Lost in the Maize

My son Alex’s school puts on a highly prestigious musical each year. Competition for the lead roles is tough. Closed-door auditions are held to ensure the most talented kids get the leading roles – reward-through-merit in action you might say. Apart from the fact that some parents involved in the production appeared to be giving [...]

Here’s something that keeps me awake at night (seriously): why, in this age of super-slick graphics and innovative multimedia resources, is it nearly impossible to give presentation that looks as good as they should? How come I can guarantee that when I give a presentation, the slides will be cropped, the color balance will be [...]

A weekly reflection on life in academia Note to self: Try not to fall asleep before important interviews with smart journalists. It’s been a tough week.  My gift from last week’s meeting in San Francisco was a lovely ripe cold – something of an occupational hazard these days being cooped up in airplanes with gem-infested [...]

Well I guess it had to happen one day – after hanging out in QUACs (QUasi Academic Concerns) for more years than I care to remember, I am finally a bona fide academic!  Last week I shed my visiting professor status at the University of Michigan and took up the mantles of Professor of Environmental [...]