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I get to work at the museum! Dr. Lisichenko offered to let me do data entry and referencing in lieu of extra GIS lab hours, which I agreed to, but when I told Dr. Zakrzewski about it, he asked me if I wouldn't rather work at the museum instead. I said, please? And Dr. Lisichenko is OK with that, since it's more relevant to my degree anyway. *happy!*
And for those whom I haven't whined to already about it, I'm finding myself faced with an entirely unexpected dilemma. I have two really good, really viable Master's thesis projects available and ready for me to pounce on them. One of them is the _Hesperornis_ project I've been planning on since I visited, and for which I named my journal. The other is a still-in-the-ground _Allosaurus_ that one of the other grad students is willing to let me take over since he has too much on his plate at the moment.
On one hand, there are about a gazillion known Allosaur skeletons, and Bill described them as a bit of a 'junk taxon', while there is relatively little _Hesperornis_ material out there--possibly affording more opportunity for unique research. Also, the prospect of excavating and prepping an entire dinosaur in a single field season, leaving only one year to actually complete the thesis study, is a little daunting.
On the other hand, the idea of having my own dig site, my own crew, and my own serious project, on a dinosaur--a theropod, no less!--would be a dream come true. I never dared to think that I could actually do something like that at the graduate level. It's bloody difficult to build a career on fossil vertebrates, and even more difficult when you get too specialised. I feel like I have to make a choice that will get my career off on the right foot. But I don't know which project would better suit that goal.
I'll probably tear my hair out over that one for a week or so more, until Dr. Z thinks it's time to discuss getting my project started. In the meantime, I have to walk the library and find every bibliography of fossil verts that I can find--without the aid of librarians or the computer. That's three floors worth of endless shelving. Blah, blah, blah. Mind-numbing assignment, but it's supposed to help us learn the layout of the library. I have a little over a week and a half to do it in. *sigh*
Dancing is a wonderful mood-lifter. It's been a rough week, but I stretched out this evening and tried to remember the warm-ups from Modern Dance. Then I just danced 'like no-one's watching' because no-one _was_ watching (and that's the way I like it.) :-) The hall is empty--those girls who didn't go home for the weekend are out partying somewhere--so I didn't have to worry about disturbing anyone's studies.
I think it might be time for bed. Or at least time to climb into bed and read.
And for those whom I haven't whined to already about it, I'm finding myself faced with an entirely unexpected dilemma. I have two really good, really viable Master's thesis projects available and ready for me to pounce on them. One of them is the _Hesperornis_ project I've been planning on since I visited, and for which I named my journal. The other is a still-in-the-ground _Allosaurus_ that one of the other grad students is willing to let me take over since he has too much on his plate at the moment.
On one hand, there are about a gazillion known Allosaur skeletons, and Bill described them as a bit of a 'junk taxon', while there is relatively little _Hesperornis_ material out there--possibly affording more opportunity for unique research. Also, the prospect of excavating and prepping an entire dinosaur in a single field season, leaving only one year to actually complete the thesis study, is a little daunting.
On the other hand, the idea of having my own dig site, my own crew, and my own serious project, on a dinosaur--a theropod, no less!--would be a dream come true. I never dared to think that I could actually do something like that at the graduate level. It's bloody difficult to build a career on fossil vertebrates, and even more difficult when you get too specialised. I feel like I have to make a choice that will get my career off on the right foot. But I don't know which project would better suit that goal.
I'll probably tear my hair out over that one for a week or so more, until Dr. Z thinks it's time to discuss getting my project started. In the meantime, I have to walk the library and find every bibliography of fossil verts that I can find--without the aid of librarians or the computer. That's three floors worth of endless shelving. Blah, blah, blah. Mind-numbing assignment, but it's supposed to help us learn the layout of the library. I have a little over a week and a half to do it in. *sigh*
Dancing is a wonderful mood-lifter. It's been a rough week, but I stretched out this evening and tried to remember the warm-ups from Modern Dance. Then I just danced 'like no-one's watching' because no-one _was_ watching (and that's the way I like it.) :-) The hall is empty--those girls who didn't go home for the weekend are out partying somewhere--so I didn't have to worry about disturbing anyone's studies.
I think it might be time for bed. Or at least time to climb into bed and read.
