Thursday, January 4, 2018

Some of the best advice on the internet: several years of links

I started off the New Year with a much-needed bookmark reorganization and deletion, which also gave me a chance to re-read some of the links I've held onto (sometimes for years). There's an ever-increasing amount of useful content on the internet, but these have proven some of the most helpful, concrete, and lasting guides for navigating a scientific life.

I thought I'd collate the list here with the hope others might find some of these useful.

How to make it as early career researcher and new faculty: 
Identity and academia:
  • I think most of us took different and often interesting routes to science (for example, I grew up in an evangelical Christian family, took a number of years to finally start my undergrad, and had no particular knowledge of ecology when I started my BSc. I wanted to be a vet, but now I'm an ecologist. Close enough :) ) and so I like to hear the many different routes by which scientists found science (SEAS).
  • Overcoming imposter syndrome - there are many websites devoted to the topic, but this one provides particularly concrete steps to overcoming this common problem. 
  • No one is perfect, and feedback can hurt - why feedback hurts and how to over come that. And no, it isn't enough to say, 'grow a thicker skin' (The Thesis Whisperer).
  • Diversify EEB - a useful list of women and minorities working in EEB, worth keeping in mind when making nominations, selecting reviewers, and making various invitations. 
  • And it's worth remembering that there is a dark side (one slightly bitter take on it). (Fear and Loathing in Academia)
Mentoring and leadership:
Computing/Data management:
Data visualization:
  • There are some really beautiful infographics about science from Eleanor Lutz here (Tabletop Whale).
  • Information is Beautiful - infographics for inspiration
  • Show me Shiny - some great examples of how R Shiny has transformed data visualization and interaction.
  • If you are familiar with Edward Tufte's influential work on data visualization, you can use R to produce similar plots here. (Lukasz Piwek)
Teaching:
Miscellaneous links:

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