PhD week 23: Arizona continued

An unidentified baridine weevil from Fiji

I returned to Chirstchurch yesterday morning, after two very pleasant weeks in Arizona. One of the things that really struck me during my trip was how globalised the world is. Particularly pertinent examples include: Australian and New Zealand plants being the first things I saw when I arrived in Los Angeles; the apples we had for our lunches at the research station were from New Zealand, and looking at Fijian weevil specimens at Arizona State University.

A few of the other things that I learned in Arizona were:

• Tell a good story with your research. Encourage people to want to become more interested in the group by revealing interesting biology, morphology, distributions etc.
• Characters useful for identification may not be good for revealing relationships and vice versa
• Get some good dissecting gear. I'll be doing a lot, so I shouldn't mess around with cheap alternatives when I have the option of buying better stuff. Fine Science Tools has been recommended to me as being a supplier of quality dissecting equipment.
• Squirrels can be a lot bigger than I had realised

Overall, my time in the States was very enjoyable. I saw some amazing plants, animals and landscapes; and it was great hanging out with others who were enthusiastic and knowledgeable about beetles and the world in general. I have returned inspired and with new ideas and methods to try out. It was well worth the trip.

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Read:
   Pine-Coffin RS (translator). 1961. The confessions of Saint Augustine Middlesex: Penguin
   Psalms 90–99

Websites:
TangoArizona
Hangman in R
Manu—Birds of Polynesia

Listened:
Leo Tolstoy—War and Peace Book 2 LibriVox audiobook
Coldplay—Mylo Xyloto

Watched:
The Hunger Games
The Billy T James Show