon the work of others (a so-called meta-analysis).

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February 1, 2014 11:09 PM
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Women's Statistics

Women's Statistics | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
Current news for Ventura, CA and its surrounding communities brought to you by Ventura County Star. Features local Ventura, California news including sports, business, entertainment, lifestyle and more.
PIRatE Lab's insight:

The inequality in pay for women vs men is a real, persistent problem.


Here in Ventura County the magnitude of the disparity appears to be magnified by your education.  Although everyone makes more money on average in absolute terms with more formal education.

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February 1, 2014 10:34 PM
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Handbook of Biological Statistics: Data transformations

Handbook of Biological Statistics: Data transformations | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it

Many biological variables do not meet the assumptions of parametric statistical tests: they are not normally distributed, the variances are not homogeneous, or both. Using a parametric statistical test (such as an anova or linear regression) on such data may give a misleading result. In some cases, transforming the data will make it fit the assumptions better.

PIRatE Lab's insight:

This website is a great resrouce for you to glance over before you start your formal statistical analyses.  Please use this only as a refresher.  See me and statistical texts for the full details on the assumptions for statistical tests, transformations for normality, etc.

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February 1, 2014 10:02 PM
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How two innocent men were tried on Twitter

How two innocent men were tried on Twitter | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it

Twitter triumphed and failed overnight, in equally spectacular fashion.

 

Throughout much of the night and early morning, the San Francisco social media company served as one of the best sources for breaking news as the Boston area descended into a chaotic manhunt for the alleged marathon bombers.

PIRatE Lab's insight:

This summary of the insane rush to publish information before it has been properly vetted in the wake of the Boston Marathon Bombings is the opposite of what we do in science.  

 

Another story on the same event can be found at the LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/20/business/la-fi-boston-bombings-media-20130420

 

This should also serve as a cautionary tale for why we need to be skeptical of internet feeds, ESPECIALLY when it is an unfolding story or a single source.  You need to reference peer reviewed literature.  Not this kind of twittery, googley, mashable crud.

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February 1, 2014 4:28 PM
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Artweaver

Artweaver | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
Artweaver, free download. Artweaver 3.0.4: Create impressive drawings with this free painting tool. We're used to see image editors, but drawing tools are not so thick on the ground. And a drawing apps
PIRatE Lab's insight:

Free drawing tool to generate sketches useful for your presentations.

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February 1, 2014 11:09 AM
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Keeping your iPhone steady

Keeping your iPhone steady | Capstone: An ESRM Coda | Scoop.it
There’s certainly no shortage of gizmos and gadgets for your iPhone. One of my favorite’s is the Steadicam Smoothee from Tiffen. I bought it some time ago for my iPhone 4S, but it ended up in the c...
PIRatE Lab's insight:

While I am not expecting you guys to buy one of these.  IF you are doing some intense videoing, this is a comparatively cheap way of doing some nice steady cam shots.

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