Amy M. Worthington

Blog

  • Women in evolution – highlighting the changing face of evolutionary biology

    Women in evolution – highlighting the changing face of evolutionary biology

    If you haven’t yet checked out this special issue of Evolutionary Applications, take a few minutes to learn about how women have contributed to the field of evolutionary biology, the history of this changing male-dominated field, and personal stories of the women that infiltrated the field early on and continue to work towards gender equality.… Read more

  • What makes a good teacher?

    What makes a good teacher?

    A new article from the Chronicle of Higher Education addresses some of the most important characteristics of what makes a good teacher, and surprise surprise, being a top scientist in your field doesn’t even make the list. Being an amazing researcher and being an amazing teacher are not synonymous. It’s true that both require a… Read more

  • Distressed students create stressed professors

    Distressed students create stressed professors

    As academics, we’ve been trained first in research, second in teaching (if we are lucky), and rarely in interpersonal skills. This can lead to some distressing situations when we inevitably have a student enter our office upset about personal issues and wanting to share. I find this problem is two-fold. First, students aren’t trained on… Read more

  • Finally settling the one-space/two-space debate

    Finally settling the one-space/two-space debate

    Finally, a source to corroborate my constant preaching on the one-space/two-space debate. Trust the typesetters who say that you should never, ever use two spaces after a sentence. It is an antiquated habit that is no longer necessary with modern technology and fonts. Share this far and wide and help scientists around the world quit wasting… Read more

  • Title Brevity = Citations

    Title Brevity = Citations

    A recent study spreading through the academic community like wildfire suggests that papers published with shorter titles get cited at a higher rate. Why this might be, we can only guess, but the authors suggest a few theories. 1) Shorter titles are easier to read and understand. 2) Higher impact journals are more restrictive of title… Read more

  • When learning through writing, typing doesn’t count

    When learning through writing, typing doesn’t count

    I’ve always said that I learn through my finger tips. As an undergrad, I used to study by copying my notes onto impressive piles of multi-colored notecards. I rarely studied them by the time I was done, but the act of writing everything out drastically slowed the speed at which I could think about the topics… Read more