Back From the Brink...

... of massive grading!

I've been inundated with grading 49 lab reports from my intro bio students on Sordaria genetics. But its all over now, the pain is subsiding. I won't talk about them, since we all know students have a knack at finding things out about their instructors (like semi-anonymous, but not really, blogs). They were actually fairly good, except try as you might (twice in class, plus an entire quiz question) they just cannot seem to cite articles correctly in-text. S.A.L.-P. says its because they are taught in high school to cite (Author(s), Page #) even though in the real world you cite (Author(s), Year). And we wonder why we continuously in the back of the world of school bus. Sigh....

But I've got big things in store for my readers!

First, I've finalized the session co-moderators for the 2008 NC Science Blogging Conference next January. I organized a session on Real-Time Blogging in the Marine Sciences that is coming together fantastically! I'm really proud of our line-up. In addition to myself, Peter Etnoyer from Deep Sea News, Rick MacPherson from Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets and Jason Robertshaw from Cephalopodcast will all be there! Pirate outfits optional. I'll devote an entire post to its content later, but our mix of backgrounds will make for an interesting session from Science & Research, Conservation & Policy and Education. Bora has already introduced us to the world too.

Second, there was no spineless song of the week last week. I promise to make it up to you this week!

Third, Circus of the Spineless will be at The Other 95% on November 1!!! Its like it was meant to be... I've gotten many fantastic posts so far, but keep it coming, earlier is better. Also, I will be hosting a special edition of the geology carnival, The Accretionary Wedge on November 15. The theme is "Geology and Life" or "Between a Rock and a Squishy Face". This is a themed carnival asking bloggers to dig deep into their souls and write about how geology affects biology or biology affects geology. I want to hear about personal experiences, current research, field work, anything that crosses these seemingly disparate but all too entwined disciplines that I hold dear to my own heart. I am planning a special post for its occasion as well.

Send either carnival entry to kaz146{{at}}psu{{dot}}edu with the appropriate subject line.