Wednesday 10Jul19 - Dataset Received
Rebecca Larson came to me in a whirlwind yesterday afternoon around 5 pm. She explained that a dataset was available and she had placed it, stored in an external hard drive, into the hands of Dr. Micaela Bagley. Hoping that instructions stored on the drive would serve as an adequate explanation, she then left, exclaiming that she'd be on a flight to Australia the next day, and there would not be wifi. We'll either be in touch or we won't for the next week to two weeks, I suppose.
Yesterday the Astronomy Department graduate students led us in an activity exploring spectrometry and photometry of star clusters. In groups of three, we made small research posters which included our analyses of three clusters. I created a horrible acronym for our presentation which I am quite proud of.
Today I am in early in hopes of catching Dr. Steve Finkelstein before he leaves for the same conference as Rebecca. He is supposedly in possession of more data that I need - the translate file. I also have some questions for him about a presentation he gave me on spectrometry. I'll need to catch him before lunch since he usually has meetings with other department members in the afternoons. Dr. Bagley has the drive, so I'll need to meet with her as well.
My personal life seems well balanced. Since completing the first half of the code I needed to work on, I've been away from the lab. Rebecca encouraged me not to tire myself if there is no genuine work to be done, and I think that's genuinely good advice. Since last week I've taken a lax approach to hours spent at the PMA. A short note on that: PMA stands for Physics, Mathematics & Astronomy; this is the unofficial name for the Robert Lee Moore building given it by students in hopes of erasing Moore's legacy here at UT; Moore was an open racist, sexist, and antisemite, although a charismatic and skilled teacher of mathematics.
My activities outside of research have included Aikido, Jiu Jitsu, dancing the Texas Two-Step, Boxing, and reading. I have access to a great deal of literature, but I can only absorb so much. I have a book on spectrometry which I've taken a small bite out of, and one of the more well known biographies of Subramanyan Chandrasekhar. At home, my partner has found suitable housing for us to move into in the fall, and that is a nice weight to have off of my chest.
Yesterday the Astronomy Department graduate students led us in an activity exploring spectrometry and photometry of star clusters. In groups of three, we made small research posters which included our analyses of three clusters. I created a horrible acronym for our presentation which I am quite proud of.
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| Here I am in front of our poster. We got many compliments on it. |
My personal life seems well balanced. Since completing the first half of the code I needed to work on, I've been away from the lab. Rebecca encouraged me not to tire myself if there is no genuine work to be done, and I think that's genuinely good advice. Since last week I've taken a lax approach to hours spent at the PMA. A short note on that: PMA stands for Physics, Mathematics & Astronomy; this is the unofficial name for the Robert Lee Moore building given it by students in hopes of erasing Moore's legacy here at UT; Moore was an open racist, sexist, and antisemite, although a charismatic and skilled teacher of mathematics.
My activities outside of research have included Aikido, Jiu Jitsu, dancing the Texas Two-Step, Boxing, and reading. I have access to a great deal of literature, but I can only absorb so much. I have a book on spectrometry which I've taken a small bite out of, and one of the more well known biographies of Subramanyan Chandrasekhar. At home, my partner has found suitable housing for us to move into in the fall, and that is a nice weight to have off of my chest.
Nice update! :)
ReplyDeletethanks : )
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