Student paper accepted!

The paper by my undergraduate Shawn Knabel was accepted. I tweet stormed about it. I have certainly helped large swaths of it but I can say with absolute certainty it’s his paper. He responded to the referee entirely on his own. 

It’s an amazing achievement. It’s a very solid paper that looked at the aspects on how one identifies strong gravitational lenses in surveys using spectroscopy, citizen science or machine learning. And how little these three techniques agree. 

This brings me to the other pet of the process: how much of the struggle to get this thing out had nothing to do with the science. The grant that was supposed to pay for it ran out and could not allow for extensions, the referee kept finding new fault where there was none (the main result of the paper didn’t change over 6 referee reports. At some point it felt like hazing. If you were the referee and read this: I hold you in low professional esteem. 

And that brings me to the issue in the astronomy community: why is this considered ok behavior? The “I had to endure this as a grad student so...” attitude. The thinly veiled disdain for science done at state schools or undergraduates. Or horror of horrors both. 

But this success means I should keep pushing. A paper is an excellent equalizer for my undergrads that want to go graduate schools. I disagree that US graduate schools now effectively expect this but it offers a clear avenue for how to get my students into them. 

Sciencing in times of Corona

 I’m trying to get a science done. This is anything from getting grant proposals set up to telescope time proposals, helping students do their science projects and trying to finish the occasional paper myself. 

Let’s admit to ourselves at least here that this is very likely more than we could finish in a good year. And this is not a good year. 

Yet we feel that as a field, or tenure committee or whatever, there is a nonzero chance collective amnesia sets in and we all fear of being labeled “unproductive”. For 2020 and 2021 (this is going to last longer and take time to recover...). 

S lets see what I have in the hopper:

8 scientific papers at 50+% complete. Many almost ready to go to coauthors or with comments or referee reports. Yeah. That should go down. That’s too many. I should finish some. But...

5 student projects that could/should be papers. That’ll take more work but is very beneficial to these students. I should get cracking on those. But they are overwhelmed and so am I. 

I agreed to write a book a few months ago. There is a draft. For me it’s a challenge to stop writing about certain things apparently. Still. Need to wrap that up. 

NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics grant proposals. These are huge with lots of moving parts. Stressful to pull together and shepherd through the University and NSF bureaucracies. I’ve...Eh... started. 

Students count on me to get them funding for their phds. And support undergrads. Oh and myself and my family. Summer salary. Eish. 

The James Webb Space Telescope proposals are due on November 24. In a giant “don’t care” by this project they just put it on the last day of just about everyone’s classes. May as well write “for Ivy League use only” on the side of this thing. But I’m stubborn so... yeah preparing some. 

This is not only hard. This is functionally impossible. So time to pair down, punt and of course “good enough” all of this. 

Teaching in time of corona

I have no clever tricks to make this all easier. This is just a collection of my thoughts now that I’m halfway through the semester. 

I am teaching a 100 level astronomy class for a relatively small class (25) using our planetarium. And a 300lvl python/computing class in a well equipped computer lab. 

So I have well equipped classrooms. With microphones. And in one case already set up recording equipment that is pretty high end. 

First up: it’s exhausting. Accept that the room with social distancing and masks gives little to no feedback. And online classes even less. Pour energy in, wonder the whole time how it’s going. 

Secondly: ruthlessly organize. The number of moving parts has increased dramatically with a bunch of small tasks such as uploading recordings and slides, making sure pre/in-class materials are available to students. So set up a schedule and stick to it. Class equipment goes into the “teaching bag” together with spare masks and sanitizer. 

Thirdly: prepare and work ahead. A lot. I went in expecting to get sick by now or something else massively going wrong. I still expect it. So all the pre-class material was already in blackboard before the semester started. I’m uploading the 300lvl classes ahead of time. As soon as I realized that these were just going to be recordings...the asynchronous also applies to the preparation! Which is good because the end of the semester brings the crunch of JWST and NSF major deadlines. So I’m up to week 11 recording these and I plan to finish recording for the semester next week. I’m sure the building will burn down soon after. Or something. 

Expansion: the work-ahead approach was one of the main takeaways I had from the spring. The asynchronous part should not mean that students can catch up later but also allow for them to work ahead to fit their schedule. 

Not that I’m smug about this. I am doing this because I expect more things to break. Soon. 

Next: flexibility. Students are not doing so hot right now. Even if every class now takes 10% more effort, that means they are over-taxed. And that is before one or two of their classes started descending into pure chaos. So. Flexibility is key. Deadlines, how many assignments will get you full marks. Etc etc. Oh and extra credit assignments. Lots of them all over the place. 

Prepare for all online. This is part of flexible but basically build a completely online course (everything in one spot) and teach in person as long as circumstances allow. Weirdly. I’m still in-person. Ok. But ready to switch. 

Hybrid/Hyflex. No. Just no. It assumes perfect internet for everyone (ha!), No emergencies (Haha!), and that instructor can be in two places at once (oh haha very funny). It. Does. Not. Work. 

I noticed this when certain committees were online/in person mix and then it falls to the people in the room. 

Foregiveness: it’s ok. Oh the kids did not learn about that? Oh well. The foregiveness goes towards yourself too. Science is suffering badly (next post). It’s ok. 2020 (and likely 2021) are mulligans. 

STRIKE 4 BLACK LIVES

This blog post is not to signal anything. I am putting this here so I can remind myself.

The call went out a week ago for a strike of higher education. I went on strike in grad school once and I know it did not impress The Powers That Be.

But this strike is smart: a commitment to read and educate ourselves and to commit to improved practices in the future. And we can commit a Day to plan and take action.

https://www.particlesforjustice.org

The initiative is by Dr. Brian Nord, a very respected physicist and machine learning expert and Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a cosmologist and long-time voice on social justice matters in STEM.

see the NYT article about it here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/science/science-diversity-racism-protests.html?smid=tw-nytimesscience&smtyp=cur

And I am glad to see some of my colleagues from UoL on there. As a University, it certainly has committed visibly towards justice. So this is for myself and the Physics Department. How can I help clean up my corner?

I am starting here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a-lzdtxOlWuzYNGqwlYwxMWADtZ6vJGCpKhtJHHrS54/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR2Lq-yVBWPPo03J68KaxbzosGyP8bzrrgBsdSqii-wbY2U6gSfN1jS-uho

some more reading I've been doing today:

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/724918/

https://medium.com/space-anthropology/diversity-is-a-dangerous-set-up-8cee942e7f22

And Dr. Tana Joseph has a video talking about decolonization in SA;

https://vimeo.com/414809354?fbclid=IwAR2fHOQiXAfvorke1xrKzhiVssjHDq9veKbD4Tkpf_TEIfBUmp9Mu22wemQ

There are some clear actions that I can take. Starting off: the Louisville Bail fund.

https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/louisville-community-bail-fund?source=twitter&

Protests continue here in Louisville for Breonna Taylor and David McAtee and the Bail system is one more element of a twisted system. Put some money where my opinions are.

Vote
2.4 years to go before I can...but who's counting?

Back to UoL Physics. Louisville is 15% black and 5% Hispanic. These numbers are not reflected in the department. We do not have representation of these groups in the faculty and we are unlikely to get any with hiring freezes and increased reliance on adjuncts. I am not in a position to do anything about that right now but I'll see if Dr Brown who is a Dean and a co-signature on the strike, has any thoughts.

So.

Goal: get a representative number of black and hispanic students in physics and astronomy and make sure they feel valued and part of it.

Issues: 
- structural racism in almost any facet of society
- loss of students from high school to Uni
- Perceived lower preparation for Uni Physics levels.
- lower participation of BIPOC in Physics.

The lack of students that major in physics at UoL due to the last two point seems closest to home (and most directly my responsibility). So that is a place to start.

Assets:
- SPS chapter, full of active and enthusiastic students. Small but sociable.
- The Louisville Astronomical Society. Both can help me organize public events. Trick will be to make sure to include all in the advertisements.
- The Bullitt Lecture. I am the organizer. Look for a more diverse lineup of speakers. Advertise to broader community.
- Planetarium. Lovely space for outreach. Costs money though. Knowledgeable people and a mobile planetarium as well.
- UoL community partnership with West Louisville
https://louisville.edu/communityengagement/signature-partnership-1
- Absolutely no money for this whatsoever. Add this to grant applications.

I'm already involved with science classes at one school. Easy, the kids go there. that is the kind of low-hanging fruit I will gladly keep doing. Add some inclusive element to activities I or the University do anyway. New initiatives seem to be discouraged.

Stuff I can do:

Low bar:
- organize with SPS events to include everyone on campus. Make sure that these are open and advertised to all. Go with SPS to African Studies department? And I mean sit in and listen.
- LAS events on campus.
- Student research opportunities (paid). Make sure I add at least one a year to every grant. Reorganize this as an advertised group project?

Mid-height bar:
- Organize Planetarium shows for schools in West Louisville. This proved surprisingly tricky with just the one school. Something to explore with the Planetarium people and the community engagement project. See if PTA can fundraise for this. The mobile planetarium is cheaper (525$ per school or $7 pr student for main planetarium plus bussing.)
- engage with West Louisville Community partnership. Seems not much has happened since 2017, the year I got here.
- Fix up the dome on top of the building for open nights. On-campus is much more accessible for everyone.
- Spanish language Planetarium shows. I mean surely...nope.
- A Bullitt Lecture Speaker that isn't a Senior White Dude. Goals for 2021/22 I'm afraid (this year's has to be cancelled).

High bar:
- explore again about making UoL a Bridge Program. When I asked earlier it was promptly shut down but this is worth exploring and pushing for. There are programs at Ohio State, Indiana and Vanderbilt.
- Push for BIPOC faculty. volunteer for the next search committee? >>18mo? I mean we are two professors short in our department.
- Summer camp. Can the university support such a program? As part of a undergraduate Bridge program?


I'll set an alarm to alert me in November (after Fall semester which promising to be full of distractions) and check if I made any progress.

Science in the time of Quarantine

I have a few tells. To me they are very obvious. They surface when I am stressed/anxious/under-pressure/overcaffienated.

I have them all right now. This is not normal. I am not "working from home", I am sorta trying to do work while a whole mess of other stuff is happening. Which is fine. I wrote an email explaining to the students that my main goal now was to wobble in for a landing with the semester with the class. Do what we can when we can and sorta hope things will be ok.

That doesn't mean I haven't been doing some research related things. But out of order, probably badly or sorta ok but f*ck it this will have to do. Things were almost derailing already before spring break. I got a bunch of HST proposals in (because of course) but not every one of them got a last polish. fine.
I am submitted proposals where I can but sometimes it won't be a nice looking as my best work. It may not be. There is some stuff going down. The kids are home from school for weeks now and may go completely feral in Minecraft. Popping into the store feels like a heist from Mission Impossible. It's weird.

So while I still feel the pressure to produce (will the powers-that-be take this into account for tenure, at the moment they say they will but how?) and I sorta am? But focus has gone out the window. Doing the right project at the right time? In order? Ha! I just randomly grab A Thing and hope I don't get too distracted till its done.

Telescope proposals (all delayed, all for telescopes currently shuttered), funding proposals (hmmm what will the Federal budget look like when these get reviewed?) and papers (how am I paying for all these?). all the while working with people who are also just trying their best at home.

So I got some stuff done. To counteract some of the anxiety I am having. I don't expect others to. Please grade accordingly.

Networking

I loathe the term networking. Not as much as “synergy” mind but it’s close. Yet the activity itself is vital to a scientific career and the shortest path for most of us to breathing into a paper bag.

Bob Williams, our Bullitt Lecturer had some interesting insights into the social mechanisms of science. He was adamant that a personal interaction is the gold standard. One-on-one science discussion and interaction. I agree. But he also correctly identified that this has a ludicrous onus on people and (thanks to airmiles travelled) environment.

So how to supplement or replace it? I suspect supplement. I use Twitter in part for this. Engage in new things that people have done is okay but it lacks a little in depth of interaction. A big plus can be that you had a mild interaction over Twitter and so IRL introductions become a little lower threshold? On the downside, friend-on-Twitter is less familiar than people (e.g. me) tend to think. 

Like most astronomers of his generation you can best reach Bob best via email. Something he checks and responds to religiously. But that is hardly true for more recent generations (ahem eg students). Skype or google hangout or Zoom can certainly replace a lot. Especially for committee meetings for example. 

So interact initially in person and keep up and active over electronic means as may be appropriate. Vague but then again it’ll be different person to person. In academia, no one checks linkedin, but outside it's a vital tool. You may even have to pickup the phone, dial the number and talk that way. 

The issue remains unresolved. In part because science is a mix of personal and generational preferences in communication. Key remains to take initiative. Junior people to contact the expert they want to talk to.

Workflow

Do you have a system for new todo items? I do. Sort of. One is implemented as part of inbox 0. And I know that that’s not really helping with the actual amount of work but that has helped me tremendously with the anxiety over missed items. Email remains “a system where anyone in the world can add todo items” (K. Mack, somewhere on Twitter).



But I still make paper todo lists. That’s partially motivational: feels good to strike off items. Those are for single days or the week maybe. Ideally they’d be organized by energy-I-have-left and urgency. I also have one on my phone. So it’s a bit of a mush. All of them have drawbacks (lost paper, I don’t check my phone todo list).

I was thinking of this since we’re mid-semester and the pile is growing out of control. This is the hardest thing to accept: the amount of work will inevitably grow beyond my ability to do even if I have “magical” days from here till the end of the semester.

Which brings me to “crudburner days”. These are days where from the start I try to knock off as many of the todo items, preferably stale ones. Decision time. Which mean quite a few it’s “well too late now” and remove. The feel good moment is when I halve the number in today/week/month pile.